# Credit Account Services Needs to be Gang-raped by Rhinos **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514 "2010-07-21T21:47:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/21 "2010-07-22T21:15:20Z")
Do you know who else thought “But we were just following orders!” was a valid excuse? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/22 "2010-07-22T21:30:50Z")
For a while, my outgoing voice mail message went like this: _“Hi, this is Sqweels… If you owe me money, press 1. If you’re a hot woman, press 2. If you’re a telemarketer, continue to hold, and some hired goons will be with you shortly”_ ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/23 "2010-07-22T21:34:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do you know who else thought “But we were just following orders!” was a valid excuse? C’mon, there’s no way I didn’t see that one coming. 😃 I even thought about heading it off at the pass myself. The proper response, of course, being: while both of these are examples of following orders that are illegal and/or reprehensible, they’re on vastly opposite ends of the same scale. And, too: shooting one concentration camp guard in the head isn’t going to do shit to stop the Nazis from rounding up more Jews, gays, Romani, and various other icky types. You want to go after the people \*giving \*the orders. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/24 "2010-07-22T21:38:42Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > C’mon, there’s no way I didn’t see that one coming. 😃 I even thought about heading it off at the pass myself. The proper response, of course, being: while both of these are examples of following orders that are illegal and/or reprehensible, they’re on vastly opposite ends of the same scale. > > And, too: shooting one concentration camp guard in the head isn’t going to do shit to stop the Nazis from rounding up more Jews, gays, Romani, and various other icky types. You want to go after the people \*giving \*the orders. The people _giving_ these particular orders will pay the little fine and go on, until the government shuts them down, at which point they open back up under another name and/or another state. The people doing the calling know they won’t be targeted so they keep on keepin’ on, _knowing_ that they will never be touched. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/25 "2010-07-22T21:47:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The people _giving_ these particular orders will pay the little fine and go on, until the government shuts them down, at which point they open back up under another name and/or another state. The people doing the calling know they won’t be targeted so they keep on keepin’ on, _knowing_ that they will never be touched. Yeah. And the problem is clearly that the repurcussions aren’t strong enough. So _work to make them stronger_, until it can’t be considered just another cost of doing business. > [@sqweels](#): > > If you’re a telemarketer, continue to hold, and some hired goons will be with you shortly :knock:knock:knock: “Who’s there?” “Goons.” “Who?” “Hired goons.” ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/26 "2010-07-23T20:46:10Z")
Won’t somebody please think of the Rhinos??? ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/27 "2010-07-24T01:31:32Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Undocumented workers are working for a company that’s breaking the law, and are breaking the law by doing so. Telemarketers working for companies that call people on do-not-call lists may be working for companies that break the law, if they’re based in the U.S. I’m not sure if the telemarketers themselves are breaking the law (i.e., could be personally prosecuted), or if that’s entirely on the companies themselves. > > So, if you think someone should be able to cause pain to someone for working one maybe-illegal job (telemarketing for a company that doesn’t remove people from lists), you shoudl also think it’s all right to cause pain to someone for working a definitely illegal job. > > IMO, in both cases, it’s the choices and actions of the companies in question that are the problem: \*not \*the choices and actions of their employees. Pwned! ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/28 "2010-07-24T02:59:17Z")
Well, I get Heather from Cardholder Services. But Heather is a recording. In order to find out who it is really, so that I can nail them for violating my rights by calling me when I’m on the DNC list, I have to listen through the recording and press 1 for the next available creep. If I do that, and then ask the name of the company, next available creep hangs up on me. (It’s probably Heather, that little bitch.) So the only thing I know is Cardholder Services, and the number. Sometimes not even the number. There are ways to do it so the number you see is not the number you get. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/29 "2010-07-29T16:28:30Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > …but I am seriously considering getting a police whistle so I can blow the eardrums out of whoever is on the other end… Much as I hate to be Dr. Buzzkill here, the phone companies all have devices on the lines that limit the maximum volume passed on a conversation. It will make you feel better, **Shodan** but it won’t really do much to the person on the far end. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/30 "2010-07-29T19:03:54Z")
The telemarketing companies do, or the companies that own the lines? If you mean the latter, it’s entirely possible to get a very painful–or at least uncomfortable–sound without going into ear-damaging decibel territory. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/31 "2010-07-29T19:40:02Z")
Typically there’s a local phone company (or ëxchange carrier") that owns the lines. They bring the lines to the customer’s premises where they get hooked into some type of phone system. Usually there are peak limiters in the telephone equipment and the phone company has something on the lines as well. The phone equipment manufacturer has an interest in not allowing dangerous voltages (sound is transmitted as a voltage) on their equipment, the phone company has a set of tariffs specifying how high a level can be transmitted, and the phone company has limiters too (just in case and for lightning). So we can annoy them. Too bad we can’t send an equipment-blowing-up signal down the line and take 'em off line for a while… ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/32 "2010-07-29T19:52:57Z")
Yeah, looks like I interpreted you right. I doubt that \*\*Shodan \*\*was hoping to \*literally \*blow the eardrums of the person on the other end of the line–just make a noise of a pitch and volume that was uncomfortable/painful. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/33 "2010-07-29T19:53:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I have to have a landline to have burglar alarm monitoring. ☹ > > I don’t even know what the phone number is; nobody uses it except my mother-in-law, my dad (who weirdly, cannot call my cellphone because he lives in the Caymans and their local carrier won’t allow outgoing international calls to cellphones), the alarm company, and an assload of telemarketers. > > Wonder if there’s a way to hook it up to Skype instead. You can probably get a free google voice line that will work for them. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/34 "2010-07-29T20:02:03Z")
Seriously? Google has voice lines now? I should start taking bets on when their actual name-change to Skynet happens. Oh god, we’re all gonna die. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/35 "2010-07-29T21:24:04Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > …but I am seriously considering getting a police whistle so I can blow the eardrums out of whoever is on the other end… > > Much as I hate to be Dr. Buzzkill here, the phone companies all have devices on the lines that limit the maximum volume passed on a conversation. It will make you feel better, **Shodan** but it won’t really do much to the person on the far end. Well, shit. I’ve already done the “scream obscenities at them”. Regards, Shodan the Disappointed ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/36 "2010-07-29T21:42:04Z")
Tell them you’ve laced their drinking water with dihydrogen monoxide. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/37 "2010-07-30T01:51:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Damn, I hate these people. Every fucking week! And the same stupid-ass spiel with a fucking lie about how this is the last time they will bother me. > > I am a mild-tempered guy, but I am seriously considering getting a police whistle so I can blow the eardrums out of whoever is on the other end. And lest your advice to me be “call the government and report them” I have done that. Eight months ago, and no change. > > Dammit PUT ME ON YOUR DO NOT CALL LIST! > > Regards, > Shodan My friend, I have one word for you Vuvuzela. Vuvuzela, right in the fucking ear. May as well put those damn things to some good use for a change. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514/38 "2010-07-30T01:52:51Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > “Hello! This is Rachel from Cardholder Services! There is no problem with your account, but…” > > I get these robocalls on both my landline and cell at least weekly. The cell gets them in both English and Spanish, too. I’m on both the Indiana and federal do-not-call lists, as well. For a while, the calls stopped along with other similar scams after some legal crackdowns (anyone remember the vehicle warranty robocalls a few years ago?), but in the last few months, Rachel has been calling and waking me up far too often. I like the ones Warning! The insurance on your car (or registration, or whatever) is about to expire! I don’t even have a fucking car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-account-services-needs-to-be-gang-raped-by-rhinos/547514.md?page=1)