OK... so I'm going to pay my AT&T bill last night and I notice an early termination fee of 30 bucks. Well, since I hadn't terminated my service, I called to complain. Turns out, my long distance service isn't with AT&T anymore... it had been switched to another company. He couldn't tell me who.
So he said he'd get me switched back and that I didn't have to pay the fee.
My wife remembers getting a call, supposedly from AT&T taking a survey about our service which I suspect is when this happened. They evidently worded things in just such a way so that she was actually authorizing the transfer.
So here's my question: Is this legal? Am I liable for the inevitable bill? I have no intention of paying it and I will certainly be placing a call once I find out who it was. To them and to Consumer Affairs. Anyone got any info on this BS?
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
It's calls like these is why I don't answer surveys over the phone. I keep getting calls about stuff like additional protection on my ID and the like, and I keep telling them I don't authorize any business over the phone (especially from a call I don't initiate), but they never seem to take "NO" for an answer.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Well, that's pretty much what I told her. If she gets any more calls (cause they'll try it again), she should just hang up and we'll call AT&T back to see if they actually called.
Posted by Zipacna (Member # 1881) on :
When you get calls like that, the trick is to wait until they give their name then pause and say in a husky voice "what are you wearing?" End of call. Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Even better, over here in the UK it is perfectly legal for a phone company to sell customers to another provider. The first you hear is when the bill comes and it's from a different company.
Oh, and Zipacna, I may try that...
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
Usually it is a third party provider who will call and ask you about your service then ask you "if you could get long distance for 0.285 cents per minute would you switch?" When you reply "Yes" that is all they need to slam you onto their provider/carrier. It is very shady
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
My house usually gets calls from "The Buffalo Diabetes Society", I checked there isn't one. Anyways, It is usually an Indian guy on the other end of the line, and I usually respond like this; " Heloh. I eem Looking for a meester Adam Chick" ( They somehow think My family's name is actually the whole name of a guy) " Sir, I'm sorry to tell you that Mister Adamchick has been killed and an ongoing homicide investigation is being conducted. Are you by chance Mister Adamchick's sexual partner?" ...CLICK
I heard it in a joke and it actually works sometimes.
I think here in New York at least you can demand to have your number removed from their call list, in the case of telemarketers. I think this removal lasts for 5 years or something.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Demented. Totally unexpected. Something they will discuss among themselves for many days and perhaps waste their manager's time with. I like it.
My wife couldn't pull it off though. For her, I think I'll stick with the hang up on them response. For me... it's homicide investigation.
I'm a little curious about what's going to happen here though. I'm sure I'll get a bill from the little 'tards. I have no intention of paying it. But that will probably lead to a collection notice or something dumb like that.
I'm currently preparing my "How do you go home to your children at night knowing you've spent the whole day tricking people into spending money they don't have" speech for when I call their customer service number in a huff.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I just got off the phone with someone from the Jehova's Witness awareness group. THey wanted to me to donate a quarter of my monthly pay to their cause. I told them I am an atheist, and then they decided that I needed to be sent pamphlets about the advantages of going to church and giving them money, and how by not believing in god, I am sinning and will go to hell. THey had my address on file for some reason, so I expect these pamphlets any day now...
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Sean, it is http://www.donotcall.gov and there is not an expiration date or time frame, that is a myth started by telemarketers to try to get people to not report them.
I usually come up with off the wall crap, like answering the phone yelling something about wanting to kill them, then realizing that it wasn't the person I 'thought'.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
We never had the Witnesses round here, but a pair came to my parents' door the other week and I answered. I was so utterly shocked I said "I'm not interested" rather rudely and quickly; felt kinda bad. I mean, most of them are 16 year old kids being forced through that crap by their parents and can you imagine how hard it must be at that age to knock on strangers' doors and ask them to join your kooky religion that everyone hates?
Anyway, about telemarketers, there's a national do-not-call list you can get yourself added to. Must work because my parents hardly get any calls at all anymore. (Me, I don't have a phone. Skype ftw.)
Posted by Josh (Member # 1884) on :
Whenever I get telemarketers I usually tell them I'll be moving with the week and give them my new contact information and ask them to change it in their system.
I'll give them the phone number to a random sex line that will cost them just by calling or someone's number I hate. I don't know if it's working or not but I never seem to get the same place calling me twice.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
"My new number is 900-727-3963" HeHe Posted by Josh (Member # 1884) on :
lol, if that last digit was an 8 instead of a 3 it would be 900-RAPE-YOU
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
You now officially scare me. It was supposed to be 900-scr-ewme SCREW ME!!! For god's sakes... Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
That is what he said.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
Trouble would be, it's kind of like rickrolling. Once people learn the number/url, it's useless.
(Not that I've ever rickrolled anyone. I think it's kind of lame, unless you're doing it to Rick Astley or the Church of Scientology.)
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Or Rick himself.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Ya know, I don't think I'd mind telemarketers as much if they actually Spoke english, instead of Chinese Engrish, or Franglais, or Englian.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
quote:Originally posted by Daniel Butler: Or Rick himself.
quote:Originally posted by HopefulNebula: unless you're doing it to Rick Astley or the Church of Scientology.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Dan, I must say, you're blade is growing dull, you might want to sharpen it.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
We had one better than that. One day, several years ago, we got a letter say our gas and electric was being switched to London Electicity at our request. Er, no. So we phoned up and disputed it. They then provided a copy of our sign-up form, supposedly signed by a Mr. Steve Wife'smaidenname. What we think happened is, a door-to-door called, I told him no, he then peeked in our letterbox to get a surname (he may even have found out my first name, but mis-heard it as "Steve", it happens quite a lot). We went to the Office of the Energy Regulator, lodged a complaint, LE backed down in a hurry and we got an apologetoic letter and a �100 cheque from the MD of LE. I don't know how many other people got that treatment, but not longer after LE were fined MILLIONS by the government for fraudulent sign-ups.
I now have fun with these guys. Not long after we movedinto our current house, a guy called from SWEB energy, He blithely walked though our gate, along thr path, opened the outer door, stood in the porch and knocked on our inner door. I stormed out. He got as far as "Hello, I'm from-" when I roared "HOW DARE YOU WALK INTO MY HOUSE?! GET THE FUCK OFF MY PROPERTY!!!" My parents were visiting, my Dad saw this exchange and said I really scared the guy. Good.
There's one amusing result of the LE fiasco. We were left in a limbo state of having gas and electricity, but our supplier was a bit nebulous. The one we thought we had said we'd asked to move to another one, and this other one also said we had asked to move to them (which we again denied). So, when we moved out of that property, it was after having paid no gas or electric for two years. Even better, when unpacking at our new place I found an agreement signed by my wife to move to that new, other supplier! From, strangely, even before I met her let alone moved in.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
God, I am *fucking losing it,* I swear...
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Don't swear Dan, god frowns upon it.
We had a bit of a screw up with our cable before we moved a few years ago. We originally had deluxe cable, with like 50 channels, but then switched to a satellite provider. They did not offer our local stations, so we put a pair of rabit ears on the TV to get the locals. Worse yet, we had one box servicing 2 tv's, so you could only watch one station at a time. My dad finally decided to get basic cable back so we could watch something different in each room, but the guy installed it wrong somehow, so we got 78 chanels for the price of 13! The cable company was none the wiser, so we didn't tell them. I think that is a crime, but oh well.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sean: I just got off the phone with someone from the Jehova's Witness awareness group.... I am sinning and will go to hell.
There's no such thing as the Jehovah's Witnesses Awareness Group (at least not anything associated with Jehovah's Witnesses) and we don't believe in Hell. So it was probably some organization that thinks we're a kooky religion, forced to do things by our parents.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
That's why I reacted the way I did to it. There is actually a pair of Jehovah's witness(es) who come to our block each year. Very nice ladies. They hand out pamphlets and chat with us and our neighbors. I prefer them to the kirby vacuum salesman that continually visits us, even though we already own a Kirby Vacuum. He always wants to come in. Even worse, he doesn't remove his shoes. Don't you just hate when people invite themselves in, and then DONT take off their shoes?
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sean: My house usually gets calls from "The Buffalo Diabetes Society", I checked there isn't one. Anyways, It is usually an Indian guy on the other end of the line, and I usually respond like this; " Heloh. I eem Looking for a meester Adam Chick" ( They somehow think My family's name is actually the whole name of a guy) " Sir, I'm sorry to tell you that Mister Adamchick has been killed and an ongoing homicide investigation is being conducted. Are you by chance Mister Adamchick's sexual partner?" ...CLICK
I heard it in a joke and it actually works sometimes.
That wouldn't be nearly as funny without the accent. But it is quite amusing.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
I have been getting hit with a wave of pre recorded sales calls. I hate those, can not even tell anyone to take a fucking leap.
Sean, search around and find the origins of the word fuck.
Speaking of Origin, I need to see if Wally World has gotten in the movie yet.....
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I got a call from hillary clinton's disembodied voice asking me to vote for her. THose pre recorded calls are plain funny. My doctor's office sends them out from time to time. *In weird somewhat robotic female voice* Hello. THis is **** Medical Center calling to remind ( in a deep male's voice) *SEAN* (back to female voice) that you have an appointment with Dr. (male's voice) * YOUR DOCTOR* on ***** 2007.
THey actually say " your doctor" as if they think that I am intelligent enough to be able to remember my doctor's name. It is hilarious to listen to. I have an appointment with Dr. Yourdoctor on the 15th...
Even funnier are the postcards my dentist's office sends to remind me of my next checkup.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
The only recorded messages I will tolerate are the appointment reminders. Thats actually serving a purpose. Anything else is a waste of my time. "We don't have the time or interest to contact you personally about this very important matter, but trust us, it's worth your time and interest."
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
I love the prerecorded ones that say they have a very important matter to discuss, would you please call 1-800-xxx-xxxx.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
They say they have a very important matter to discuss and urge you to call them back....without saying what they want to talk about! And they expect people to call back. Yeesh. Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Just call back and introduce yourself as if you were auditioning for a dating service. Or, call back and pretend to be senile.
" Hello, you have responded to our political servey regarding the stance of the presidential nominees. Can I get your name for our official registration"
" Shoehorn! I love peanuts." "Now Mr. Jefferson its time for your happy pills" " Nixon all the way" CLICK
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Now hang on, I was told the Jehovah's Witnesses have to spend time going round to houses at the age of 16 as part of some kind of coming of age thing, like a confirmation...if that's not true, apologies; but if it is, well, I've not met *many* 16-year-olds who do their religious duties without being forced by their parents, no matter what religion it is.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
That's Mormons. And I think it's when they're older. Eighteen or nineteen or something.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Oh. *shrug* I've never known a member of either religion anyway; my town's pretty... ...insular.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Yah. It's not true.
Even with the Latter Day Saints, I believe their door to door work is voluntary.
If you really want to know what Witnesses believe, Watchtower.org is the official site. I'm sure the LDS have one too.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I'm sure there's at least one of these religions that makes people stand in public and preach to the Saturday afternoon shoppers. Mind you "voluntary" may mean you can either do it or get the hell out of our religion. Kind of like the ten commandments.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
When my family originally joined a church years ago, we selected one in another town because the church near us wanted us to donate 2,000 dollars a year minimum to be a member... We never really went anyway, but I did enjoy the juice and donoughts that they gave us after my nap, I mean the pastor's sermon. FOr a while, I was a Christian Anarchist, but then I finally gave it all up. To much to think about. Now, I function and live for me, and those important to me, not a person that everyone tells me I have to worship even though I have never seen, or heard this person. It also saves me from the internal fight between the big bang theory, the pot of goo theory and creationism.
Posted by OverRon (Member # 2036) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sean: the pot of goo theory.
Is that the Tasty Planet theory? Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
No, the one where life started out as a micron of slime, and then blossomed into a thriving planet.
Posted by Zefram (Member # 1568) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: That's Mormons. And I think it's when they're older. Eighteen or nineteen or something.
All physically, emotionally, and morally fit Mormon men are asked to serve a two year mission. The mission is paid for by the missionary and/or his family and is served wherever the LDS Church sends him. The youngest a missionary may be is 19 years old and the oldest is 26 years old. Women older than 21 may also serve missions, but it is not expected of them.
There are no Church sanctions or punishments for a male who does not serve a mission. However, most Mormons are at least slightly disapproving of an otherwise capable young man who chooses not to go on a mission. It doesn't amount to that person being ostracized, but I've heard that it makes it hard to get a date in some Utah towns.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Assuming, of course, that you want to get a date in a Utah town.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Talking to a LDS friend and he tells me that most young folks jump at the chance to do the missionary work/canvassing. Gives them a chance to travel and see things they wouldn't normally get to see. When you look at it that way, it makes a certain amount of sense...
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