Solicitor calls/do not call list issues

[Markbo]

OK as a related message to my cable TV inquiry I havea completely separate issue I need help with. Roughly 6 months ago we started geting alot more solicitation calls. I dont know why. I am signed up on (and recently confirmed) on the national and Texas state do not call lists.

They worked for several years until recently and I dint know why. Some of the are.recordings and ask you to call back (which I wont do), but they keep calling.

Part if our new cable package is we had to get landline with it. I tell every caller to put me on their do not call list and typicaly they just hang up. What can I do to stop these calls?

[JoeG52]

I don't know if it does any good but I file a complaint when I get them...
https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx

[Markbo]

Sweet. Thats a good place to start!

[Rick R]

When I get a real person on the phone trying to telemarket me I act interested asking for their company name and address. Then I tell them there is a $20 per minute fee for calling my house and ask if they accept the charges. They say that they can't do that, stutter, huff and hang up. For some reason I don't get telemarketers very often. Maybe I'm on THEIR do not call list? :mrgreen:

[country gent]

A female caller is fair game for whatever pops into my mind. Most "live callers get told my time is valuable and $300.00 an hour billed to the nearest half hour. I get some interesting responxe to which I ask are you getting paid for your time? Mine is as valuable as yours Whyshouldnt I get paid for it also. Also remeber Pollsters campaighn and political calls are excemt from the do not call lists. Ive gotten calls as early as 5:00am to as late as 10:00 pm from solicitors and political groups. Its a issue that needs addressed for severl reasons now. Some dont have a useable contact number show up on caller ID or its a scamed number from buisness or individual. Ive had my number show up on a couple calls even. @ there is to many scams with these. One thing I do is keep the line open till it disconnects keeping their line tied up as long as possible. If a live person and Ive got the time Ill keep them on the line as long as possible to tie them up and keeping them from bothering others

[Markbo]

While I appreciate the humorous ways to deal with them, I'd rather just stop the calls from coming in at all.

[johnson1942]

i know enough words in several languages to really confuse them. i can really go at it as some one who knows very very little english. they mark me down as someone who isnt worth a repeat. if im tired i just hang up but if not they get a mix of two different native american languages, french which i know fairly well, arabic and norwegian.

[Geezer in NH]

Get a new answer machine. Ours has call block works great after the first call.

[leadman]

If you sign up your phones numbers even though they are already on the DNC list, they then have IIRC 30 days that they can still call you legally.
I get their info and tell then they are getting a complaint filed on them if they call back. If they argue I tell them I am filing the complaint after I hang up. A cell phone is not fair game for the telemarketers even if it is not on the DNC list.
I had a lawyer looking for someone with my same last name and he was asked to not call back so he someone else in the same office call, so I filed a complaint. Guess it worked 'cuz he called me back fuming, so I tole him I was filing another complaint. He must have had to pay again as someone else from his office called and apologized and said they will not call again. I did not file another complaint and they did not call again.
You could call your cable company and tell them you want another phone number and hope it is not bombarded with unwanted calls. They might even have a way you can block numbers that have already called you once.

[6bg6ga]

I've been on the do not call list for years. It doesn't stop any of them. I have even had my name appear in the caller id or a bunch of random numbers. Anymore I simply answer the call and then hang up and it seems to work a little.

[leftiye]

I don't answer anyone who I don't recognize. I just let it go to answering machine. If it turns out to be a legit call AND I'm interested (they usually hang up on the answering machine), I can pick it up off of the answering machine.

[mold maker]

My cell number is one prefix digit off the local non-emergency county communications. I average at least twice a week getting a call wanting help, by a distraught caller. They are usually in such a hurry I can't convince them it's a wrong number. I try to be helpful with their mistake, but some insist on giving me information. Most finally thank me, but some are mad at me for answering their call. At my age, unless it's the middle of the night, I consider it a public service.
Lately, I get calls claiming to be the IRS. The canned message claims I made a mistake on the last tax forms, and gives a number to return the call. The number given is jibberish, and my caller ID only shows "unknown number".

[lefty o]

the list doesnt stop any of the calls. another unenforced law with no teeth.

[DerekP Houston]

I've been on the do not call list for years. It doesn't stop any of them. I have even had my name appear in the caller id or a bunch of random numbers. Anymore I simply answer the call and then hang up and it seems to work a little.

I've not had the list work any better for me either. They seem to go in cycles/waves. I'll get a bunch of calls for awhile and then it slows down, just repeats a few months later.

[Outpost75]

I used call block on my phone, and when the blocked number calls it logged them on my computer with date and time-stamps. Once a month I dumped the blocked call log and sent the list with a form letter of complaint to my state dept. of commerce and to the FCC. I get very few Robo Calls anymore.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It could be worse. For us "solicitor" is what we call an attorney, because if the case is a big one, he solicits a barrister to do the court work. If they do any other kind of soliciting it is only coincidence.

[Pipefitter]

Almost 3 weeks ago I was involved in an auto accident that resulted in a trip to the ER. ER personnel (and the county sheriff) took my phone number down as well as the rest of my information. Since then I have been averaging one call every other day offering to reduce my credit card interest. I dont even have a credit card, and I tell the callers that as well as my number is on the DNC list.

[opos]

I downloaded the 3 tone "out of order" "beep" from a web site (there are many)..my phone answers "beep, beep, beep" with that tone..if it's a robocall it's immediately "recognized" as an out of order number and they do not pass it along to other lists...we have lost about 90% of the garbage calls...on anything else we don't answer any phones...we have caller id and if we know the number we can pick it up or just let it go to the voice mail...if it's a number we don't know we just let it go...most just hang up...

We were getting calls after about 8 at night...we are older and go to bed early...we just take the phone off the hook...if it's family or an emergency our cell's are always on...I don't invite the callers to call and the do not call list is a joke so we just work around it....
"beep beep beep....the number you have reached has been disconnected"...click.

[Duckiller]

Have been on the "Do not call" list for years. Still get calls. Callers claim I am not on list, which is BS. Hae tried to return their calls using the number that shows up on my caller id. number does not work . These people are all scammers, including local contractor.Have filed complaints with FTC, does no good unless they get lots of complaints about one number. I have two ways to deal with calls. One is to curse them out in the most vile way possible. Only problem I feel I should wash my mouth out when I am done. The other way is get a small air horn and blast them with it. Wal-mart has small ones cheap that work great. Complaints, cursing horns none of it work because the phone company wants the revenue. The exemptions to the no call list are also BS. No one has a RIGHT to call me . Nothing will be done to stop these calls until the phone companies are fined for every call that they put through. Write your congress person!

[higgins]

If a company has a "business relationship" with you, I believe they can call you; get a second opinion about this. Seems like every one is affiliated to some extent with a credit card company or financial company. Most of the calls we get (other than the outright scams) are offering us a better deal on our credit card. At least make sure you opt out of what little information sharing you can opt out of with every company you have business with; banks, credit cards, utilities, TV, phone, etc.

[6bg6ga]

Do not call should mean do not call. Most 99% of the calls I get are from people I have never done business with.

[Markbo]

Well dang...my problem is more.widespread than I knew. :D

[Ballistics in Scotland]

A shrill whistle is said to come me through the phone in a form that hurts the ears more than other noisemakers.

The do not call list has a worthwhile function, even if you get the calls. Some cold calling could come from good local businesses in trouble, who know about you as a person, and have a deal to propose that genuinely beneficial to both. Anybody who saw the double glazing I had till last year was entitled to an opinion. You don't really want to hurt the eardrums or whisper obscenities to someone local, whose proposal is halfway legitimate. But if you know you are on the do not call list, illegitimacy or words that effect is clear-cut.

[Kent Fowler]

I bought a phone which will easily block up to 250 numbers. I have 155 numbers blocked, atm and it sure is quiet around the house, now. Google up call blocking phones.

[gwpercle]

We have a landline at home too. When the power goes out so do the cell phones....the landline seldom goes out. So we keep it for emergencies.
We have a set up that shows on the TV who's calling, also we have caller ID on the phones themselves. If it's someone I know I answer....other than that they get the recorded message....
Once you get a setup that allows you to see who it is...answering is totally at your discretion or you call that person back later at your convenience .
Another ploy is to jerk their chain....pretending to be hard of hearing , make them repeat it louder and louder several times. Start speaking in Cajun French, that usually messes them up big time... Just keep them on the phone, wasting their time , after once or twice they stop calling.
Gary

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Don't you have to resubmit your number to the "do not call list" every 5 years?

[abunaitoo]

I have an answering machine.
I answer sometimes, but try to let the machine pick it up.
Robo calls and stupids, don't even leave any message.
Kind of harsh, but tired of hearing people that can hardly speak English.

[RED BEAR]

a friend let me in on some thing that seems to work pretty well for the live callers . just tell them you are not the one they need to speak to and that you will get them then just set the phone down until you hear the beep beep beep of a disconnection. after a couple times they do not call back. did have one fellow call right back to tell me he didnt appreciate what i did i just replied that i didnt appreciate him hanging up as i had to go all the way to the far field to get the person he needed to talk to i would not go back and get him again if he was going to hang up again. he must have been on the line a good 20 minutes before i got the beep beep. but just setting the phone down really has seemed to help slow down if not stop the calls

[44man]

I have caller ID and just let it ring through. No message left means they are creeps.