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RoboCalls heating up this fall

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Stevewoods, Sep 12, 2016.

  1. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Seems like after a summer of a few RoboCalls (telemarketing, political, "surveys"), they have multiplied to at least two per day and it seemed like more on the weekends.

    Several days ago, while paying my landline telephone bill, I noticed a small promotion for RoboCall blocking -- Free. No charge, gratis!

    Hmm. Well, I called, the phone company and the rep said it was absolutely free and worked pretty well, but they, of course could not guarantee anything and they said they would activate it within 24 hours. Nothing to do on my end, they did it all on their end.

    You know, last five days, NOTHING. No telemarketing, No "Rachel from Cardholder Services," no opinion surverys. I was skeptical, but so far, so good.

    If your provider is offering it, I would recommend trying it. Hey, the price is right!
     
    #1 Stevewoods, Sep 12, 2016
    bisco likes this.
  2. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    What's a robo call?
    Actually, we get them from time to time but since I live in a state whose outcome is already apparent, nobody is spending any money. Even the downballot races are pretty loose at present.
    I have caller-ID.
    I either know who you are, or you go to voice-mail.
     
    #2 ETC(SS), Sep 12, 2016
  3. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Yeah, Caller ID and going to voicemail certainly helps a bit, but I still have to delete the "dead air" messages from the machine. That gets old.
     
    #3 Stevewoods, Sep 12, 2016
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I get the impression land line phones get a lot more, if not all, of the robocalls? And with the diminishing number of land lines, the telemarketers are really piling on the remainder.
     
    #4 Mendel Leisk, Sep 12, 2016
  5. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    I live in an area that Oh the Horror, has very poor cellular service. If I go outside about 50 yards and stand on the edge of my apple orchard, a few feet to the west of the 80-foot Douglas fir tree, I can get 1-2 bars.

    So, we have to have a landline phone. Have also been driven crazy by the sales/survey calls. Caller ID? I still have to get to the phone and LOOK at it and decide to answer or not. And, I am not sure, but if I answer and nicely tell them to go away, am I likely to have more calls. Or if I let it go to the machine, does that mean they will keep calling until they talk to a live person.

    I would much prefer if the phone did not ring at all. And that includes friends, relatives and bosses, especially relatives:LOL:
     
    #5 cyberpriusII, Sep 12, 2016
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    not a phone guy either. my wife on the other hand, frets for days if someone calls and hangs up before she can get to it.
    we have a comcast phone. caller i.d. is great, but i would love roboblocker. no ringing at all, that's the ticket. except in my ears.
     
    #6 bisco, Sep 12, 2016
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  7. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    I want my phone to work on the 'white list' principle:
    • Voice announcement of my contact-list name, not ring, just "<contact_name> calling."
    • All others, no ring.
    • To reach voice mail, they must ring "n" times, with a default of 10.
    • Non-contact voice mail limit, "Leave your <n> second message" with default of 15 seconds.
    Bob Wilson
     
    #7 bwilson4web, Sep 12, 2016
  8. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    My robot call answerer thingy merely answers/records their robo-calls. Get about 5 now per day. We don't actually answer ourselves anymore. If we're right there and we want to pick up, then, yeah.

    Robot vs. Robot. That's the way its going to be.
     
    #8 DavidA, Sep 14, 2016
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