No Call Registry

[Buckrub]

I can't see what good this has done.

I get over 50 calls daily. For SOME reason, I'm besieged with security companies. I can only surmise it's some online snooping software that knows I googled home security. I've given my number to no one.

The other reason is that my wife turns 65 on March 9. Most of the calls are trying to sell her Medicare Supplement Insurance. Must be a HUGE markup in this stuff! Same thing happened to me last May/June. Hopefully this will go away.

But I can't see where signing up for National Do Not Call did anything. It's just another 'feel good' law with no teeth. Another government failure, at a cost.

I don't want regulations and restrictions. BUT, if you are danged determined to have 'em, please make 'em work, ok? I swear, the danged government is the most inefficient, worthless bag of crap I've ever seen, in every area. I can think of nothing that they do well enough.

[BarryBobPosthole]

You were, as I recall, all for it at the time. Must have been a moment of weakness.

I made the mistake once of clicking on what I thought was a news story about mortgage rates on the FoxNews website (they all have those fake stories that are really ads). As soon as I realized it was a company ad pimping their mortgage refi rates I closed it down and went about my business. Within an hour my phone started ringing and I must have gotten fifteen phone calls from companies wanting to quote me a refi rate for my home. It still creeps me out how fast that all happened.
I think if we want to stop the BS we have to limit access to personal data on the internet. I also think we have to redefine the boundaries of what personal data is.

Ever wonder what the next iteration of the internet will be like? I have a feeling personal security will be one of the drivers that decides the landscape.

BKB

[HideHunter]

It's been "as advertised" for us. We went from probably 20+ calls a week to "maybe" one a week. We have caller ID also, so I don't answer most of those. One other thing I do is - when any business asks for my phone number - I give the one we had as a kid. It's out of service.

[Captain]

We do not answer the home phone ever. It's only purpose is a answering machine. If someone wants us they know our mobile numbers.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Thumper]

We do not answer the home phone ever. It's only purpose is a answering machine. If someone wants us they know our mobile numbers.

Ditto here ... and we only check the home phone voicemail maybe once every month or two.

[Buckrub]

You were, as I recall, all for it at the time. Must have been a moment of weakness.

I made the mistake once of clicking on what I thought was a news story about mortgage rates on the FoxNews website (they all have those fake stories that are really ads). As soon as I realized it was a company ad pimping their mortgage refi rates I closed it down and went about my business. Within an hour my phone started ringing and I must have gotten fifteen phone calls from companies wanting to quote me a refi rate for my home. It still creeps me out how fast that all happened.
I think if we want to stop the BS we have to limit access to personal data on the internet. I also think we have to redefine the boundaries of what personal data is.

Ever wonder what the next iteration of the internet will be like? I have a feeling personal security will be one of the drivers that decides the landscape.

BKB

I didn't say I wasn't for it.

I said it doesn't work. Like all government programs, it's ineffective, inefficient, and doesn't do what it claimed it would do.

[Big Boy]

Its an enforcement problem - like everything else they put the burden on us, the taxpayer. If you want the calls to stop you have to answer, act interested, get the company name, then tell them to put you on their do not call list. Then go to donotcall.gov and register a complaint. You'll need; your phone number and name, the company name and phone number, and the time of day they called. Pisses me off that they have yet another unenforcable law, but a few simple questions on the website should dramatically cut down on the number of calls. If the company knows you know their company name then they know you can report them and you're more likely to come off their list.

Least that's what I'm hoping.

[Buckrub]

I filed a bunch of complaints at FCC.GOV. Nothing ever happened, the calls kept coming. I used to 'engage' some of these folks just for fun.......and when I'd tell them I was on the "do not call registry", they all laughed, and said "So? Means nothing to anyone".

[BarryBobPosthole]

I've donethe same and nothing ever happens.

BKB

[Thumper]

Sometimes (rarely), the caller ID looks like a legitimate call and I'll answer. I just tell them I need to put them on hold while I go upstairs to get my wallet/credit card. (I have a "hold button" on my phone) I have no clue how long they stay on hold (on THEIR dime) before they give up. I'm sure it doesn't mean squat, but it makes me feel better.

[Buckrub]

Most of them have gotten smart. "Caller ID" is really whatever digits YOUR telephone system puts out. If you have a dumb telephone (most folks do at home), the Telco decides, and it's probably your real number. But if you have trunks or a 1FB instead of a pots line, you can send whatever digits you want to send.

Most folks have gotten smart and send made up numbers that start with 501 NPA, and they use an NXX that is a cell number. So, I get "Wireless Caller" on the Caller NAME ID, and some Arkansas wireless number as the number. How they change so often, I do not yet know. Technology that occurred post 02/2011 escapes me!

[Buckrub]

8:44 PM

Phone rang. Calling Name ID says "URGENT UPDATE". Number is 703-291-9005. Town is Triangle, VA. Provider is Level 3, so I know it's a trunk line.

What really ticks me off, is they won't leave a message. Never. Of course I know why..........Predictive Dialers don't show it as a pickup if they get answering machine. But it can't be too urgent if they don't leave a message.

Sigh. The Framers of the Constitution definitely left out "RIGHT TO PRIVACY" in the Bill of Rights.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Lol, nobody sez we gotta connect up to these networks. We could have our privacy if we really wanted it.

And they communicated just fine, thank you. Andit was infinitely more humane a conversation.


BKB

[Buckrub]

What?

[Thumper]

Ummm, I'm with Bucky. HUH???