Damn. I did *57 and they charged me $1.00. I don't care about these people. Don't make suggestions that people have to pay for without telling them first.
This number calls us many times a year. They always ask to speak with my wife (she has a Spanish surname - she kept her maiden name after we married). They imply that if we don't want to be harrassed by police, that we should send them $. They never call and ask for me although both of us are listed in the phone book with our respective last names. This seems like blatant racial profiling, harrassment and bullying. I have asked them to take us off of their calling list, but they persist. If this is happening to you, please report it. This type of harrassment must stop. They call late at night, and are relentless.
Something to keep in mind about all these continuing bothersome calls for surveys, so called charities and so called charity pickups despite asking them to remove you from their list:
Call centers have sprung up in my town that make use of the survey and the charity loophole around the do not call list; they have been a headache for law enforcement, emergency services, neighboring businesses and residential areas. When I ask any patrolling officer in town about these call centers, they are quick to state their frustrations about the criminal activity that some of these call centers have brought into the area. Several law enforcement agencies regularly visit some of these call centers looking for warrant arrests etc. I have heard from sources including from frustrated employees that work for these call centers complaining about the drug activity, vandalism of cars and neighboring businesses, break-ins and theft, drinking while on the job, smoke breaks are actually marijuana breaks, drunk driving, very dangerous driving, tons of tossed out litter of empty liquor containers, trash, food etc. I’ve even heard that the mangers are also involved in criminal activities and have even preyed on their legitimate employees who are simply trying to eek out a living on horrible wages. Also the operators are untrained in a very high turn around, poorly managed and dysfunctional work environment.
Also realize this when you call a companies’ customer service line and get horrible service from the call center that’s been hired by the company. One time while on a call with our bank’s customer service, the operator was so loopy that it required ending the call and calling again to try and get someone else to help, think about that when you call a companies’ customer service and the conversation gets odd, off the wall and obtuse – you may be talking to an operator that’s drunk or on something. After 6 months of getting a different and wrong answer to our ongoing problem each time we called our bank’s call center, we gave up and closed the account.
With so little police left in our town due to cutbacks, they can’t always respond to vandalism and break-ins when it’s witnessed as they have their plate full responding to the major emergencies, this allows the criminal activity free reign, the neighborhood becomes the hood. Some insurance companies require proof of private security patrols before they will honor a claim due to vandalism or theft leaving the neighboring businesses off guard and uncovered. These businesses also have the added cost to hire private security, install security systems/monitoring, upgrade lighting etc. Then there are the dangers and headaches to the nearby businesses employees such as their cars being vandalized or broken into. Some businesses simply give in, pickup and move out of town.
One of my neighbors owns a call center and he requires that his operators are bonded, but I guess there’s no laws requiring this – there should be. Right now in my town it seems like anybody can start up a call center and hire questionable labor for cheap without much regulation.
I my efforts the past several years to try and get something done, I am most struck by the fact that there’s no real help, everyone is more worried about being sued than dealing with the obvious problem - you are on your own while the town is taken over by the crime these call centers bring into the neighborhoods....