Posted on 09/16/2012 8:22:59 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
So much for silence from telemarketers at the cherished dinner hour, or any other hour of the day.
Complaints to the government are up sharply about unwanted phone solicitations, raising questions about how well the federal "do-not-call" registry is working. The biggest category of complaint: those annoying prerecorded pitches called robocalls that hawk everything from lower credit card interest rates to new windows for your home.
Robert Madison, 43, of Shawnee, Kan., says he gets automated calls almost daily from "Ann, with credit services," offering to lower his interest rates.
"I am completely fed up," Madison said in an interview. "I've repeatedly asked them to take me off their call list." When he challenges their right to call, the solicitors become combative, he said. "There's just nothing that they won't do."
Madison, who works for a software company, says his phone number has been on the do-not-call list for years. Since he hasn't made any progress getting "Ann" to stop calling, Madison has started to file complaints about her to the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the list.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
These clowns are faking the caller ID so it shows a legit looking area code and phone number. And they change them often.
Problem is it is a total pain to make this kind of complaint - have to keep records of the times calls are made, who from, etc... - but for the repeat offender who has been told not to call, supposedly criminal prosecution is available (at least in Ohio under this particular law).
Interestingly, in the article:”Enforcement is another tool. The FTC has brought cases against about a dozen companies since 2009, including Talbots, DirecTV and Dish Network. The cases have yielded $5.6 million in penalties.”
So, our wonderful federal government has managed to bring cases against legitimate businesses less than four times a year, and has not touched the total scam credit card outfits that are really the biggest problem. Lets hope a new administration will enforce laws that were put in place by very popular demand, as this administration's sole focus is getting killing business and punishing "high" earners.
Too bad they won’t go after the travel companies and insurance companies that harrass our office almost daily with their stupid, irritating & illegal faxes. I could block them but they block the telephone number they are using.
Wikipedia has a write-up of the TeleZapper, that includes a midi sound file. I suppose one could append that sound file to the beginning of a message on their answering machine, and save the cost of the TeleZapper. Something I’ll try myself. Wikipedia write-up says many telemarketers now bypass checks for those disconnect tones, but is effective for those that do check. Long ago a friend of mine used the long Rod Serling intro narrative from the Twilight Zone on his answering machine, and gave out a code to enter on the phone to bypass the long droning message. Doesn’t stop the ringing though.
That’s funny.
I get them on my cell too. I added the 3 numbers that were spamming me to my contact list and tagged each with a distinctive ring. Now if they call, it shows up as spam 1,2 or 3 and rings with a duck quack. When I see/hear their call I ignore.
This was the best I could do. My phone/cell service didn’t provide blocking for free.
“Complaints about automated calls up sharply”
Of automated (and live calls for that matter) are up sharply. There’s no enforcement whatsoever.
“So, I bought a Panasonic cordless phone. With a 100 call number block feature. “
Yep. This is the only way to go. Except our older Panasonic only allows 20 blocked numbers, so we have to make a decision whether an annoying caller is “block worthy”, since we have to delete the oldest blocked number to make room for a new one. Usually, if we get more than two junk calls from the same number we consider them “block-worthy”.
Yhe no call list is NOT working for me either on these credit/interest rate calls..This past week I just let my answering machine pick up all my calls..At least I am not running to the phone.
I LOATHE these robo calls..
I sometimes answer and let them listen to my background noise, sometimes tv, sometimes office sounds. Just depends.
A friend told me to hand it to my three year old and tell her Dora is on the phone. I would but I am worried what the block head on the line would say
What’s the model # of that phone?
I think this is it:
Panasonic 1000 Series DECT 6.0 4-Handset Expandable Telephone with Digital Answering System (KX-TG1064SK)
I recently bought it from BJs wholesale club. It has a landline phone on the base with an answering machine and 4 cordless phones. I checked my MILs phones- we bought her Panasonic phones about 4 years ago- and that phone also has this feature so it might be standard on Panasonics. It is WONDERFUL. When caller ID shows Satan’s spawns calling, I go through the prompts of saving their phone number and am given the option of saving it to ‘phonebook’ or ‘call block’. If they try to call me, the words ‘call blocked’ show up on my caller ID.
My phone...my phone number....why can’t I decide whose number rings on it?
thanks
I bought some really nice Panasonic phones a few years ago, but they don’t have that feature. :(
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