My phone number is unpublished and is listed on the national “Do-Not-Call” list. I have anonymous (and blocked) call rejection turned on.With all that, you’d think it would keep unwanted callers from bothering me, but no. To some people and some companies, they don’t care. They’ll call and call, harass and harass. Some go as far as to fake a caller ID and call repeatedly until you buy what they are selling. Seriously, in today’s day and age, what is up with that?
Instead of putting up with harassing phone calls one more day, I decided to have my number changed. Yup, a quick call to Qwest got me a new number and over $100 in monthly savings by bundling TV, Phone, and Internet together. Hey, at least I got something after more than 6 months of trouble. This time, though, nobody but my family, friends, bank and employer will get my number. I don’t want anymore calls asking for John and demanding I buy this or that… or calls from New York where “Boiler Room” type people try to sell me this stock, that stock, or some kind of ridiculous commodity. No, I’m done and I’ve had enough. I tried polite and I tried nice. It didn’t work. The calls kept coming in. Well, no more.
You know, as someone who designs communications technology, I am appalled by how a few bad apples choose to employ it. Outgoing calls can be great for consumers and businesses alike, especially with technologies like reverse 911 and Avaya’s outgoing call system that doesn’t get you “silence” on the other end while an agent is being located. However, harassing people during dinner or while they work is downright wrong. Faking a caller ID in order to pose as a certain company or individual is pure fraud. There should be more security on our phone network, but there just isn’t; at least not yet. At some point in the near future, this kind of stuff will become a thing of the past. Unfortunately, for now, those of us who can’t deal with one more harassing phone call will simply have to get a new number.