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Tue 13 Nov, 2007 07:43 pm
For that last week i have been getting frequent phone calls usually by a machine. The recording says something like "This is not a sales call. If you are this person [slight pause] hold on for an important message." At that point i usually hang up, puzzled that they never mention who they are or who "this person" that they are trying to reach is.
About two days ago a live person actually called looking for a Keshia or something like that. When i told the person that they had a wrong number he didn't seem to convinced. He used comments like "then why is she giving out this number?". Eventually he seemed to believe me and said that he would "take care of it", which i thought meant remove my number from their list.
Based on this i am guessing that this Keshia is the unidentified person that the recording is looking for.
The automated calls continue. Today when i answered the phone i got "This is not a sales call. If you are this person [slight pause] hold on for an important message." I held on for awhile expecting the recording to actually state who they are looking for or for a real person to come on the line so i could again explain that i am not Keshia and that i don't know any Keshia. Instead i got a recording that said "By holding the line you have confirmed that you are "this person". This is Progressive Debt Collection..." blah blah blah and gave a long distance to call to fix "my" debt.
At this point i choose not to pay for a long distance call in another possible futile attempt to convince them that i am not Keshia. At least i am guessing that is who this unidentified person is that the recording is looking for. Also i am a little concerned that they now claim that i have confirmed that i am the unidentified person that the recording is looking for.
The machine calls several times a day and this is going into the second week.
Any ideas on how to convince them to quit calling or do i need to pay for a long distance call, which is admittedly principle not cost, in order to try again and see if this time they will believe that i am not the person that they are trying to find?
Let your machine screen your calls.
Or, if you choose to answer your phone, as soon as you hear it's a recorded message, simply hang up and chalk it up as a very minor annoyance....all your problems should be this small.
If you do happen to have a human call you, and ask a silly question such as "Why would Keisha be giving this number"....tell them "How could I possibly know what a person I never heard of does anything. If you ever talk to her, you can ask her yourself." In other words, lob the ball back on their court. You don't owe them anything, not even a conversation.
I get calls like this at work all the time, and just say, "wrong number" and hang up. On the very rare occassion someone has called right back, I say "Wrong number, don't call back again."
oh....do not call them back....they will take that as a sign that somehow you are involved....their thinking is, "why would you pay money on something you have nothing to do with"
They could be bill collectors and you don't owe them anything.
They could be scam artists and you don't want to be scammed.
Just deal with the inconvenience. Calling and followup will just get you in deeper. Disengage.
If you response is "Well, I just can't...." Well dear, that's what they rely on.
Your choice.
I can pretty much ignore it but they are persistent. The machine just called again. That must have been a two hour pause between calls.
First - run your credit report and make sure no one is using your personal information to make charges. If you don't know how to do this go to your bank and they will do it for you (they might charge you something like $10).
Second - If you don't have caller ID I suggest you hit *69 to get the number of the company that keeps calling you. Report this number to your State Attorney General as a harassment call and they will contact the company and tell them to stop it.
You don't mention where you live. In the state I am in there are laws against calls like that. Don't call them back especially if it is long distance. There are certain #'s that cost the caller about $2400 a minute (that is if you are calling from the USA to that #). The phone company and the govt. can't help you if you call and get a bill for thousands of dollars because those #'s are in another country.
If they are calling you in the middle of the night and interrupting your sleep then call your phone company and see what options they have. Most likely you can have that # blocked from calling you.
Chai gave some good options. I am just adding some more.
Edit to add this: Green Witch also gave some good options. I didn't see your post Green Witch because I was talking on the phone & typing too.
We have this SAME thing in our home.
Our phone would ring sometimes every 45 minutes and because we dont have an answering machine,it would ring 20 times or more.
I answered a few and when I got to a live person, I simply told them that I had just gotten this number when I moved in and I did not know where the previous people moved too. I stated- PLease take this number off of your calling list. Ruiz does not live here anymore "
After doing this with 3 companies, and ignoring the recordings ( hang up before they activate) after about 2 months, my phone is back to normal.
Also list your number with the do not call list. This helps curb some of those phone calls as well.
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