We registered on "Do Not Call" but it might take 30 days to percolate to the sources of such calls apparently.
We have been bombarded with up to 20 calls a day, all from "overseas" and mostly we just answer then cancel the call without speaking to them. But today I waited till a male voice spoke, in a strong Indian accent. I asked who was calling and could barely understand his reply, except that he said they knew our phone bill was $xx per month. It was the right amount, so I asked him how he knew that. He kept on with his spiel and I interrupted again and demanded to know how they knew what our phone bill was, as that should be private between Telstra and us. He hung up.
So, how do they know what people's phone bills are? Surely Telstra doesnt make that information available?
jules47 said
04:42 AM Dec 7, 2012
That's a bit scary GD - maybe a call to Telstra could be in order. Pretty sure they don't make billing available to these people. If they know that info, do they know how you pay it - especially if you pay online, as a lot of us do these days - I would be ringing Telstra, and if no satisfaction there - ring the Telecommunications Ombudsman - they are usually pretty helpful.
jimricho said
04:51 AM Dec 7, 2012
Agree with Jules on that one! Your bill will have a contact number for account enquiries so maybe that's a start point.
A legitimate call from Telstra marketing would be allowable even if you're registered with DoNotCall assuming you're a Telstra customer as you have an existing "business relationship" with the caller.
Gerty Dancer said
04:53 AM Dec 7, 2012
Thanks Jules and Jim. Yep, will phone Telstra's account enquiries tomorrow. Was a bit late in the day today.
Plendo said
04:57 AM Dec 7, 2012
There is a god chance it was a Telstra up selling call, trying to change your phone plan, and add other services.
deb-gary said
05:48 AM Dec 7, 2012
if not certain of caller just say "hold on" and put phone down for a minute or two pick up receiver say wont be long then after doing this a couple of times say sorry im busier than i thought so give me your number i will call you back(bet you dont get a number)
nomadic1 said
06:26 AM Dec 7, 2012
deb-gary beat me to it. This is the approach I take with unwanted callers - but I can keep that up for half and hour or more. Funnily enough they don't ring back.
justcruisin01 said
06:35 AM Dec 7, 2012
Just recently found out that the do not call register expires after six years, we were getting the computor problem calls about a month back & we had to reregister again, no more calls.
JC.
neilnruth said
06:48 AM Dec 7, 2012
I've been told that the 'Do Not Call' register does not cover charities - so you will continue to have those calls - in fact they seem to multiply. Also, it was probably another telco that rang you and was going to try and get you to swap phone companies GD. Just remember 'Don't say yes' at any stage. While ever you refuse to give info or say 'yes' they can't get you. I was nearly 'tricked' into this and rang Telstra in a panic and they said they could only check who it was if my bill was different next time. As I hadn't said 'yes', they couldn't change me over and the bill was not changed. They are sooooo persistent and we have to be just as persistent - or plain rude!
tonyd said
10:30 AM Dec 7, 2012
For many years I have had an unlisted number. It now costs $2.93 a month (about 10 cents a day). I have NEVER had a call from a telemarketer or other nuisances. Well worth the money.
Cheers, Tony
jetj said
02:05 PM Dec 7, 2012
I would hang up immediately only my Brother's calls and has the same pause so can't risk it. My understanding people you do business with, charities and surveys can still call if you are on the DNC register.
-- Edited by jetj on Friday 7th of December 2012 02:06:39 PM
jimricho said
03:17 PM Dec 7, 2012
justcruisin01 wrote:
Just recently found out that the do not call register expires after six years, we were getting the computor problem calls about a month back & we had to reregister again, no more calls.
JC.
There's been a change to that arrangement
quote
"Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm"
end quote
I thought as you did Jim until I checked up.
Keep in mind that scammers will treat the Do Not Call register with contempt anyway.
Jim
bill12 said
04:40 PM Dec 7, 2012
I do not answer "unknown" numbers as most are telescams and nuisance calls. All the overseas calls are "unknown" numbers. One idiot has called 34 times!I am on the don,t call register, but it doesn,t work for overseas numbers.One particular idiot used to call me at 1 am, so I turn the phone off when I go to bed. Thats whats good about mobiles-you can turn them off. Bill
Gerty Dancer said
04:56 PM Dec 7, 2012
The small number of calls that we have actually answered have all been from other telco's wanting us to change our provider. Two of them have opened their spiel with "we see you are paying xx a month for your phone bill, we want to help you save money" Our phone displays the callers number as either "Private" or "overseas", and both of those who knew what our phone bill is, were overseas. Whilst I understand theres not a lot we can do to stop them calling, I'm concerned that Telstras billing system might have been hacked.
Those spam callers about computer problems are just cheap criminals, they dont even bother with the donotcall register.
Theres no chance we'd ever say yes to any of then Neilnruth!
I'll post any useful info I get from Telstra.
Santa said
05:33 PM Dec 7, 2012
I'm on the DNCR, and recieve very few nuisance calls.
Iv'e resorted to immediate rudness to handle the odd one we do recieve, it dispenses with idle chit chat and they certainly don't call back.
jimricho said
06:27 PM Dec 7, 2012
Pejay wrote:
Although we are also on the DNCR, we too get the occasional calls from overseas, particularly about problems with our computer - had three in one day. We tell them that we don't have a computer so how can we have a problem with it? I confess I swore at them the third time, and they hung up - wonder why?
Bill, my sister comes up on our mobile as unknown even though I have her number 'in the phone' - would love to not answer that one!!
Calls from unlisted numbers will not display on a mobile phone even if already "in the phone". Maybe your sister has one of these.
-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 7th of December 2012 06:27:52 PM
eureka said
08:32 PM Dec 7, 2012
I'm on the do not call list, still get the occasional call....about dinner time. When I answer and there is a pause....I hang up.... if they get a word in....I tell them I'm on the do not call list and they hang up.
Helen
Onedodger said
12:36 AM Dec 8, 2012
I have a lot of fun with them and for every question they ask me I return with a similar one.
EG. Your full name please? My answer is only if you tell me yours.
How much is your phone account? answer lots now what is yours?
Try to keep them on line as it,s costing them they soon wake up that you will not give any info so no more calls.
Pejay said
01:56 AM Dec 8, 2012
Although we are also on the DNCR, we too get the occasional calls from overseas, particularly about problems with our computer - had three in one day. We tell them that we don't have a computer so how can we have a problem with it? I confess I swore at them the third time, and they hung up - wonder why?
Bill, my sister comes up on our mobile as unknown even though I have her number 'in the phone' - would love to not answer that one!!
Gerty Dancer said
03:05 AM Dec 8, 2012
I phoned Telstra and spent the required amount of time waiting to speak to an operator, but didnt really get anywhere. After checking, the operater assured me that our account is secure and that Telstra is secure and nobody can get information. So I still dont know how a telemarketer from India can know almost exactly what our phone bill is. She also checked the dnc register and yes it does take 30 days before they stop calling. And we'll stop answering them from now on.
No more calls today though! Yay!
justcruisin01 said
05:46 AM Dec 8, 2012
jimricho wrote:
justcruisin01 wrote:
Just recently found out that the do not call register expires after six years, we were getting the computor problem calls about a month back & we had to reregister again, no more calls.
JC.
There's been a change to that arrangement
quote
"Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm"
end quote
I thought as you did Jim until I checked up.
Keep in mind that scammers will treat the Do Not Call register with contempt anyway.
Jim
Then just who do you beleive, as a result of these calls starting again thats when I called the do not call registery again to notifiy them of this & was told of the six year expirey. Had to re-register.
JC.
jimricho said
03:25 PM Dec 8, 2012
We are dealing with bureaucrats Jim, The "right hand must never know what the left hand is doing" policy applies.
Pejay said
01:53 AM Dec 9, 2012
Could it be that they get our phone number from mailing lists being sold? Obviously not Telstra, but other places we deal with, and as you say they treat the DNCR with comtempt.
jack biggles said
09:46 PM Dec 11, 2012
When I receive these calls I always revert to speaking another language. I guess not everyone is multi lingual but you could always invent a language. The soon hang up.
We registered on "Do Not Call" but it might take 30 days to percolate to the sources of such calls apparently.
We have been bombarded with up to 20 calls a day, all from "overseas" and mostly we just answer then cancel the call without speaking to them. But today I waited till a male voice spoke, in a strong Indian accent. I asked who was calling and could barely understand his reply, except that he said they knew our phone bill was $xx per month. It was the right amount, so I asked him how he knew that. He kept on with his spiel and I interrupted again and demanded to know how they knew what our phone bill was, as that should be private between Telstra and us. He hung up.
So, how do they know what people's phone bills are? Surely Telstra doesnt make that information available?
Agree with Jules on that one! Your bill will have a contact number for account enquiries so maybe that's a start point.
A legitimate call from Telstra marketing would be allowable even if you're registered with DoNotCall assuming you're a Telstra customer as you have an existing "business relationship" with the caller.
There is a god chance it was a Telstra up selling call, trying to change your phone plan, and add other services.
Just recently found out that the do not call register expires after six years, we were getting the computor problem calls about a month back & we had to reregister again, no more calls.
JC.
Also, it was probably another telco that rang you and was going to try and get you to swap phone companies GD. Just remember 'Don't say yes' at any stage. While ever you refuse to give info or say 'yes' they can't get you. I was nearly 'tricked' into this and rang Telstra in a panic and they said they could only check who it was if my bill was different next time. As I hadn't said 'yes', they couldn't change me over and the bill was not changed. They are sooooo persistent and we have to be just as persistent - or plain rude!
For many years I have had an unlisted number. It now costs $2.93 a month (about 10 cents a day). I have NEVER had a call from a telemarketer or other nuisances. Well worth the money.
Cheers, Tony
I would hang up immediately only my Brother's calls and has the same pause so can't risk it. My understanding people you do business with, charities and surveys can still call if you are on the DNC register.
-- Edited by jetj on Friday 7th of December 2012 02:06:39 PM
There's been a change to that arrangement
quote
"Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm"
end quote
I thought as you did Jim until I checked up.
Keep in mind that scammers will treat the Do Not Call register with contempt anyway.
Jim
Those spam callers about computer problems are just cheap criminals, they dont even bother with the donotcall register.
Theres no chance we'd ever say yes to any of then Neilnruth!
I'll post any useful info I get from Telstra.
I'm on the DNCR, and recieve very few nuisance calls.
Iv'e resorted to immediate rudness to handle the odd one we do recieve, it dispenses with idle chit chat and they certainly don't call back.
Calls from unlisted numbers will not display on a mobile phone even if already "in the phone". Maybe your sister has one of these.
-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 7th of December 2012 06:27:52 PM
Helen
I have a lot of fun with them and for every question they ask me I return with a similar one.
EG. Your full name please? My answer is only if you tell me yours.
How much is your phone account? answer lots now what is yours?
Try to keep them on line as it,s costing them they soon wake up that you will not give any info so no more calls.
Bill, my sister comes up on our mobile as unknown even though I have her number 'in the phone' - would love to not answer that one!!
She also checked the dnc register and yes it does take 30 days before they stop calling. And we'll stop answering them from now on.
No more calls today though! Yay!
Then just who do you beleive, as a result of these calls starting again thats when I called the do not call registery again to notifiy them of this & was told of the six year expirey. Had to re-register.
JC.