I need some serious Techy help

[Buckrub]

Please, this is not some joke. I need some help from someone who understands the internet and how this stuff works.......Len, Foo, Hombre, whoever...........

My mother is 87. Very lucid, drives, and works in yard. For many years, she has made quilts on order for folks, and sold them. She has a quilting machine and does a lot of them, sells them to folks.

OK, somehow she got on every kind of business listing on the internet..........most I've never heard of..........Buzzfile, Mantra, Amfibi.......dozens of these things. I assume their general purpose is legit, but clearly they don't check their data. Every one of them spit out the same data, how much she makes (grossly incorrect, GROSSLY!), how many employees, etc. BUT they all have her street address (next door to me!), her telephone number, etc.

Most list her business type as generally correct (Personal Services, Quilting, or such), but some say "Tuxedo Services" or crazy things. THUS, she's getting calls all day, every day, from callers legitimately asking if they can rent a tuxedo, or if her barber shop is open till 5:00, that sort of thing.

I've tried to tell her to stop answering the phone. I'm some successful in that, but she keeps saying she NEEDS certain calls, and she needs the legitimate callers searching for a place to make quilts. Plus, my crazy brother, when there, answers her phone.........just in case one of his buddies might want to buy him a drink!

SO, here's what I need..........I need to somehow remove her from all these sites. Just take her name and address and number and info out......... and I don't even know how they got the info in the first place, other than data mining. I doubt these online places exist via folks calling them up and asking to please be listed!!!

How do I get her removed from the gazillion websites that have her 'business' info listed?????????????

[Thumper]

No clue, but I've always been under the impression that once you're "on the internet" ... you're there forever!

I had the same problem with my business. (Central Florida Pressure Cleaning, Inc).

Somehow I ended up with a dozen business listings on the net listed under "Street Cleaning", "Car Washes", "Pressure Washer Parts & Repair", "Cleaning Supplies", "Chemicals" ... mops, brooms, paper towels, glass cleaner ... you name it, I was listed. A true pain in the ass, but like you, I had no clue how to get rid of all that. I never even knew where they all came from in the first place. To make matters worse, I not only had a bazillion people calling to BUY stuff ... I had a bazillion sales people calling to SELL me stuff. It griped my ass!

[Captain]

Change phone numbers.

[Bwana]

Leave it to Cappy.

[LJ3]

She posted that information "somewhere" and it got farmed out to lord knows who. The effort involved in reversing the process would take a very long time and have mixed results at best. Most of the stuff is completely automated and you'll never find a human to contact. I'd change her phone number.

If you want to try to rid her of some of it, go to each site and look all over the page for the "contact" info, or "webmaster".

[Buckrub]

Ok thanks.

She isn't going to change her 50 year old phone number......but I understand.

Thanks.

[Thumper]

Same boat I was in ... company stationery, business cards, printed invoices, print ads, yellow pages ads, previous customers with the number, same company phone number since it's inception ... would'a cost a small fortune to change everything. There ought'a be a law. ;)

It really does suck though. If the category had been correct, I'd have looked at it as free advertising ... a good thing ... but I never saw much good come out of any of it ... on the consumer side OR mine. Al Gore should'a seen this coming and installed safeguards. ;)

[Captain]

I was being serious and was totally unaware folks from Arkansas celebrated birthdays for phone numbers.

[Buckrub]

I agree that the suggestion is effective. It would solve the stated problem. Sort of like amputating my right arm above the elbow would solve my rotator cuff pain.

However, there are two things wrong with it:

A) It is for my 87 y/o mother. Logic is not always present in discussions of how to solve problems with elderly women. Sometimes it is, she is lucid and intelligent, but she is stubborn. I don't know where she got that. But she has too many friends (regardless of the actual number of birthdays this number has had) who know it, and doctors have it, and this has it, and that has it, and she just won't entertain changing it. I'd do it..........but......

B) It is nowhere near as bad as my suggestion. My suggestion is to throw the danged home phone in the trash. She won't do that. My own wife won't do it either, thus we have one.

I realize that some virile, dominant men can rule over women in such ways as to direct them to do whatever they bid. I, however, have just finished pressing my pink panties for tomorrow, and I am not going to attempt either of these two suggestions again.

Thank You.

[Thumper]

I with you Bucky. It's like a case of identity theft ... it's always the victim that gets screwed over, has to do all the work and make the sacrifices. It sucks.

[BarryBobPosthole]

The 'internet' generally takes what information it can get and makes the rest up. The make up part are key words that get associated with her in search engines. That's how the dumb stuff got associated with her number. My advice is to put her a 'real' business website with the correct information about her business on it. Instead of putting her home phone on it, associate it with an email addy that you can check periodically and you might even think about a toll free number with a voice mail box you can screen. If not, just post on the site that the only way to contact her is via email. That will at least improve the data about her business on the net. I mean hell, there's gonna be data out there regardless, may as well be the data you want to be there.

BKB

[Arty]

I was being serious and was totally unaware folks from Arkansas celebrated birthdays for phone numbers.

Now that... Is funny.
Even if I do see where Bucky is coming from.

[Nandy]

BBP is correct, at least if you get lucky more bots will get the information off your site than the bots getting the information from somewhere else.. Heck, those sites with the wrong info might even update it with the correct info!!! Unfortunately, the internet tends to replicate so once the info is out, it is out for ever.... Also, if I recall right, there was a process that can get the correct information up front with the search engines like google or yahoo.... Look into it if you end up getting the website done.

[HideHunter]

Hate technology in general.. love Caller ID...

[Thumper]

I only have a home phone because I'm on DSL and need the line. We VERY seldom answer that phone as anyone who knows us, has our cell numbers. We might check voicemail on the home phone every 4-5 months, but I will scan through the called ID log occassionally just to see if anything looks familiar.

But, that said, if you're running any sort of business ... even a very small side business, caller ID won't always tell you what's a "junk" call and what's a legitimate "business" call. Joe Blow can call trying to sell you something while Jane Blow (THAT should draw in the smart-assed comments) may be calling to order a quilt.

[LJ3]

I assume you backwater hicks don't have a cable service that displays the incoming call information on your TV. It's a nice feature for such things.

[Buckrub]

80% of all Caller ID (IAM Message in SS7) is spoofed. Heck, I get calls all the time from MY number (the number, and the name, of the phone I'm answering).

Geez, putting a TF number (800-whatever) is actually a spoof. There is no such number. TF numbers are just a billing thing. The number of the phone calling you is seldom displayed correctly on Caller ID. Means nothing to me anymore. I don't spoof mine, so if I call you, yes........my number will display. And my name if you have it. But Caller ID is passive. The PSTN will display anything the caller chooses to insert in that field, if they choose to.

So that ain't the answer.

[HideHunter]

Ah - I somehow got it in my mind she was out of the "quilt" business. I simply don't answer calls from names, or numbers, I don't recognize... and with "political" season starting again, I'll get even more selective.

[Thumper]

I assume you backwater hicks don't have a cable service that displays the incoming call information on your TV. It's a nice feature for such things.

For what? I have it on my phone. My mom has the tv thing, but not her phone and it doesn't do a bit of good if she's not watching tv. 'Bout the only time I watch tv is when I go to bed.

Hidey-Ho, that's the problem. On a "business call", you won't recognize the name/number if it's a new customer inquiring about a service/sale.

[Captain]

Y'all can brain fuck this thing to death but bottomline is the only way to solve the problem is to change phone numbers.
If she is not willing to do that get caller ID and a phone answering machine. Return the calls she wants too and delete the rest.
You AINT gonna get the information off the net unless you hire someone to search and edit the whole world.... And even then you are somewhat at the mercy of the "folks" holding the information willingness to edit it.

[Thumper]

Answering machine?? Do people still use those? I'd guess most caller ID packages come with voice mail.