A couple of weeks ago, I received several phone calls from a credit card company. A credit card company I have never heard of and have never done any business with. Turns out they had gotten my phone number out of the phone book (the phone is in my wife’s first initial and last name) because the initial and last name matched. I told the company that and they promised to change their database. Well, today I come home and check my Caller ID (I didn’t have it the first time) and there’s 15 calls within a three hour time period!
I call the idiots again and they, again, promise to change their database. Fifteen minutes later, they call again (actually, their computer called on autodial). I called them back and got a “supervisor”. I gave her the same info and she said there was no record of what I had told the first person! After a brief yelling match, I threatened to call “the authorities” and charge her company with harassment. She told me that I was harassing her by yelling! I hung up. Fifteen minutes later, they called again. This time I got a name (which I should have gotten the first time, but I was steaming). THIS person promised :rolleyes: to stop the phone calls. I have been online since so if they have called, I have no way of knowing.
If they happen to call back tomorrow, can I actually call “the authorities”? Is this really a form of harassment? How many times must I tell them they have the wrong information before they get the message?
Yes. This is a form of harrassment. They are required by law to remove your name from their database. Find out as much about them as you can and report them to the authorities
If I remember correctly, if you ask for it, they are required to give you a phone number to contact them at, as well as the name and address of their business.
take a look around for some shareware called “enigma” it lets you log all of your telemarketer calls, and lets you quote the applicable laws when asking for identification of the company bugging you.
Who are these “authorities”? the police? the phone company? It takes a while for some telemarketers to get your name off their list. You may be in more than one database.
In the future, take a deep breath, and calmly tell (or yell if it makes you feel better) the telemarketer to “take my name off your list, and don’t call me again”. It takes less than 10 seconds. They are required to do it. But if they persist, then call the “authorities”!
No, ask to speak with a supervisor and calmly state that your name and number needs to be immediatley placed on the do not call list. In addition, indicate that you have received an inordinate number of calls, up to five per hour, and any future calls will be considered harassment, and logged for a complaint to be filed with the attorney general of your state, because harassment by telemarketers is illegal in Georgia.
Then, do your homework. Georgia (like many other states) has a statewide Do Not Call list. Get yourself on it. Then every time you’re called by an idiot company with an out of control autodialer, they’re committing a crime, and you can collect damages, if you want to push it.
I don’t know weather or not it is against the law, but I think it would be a good idea to keep a journal of when they call just in case you do intend to report them. Your accusations will carry a lot more weight if you can say specifically how many times they have called you, and at what date/time.
I seem to have read this a bit differently. Perhaps I am seeing it this way due to a recent experience I had.
Is this a collection call? Good luck getting that straightened out.
If this is the card issuer or a collection agency trying to recover money, and some deadbeat with your last name is out there, you can expect more such calls in the future.
Why would I say this? Someone in Chicago owed a lot of money to local hospitals. Someone with my last name. I would find messages on the machine every day. I had to send a photocopy of my ID, showing my full name, in order to get calls such as this stopped. Twice. Two different hospitals.
I got placed no the Tennessee Do Not Call list via the state’s Web site a few months ago. After two days or so, the calls stopped completely and they have not started again.
Allow me to clarify: The person they’re looking for has the same first initial and last name of my wife. Our phone is listed as Lastname, Initial. They think that out phone belongs to SameLastName, SameInitial.
I told them they were wrong several weeks ago and the calls stopped until Tuesday when they called 15 times. This IS a creditor, but not one of mine. They don’t seem to get the hint. My wife has had this number for nearly 20 years!
This person they’re looking for has apparently skipped out on their credit card bill and didn’t leave a valid phone number so the credit card issuer started combing the phone book looking for likely candidates. Unfortunately, they got me.
I will not be nearly as nice if the calls start back today or any other time.
Often that makes only a slight difference. IIRC in Ontario there’s a limit to the number of times a day and the hours during which even collection agencies can call. The “authorities” in the U.S. (IIRC) is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – they set the rules for radio, TV and telecommunications (covering telemarketing, junk faxes etc.) Whether you get it straightened out or not, you can still file a formal complaint with them.
It sounds like that company is either:
a) Got a huge technical screw up happening
b) They are harassing on purpose
It could be an autodial-up has a glitch. I used to work for a company that sent leaflets in the mail and our mailhouse also would send fax broadcasts (legal here, not in some states). They had a disaster story about a time when the computer that autodials the fax numbers malfunctioned and just kept dialing the same number over and over for an entire list (of about 10,000).
They had to shut the entire system down and the recipient was understandably quite pissed.
I’ve had a collection agency keep calling me (when I wasn’t home) for someone named “Fatima” who previously had my phone number. I was able to straighten things out and they were quite understanding. Dunno what the story is, but I did notice on my call display that “Fatima” had also called my number a few times. Hmmmmm.
Mr. Blue Sky, get a name and address. Then, send a certified letter to the company stating that you (or your wife) are not the person they are looking for and that further communication with you on their part will result in legal action against them for harrassment. I had the same experience you are going through, some deadbeat with same last name and first initial as mine. I did this and never heard from the companies (this was a real deadbeat person) that kept calling, again.
Course, it also helped that BellSouth, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to leave my name out of the directory for the past four years.
At this site, you can review some of the general debt collection regulations in place by the Federal Trade Commission, one of which states:
Since this is not your debt, the latter part of that shouldn’t be a problem. I’d say that the next time they call, get their address and send them a letter as outlined above. If they violate it, then report them to your state Attorney General’s office.
Really? Just the one in GA or all over? We signed up for the Colorado do-no-call list earlier this year when it was available, and since it went into effect (in July, I think) we have had ZERO telemarketing calls. It’s been fabulous and we couldn’t be more pleased! Just wondering what the difference was between mine and yours.
