OT: donation scams over the phone
** Frank **
week, for the police department during dinner times. I'm on the no call
phone list but does this not appear to exclude certain groups. I've made the
mistake of donating in the past and it turn out it wasn't for the local
police but some other city outside my area. It also turn out the police only
gets about 1% or 2% of the money with the remaining amount going to the
telemarketers or fundraisers. Come to think of it, police in our area makes
over $100K per year with overtime so do they really that hard up for a
donation? Maybe I'll get some donuts and swing by the station in the
morning. Its time to get caller ID as the fundraisers or scammers won't stop
calling. I understand if its over the phone, its usually a scam. They are in
full force during the holidays, so how do you guys handle this kind of scams
and unwanted intrusions?
George Grapman
spend.
A-Simply hang up the phone.
B-Tell them you do not do any business on the phone and ask them to
send you something in mail. Wary of mail fraud charges and wanting quick
money the scammers will never do that.
C-Tell them you want to know their physical address (answering
with"please hold" is a good indication it is a scam)phone number,web
site and the percentage that actually goes to the charity.
D- Ask them to hold and tell them you are on another call (works best
with call waiting so your phone is not tied up). Hit mute and go to
speaker phone and resume what you are doing. After few minutes return
and give them partial information before getting another "call". A few
minutes later ask them if a lot of people hang up on them. Tell them
those people are doing them a favor as they can go the next call but
their worst enemy is someone who ties up their time just for the sake of
wasting their time. You have taken them from the high of already
counting the money to low of losing it. Say"good-bye" and hit mute.
Laugh as they scream, curse or cry.
E- Ask them if they know Captain Rod Speed from your local police
department. Laugh when they say, "yes"
F- If it is a female caller ask her what she is wearing and if she
knows what her voice is doing to you. If it is a male tell him you love
his voice
G- Play along but give them a fake credit card or checking account
number. A short while later a manager will call back to tell you that
the original caller must have written down the wrong digits. Act
confused, say you have no idea what they are talking about. After the
explanation tell them you just walked in the door having been gone all
day and no one else has been there. The manager will think the first
caller wrote up a fantasy sale.
With a home office I need to avoid most of this stuff so I have
Caller ID an the feature that blocks private numbers. Sometimes "Unknown
number" appears. I rarely answer and when no message is left I know it
was a sales call. Other times I say"you're selling, I'm not buying and
hang up. They rarely call back.
Shawn Hirn
Caller-ID. I simply don't pick up the phone unless I recognize the
caller's name or phone number on my phone's display.
Chloe
news:srhi-E8FBD5.2...@newsgroups.comcast.net...
That's DH's approach to unwanted solicitations, too. But I've noticed the
same numbers keep calling again and again, most likely the result of an
automated dialer not getting an answer on the first 35 tries. I think I get
better results by just picking up the phone, saying I'm not interested, and
asking to be put on the caller's own do-not-call list.
Shawn Hirn
"Chloe" <just...@spam.com> wrote:
> That's DH's approach to unwanted solicitations, too. But I've noticed the
> same numbers keep calling again and again, most likely the result of an
> automated dialer not getting an answer on the first 35 tries. I think I get
> better results by just picking up the phone, saying I'm not interested, and
> asking to be put on the caller's own do-not-call list.
Oh. I can ignore the same phone number if it calls once, twice, a
thousand times. I do get some persistent callers. I simply ignore them.
Sure, it would be better not to get such calls at all, but no one ever
said life is fair. I just ignore them. Life's too short to do otherwise.
If you get better results by explicitly asking to be put on a
do-not-call list, more power to you. I prefer not even to have enough of
an interaction to make such a request, but that's just me.
I do have my phone number registered with the federal do not call
registry. I also have an automated reminder set up on my computer to
tell me when its time to re-register my phone number. Since I registered
my phone number on the federal do not call list, telemarketing calls
have dropped significantly.
I used to get an automated call once a week from a local satellite
company where they would actually leave a message. It was like
clockwork. It was my Thursday telemarketing call. I did once ask them to
put me on its do not call list. I explained that since I lived in an
apartment, I couldn't install a satellite dish. It made no difference,
the calls continued. The calls finally ended when the federal do not
call list went into effect as did lots of other telemarketing calls I
used to receive. Thanks to caller-id and the federal do not call list,
my phone only rings for non-profit charity telemarketing calls, which is
a huge improvement for me.
George
is to ask how is "Bob". They ask "Bob who" and I say "you don't know the
chief?" then then reply "sorry" and hang up. I get very few calls after
doing that a few times.
When giving for charities never ever give them personal information
(unless you want to) because they share it.
The best way to give to a charity is to check out their financials.
There is a web site (which I can't remember) that details how much money
actually goes to do something useful for various charities. I then get
$0.35 money orders and scribble my name and no address and send them.
Chloe
> In article <47568dd8$0$2340$4c36...@roadrunner.com>,
> "Chloe" <just...@spam.com> wrote:
>
>> That's DH's approach to unwanted solicitations, too. But I've noticed the
>> same numbers keep calling again and again, most likely the result of an
>> automated dialer not getting an answer on the first 35 tries. I think I
>> get
>> better results by just picking up the phone, saying I'm not interested,
>> and
>> asking to be put on the caller's own do-not-call list.
>
> Oh. I can ignore the same phone number if it calls once, twice, a
> thousand times. I do get some persistent callers. I simply ignore them.
> Sure, it would be better not to get such calls at all, but no one ever
> said life is fair. I just ignore them. Life's too short to do otherwise.
What annoys me the most is having to stop whatever I'm doing to look at the
caller ID on the phone, since I'm not willing to let voicemail pick up every
single call. I could cut down on this by carrying a phone with me everywhere
I go in the house, but I can't remember to do that. So my goal is to have
the phone ring less.
Like you, though, our household gets far fewer of these calls than we did
before the federal legislation. The worst problem seems to be the exception
for companies you currently do business with, or have ever done business
with. Like the local newspaper with the repetitive calls trying to get me to
subscribe, when I already do. I wish people could opt out of those calls,
too.
George Grapman
has a presence in your state you can sue them in Small Claims Court. On
6 different occasions I told them they had a few days to send me $100 to
prevent a suit for $500 and if I had to file suit I would not settle
beforehand for less than $250 plus fees. Four companies dent $100 very
quickly the other two paid me $250 plus costs after I filed.
Do not accept the offer to be placed on their internal list as a
final agreement. The Do Not Call law requires that they obtain the
numbers of people on the list and abide by their wishes.
turtlelover
<snip>
> The best way to give to a charity is to check out their financials.
> There is a web site (which I can't remember) that details how much money
> actually goes to do something useful for various charities. I then get
> $0.35 money orders and scribble my name and no address and send them.
Don K
news:4756bfd0$0$8612$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
>
> What annoys me the most is having to stop whatever I'm doing to look at the caller ID on
> the phone, since I'm not willing to let voicemail pick up every single call. I could cut
> down on this by carrying a phone with me everywhere I go in the house, but I can't
> remember to do that. So my goal is to have the phone ring less.
The phones I have announce the name of the person calling based
on caller-ID or its phonebook memory. I let the machine take any
calls coming in as "out-of-area" or with an unrecognized exchange.
Also I've assigned distinct rings to family members so we don't
even have to wait for the voice announcement which takes a second
or two to begin.
Don
sarge137
Charities that solicit by telephone are all scams. Repeating with
emphasis: CHARITIES THAT SOLICIT BY TELEPHONE ARE ALL SCAMS.
At my house calls from unknown or out of area numbers are picked up by
the answering machine, as are other calls from numbers or people we
don't recognize. Private or blocked numbers don't even ring the
phone. They get a recording telling them how to turn off their block
and call us back.
If you can't or won't screen your calls, simply hang up when you
become aware the caller is soliciting. You don't need to be polite or
even civil to the people who invade your privacy during dinner or
other family time.
Regards,
Sarge
Logan Shaw
> ** Frank ** wrote:
>> I've been getting constant phone solicitation for donations, about
>> once a week, for the police department during dinner times.
> Several ways depending upon your mood and amount of time you want to
> spend.
>
> A-Simply hang up the phone.
[ methods B through G deleted ]
When I get charities calling me on the phone, I usually tell them I never
make a decision to buy anything or donate to any charity while on the
initial phone call, but if they'd give me their URL, I will take a look
at their web site and check their rating at charitynavigator.org at my
leisure. (Charity Navigator rates charities as to how efficient they
are with your money, and I would basically never donate to any charity
I hadn't heard of without checking them out there first.)
On a bit of a tangent, I donated some money to the ACLU last year[1] and
they called and e-mailed a lot after that. The second time someone called,
I told them, "Look, I agree with what you guys do, but I'd rather decide
whether to donate again on my own." The guy on the phone was very polite
and said they didn't want to pressure or bother anyone too much, that they
appreciated my past support, and that he'd leave me to it. So basically
they voluntarily eased off without my having to work at getting off the
phone. I was pleasantly surprised.
- Logan
[1] because I liked the Bill of Rights, and I think it would be nice if
we could have it back someday...
Logan Shaw
> Like you, though, our household gets far fewer of these calls than we did
> before the federal legislation. The worst problem seems to be the exception
> for companies you currently do business with, or have ever done business
> with.
Minor point, but I think it's *supposed* to be businesses you've done
business with in the last year. Or maybe 6 months. Not ever, in the
whole time you've been alive.
> Like the local newspaper with the repetitive calls trying to get me to
> subscribe, when I already do. I wish people could opt out of those calls,
> too.
That sounds annoying. I'd be tempted to keep a pad of paper next to the
phone, and when they call, say, "I already subscribe. I'm keeping a pad
of paper next to the phone and making a note of how many times you call me
asking me to subscribe even though I already do. When it gets to 5 calls,
I'm going to cancel my subscription. Can I have your name so I can add
it to the list of names I'll give them when they ask why I'm canceling?"
It's a tad bit snarky, but sometimes you have to get that way with big
corps if you want any results, sadly.
- Logan
George Grapman
Although companies that you have done business with over , I think,
six months are exempt the law requires them to abide by your wishes if
you ask to be placed on their own list. Failure to comply means they
broke the law.
Long before that law took effect the local daily was calling me
almost every night.I called their circulation manager who claimed he was
powerless because the firms were outside contractors. The next time I
got a call I gave them the name and direct line of the circulation guy
and said he was the one who made decisions in my household. A few
minutes later called asking why I gave out his office number. I
replied," because I do not have your home phone". The calls stopped.
Chloe
news:47576590$0$9852$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
>> Like the local newspaper with the repetitive calls trying to get me to
>> subscribe, when I already do. I wish people could opt out of those calls,
>> too.
>
> That sounds annoying. I'd be tempted to keep a pad of paper next to the
> phone, and when they call, say, "I already subscribe. I'm keeping a pad
> of paper next to the phone and making a note of how many times you call me
> asking me to subscribe even though I already do. When it gets to 5 calls,
> I'm going to cancel my subscription. Can I have your name so I can add
> it to the list of names I'll give them when they ask why I'm canceling?"
>
> It's a tad bit snarky, but sometimes you have to get that way with big
> corps if you want any results, sadly.
Oh, I threatened to cancel on the second call. I don't think they care <g>.
Dennis
<lshaw-...@austin.rr.com> wrote:
>On a bit of a tangent, I donated some money to the ACLU last year[1]
<snip>
>[1] because I liked the Bill of Rights, and I think it would be nice if
> we could have it back someday...
If you like the whole Bill of Rights, you might consider supporting
more than just the ACLU -- they're not too keen on item #2 and they
really only pay lip service to #10. ;-)
Dennis (evil)
--
An inherent weakness of a pure democracy is that half
the voters are below average intelligence.