OT: RANT against unwanted calls & my solution: OT

RRP

Though we have caller ID and I will not answer all those idiots wanting to scam me, sell me windows and transfer credit card balances - just the same the number of them any given day is annoying! We use Comcast which gives me the ability to transfer incoming calls. Well...I selected one annoying idiot as the transfer number recipient of all my unwanted calls from other annoying idiots! I hope it works!!! Granted I had to code each one individually using the caller log history for the past month but I think the 30 minutes spent was worth the effort!

DMW

That's great!

blasting

Not sure if that will work, but it is the sort of thing I'd try as well.  Well done.

bbqlearner

Awesome - tell us how it goes!

RRP

I've made a list of all the numbers which hound us on a regular basis so I can track whether they get through again. I know scammers change their numbers as often as they change their shorts! Looking at the history for the past 5 weeks it was amazing how many of these callers repeatedly tried to get through. I'll let you know if it works, but it sure looks like it will!

Eggcelsior

A great thing about most of these types of calls is the inability for the caller to correctly pronounce my name. 

It typically goes like this: 

"Hello"

"Hi, is sadfdsagafdsh there"

"No one lives here by that name, have a nice day!"

-click-

This lasts 2-3 calls before they stop.

Carolina Q

I assume you can forward calls to just one number? Would be cool if you could send each back to their own number. Or to the FCC.

You ARE on the Do Not Call list aren't you?

RRP

Carolina Q said:

I assume you can forward calls to just one number? Would be cool if you could send each back to their own number. Or to the FCC.

You ARE on the Do Not Call list aren't you?

Yes Michael I am on the do not call list. You can only specify one number for the foward(transfer) number and then it is automatically filled in as the default. It was really easy to do - just a click here and a click there. 

NPHuskerFL

Love it. We just add to blocklist so when they call it rings on their end but, not ours. 
True story...I was very bored and had a call come thru (don't recall what it was regarding) and I kept asking question after question for well over a hour. At the end I said when the owner gets home I'll let em know you called. Telemarketers are almost always timed on each of their calls. So, your next L&S enjoy  
Ron that's freaking hilarious!  

RRP

NPHuskerFL said:

Love it. We just add to blocklist so when they call it rings on their end but, not ours. 

We don't have the block option - just screen (worthless IMO) or this transfer to another number. 

WeberWho

There's always this:

https://youtu.be/-7OgWcwgB50

stlcharcoal

Even though our number is not on the website, I still get calls constantly on the business number from people trying to sell me copier parts, logistics, etc.  With Google Voice, it's pretty easy to block them.  I like the idea of forwarding though!!!

Many years ago I was so sick of the dozens of post cards that would fall out of my magazines......I kept a stack, then when I got about 100 of them, I'd throw them in a mailbox.  I heard about people doing the same thing, and over the years I saw the number of these things start to reduce. 

Carolina Q

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0108-national-do-not-call-registry

mahenryak

Nice going, Ron.  I like that idea.  Our Panasonic handsets do have a blocked calls feature but I filled it to capacity over the span of a couple of years.  So I've since had to delete some of the ones that I think were no longer coming in to make room for the new ones.  On my phone, though, it still rings once with this feature, before they are blocked. 

RRP

Carolina Q said:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0108-national-do-not-call-registry

Here is another handy site if you want to see "who" has called you plus what experiences others have had with those particular numbers.
http://800notes.com

Skiddymarker

@RRP All that extra time on your hands has been spent very effectively - great idea.
We have a do not call list in Canada, it is available to all telemarketers to ensure they do not call, however what it turns into is a list of valid numbers which do not want to be called - the key is the number is valid. For TMs in Canada or the US, it is effective, if they move the call centre off shore - not so much. 
Being retired, I'm like @NPHuskerFL if I have the time, I talk to them, then politely end the call. We used to get a ton of cruise calls for sailings out of Florida, after I started telling them I could not legally enter the US, they stopped. 

Our favourite is to hand the phone to one of grandchildren, preferably the 3 year old - priceless. 

badinfluence

Damnit! I don't know what happened but I sure have gotten like 3 times more of these calls today then normal.

NPHuskerFL

Didn't look to see if you have to update or reregister on the National DoNot Call Site?

Jeepster47

Before the do-not-call list came into being, all evening calls were handled by my teenage son.  If it was a nuisance call, he was free to do or say anything he wanted to the caller.  Kept my blood pressure down and he had fun.

Foghorn

I tell them that when I called the FCC to complain about getting calls despite the "do not call" list - the FCC told me to get the name and social security number of the caller because the individual employee is responsible for ensuring that the person they are calling is not on the "do not call" list - and therefore can be prosecuted if they ever call anyone who is not supposed to be called.

Nobody has ever given me their social security number, but it has reduced the number of calls we get.

RRP

NPHuskerFL said:

Didn't look to see if you have to update or reregister on the National DoNot Call Site?

I don't think so, but earlier today I had doubled checked and received the robo reply giving me the date I had registered our land line and cell phones. All of which we're years ago! I just think it's another of those "close cover before striking" laws people say ho-hum about! 

Legume

Between this and having trouble finding cordless phones, have you thought about killing the landline? We did, no looking back.

Jeepster47

@RRP ... have you looked into using a call blocking device?  Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Digitone-DCB-Plus-Call-Blocker/dp/B00KEFH43C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430874126&sr=8-1&keywords=Digitone+Call+Blocker

The good ones cost in range of $100, but sound like they would work well.  Anyone have experience with using one of these devices?

JohnInCarolina

Damnit Ron - I was just trying to order a gasket from you, and the next thing I know I'm talking to a Viagra salesman!

RRP

Jeepster47 said:

@RRP ... have you looked into using a call blocking device?  Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Digitone-DCB-Plus-Call-Blocker/dp/B00KEFH43C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430874126&sr=8-1&keywords=Digitone+Call+Blocker

The good ones cost in range of $100, but sound like they would work well.  Anyone have experience with using one of these devices?

Thanks, Tom. If this forwarding trick doesn't work then maybe I will. BUT as much as I pay Comcast for cable to provide my TV, Internet and telephone then they ought to have some help or even some dolly to answer my phone number overseas and say "PEAS ONT CAZ DIS NUMER GEN!"

bigguy136

This worked for me:

I got a new company phone and the lady who had my number before me had some unpaid utility bills. I kept telling the utility companies that I had this new number.

One day at work, I see the usual phone number so I told my co-workers to be quiet and answered my phone with hands-free. The person asked if the lady was there, I paused and in a sad voice I said "I'm sorry but she died in a car crash 2 weeks ago", there was a small pause and they then asked if her husband was there and I said "he was sitting next to her". There was a even longer pause so I hung up. Never heard from them again.

RRP

bigguy136 said:

This worked for me:

I got a new company phone and the lady who had my number before me had some unpaid utility bills. I kept telling the utility companies that I had this new number.

One day at work, I see the usual phone number so I told my co-workers to be quiet and answered my phone with hands-free. The person asked if the lady was there, I paused and in a sad voice I said "I'm sorry but she died in a car crash 2 weeks ago", there was a small pause and they then asked if her husband was there and I said "he was sitting next to her". There was a even longer pause so I hung up. Never heard from them again.

LOL - Good one! In my case we have had this land line number now for 36 years and it was "assigned brand new" as GTE  had just acquired servicing rights to our newly developed area.

Zmokin

I like to tell them to hold on a minute, I'll be right back and then set the phone down and walk away.  When I hear the neener neener sound, I know it's time to hang up.

RRP

Zmokin said:

I like to tell them to hold on a minute, I'll be right back and then set the phone down and walk away.  When I hear the neener neener sound, I know it's time to hang up.

I hear what you say, but like I said with caller ID one of us looks at a nearby phone and says "no" or it's so & so. Otherwise we let the offending call go to the answering machine. Most times the idiots who are the repeat hasslers hang up the second they hear the first word of my voice message.

stemc33

@RRP, one solution is to ditch the landline. It amazes me that you guys even listen long enough to find out what they're selling or what kind of survey they're taking. I don't get them very often on my cell phone, but hang up as they start talking. If I listen long enough (25sec) I just start cussing at them. My wife hates it when I do that, so it's easier to hang up within 5-10 seconds. 

paqman

Skiddymarker said:

@RRP All that extra time on your hands has been spent very effectively - great idea.
We have a do not call list in Canada, it is available to all telemarketers to ensure they do not call, however what it turns into is a list of valid numbers which do not want to be called - the key is the number is valid. For TMs in Canada or the US, it is effective, if they move the call centre off shore - not so much. 
Being retired, I'm like @NPHuskerFL if I have the time, I talk to them, then politely end the call. We used to get a ton of cruise calls for sailings out of Florida, after I started telling them I could not legally enter the US, they stopped. 

Our favourite is to hand the phone to one of grandchildren, preferably the 3 year old - priceless. 

@Skiddymarker the list is not public and telemarketers cannot download it.  The list is maintained by an incumbent and telemarketers must register to obtain a "key" that they can then use to validate that the number they are about to call is not on the list.  Algorithms are in place to detect "mining" attempts and other potential abuse scenarios.