How can I stop an unwanted phone call??

[Kayla's Mom]

After reading the telemarketing script thread I thought maybe someone could give me some advice on how to stop an unwanted call I keep receiving.

The call comes through my caller id as "unknown caller", I don't think anyone is on the line, it just sounds like dead air. Sometimes it's a fax machine. I get at least one call a day from as early as 7:30AM up until 11:00PM. We have been turning off our ringer at night and our answering machine down so we don't get woken up. I hate to do that though in case of an emergency.

I have talked with my phone company, they told me how to do anonymous call rejection which isn't working in this case. They are telling me the only other thing I can do is add privacy something-or-other to my line which costs 3.95 a month or trace the calls which cost the same amount and get the police involved. It really makes me mad that I may have to pay extra money to get the calls to stop. I understand I can add the privacy feature for a couple of months and then take it off, but even then, there is no guarantee that will help. I just don't want to spend the money if I don't have to.

We have had this number for years and haven't had a problem. We have been on the do not call list for as long as that's been around as well.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

Telemarketers aren't allowed to call before 8am and after 9pm (unless this has just changed; I used to be a telemarketer.) So, my following suggestion may not work.

If it is someone using an automatic dialer (like a telemarketer) you can get the Telezapper. It is a device that connects to your phone and sends a signal to the dialing machine that it is calling a disconnected number. The calls should stop within a few days. The problem with the device is that anytime someone calls it will hear the noise for a second (it's the sound you hear when a number is disconnected.)

We used this for a few weeks and the unwanted calls stopped; then we disconnected it. Every so often we will start getting calls (even though we are on the do not call list) and will hook it back up again.

We also have a feature that will allow us to specify the numbers that can call us and it rejects all those not listed (or we can just have certain numbers rejected.)

Good Luck!

 

[SalandJeff]

Check with your your phone company and see if you can do call tracing on a pay-per-use basis. We can do that here. It would be cheaper and not involve a monthly fee.

If you sometimes hear a fax tone, it may be something that is set up to automatically call and fax every day...there is not a person actually doing this that would know it is not going through. Do you have a fax machine or can you borrow one...if so connect it for a day or two. If it is a fax, it will come through and you may get the identity of where the calls are from and can then fax back a message telling them they have the wrong number.

Good luck.

 

[LoriMistress]

It's illigal for telemarketers to call you before 8am and after 9pm. If they due they can be fined at least the minium of $500. Also, just tell them to put you on their "DO NOT CALL LIST." And if the company calls you again than the company can be fined...big time. There is a website where you can add your phone number to the DO NOT CALL LIST. The telemarketer companys have 60-90 days to remove your phone# from their calling list.

 

[starwood]

I pay extra each month for call intercept. If the call is unavailable or unknown caller with no phone number it is picked up by the phone co. before your phone rings. They then ask the caller to identify themselves. If they do identify themselves the phone co. rings through with the information. You can then decide whether to accept the call or tell the caller not to call back. I very rarely get these calls anymore - they usually just hang-up.

 

[magiroux]

Isn't there a Federal "No Call" registry. I know we have a state one, but I thought I registered for a federal one too

Once you register your phone number it is illegal for solicitors (other than charities & political) to call. There are heavy fines asscociated with violating the list.

 

[mickman1962]

maybe you could just not pick up the phone

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

OP - we have had the same problem for about two weeks. The phone rings and there is just dead air. At first I thought it was the three seconds of dead air before the telemarketer would say "hello". but it wasn't

It is frustrating - It's impossible to say "do not call" when there is no one on the other end.

This doesn't help you solve your problem - but i thought it would make you feel better to know you aren't the only one!

Lee Ann

 

[4formickey]

When they call ,listen to the sales pitch. Act like you are will to buy and ask questions concerniing location of business, address,contact number and so on. At the end of your conversation explain to them that you are on the do not call list and you will turn this information over to the fcc. Make sure you get the name of the caller also. They should stop after this but make sure that you turn them in.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

We are on all the do not call lists and have been for years. I will probably have to break down and spend some money on either tracing the call, or the call intercept feature. I do have a fax machine so maybe I will hook that up and give that a try.

Unfortunately I can't tell them to stop calling because there is nobody on the line. And I usually don't answer the phone when the id says "unknown caller", but it is very irritating to get phone calls that wake us up either in the early morning or late evening. Heck, it's frustrating in the middle of the day.

Mom-to-2-princesses...let me know if you figure out a way to get them to stop!

Thanks everyone!

 

[PlaneJoy1]

My parents had something similar happen. Every night at 11 p.m. a fax machine would call. Someone at some company had programmed the number incorrectly and it was dialing my parents.

They had to get the phone company involved to get it resolved.

Make sure you aren't dealing with customer service. They can't help you! You need at minumum a manager or above to get involved. You should not be charged since these phone calls are happening before/after telemarketers hours. This is most likely a business calling - and the phone company needs to track it down and make them stop.

Good luck!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Anonomous call reject only works if the phone number from which the call is being placed has caller-ID and the dialer intentionally disables the caller-ID. But MOST telemarketing and several businesses have phone lines set up in what is known as a PBX, basically, it's a private phone "branch". The PBX doesn't have caller ID, so you get this message that really means "caller ID information is not available for this user" as opposed to "caller ID information has been blocked".

The "Privacey Director" option the phone company want to sell you will cause the phone company computers to answer ANY call that does not include caller ID information. The caller is given the option of hanging up, or voicing their name into the phone. IF they voice who they are, the phone company rings your phone, when you answer, the phone company plays the recording of the voice to you and gives you the coise to answer the phone call or reject it.

Just about every automated dialing machine won't be able to "voice its name" so the phone call effectively gets blocked by the phone company.

It's an option we signed up for years ago before the "Do Not Call" list was started and it cut telemarketers down to almost zilch. The only ones we ever got after that were those that allowed their Caller-ID to be active, and that is a group far and few between.

 

[jetstrip19]

After reading the telemarketing script thread I thought maybe someone could give me some advice on how to stop an unwanted call I keep receiving.

The call comes through my caller id as "unknown caller", I don't think anyone is on the line, it just sounds like dead air. Sometimes it's a fax machine. I get at least one call a day from as early as 7:30AM up until 11:00PM. We have been turning off our ringer at night and our answering machine down so we don't get woken up. I hate to do that though in case of an emergency.

I have talked with my phone company, they told me how to do anonymous call rejection which isn't working in this case. They are telling me the only other thing I can do is add privacy something-or-other to my line which costs 3.95 a month or trace the calls which cost the same amount and get the police involved. It really makes me mad that I may have to pay extra money to get the calls to stop. I understand I can add the privacy feature for a couple of months and then take it off, but even then, there is no guarantee that will help. I just don't want to spend the money if I don't have to.

We have had this number for years and haven't had a problem. We have been on the do not call list for as long as that's been around as well.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

Try signing up fpr the do not call list, it has significantly lowered the amount of telemarketers, also if oyu do pick up tell them to immediatley remove your name feom the list

 

[seashoreCM]

If you answer a call and get dead air that means the automatic dialing device they are using was set to wait for you to say hello (or just one or two words) and then page a telemarketer's rep. to come answer the speakerphone at his end.

If all the reps are busy the automatic dialing device hangs up on you.

If you say several words the automatic dialing device assumes it is your answering machine and it hangs up rather than pages a rep.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

... you can get the Telezapper. It is a device that connects to your phone and sends a signal to the dialing machine that it is calling a disconnected number. ... The problem with the device is that anytime someone calls it will hear the noise* for a second (it's the sound* you hear when a number is disconnected.)

*"Doo didee" but not the "We're sorry, the number you have dialed..."

I tried one of these devices, I forgot which brand. It emitted only the first "Doo" which only some makes and models of automatic dialing devices recognize as the called number not being in service. I returned that machine.

 

[RangerPooh]

I would suggest the don not call registry. Hubby and I even had to add our cell phones to thhis a we began to be solicited night and day on them too. It didn't seem to work immediately but after a month or two it must ahve kicked in. Until then I told the people that my number was registered and if they called again I wa going to reprot them for harassment. Might sound tough but telemarketers call at all the wrong moments! My personal favorite are those who call from the east coats and wake me up at 6am my time, 9am theirs!

 

[Echo queen]

Kaylas Mom, this happened to me too. Called the phone company, they only suggested the privacy manager as well. We did get the privacy manager and it does work. You have the power to turn PM on or off, we have on occasion turned it off and calls start right back. So good luck, I would try the PM, my DH works nights and we had no choice if he was to get sleep during the day without the PM.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We had Privacy Manager, and it does work to block calls that come in with no number displayed. BUT it was costing us $6 per month and the telemarketers were just calling and letting the number show! If you have Privacy Manager your phone will still ring, but it will show as "Privacy Manager". You pick up the phone and a recording says "To hear who is calling, press 1. To send the call to voice mail, press 2." and so on. Your phone will still ring in the middle of the night.
At one point our Caller ID had anonymous call rejection where a recording would tell callers their number had to be visible before the call would go through, but somewhere in all my fiddling with our phone services I dropped that. Can't remember how much it cost. Now we have "Call Blocker". It only works for land line phones (can't block cell calls which makes me furious). The next time you get one of those calls I wonder if you could do *69 to get the number, then subscribe to call blocker and program that number in. You can program up to 10 numbers to be blocked. Our phone company is SBC - services probably vary a little bit from company to company. I would think once you can figure out what number the calls are coming from you can figure out how to block them.
Good luck!