I've had my phone number since last year, but the former owner wasn't kind enough to update her contacts so I've been getting calls from people ranging from her child's school to her child's disability attorney to her bill collectors to her former employers and even her friends. I thought it had fallen off for the most part earlier this year after I had to get rather nasty and threatening with one bill collector in particular, but it would seem that it has started up again. This number has been calling my phone for the past two weeks every couple of days without leaving a message. I didn't think anything of it at first, but then I began to see another similar number calling (also without leaving a message). That number was 334-517-0108. This has become so invasive over the last few days that I simply went to my cell carrier's website and forcibly blocked the two numbers. Then this evening, I called both numbers with Google. It was after business hours, and sure enough, the number seemed to belong to the same business. Both calls were answered identically with elevator music as if I were on hold. I waited for a couple of minutes to see if there was a prerecorded message indicating what sort of business it was. There wasn't, just the canned "Please hold for the next available representative" Because of their reluctance to identify themselves, I'm thinking it's another bill collector. I really hope for their sake that they don't use another number to bypass my block, otherwise I'll be contacting the authorities.
I would advise anyone in a similar situation or facing calls from either of these numbers to do the following. There is an app called CallX that allows you to record phone calls. In Alabama, you do not have to inform the other party that you're recording. Get it, and be sure to set it up so that it starts working. You can either warn these people not to call again (I'm not going to bother bc they probably won't listen) or you can just simply use your phone or carrier to block the numbers. Either way, don't erase your phone history to show when they have called, and keep any and all recordings of phone calls if you need to have them. If they don't stop harassing you, then file a police report. It's what I intend to do myself. There are laws that companies like this must abide by. They don't even have a right to harass and threaten you if you owe money, much less if you're just the unfortunate recipient of a deadbeat's old number. They typically won't leave a message bc they know there's only so much they can say on a recording that won't get them in trouble and they know people won't call back if they think it's for a bill. If you call them or answer their call, they won't assume that you're tech savvy enough to record their threats, so catch them off guard. If you can catch them breaking the law, then you'll have that on your side at least. Also, inform them that if they call again, you will contact the police.
I refuse to change my number or to be a victim of unscrupulous businesses. Neither should anyone else.
I've had my phone number since last year, but the former owner wasn't kind enough to update her contacts so I've been getting calls from people ranging from her child's school to her child's disability attorney to her bill collectors to her former employers and even her friends. I thought it had fallen off for the most part earlier this year after I had to get rather nasty and threatening with one bill collector in particular, but it would seem that it has started up again. This number has been calling my phone for the past two weeks every couple of days without leaving a message. I didn't think anything of it at first, but then I began to see another similar number calling (also without leaving a message). That number was 334-517-0108. This has become so invasive over the last few days that I simply went to my cell carrier's website and forcibly blocked the two numbers. Then this evening, I called both numbers with Google. It was after business hours, and sure enough, the number seemed to belong to the same business. Both calls were answered identically with elevator music as if I were on hold. I waited for a couple of minutes to see if there was a prerecorded message indicating what sort of business it was. There wasn't, just the canned "Please hold for the next available representative" Because of their reluctance to identify themselves, I'm thinking it's another bill collector. I really hope for their sake that they don't use another number to bypass my block, otherwise I'll be contacting the authorities.
I would advise anyone in a similar situation or facing calls from either of these numbers to do the following. There is an app called CallX that allows you to record phone calls. In Alabama, you do not have to inform the other party that you're recording. Get it, and be sure to set it up so that it starts working. You can either warn these people not to call again (I'm not going to bother bc they probably won't listen) or you can just simply use your phone or carrier to block the numbers. Either way, don't erase your phone history to show when they have called, and keep any and all recordings of phone calls if you need to have them. If they don't stop harassing you, then file a police report. It's what I intend to do myself. There are laws that companies like this must abide by. They don't even have a right to harass and threaten you if you owe money, much less if you're just the unfortunate recipient of a deadbeat's old number. They typically won't leave a message bc they know there's only so much they can say on a recording that won't get them in trouble and they know people won't call back if they think it's for a bill. If you call them or answer their call, they won't assume that you're tech savvy enough to record their threats, so catch them off guard. If you can catch them breaking the law, then you'll have that on your side at least. Also, inform them that if they call again, you will contact the police.
I refuse to change my number or to be a victim of unscrupulous businesses. Neither should anyone else.