Ok, something different. How about this for a retirement hobby? (Do not call list) (state, friend)
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I placed my name on the do not call list (again) on June 26 and the calls really slowed down but yesterday at 1:21 PM I get a completely unsolicited call from Alliance Security out of Fort Worth, Texas. The number they called me from was 817.259.0437.
817-259-0437 owner info from ARLINGTON, TX | Hot Phone Numbers
817-259-0437 is located in 817 area code and 259 exchange code. It must be a Landline phone registered on January 25, 1998 with TEX-LINK COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Voice recording asked if I wanted more information so i said yes, why the hell not?
I was transferred to "John Stewart" whose Chinese accent was so heavy I had to listen very carefully to what he said. "John Stewart" my @ss!
So I went down through the list of questions and John proceeds to tell me I called Alliance and they transferred me to him.
So I am wondering why not turn this into a hobby with the hobby being take em to small claims court and sue em?
What's the worst that can happen, I am out the small filing fee?
From what I gather people have done this and they've collected and if I can collect something once in a while I'd look forward to sales calls like this. Not a lot of money either, just something for the heck of it.
No, but if you do take it up, I'd be glad to auto-forward my home number to your phone. Bet you'd get several a day. I never even answer my land line anymore unless I recognize the caller. I think a lot of it is charity pitches: state troopers, the universities I've attended, political parties (but both of them??). And I think if you ever enter a contest or accept a "free report", that makes you fair game.
I'll be interested, too, to hear if anyone has done this and how it goes for you.
once you push the button to get "more information", you have contacted them. That's one way they get around the no call list. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
When we get the ones from "the Windows Department," I spend a lot of time telling them I was amazed they knew we had just been talking about replacement windows and asking about vinyl vs. wood and what discounts are available.
Once we've established it's about my computer sending "multiple error messages" direct to them, and they want me to boot up my computer, I warn them it takes a really long time, like five minutes. They wait. Then, when they want me to press keys I know aren't a good idea, I tell them it's a mac.
When I get a call that just starts out with, "And how are you today?" I tell them, in great detail, all about my physical maladies and the difficulties I'm having with all our children and grandchildren. (We don't have kids.)
Interesting, boogie'smom, about the loophole that says if I press 1 for more info, I've contacted them. I don't usually do that; now never will.
I figure if they happen to call at a time when I have 10-15 minutes to spare, the longer I keep them on the phone for a non-productive time, the fewer vulnerable people they can actually scam. Occasionally I end the call by reading them some of the warnings about this type of Internet scam, which I've found by Googling while they're asking me to go to certain websites or press certain key combinations. More recently, I've just babbled on to the point where they transfer me to a "higher level technician" who ultimately realizes he's never going to get me to focus in on what he wants me to do. At that point they hang up on me, but if it's been 20 minutes, I feel like . . . Mission Accomplished!
When we get the ones from "the Windows Department," I spend a lot of time telling them I was amazed they knew we had just been talking about replacement windows and asking about vinyl vs. wood and what discounts are available.
Once we've established it's about my computer sending "multiple error messages" direct to them, and they want me to boot up my computer, I warn them it takes a really long time, like five minutes. They wait. Then, when they want me to press keys I know aren't a good idea, I tell them it's a mac.
When I get a call that just starts out with, "And how are you today?" I tell them, in great detail, all about my physical maladies and the difficulties I'm having with all our children and grandchildren. (We don't have kids.)
Interesting, boogie'smom, about the loophole that says if I press 1 for more info, I've contacted them. I don't usually do that; now never will.
I figure if they happen to call at a time when I have 10-15 minutes to spare, the longer I keep them on the phone for a non-productive time, the fewer vulnerable people they can actually scam. Occasionally I end the call by reading them some of the warnings about this type of Internet scam, which I've found by Googling while they're asking me to go to certain websites or press certain key combinations. More recently, I've just babbled on to the point where they transfer me to a "higher level technician" who ultimately realizes he's never going to get me to focus in on what he wants me to do. At that point they hang up on me, but if it's been 20 minutes, I feel like . . . Mission Accomplished!
My friend and I sat down one drunken Saturday night and wrote out a script to be used specifically for these type of calls.
It was great, kept them on the line for at least 30 minutes unless they hung up well before then and never had a call back.
Technically you're not allowed to put a cell phone on the do-not-call list - which makes 0 sense to me since most people have to pay for minutes - but I always do it anyway and it does seem to help.
However I think the big thing that has really changed, actually totally eliminated, the unwanted calls, is that I just plain refuse to give my number out to anybody, anytime, anywhere. I just tell them I don't have a phone so I don't have to argue about it.
Voila, even the cops don't call me any more trying to get me to donate to them.
Technically you're not allowed to put a cell phone on the do-not-call list - which makes 0 sense to me since most people have to pay for minutes - but I always do it anyway and it does seem to help.
Can I register my cell phone on the National Do Not Call Registry?
Yes, you may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. The registry has accepted cell phone numbers since it opened for registrations in June 2003. There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the Registry.
It seems that after I responded to two of the Windows calls by getting all excited, at length, about getting to be a participant in the "India scam" that I had read so much about on the Internet, they stopped calling me.
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