Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with phonecalls

Prison Correspondence

daboo — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:18:39 -0800

How can people in the U.S. prison system communicate with the outside world? I understand that this varies depending on the type of prison, and possibly the state, but I have found no information. I have no experience with the U.S. penitentiary system, but I understand that prisoners are allowed to write letters. Do they have to pay for postage? Are prisoners allowed to make phone calls? At what frequency? Are there any prisons allowing emails?

Similarly, what ways are available for the outside world to contact prisoners?

Any information or links regarding prisoners' means of communication with the outside world is appreciated.

Can debt collectors not disclose their identity when calling to harass relatives of a debtor?

ishotjr — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:24:01 -0800

Do debt collection agencies have to identify themselves as such when calling relatives of the debtor? I got a call today from a debt collection agency who was looking for a close relative who is on the same cell phone plan with me. Let's say my relative's name is Don Smith. The debt collector started by asking if I was Don Smith, and I told them that I am not. They asked if I know Don Smith. I asked them who they're with, and they said NCO, which sounded like a debt collection agency to me. I said, "if you are a debt collector, don't you need to inform me as such before asking for such information?" They said, "Are you a lawyer? You need to get current on your laws." I told them that it's none of their business if I know that person. They asked again and I said no, which is not true. They then proceeded to be a huge jerk to me when I told them not to call me anymore.
I looked it up, and according to the internet, a debt collector can call just once to ask the whereabouts of a relative. Am I legally required to tell them the truth? They should know my relative's whereabouts as they have had the same phone number and address for over 20 years and aren't exactly in hiding.

I plan on complaining to the company no matter what since the debt collector was exceedingly rude, but I'd like to know whether they have to disclose their identity before asking whether I know the debtor so I can add that to my complaint.

How do the eff do we make them stop?

lbo — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:28:07 -0800

Why am I getting snail mail and phone calls for two people who never lived in my apartment, but who share my last name? I've lived in my current apartment for about two years now. About three months ago my husband and I decided to get a land line to use in emergencies. Since we started the service, we have received phone calls almost daily for Cory OurLastName or Sawanda OurLastName. We've also started to receive mail for them at least once or twice a week, on which we write "no such person at this address" and return to the mailbox.

When we searched their names on one of the more popular, but sketchy-seeming, online phone books, we found that they were listed as heads-of-household in a different apartment within our same complex. They are listed with our phone number and, oddly, my husband is also listed as living with them. When my husband searches his own name, he also comes up at that address living with them.

Qwest was of no help aside from telling me to get a new phone number. Our number has always been unlisted with them, so that should never have contributed to our number/address being listed online, should it? I called my apartment management company and they were able to tell me that Corey and Sawanda did, in fact, live in the complex at one point, and at that different apartment number that we found online. The manager told me she would talk to the mail carrier herself about not delivering any more mail addressed to them.

We'd really prefer not to change our phone number, though we will if necessary. But what's to really stop us from somehow being connected to them again, even with a new number? Is there some logical explanation for this that we're missing? We are weirded out that our names, address and phone number are so easy to find. We live in Utah, if that's useful.

I just called to say, WTF? A phone call from a 4-digit number?

Unicorn on the cob — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:22:39 -0800

I recently have gotten a bunch of cell phone calls from non-phone numbers. WTF is going on? Okay, by non-phone-numbers, I mean, my phone rings, I look down, and I have seen, so far, the following:

9491221
1113
9491220

Also, I get a lot of "no name" or "new call" calls recently, too. Disclaimer: the credit companies are calling me to get me to pay an ex roommate's debt; I recently sent them all her contact info, so I can't tell if she has put me on some kind of spam list. I also get credit calls for my ex-husband and my mother (yes, I am surrounded by irresponsible people).

I tried googling with no luck; any idea what's going on? Is there any way to block these... whatever the hell the ares from calling me? I'm afraid to answer and nobody EVER leaves a message.

I have had my number on the Do Not Call registry since January of 2006.

Why does my phone ring when people call an entirely different number?

Trinkers — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:29:04 -0800

All day since 2:00 AM this morning, I've been getting phone calls on my cell phone who didn't dial my number. Please help. All day since 2:00 AM this morning, I've been getting weird phone calls on my cell phone. I thought that the first 9 calls were due to drunk dialing because they happened within 2:07 to 2:21 AM, but it has since become quite bizarre. So far, I've received 21 calls from 14 different phone numbers. I haven't been able to answer the phone every time that it has rung because I was at work. However, I have answered the phone a few times and all of the people who called said they had dialed numbers that are not my phone number. A co-worker called back a few of the others, who also said that they had dialed a different number or had not called anyone at all. Needless to say, this is completely bizarre.

I called AT&T, my provider, and the guy on the phone basically said that he had no idea what was going on. He thought that *maybe* it was because the phone number has been used twice before, but he agreed that it was probably not the answer since I've never received any calls like this until today even though I've had the phone for a month, and also because the people were dialing different numbers. The volume of calls makes it an unlikely answer, too. He said that it would be possible to switch phone numbers, but I would like to find out what is going on and how to stop it if possible. Similarly, paying $5 per month to block the numbers probably isn't the answer, because completely new numbers keep cropping up.

If it matters: I have a non-jailbroken iPhone.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I'd love to be able to sleep through the entire night tonight without any weird calls.

What was this weird phone call?

Mael Oui — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:16:08 -0800

Should I be concerned about the strange phone call I received today? Was it a creditor (looking for someone else) or a scam? For the past year and a half, I have been harrassed by creditors looking for a person who owes thousands of dollars. This person just happens to have my name (though with a different middle initial). I've learned enough about the person, including her mailing address(es) and the last four digits of her SSN. So far, this isn't a case of identity theft; the creditors seem to be looking to collect the money from anywhere. I have received phone calls from a ridiculous amount of creditors. Some of the phone calls have been pretty dubious (very shady, very unprofessional). Now, my sister, who lives in a different state, is receiving phone calls looking for this woman. In the past 9 months, I've started to receive letters from creditors. I've responded to all the correspondence, and I've disputed that I am the person who owns the debts. So far, none of the creditors have given me any problems after I dispute (either through the mail or over the phone).

QUESTION: Today I received a phone call in the afternoon. I should say that I loathe talking on the phone, and I'm TERRIBLE at it. I know that I should always demand the person to identify themselves, and I really don't know how to conduct myself well over the phone at all. The woman who called did not identify herself or the company she works for (if indeed she was calling on behalf of a company), and simply asked, 'Is 'Jane' there?' (say, my name is 'Jane Doe' for this particular question). I said 'yes.' There was a long pause, and then she asked, 'Oh, are you 'Jane'?' Once again, I said yes (I was assuming this was a creditor, and I was getting ready to defend myself against the inevitable accusations of owed money). The woman then said, 'Thank you.' [Long pause] So, I'm waiting for her to go on.. Finally, I said 'Hello?,' and that tone followed by the recording of the operator came on ('If you'd like to make a call, hang up..'). Um, so basically, she just called to see if 'Jane' was there. That's it. I realize that I screwed up by not demanding her to identify herself first. What, if anything, could this phone call have meant? Does it sound like a scam? Does it sound like a creditor 'verifying' some information about my telephone number? Should I be worried? I'd really like the phone calls to stop, and I hope that whatever this encounter was hasn't set me back even further in this struggle!

I should also mention that we don't have any kind of caller id, or anything that would determine a phone number.

How do I make phone calls looking for my ex of 15 years ago stop?

dejah420 — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 07:54:18 -0800

I got divorced almost 15 years ago. It was not a friendly divorce, and as such, I've not spoken to the ex since the night I found him in flagrante delicto. I've since remarried, had a kid, bought a house and have a stellar credit rating. Recently I've started to get collection agencies calling the house for the ex's debts. Other than dealing with each individual collection agency as they call at insane hours, is there any sort of general clearing house type place where I can say "I don't know where he is, I don't know what he's doing, and I'm certainly not going to pay his bills?" Is there anything I can do to make the phone calls stop? Do I have any legal recourse at all?

How can I get my predecessor's collection agencies to stop calling me?

General Malaise — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:16:10 -0800

My predecessor's creditors are calling me up to 10-15 times a day: What can I do about it? When I got this position at my company, I inherited a phone number from my predecessor. This person must have been bad, because their creditors won't accept that my predecessor no longer works here: They call about 10-20 times a day!

There are a couple of voices I can make out that call numerous times a day themselves. Each time I tell them that the person there is nobody here by that name, please take my office number off your calling list. But they never do. And many of them seem to not speak English very well, so it's hard to communicate that no, I cannot transfer you to them, because that person does not work here.

Is there any action I can take to keep them from calling me, as I have no option but answer the phone every time and argue with them? I've read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, but it doesn't seem to speak to this practice specifically.

(I've asked our help desk: my number can't be changed, because over 500 of our contacts have it, as it's a permanent number for this position.)

How can I amuse myself at the expense of telemarketers?

tastybrains — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 10:52:34 -0800

How can I get revenge on telemarketers, legally & safely? I do what I can to keep my phone # out of telemarketers' clutches (I'm not the Do Not Call registry, I instruct companies I work with not to sell/distribute my info, I tell every telemarketer to take me off their list and to not distribute my info), but lately I have been getting calls at my office number and my cell phone number.

I'm tired of being nice & polite to these scumbags. Instead, I want to have some fun! So I am looking for ideas on how to annoy telemarketers who call me, but in a way that will not get me in any sort of trouble.

Ideas I have had are to:

Pretend I'm happy to hear from them & attempt to convert them to a fake religious sect. (Or Scientology?)
Ask them a lot of questions about their product, then start repeating the same questions and letting the questions get dumber and dumber until I just say "oh, well, no thanks!" and hang up.
Ask them lots of questions and then tell them I'll have to ask my mom because I'm only 15.

I'd love some even better, easy to execute things I can do to amuse myself at the telemarketers' expense but that won't come back to bite me in the ass. Thanks!

Phone call protocol?

wilde — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:42:21 -0800

Why is it when I'm dating a guy and I call him two days in a row - I get treated like Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction? This has happened in my last two relationships. Everything is hunky dory. They call often enough - in the beginning almost everyday, including several days in a row. Then, when I'm finally comfortable in the relationship, I'll call one day to say hey and see how they're doing, and maybe the next day I'll call to see if they want to do something.

After that, things seem to go downhill fast. I know there may be some other mitigating factors in the descent of their affections: they realize they don't like me, they're busy, etc. But then I get the brush off or they act like I'm bothering them.

I'm really easy going, if someone calls me often (whether it be friend or more than a friend), I don't think anything of it. I don't automatically think, "Geez, this person is a needy. I better lock away my bunny." I imagine I could be more unavailable, but then if the guy I'm dating calls and I miss it, I will call them later that day, or if there is alot going on, the next day.

I don't want to be insincere and wait several days to call back, but frankly I'm frustrated. Do I act normally, play the waiting game or get rid of my phone?

I like you. Just don't call me on the phone. thanks!

zippity — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 05:42:40 -0800

If an acquaintance asks me for my contact info but I would rather have them not be able to contact me outside our usual run ins, how do I tell them that without sounding like a complete jerkface? It's not that I hate these people or anything, I just really don't like to have people unnecessarily call (or email, or instant message) me.

I cannot imagine any way of telling someone that without it sounding like "I hate being around you. Don't call me. kthnx," which is not the case at all (really!).

Any suggestions?

What's the best way to complain about rotten customer service and is it worth it?

frenetic — Thu, 05 Aug 2004 07:59:21 -0800

I want to complain to a company about rotten customer support. How do I do it and is it worth doing? [more inside] Here's the sad story. (Skip to the next paragraph if you don't care about the particular details of my issue.) I bought an Apex brand 27" flat screen TV (it was cheap and the nicest looking one at Best Buy.) I had it 43 days and it died on me. I didn't buy the extended warranty thing at Best Buy so I'm dealing with the company because I'm over my 30 day return time. The Apex customer support phone line is constantly either busy or there's an hour+ wait. Sometimes when you wait for 45 minutes and get to #4 in the queue it just hangs up on you. Sometimes when you wait the hour and get through to an annoyed sounding customer support woman, she takes down your name and phone number, listens to your problem, asks to put you on hold and then after waiting for 10 minutes the line drops on you. The closest I've come to an actual solution is being told they're totally going to find me a local service center (I'm in Canada, which I guess complicates things) to drop this TV off at and they're totally going to call me with the location within X number of days, and they just plum don't call. Then, like, today, I have to spend 2-3 hours of my life trying to get through the phone line again just to be told the same thing.

I'm a pretty laid back guy and I'm not much of a "demand to get the manager on the phone" type of person. But I've dealt with customer support with lots of other broken things I've owned and I've never had as annoying and as time consuming an experience as this. I'm not too big on the idea of reaming some poor slob out over the phone (also I'm not sure how good I'd be at it), but right now I'm feeling like I'd be a tremendous wimp if I just suck this up and don't register some sort of complaint to let the company now how crappy one of their customers is being/has been treated. But who do I complain to? Is there a department for serious thoughtful non-crank complaints? And is there any point or are they just gonna chuck it in the garbage? I'd love to hear people's advice and experiences.