OT: RANT against unwanted calls & my solution: OT

buzd504 · May 2015

land lines? Answering machines? Is it 1982?

RRP · May 2015

buzd504 said:

land lines? Answering machines? Is it 1982?

BGE? LUMP charcoal? 3,000 year old cooker?

stemc33 · May 2015

RRP said:

buzd504 said:

land lines? Answering machines? Is it 1982?

BGE? LUMP charcoal? 3,000 year old cooker?

I bash land lines as we converted to cell phones long ago. With that said, when I was in a small earthquake in SoCal, the cell phones were useless due to call volumes and the land lines were the only thing that worked.

nolaegghead · May 2015

Don't let them get to you. The end.

Doglips · May 2015

That shouldn't work OP. If you dial any of those telemarketer numbers, either you get a message that it's not a valid number, or they ghost it to a random real residence. They have themselves well covered that you can not contact them in any way.

And the Do not call list really doesn't work anymore. I'm on it and have renewed my name several times and I still get an absurd amount of telemarketer calls. I think the Do Not Call List people are selling my number.

jeroldharter · May 2015

I just keep repeating in a loud voice: "What?...What?...What?..." until they get the idea. Seems to work OK and I enjoy it - for free. If you think about it, a worse thing than receiving these calls is being the person making them. I wish they would farm that work out to another country so these guys could man USA call centers.

RRP · May 2015

Doglips said:

That shouldn't work OP. If you dial any of those telemarketer numbers, either you get a message that it's not a valid number, or they ghost it to a random real residence. They have themselves well covered that you can not contact them in any way.

Not sure what you mean about not reaching them. Whether the call that I automatically forwarded to some dipsh*t goes through or doesn't go through falls in my "I couldn't care less bucket" which I never follow up on anyway!

ChillyWillis · May 2015

I wonder if you were to forward to an international number if the international charges would be applied to them? That would be one way to take this to the next level. Send all those telemarketers calls over to that Nigerian prince who keeps emailing me!

Ozzie_Isaac · May 2015

Jeepster47 said:

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.

I still like to talk to them. Makes me feel like I have friends

I generally try to steer the call in odd directions. Its funny how long they will talk even when you are discussing how a guy would get a mini-giraffe like in the DirectTV commercial.

Jaime · May 2015

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've done that. I also sometimes say "Look my co. Bills my time at $225us per hour if you provide your card # I'll be happy to chat. Visa or Mastercard. They say anything I interrupt and repeat

Skiddymarker · May 2015

paqman said:

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.

With all due respect, and I may be full of it, I disagree. I may have oversimplified the way the list is accessed, but it is mined. Abuse does and will continue to happen, otherwise threads like this one would not exist. Maintained by an incumbent - there is a true case of the fox in the hen house. The current DNC works so well that virtually every individual who uses it continues to gets calls, some even more so than before they registered. Some TMs have multiple call centres, when a number is encountered as DNC, they transfer the number, albeit illegally, to a centre operating from a jurisdiction that does not recognize the DNC. Because of my former position, I hear from friends and neighbours who have registered all the time. Do you think the TMs do not share data? I know they do. Ever received a call where no one was there? That’s valid number mining.
Wish it worked and it may be getting better, truth is it is like most government policies (CRTC/FCC) - DNC sounds good but seldom actually works. Hell, in Canada we can’t even regulate the volume of TV commercials, we have a policy/regulation prohibiting it, but it still happens, how could we ever control the TeleMarket industry? After 35 years and now retired from the telecom game including regulatory/tariff filing with both CRTC and FCC I do not use the DNC list, and seldom get calls. Things may have changed in the past few years but I seriously doubt it.

Rant over....sorry if I come across as belligerent, but some parts of the job cannot be forgotten.

nolaegghead · May 2015

You can access the Canuckistanian DNCL here through a fee. Look a bit harder on the blacker sites of the web and you can probably get a copy of it for free.

https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/ind/hntr-hnrt-eng

stemc33 · May 2015

Telemarketers are smart and will continue to harass people for years to come. If it's not phone calls its emails or some crazy pop-up-add that makes your blood boil. For those of you that like to entertain these idiots, give them referrals such as your boss so they can get bogged down by them.

When I was a recruiter, one of the things I hated(had lots of hates) when cold calling was when a kid or parent would knowingly refer me to a crazy military hating liberal. I'd be all excited I had a lead/name of somebody that was looking into the military only to get screamed at by a flag burner who didn't respect the people that gave them the right to burn the flag.

AUCE · May 2015

I hate this too...especially on my cell. If I know it's a random call I'll answer with..
"I told you never to call this number" and add..." god.....theres so much blood where should I hide the body?"
Lol

55drum · May 2015

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/fu/2n3rw2vhf9q2.jpg

This works great!!!

https://www.nomorobo.com/

DoubleEgger · May 2015

I wish I could do something like this for the trolls that frequent this site.

paqman · May 2015

I guess I was wrong about the list not being downloadable. This may have changed since it was initially launched.

I am on the list and the only calls that I am receiving right now are from auto dialers using voip providers that are located outside Canada.

fishlessman · May 2015

when i got my cell phone the number they gave me was a prior drug dealers number

i was getting deluged with calls thu fri and sat nights. saterday morning at 4 am on the boat i would return those calls

the druggies dont call anymore but i still get calls from the courts and lawyers. with the landline though im just a quick hangerupper

Skiddymarker · May 2015

fishlessman said:

when i got my cell phone the number they gave me was a prior drug dealers number i was getting deluged with calls thu fri and sat nights. saterday morning at 4 am on the boat i would return those calls the druggies dont call anymore but i still get calls from the courts and lawyers. with the landline though im just a quick hanger upper

@fishlessman - this is an excellent example of where an FCC/CRTC policy should be in place. When you accept a number, the carriers should be required to advise if the number had been in service before and if so, how long ago? If numbers stay unassigned for even six months, people generally quit calling them. Other nice things to know would be if it was previously owned by a business and if it was a high volume of inbound call number. Next to drug dealers, an old taxi number can also be a PITA.

stemc33 · May 2015

Could be worse, some knuckle head like Tommy Tutone could write a song like 867-5309/Jenny using your number and you'd never get rest. Read these peoples stories.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/867-5309/Jenny

Little Steven · May 2015

paqman said:

I guess I was wrong about the list not being downloadable. This may have changed since it was initially launched.

I am on the list and the only calls that I am receiving right now are from auto dialers using voip providers that are located outside Canada.

I love it when the call. I pretend I'm interested in their duct cleaning/cell service/e-mail service/etc and ask their name, company, phone and address. I carry on the polite conversation for a few minutes and then say "Oh by the way Surjit, I'm on the do not call list and I'm going to report this"

stemc33 · May 2015

Why are the Mod's sinking this thread? It has the potential to be a good one.

stemc33 · May 2015

We need @NPHuskerFL to post some cool prank call videos before the thread dies.

RRP · May 2015

stemc33 said:

Why are the Mod's sinking this thread? It has the potential to be a good one.

I assume because it is OT, but I sure didn't hide that fact!

stemc33 · May 2015

RRP said:

stemc33 said:

Why are the Mod's sinking this thread? It has the potential to be a good one.

I assume because it is OT, but I sure didn't hide that fact!

Maybe they're just trying to stay ahead of a disaster thread. Lol

twelvebeer · May 2015

I like to talk to them, make them repeat themselves over and over, ask them dumb questions and waste their time until they hang up on me. They don't call back after they realize im messing with them. I love those calls!