I wish I knew what it was that has ended my long period of peace and quiet. A few years back when I signed onto the national “Do Not Call” list the telemarketing calls to our house virtually ended.
Once in a while (maybe three of four times a year), a telemarketing call would come through from some outfit we had a “relationship” with, but beyond that, the silence was lovely.
This recent plague of junk calls started with those idiots at CitiBank/CitiMortgage who were using the “relationship” loophole in the “Do Not Call” laws and apparently lending their name out to other companies who were calling here and claiming to be calling “on behalf” of CitiMortgage to pitch some lame offer that I had no interest in.
I don’t know all the legal details of how these things work behind the scenes, but it is pretty obvious to me that these companies are using these loopholes in the law to pitch various offers that have nothing to do with mortgages or any other financial service.
I don’t think I can blame CitiBank/CitiMortgage for the other calls I have been getting lately, as much as I would like to. In fact, I am not hearing from anyone lately claiming any association with my “friends” and CitiBank/CitiMortgage so I guess my request for them to add me to their “Do Not Call” list may have taken effect.
The most recent junk call came last night at 8:37 pm, which, if you ask me, is a bit late to be making junk telephone calls. I think I may have been the latest call of that variety I have yet received. The caller ID displayed: 866-566-5188.
Since I was relaxing in my recliner watching TV at the time of the call, I was certainly not about to get up and answer a call that had the look of a junk call to me. So, we let the machine handle it and as expected, in typical junk call fashion, no message was left.
My usual Internet detective work revealed that the number was traced back to some kind of survey company that claims to be calling “on behalf” (sound familiar) of various companies or is calling to ask some questions from a political poll or some kind of survey.
It is important to note that these kinds of calls are exempt from the “Do Not Call” laws, so these idiots that want to disturb you and ask you a bunch of stupid questions are within the law when they do so. As far as I know, you can ask them to include your number on their own “Do Not Call” list and they will have to honor that request.
Today at 12:54 pm the phone rings again. This time the Caller ID reveals 818-756-7494 and says “California.” “Hmmmm,” I thought to myself, “that’s a new one.” I did not know it at the time, but it really wasn’t.
I actually tried to answer that one but since I was doing some extensive cleaning and re-arranging work around my office at the time, my phone was not as accessible as usual and by the time I picked it up all I heard was dead air. I suspect the dialing machine that these morons used had already given up on the call.
A quick search on the net makes it apparent that this new number is associated with the one that rang us last night. In fact, it’s the same company that called us last night.
I don’t know whether this is a sneaky tactic on their part that’s used when they don’t get an answer when calling from their 866 number (which is obviously some kind of company). Perhaps the next call is made from this other number to make it look more like a legitimate call instead of the junk call that it actually is. Just a theory since I don’t put anything past these weasels.
In light of this increasing number of junk calls lately, I think I am going to have to take a new approach to this whole situation. I don’t even want to waste my time telling these jerks to put me on their “Do Not Call” list or yelling at them or pretending I don’t speak English (which could be entertaining).
From now on I am simply not going to answer the phone when I see a number I do not recognize as a call from someone I actually want to talk to. That includes “Unavailable” and “Out of Area” as well.
I just finished moving my Caller ID unit right over to my desk so I no longer even have to spin my chair around to see the display. That should make it a bit easier for me to ignore these pesky, persistent idiots.
When you think about it, this whole telemarketing thing should piss off everyone who has ever received one of those calls. After all, you pay $20, $30 or $40 or whatever to have a telephone in your home for your convenience, right? It’s not free, it is a service you are paying for.
Then you have these telemarketing idiots calling your number and basically demanding your attention right now. That’s the way the telephone works after all. You’ve got to drop whatever you are doing to answer the call only to hear some jackass on the other end trying to sell you something you most likely to not want. That is why I pay to have a phone in my home. I think not!
I love Caller ID and it took long enough for the telephone companies to make that technology available to customers. Now they need to take things a step further and give us the ability to block these junk calls.
This is a feature that could easily be added to the telephone system. It would all be based on Called ID, a technology that is already in place. I want to be able to punch in a code on my phone and then enter in a number that I want to block from ever calling me again. If someone with a blocked number called, they would be informed by way of a recorded message that their call has been rejected.
This is the kind of service we need with these junk calls still crawling all over the telephone networks like a virus. Come on telephone companies, give us the tools we need to customize our service the way we really want to!
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