Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Stop Calling Me!

I keep getting these recorded phone calls.  They're always regarding my current credit card account, and I should call them right away, and...  Well, I don't really know what else because I always hang up on them after that.  Really - does that work with anybody?  It must, because they keep doing it.  In fact, they usually call several times in one day - all from different phone numbers.  I'm just gradually adding them to a contact on my phone called 'Spam!' - and all calls from that contact go straight to voicemail, so eventually I won't hear from them anymore.  Or at least that's the plan.

I'm not really sure why they are allowed to call me in the first place.  I always sign all of our phone numbers up for the Do Not Call List - every time they mention it on the news.  Never mind the fact that I don't know why I should have to sign up again and again.  I mean, why does my sign-up on that list only last 2 years at a time?  I think it should last until I take my number off the list - like that would ever happen!  But, anyway, I'm wondering if these 'I have information about your current credit card' phone calls aren't actually against the law.  Could I get them in trouble?  Or sue them?  Yeah, I'm not sure what the law is on that; I guess I'll just stick to the send to voicemail thing.

I could understand their right to call me if they really were calling from one of my credit cards and maybe trying to work out a payment plan with me - not that there's any need for that!  And I really don't recommend using the voicemail trick to stop collection harassment for good, because if you owe money, you owe money, and it's probably best just to face up to it and come up with a plan to take care of it.  There are even lawyers who are working hard to stop collection harassment California and elsewhere - because, really, does harassing someone really do any good for anybody?  It just has people avoiding the bill collectors and getting deeper and deeper into trouble.

Yep, makes about as much sense as these stupid recorded phone calls...  Why don't they ask me about this stuff? 

6 comments:

  1. The one we receive most often starts out: "Hello, this is Rachel, from...." Have had up to 3 calls in one day with same intro. Your dad has even talked to a live (we think) person and we were supposed to be on their 'do not call' list. It did work for a few weeks, now 'Rachel' is calling again. Grrrr!!!

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  2. Thankfully I haven't had one of those calls for quite some time. I've actually continued through to a real person, but as soon as you mention the do not call list they will either hang up or start yelling at you, or act as if there is no such thing as a do not call list. What there are doing is illegal in so many ways, but I don't know if there is any true way to stop them as they won't give a legitimate business name (if they even have one) and they mask their numbers so caller ID is ineffective in trying to track them.

    Also, the national do not call registry is not supposed to expire. You can actually verify if your number is on it, and it will tell you when you were first put on it.

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  3. Cardholder Services - I think that's who they always say they're from, and they always give some name - as if it's some kind of personal phone call.

    At least sending them straight to voicemail should help a bit. I've noticed these spammy calls don't like talking to answering machines or voicemail.

    I should check the National Do Not Call Registry. Maybe it's just the Wisconsin one that expires every two years - so when they mention it on the news, I go sign up again.

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  4. Those phone calls drive me CRAZY. I have all my numbers on the Do Not Call List too. It's gotten to the point where I don't even answer the phone unless I recognize the caller or the number!

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  5. I get those a lot too, they're mostly asking for surveys or mortgage plans. My phone identifies their caller IDs as either "Toll-Free Call" or "Out of Area" so I can identify when they're calling.

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  6. I'm getting the same calls, but they are calling on my CELL PHONE!!! It is really, really ticking me off, and I have ALL our phones (home and cells) on the Do Not Call Registry.

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