End in Sight?
Things are finally coming together on our telephone saga. Brief update. A telemarketer somewhere in the St. Louis suburbs is calling (via "computer) to local Twin Cities residents. The residents don't wait for the computer to "pick up" and usually hang-up on the caller, or think that the caller has hung up on them. Some get curious (these are the proverbial suckers that are "born every minute"). Using the number displayed in their "Caller ID", they call back the number to find out what's up. Here's where it gets confusing.
The phone number of the telemarketer is (not the real number) 123-456-7890. The problem is that when you hit "redial" on your phone it dials the first seven digits; it does not put the necessary "1" in front of the number that would be needed to actually call long distance. So instead of calling Missouri, they call our humble home - - because our number happens to be 123-4567 (the last three number don't matter - - try calling someone you know and add a few extra digits - pretty beep sounds is all you get).
Most of these wayward callers hang-up upon reaching our home. A few leave odd messages. One person left threatening messages (the third coming today - but more about that later). After receiving about 20 or more calls every day for a week, we called Qwest - our phone company.
Qwest - "Real big help" - they told us that the problem would go away after a while, when the telemarketers "moved on" to another area code. Didn't happen. The only other solution Qwest offerred was to change our phone number - at our expense of course. Not a huge initial outlay of cash - but what a hassle having to change your personal phone information at work, schools, etc. . .
Called the number itself, 123-456-7890 - you only get a busy signal.
This past week, Shana was able to determine (based on some voice mails left by the callers - and talking to some directly) that the calls were meant to sell the Pioneer Press. She was going to call the Pioneer Press in a day or two to see if they could help.
Today (1:30) - the third threat - Stop calling, blah - blah - blah, I know you are affiliated with the people trying to sell something - blah - blah - blah. If you don't stop, "Harm will come to you." The last phrase definitely got our attention.
Shana gets home, calls Pioneer Press. They seem truly horrified, and say they will put a stop to it. Shana talks to me and suggests we call the Police - it was a threat, the person could easily find out where we live.
Self-Help Option: In law, there is a concept known as self-help - which usually involves just taking the matter into your own hands - without police, government, or court internvention. I listened to threatening message #3 on our voice mail while at work, and just hit "8-8" to respond to the caller. I'm scared and very PISSED OFF. I start to leave a voice mail when he picks up. He sounds very "out of it" - kind of stoned to be exact. "Who's this?" he asks. I tell him that I won't identify myself, but that I am the person he has left several threatening messages with. Before he can respond, I launch into my explanation - We are NOT affiliated with the telemarketers. They are in Missouri, we are in the TC area. We finally figured out they were calling for the Pioneer Press. We contacted the Paper and they are going to put a stop to it. He gets all HAPPY for god's sake, "Thaaannnkks Maaannn," he says. - - pause - - Then I tell him that because of the threatening voice mails we called the Police. He didn't say much about that, then I hung up.
Thanks to the adrenline, I'm literally shaking at this point. Call home - and Shana is not mad at me (was afraid she might be) but seemed quite pleased I had called the Dude.
In the meantime, Roseville's finest show up at our door. Very nice, willing to help, please contact if any more messages, etc.....
Moral of the Story:
Qwest = bad = useless
Pioneer Press = villian turned hero
Roseville Police = several minute response time to a non 9-1-1 call. Excellent!
The phone number of the telemarketer is (not the real number) 123-456-7890. The problem is that when you hit "redial" on your phone it dials the first seven digits; it does not put the necessary "1" in front of the number that would be needed to actually call long distance. So instead of calling Missouri, they call our humble home - - because our number happens to be 123-4567 (the last three number don't matter - - try calling someone you know and add a few extra digits - pretty beep sounds is all you get).
Most of these wayward callers hang-up upon reaching our home. A few leave odd messages. One person left threatening messages (the third coming today - but more about that later). After receiving about 20 or more calls every day for a week, we called Qwest - our phone company.
Qwest - "Real big help" - they told us that the problem would go away after a while, when the telemarketers "moved on" to another area code. Didn't happen. The only other solution Qwest offerred was to change our phone number - at our expense of course. Not a huge initial outlay of cash - but what a hassle having to change your personal phone information at work, schools, etc. . .
Called the number itself, 123-456-7890 - you only get a busy signal.
This past week, Shana was able to determine (based on some voice mails left by the callers - and talking to some directly) that the calls were meant to sell the Pioneer Press. She was going to call the Pioneer Press in a day or two to see if they could help.
Today (1:30) - the third threat - Stop calling, blah - blah - blah, I know you are affiliated with the people trying to sell something - blah - blah - blah. If you don't stop, "Harm will come to you." The last phrase definitely got our attention.
Shana gets home, calls Pioneer Press. They seem truly horrified, and say they will put a stop to it. Shana talks to me and suggests we call the Police - it was a threat, the person could easily find out where we live.
Self-Help Option: In law, there is a concept known as self-help - which usually involves just taking the matter into your own hands - without police, government, or court internvention. I listened to threatening message #3 on our voice mail while at work, and just hit "8-8" to respond to the caller. I'm scared and very PISSED OFF. I start to leave a voice mail when he picks up. He sounds very "out of it" - kind of stoned to be exact. "Who's this?" he asks. I tell him that I won't identify myself, but that I am the person he has left several threatening messages with. Before he can respond, I launch into my explanation - We are NOT affiliated with the telemarketers. They are in Missouri, we are in the TC area. We finally figured out they were calling for the Pioneer Press. We contacted the Paper and they are going to put a stop to it. He gets all HAPPY for god's sake, "Thaaannnkks Maaannn," he says. - - pause - - Then I tell him that because of the threatening voice mails we called the Police. He didn't say much about that, then I hung up.
Thanks to the adrenline, I'm literally shaking at this point. Call home - and Shana is not mad at me (was afraid she might be) but seemed quite pleased I had called the Dude.
In the meantime, Roseville's finest show up at our door. Very nice, willing to help, please contact if any more messages, etc.....
Moral of the Story:
Qwest = bad = useless
Pioneer Press = villian turned hero
Roseville Police = several minute response time to a non 9-1-1 call. Excellent!
Comments