So we all know about the national do-not-call list, right? And we all know that if you are on that list and you get a telemarketing call, you’ve got some recourse (although I’m damned if I know what it is - reporting it to someone, I would imagine.) Lately, I have been getting what HAVE to be telemarketing calls. The phone rings, I pick up and get a recorded message: “We have an important message for you! Please call <this phone number> immediately!” The calls come up on caller ID as “unknown name, unknown number,” so in theory I could just not pick up, but the fact is, sometimes people I know come up on caller ID as unknown.
I’m pretty sure these are telemarketing calls, but I’ve never called the numbers they leave. Partially because I’m afraid they’ve snuck an overseas number in there and I’ll end up with a gazillion-dollar phone bill, and partially because I have a sick feeling that if I call THEM, they’d weasel out of any kind of responsibility because I initiated contact. They are definitely annoying, but there’s a little voice in the back of my brain worrying that I am actually missing out on some geniunely important information that’s not about time-sharing, aluminum siding or switching my phone carrier.
So - is this the latest clever telemarketing ruse, or am I ignoring potentially critical information? If it is the former, is there anything I can do to stop it?
I never thought of that possibility, but in my case I kinda doubt it. I’m hopeless financially, but the WryGuy has never in his life been late with a payment or bounced a check and he’s been handling all of our money for 17 years.
The bill collection agency is a big possibility. That’s not to say that the collection agency is after you, but rather after someone who left your phone number as their phone number (probably by accident…?). As a related question is this a relatively new phone number for you? (e.g. new cell phone)
My wife has had the exact same problem-- cryptic voicemails of recordings leaving a phone number to call. After receiving one too many, she called the number and found out it was a collection agency.
If this is the case for you, I hope the collection agency (or it’s employees) are more understanding of the situation than the one my wife encountered; she had a pretty hard time convincing them that she didn’t know the person they were trying to contact.
In any case, I hope the phone calls stop.
LilShieste
I’ve gotten similar calls in the past (among other things, for a relative who lived nearby, and that relative’s ex), and in one case, the caller ID number was wrong as displayed (calling that 1-800 number gave you a disconnected message), and the few times they actually bothered leaving a message instead of hanging up at the answering machine pickup, the 1-888 number they left resulted in some weird message about the directory assistance number changing and there being a fee to access the new service - dunno what the fuck that was about. I finally had to grab the phone when I saw the bogus number come up on the caller ID, in order to figure out what was going on.
Is it a deep male voice? Because I’ve gotten those, too. I called back once, and they said they were looking for someone I’d never heard of. They still called a few more times, but I just ignored those.
I subscribe to the idea that if it’s truly important, it’ll come by post.
In my experience, it’s probably a collection agency, and it’s probably not you that they’re after (although checking your credit report isn’t a bad idea!).
They could be calling your number for any number of reasons: someone else left your number, your name is identical or similiar to the person there after, someone gave your address (possibly because they used to live there), etc.
I used to get calls like that frequently, and when I finally called the number, it was invariably a collection agency. They’d ask if I was so-and-so, I’d say no, I’m Metacom, they’d say thank you, apologize, and never call again. Now I don’t get calls like that at all…
I got that same call, and I actually called them back. It was a bill collector trying to collect on a department store credit card account that had been paid in full over ten years ago. I told him that is was paid up, and the account the had purchased was in error, and besides, since it is about 4 years past the statute of limitations on debts, it was uncollectable. He persisted, trying to guilt me into sending money anyway by saying things like, it is wrong to not pay debts. I wasn’t about to pay him anything, so I challenged him to sue me if he thought it would stand. After some hemming and hawing he said good bye, and I never heard from him again.
I agree that it’s a bill collector. Another possibility is that someone used you or your SO as a reference when they took out a loan. This in no way makes you responsible. They would just like your help in tracking the debtor down.
OK, well, if general concensus (sp?) is bill collector, I’ll roll with that. Thanks to the WryGuy’s hyper-responsibility where finances are concerned, we are actually completely debt-free with the exception of our mortgage, so I shall assume the calls are in error and ignore them.
I have to wonder about the success rate of such a silly set-up, though.
They buy out-of-statute debts for pennies on the dollar, then browbeat people who have no idea what rights they have under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the collections statutes of limitation of the different states. These folks get scared and fork over money they are not obligated to pay, and these unethical collections agents profit. They wouldn’t call if they didn’t make money at it.
The fact that they don’t leave a name or any indication as to the nature of the important message suggests that it is not someone you would be interested in calling back.
Again, the times I’ve called back on similiar messages (after succumbing to curiosity) they never questioned me when I said I wasn’t who they were looking for and they never bothered me again. I used to get several of these calls a week, and I haven’t had one in ages now…
The thing is, they legally can’t leave any indication as to the nature of the important message, under the provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They’re forbidden from saying “we’re debt collectors!” on answering machines or printing any indication of that on an envelope.
