topic Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls in Community Chat

So Many Annoying Phone Calls

Jordan2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 23:24:01 GMT

I have posted about this before in the Electronics Forum. My mother is elderly and receives so many "scam" calls and just annoying calls daily. The only time she didn't get any was Christmas Eve through Sunday. She has Caller ID on her phone and also the number comes up on her TV screen. She is savvy enough to not pick up if she doesn't recognize the number. Anyway I had to call TWC today and the customer service rep was going to give her a call back. Sometimes they aren't calling from TWC itself but from another place where calls are routed to them(he never called). The phone rang twice today and I had to answer thinking it might be him. The first call comes up with a phone number but no name. When I picked it up no one said anything at first. She was asking for Mrs. so and so (she knew my mother's name) and said she was calling from M.A.D.D. Then someone else called, came up private caller. He too knew my mothers name and said he was calling from the police department for the widows and children fund. I would like to know how they can get away with these calls when my mother is on the Do Not Call list. Also my mother has an unlisted number and I don't know how they know her name.She also gets the call where they threaten her with arrest if she doesn't call to sort the problem out.Most times if we don't pick up there is no message. left. I'm sorry for the long rant, I just wish there was something that could be done. I have called the FTC to report certain calls but there isn't anything that they can do.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

SharkE — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 23:33:15 GMT

let it go to answering machine what I do. I also bought 'ad block' from HSN. if I don't recognize the number or if it's a out of state # I push on 'block call' and it prevents them from calling again and the blocked # goes on the list that the machine keeps track of to prevent recalls.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

Krimpette — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 23:35:09 GMT

As I understand it, charities are exempt from the DoNot Call list. Not a good decision from my point of view, since I, too, get innundated with those calls. I never, ever answer the phone unless I recognize the caller. I figure if I miss a "real" call, they'll leave me a message.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

Kachina624 — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 23:37:04 GMT

First, the "do not call" list is a useless joke. Don't expect it to do anything and you won't be disappointed. Have you contacted your local phone company for help? I did, and they put a recording on my line. It says, "this number doesn't take sales calls. If this is a sales call, hang up and add this to your do not call list. If it is not a sales call, press one to continue", then my phone rings.

I get very few sales calls and so far no political or charity calls. Once in a while some obnoxious smart a$$ salesperson will get through and I ream him out good. I sometimes go several weeks without a single unwanted call.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

SharkE — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 23:38:45 GMT

after we signed up on the national Do Not Call registry and the local State one it helped a ton. Most of my calls come from idiots wanting the same person who I have told them 10 times "wrong number" and I block the out of state call and they just get another phone and try again. Merry go round.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

Jordan2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 23:46:58 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
First, the "do not call" list is a useless joke. Don't expect it to do anything and you won't be disappointed. Have you contacted your local phone company for help? I did, and they put a recording on my line. It says, "this number doesn't take sales calls. If this is a sales call, hang up and add this to your do not call list. If it is not a sales call, press one to continue", then my phone rings.

I get very few sales calls and so far no political or charity calls. Once in a while some obnoxious smart a$$ salesperson will get through and I ream him out good. I sometimes go several weeks without a single unwanted call.

I didn't know you could call your phone provider for help. I was thinking of getting the call blocker that I've seen on HSN. I'm worried that I won't know how to hook it up or how to use it.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

denisemb — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:13:22 GMT

Between sharke's suggestion (doing the State call registry along with the National) and purchasing a Panasonic DEC 6.0 cordless & corded (4 phones total) answering and call blocking system from another channel, we've pretty much gotten rid of most of our unwanted calls.

Only drawback to the Panasonic system is that even when you block a call it will ring once and then say "caller blocked". But my husband gets a kick out of "foiling" them, LOL. It also has a call announcing system for family/friends after the second ring so you know who's calling. We love it, best $100 ever spent.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

curlywhitedog — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:25:54 GMT

The Do Not Call list is a joke. The callers that respect it are few and far between. Charities (real and fake) are exempt, as are political calls. Anyone you've ever done business with in the past is also exempt, although if you ask them to remove your name from their list, most will oblige.

About a year ago I bought a Call Blocker from Amazon, best thing I ever did. Calls that get blocked don't get through a second time (although they do ring once) and then the call disconnects and what the caller on the other end hears is his own dial tone. Problem is that these pieces of garbage just cycle on to the next of their phone numbers as if by call #10 you're finally going to give in and pick up. Nothing makes me more insane than that. I have a horn I'd love to use, problem is, most of these calls are robo calls with no one on the other end for 10 seconds or more and I'm not wasting that much time waiting for some cretin to pick up the phone.

Here's a tip...the 866 "area code" (which is not even a real area code) is a dead give away for a spam call.

Maria

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

JustJazzmom — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:29:40 GMT

Also want to add that if your mother's phone is on a VOIP instead of a true landline, then you can go to nomorobo.com and see if your mother's line is compatible with this call blocking system. It's free and if it's a scam phone call, it rings once then stops.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

Lucky Charm — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:43:37 GMT

I got hit so many times this month from charities, free cruises, and a couple other places. I got more of those calls than personal calls some days!

So I let them all go to voice mail, called the numbers back from caller ID and one even provided me with the Do Not Call list. I went thru the prompts to be removed and lo and behold, I haven't been bothered once.

So last night I unsubscribed to about 15 businesses that just hit me over and over almost every day with emails.

Relief once again!

I done cleaned house!!

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

lulu2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:44:33 GMT

@JustJazzmom wrote:
Also want to add that if your mother's phone is on a VOIP instead of a true landline, then you can go to nomorobo.com and see if your mother's line is compatible with this call blocking system. It's free and if it's a scam phone call, it rings once then stops.

I read about nomorobo here and thought I'd give it a try. After a few days, I thought it was odd we had no phone calls (legit or otherwise) or messages. My husband tried calling home and heard a message saying our phone was not in service. I called our carrier and they tried to fix it by resetting it, but to no avail. They sent a tech. I mentioned to him I'd signed up for nomorobo. Instantly he said that was the problem. I cancelled the service and the phone worked.

Our provider was one listed as compatible on the nomorobo website.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

staciesmom — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:47:53 GMT

My elderly mother gets these calls all of the time. She also gets tons of mail from "charities" soliciting money. Since I do not trust her to make good decisions any longer, I took her checkbook and hid it. She could be very easily become intimidated by someone claiming she owed money. It is a shame she can't relax in peace in her own home due to these annoying calls.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

MomCat — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:51:39 GMT

Yes, the do not call list is useless because these people register as a charity and no one keeps track of it. All of these calls are scams. No legit charities call you. Not answering is good. If I'm not sure who it is and answer, I hang up immediately. I recently moved and got a new number and feel very lucky that I do not get these calls. I'm talking, NONE. Hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

SharkE — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 01:06:32 GMT

@Jordan2 wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:
First, the "do not call" list is a useless joke. Don't expect it to do anything and you won't be disappointed. Have you contacted your local phone company for help? I did, and they put a recording on my line. It says, "this number doesn't take sales calls. If this is a sales call, hang up and add this to your do not call list. If it is not a sales call, press one to continue", then my phone rings.

I get very few sales calls and so far no political or charity calls. Once in a while some obnoxious smart a$$ salesperson will get through and I ream him out good. I sometimes go several weeks without a single unwanted call.
I didn't know you could call your phone provider for help. I was thinking of getting the call blocker that I've seen on HSN. I'm worried that I won't know how to hook it up or how to use it.

Very easy. Seems like it shows you the manual too. I did it myself haha

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

lulu2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 01:06:35 GMT

@MomCat wrote:
Yes, the do not call list is useless because these people register as a charity and no one keeps track of it. All of these calls are scams. No legit charities call you. Not answering is good. If I'm not sure who it is and answer, I hang up immediately. I recently moved and got a new number and feel very lucky that I do not get these calls. I'm talking, NONE. Hope I didn't just jinx myself.

I must disagree as it has been my experience that legitimate charities do call soliciting donations, REPEATEDLY until you ask to be removed from their roster.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

SharkE — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 01:14:27 GMT

What makes me mad is junk calls will come in on my call waiting so i have to hang up on my sister during a nice conversation to see who it is so then I have to block them. Go back to my sister and pick up our talk.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

adoreqvc — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 01:14:39 GMT

Hi Jordan2,

I am so very sorry to continue to read that your elderly Mom, more elderly people, and others aswell are targeted again and again by telephone scams, having their private unlisted phone numbers sold time and again, and to-date it still continues.

**WE ARE VERY ANGRY OVER THIS, WHICH IS THE REASON FOR SOME OF THE CAPS".

I have also read time and again that the very telephone companies we pay and trust to keep our unlisted telephone numbers private and to ensure they are not sold to anyone is a farce, because they are guilty and do sell our personal informaiton to numerous mailing lists, and other various sources.

Time and again those legal right to privacy acts are continuously violated.

BTW we pay extra $ to have our telephone # remain unlisted.

Some articles listed below may be slightly back dated, but the violations still continue to date, according to reputable sources, which are just too many to list here...

Now if all the above is not a kick in the head, what is?

Here is more on the numerous violations, and at least some companies were fined, but evidently not enough so nevertheless, this keeps occurring.

You can read it here:

https://epic.org/privacy/iei/

Also read many complaints and violations here too:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/08/comcast-data-breach-leaks-thousands-unlisted-phone-numbers-threatening-customers

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/31/business/la-fi-lazarus-20100831

Phone Firms Sell Data on Customers

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323463704578497153556847658

Your phone company is selling your personal data

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/01/technology/verizon_att_sprint_tmobile_privacy/

This one is a real joke:

Protecting Your Privacy

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/protecting-your-privacy

I listed more than enough, and believe me there are so many more, it is so sickening and frustrating to be violated time and again, and yet it continues, time and again, and again, etc.

In some cases they placed the cart on the horse, only after he came back through the gate....and these are companies we are supposed to trust with our private personal information?

Also my husband had his cc information stolen when a few companies data bases were hacked, and what followed? Identity theft, but of course.

What were they forced to give him by law?

(Only 1 year of pre paid service to check his credit bureau reports for additional ID theft violations).

Big deal, we would have preferred everyone, and every organization whether public or private sector, also safe guard all our private information and not get hacked, and not sell it to anyone they wish to sell it to, in the name of continual corporate financial greed and gain!!!

We are thoroughly disgusted and we jointed other organizations which promise to notify in advance if compromised....DId they? NO and we paid for these services monthly too.

This is a complete joke on us the taxpayers and consumers, and it is a down hill losing battle...What a horrific way to run any business....Heck if we did that to someone we would be facing very serious charges....do they?

"NO THEY DO NOT BECAUSE IF BEING FINED EXTREMELY LARGE SUMS OF MONEY WAS ENOUGH TO MAKE THEM REALLY TOW THE LINE, THEN THEY WOULD NEVER AGAIN BREACH OUR PRIVACY, MAKE US VULNERABLE, AND CAUSE US TO SUFFER COUNTLESS SCAM PHONE CALLS, AND IDENTITY THEFT.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS WE WOULD NOT BE EXPERIENCING ANY OF THE ABOVE ON A CONTINUAL NEVER ENDING BASIS.

WE NEED STRICTER LAWS TO STOP THIS FROM CONTINUING, AND MUCH HIGHER MONETARY VIOLATIONS FINES.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

Moonchilde — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 01:18:02 GMT

I have an answering machine and caller ID. If I do not recognise the caller on ID I never, ever pick up until I hear a human voice I recognize or a business I do business with.

Most calls now are robocalls, many originating offshore/overseas, so Do Not Call doesn't work for those random number generated calls. You do need to reenter your DNC info every 2-3 years.

The few times I have asked legit charities to knock off the calls, they have done so.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

italia8140 — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 01:31:18 GMT

I signed up for nomorobo months ago and no longer get calls and have no issues with my landline.

Re: So Many Annoying Phone Calls

Jordan2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 01:44:59 GMT

My mother also pays a monthly fee to have her number unlisted, what a joke! My mother is too polite and doesn't know how to get rid of them, she lets them go on and on. Me, I don't care I hang right up on them! There are days these type of calls are all she gets.I don't know how these people live with themselves bilking money from unsuspecting victims.