As a big fan of the Velveteen Rabbit in my youth, I must confess that I love this picture. lulz

And yeah, it's nice to see the money go to a noble cause.

I was going to complain the money went to Verizon instead of to the consumers that were harassed, but you can't really mind too much since it went to a decent charity.

That picture is just pure awesome and win. Kudos, Consumerist!

And yeah, I had my pitchfork all ready, but I guess Verizon did something good for once.

Why is there a code for the NDVH? I suppose it's for those situations in which you're locked in the bathroom because your significant other is busy trying to break down the door, threatening you with bodily harm in the meantime...but wouldn't dialing 911 be better in that case? Or maybe you just need to talk it out?

Not trying to be snarky or anything, I really want to know why there's a code for the NDVH.

Sweet. $500K to settle the 500,000 calls made in 10 days. What happened to the $500 per call?

@pecan 3.14159265: on verizon phones, dialing 911+send makes a very distinctive sound... if you're in that situation, not sure that letting your attacker know that you're calling 911 is optimal.

but verizon needs to fix that.

@Cocoa Vanilla: where did you get $500k?
the consumerist headline clearly says $25,000

@gStein: good catch... sorry. I meant $25K. Where's that comment edit function!

I wonder if it was still a good investment for the robocallers. If they made 50k off of this and it cost them a 25k fine, then it's probably not much of disincentive to do it when they're promoting a shitty remake of The Secret Garden or whatever they can get from the public domain.

They have to fine those fu$%ers that call on your cell about auto waranties too.

What about the auto warranty fuckers too? I get those at least once a day and they woke me up today, on my fucking day off, at 9am. I am so angry. Now, if I see a number I don't recognize, I simply don't answer my cellphone. If it's someone I know, they'll leave a message. I am SO TIRED OF THIS SHIT.

I'd bet they made $150k in sales, seems like a good business model.

@Eldritch: After I told them a few times that: this is an FCC violation, I was making of a note of the call, it was the third time they'd called and been informed this, AND asked to be taken off the list, they stopped calling me.

@Cocoa Vanilla: They just got the reply function down, let's not go nuts!

@gStein: I feel like if my life is in danger, weird tone be damned, I'm going to call 911.

I'm not about to dial 911 just to find out, but does it make a tone over the phone or does the phone itself make the tone? If it's the latter, then yeah, that's awfully distracting when you're trying to hide from the crazies.

I got a call from FFF recently too. I looked at their website and all they sell is over-priced, cheap looking kids movies. The only one I'd really even heard of was a DVD release of the TV series "Christy" and I was the Christian homeschooled kid whose parent's didn't get cable until she was 12, if that says anything.

I would have pulled my Cornholio impression on the little drink the Kool-aid type rep but I was standing in the county courthouse waiting to file homestead on my property taxes so it would have been kind of awkward. I just pretended I couldn't hear the guy and hung up. I don't know why they called; I'm 23, married but have no kids and no plans for any in the near future. Obviously not in the market for cheapo movies.

The next time the dude is going to get: I AM THE GREAT CORNHOLIO!!!!!! I NEED TP FOR MY BUNGHOLE!!!!!

Insert verbatum repeat of "Vaya Con Cornholio" episode of "Beavis and Butthead". I have it memorized :):)

My dad taught me how to be insanely annoying to telemarketers by wasting their time with out of this world antics. I think Beavis and Butthead might be "immoral" enough to get to someone with FFF pretty bad. Although B&B doesn't even come close in raunchiness to most of the junk MTV shows during the day nowadays.

@redkamel: It's a different number every time though.

@pecan 3.14159265: I didn't think the hotline was meant for immediate emergencies so much as offering a way for women to discuss what has happened anonymously and go over her options.

I'm guessing the code's just there so that it's easier to remember than a full, 10 digit number, even if the first part is 1-800 or something like that. The distinctive tone is probably moot; the guy wouldn't recognize it specifically, probably more just the fact a phone call was being made. There's not as much of a way around that.

@TVarmy: I agree, unless your 1-800 number is something easy to remember like the Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868) it's a lot easier to remember something like #Hope than to try and figure out their number.

@Megan Squier: At long last, I have found you. Megan, my long-lost twin.

For you see I, too, enjoy making telemarketers lives miserable. Every shopping trip, I find at least one employee to freak out with my stupid questions and asinine behavior. I harass bill collectors by calling them and asking where MY money is. For so long, I thought I was alone. Then...by chance, I saw this post on Consumerist and now I know I am not the only one of my kind.

Seeing these fools at FFF forced by Verizon into funding a totally worthwhile and awesome charity...I love it! I only wish I had such power.

@Eldritch: Same scam, different (spoofed) phone number.

A lot of times the number they're calling from is just some innocent person's. A few of the calls I've had turned out to be residential, so I can imagine the kind of headache it causes.

@Kogenta: By using a code, two things might happen: 1. The call may be free -- remember that dialing an 800 number still costs airtime. 2. Like 911, it may be possible to dial on an inactivated phone.

#HOPE? I thought that's how you summoned Obama?

@RageTowers: *sigh*
That was only a matter of time.

PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS

I got one of these calls in like September I think. And at that point I think it was a live person, and whomever it was wanted to hock children's movies and was like disgusted that I did not have time to just review of a few of them for the good of the children or something.

I mean, I know I'm a bad person and all but...

@Megan Squier:

LOL at work!

I'm going to try that next time I get a survey caller. They bug me all the time.

@gStein: Unless you have an older Verizon phone, the emergency tones that the phone makes when you call 911 are disabled by default, here's the path to check for that option

Menu -> Settings and Tools -> Sound Settings -> Alert Sounds -> Emergency Tone

@gStein: Agreed. I once witnessed a domestic violence incident while walking home, and called 911. That "very distinctive sound" included my phone automatically turning on the speakerphone and turning the volume up to the maximum, with no way to undo either of these things.

While I was walking across the street from where a guy was dragging his wife back into the house.

It's a horrible feature. It makes sense in a few situations, but is the worst idea in many more.

@ViperBorg - SpaceBat hates Facebook: Pretty sure that was a joke, not an attempt at trolling.

@asterix:
I was once held hostage (like tied up and held at gun point etc) - and got my hands free and called 911. I guess I can say thank God i had ATT not verizon then.
If it had turned on speakerphone and turned the volume all the way up I'd probably be dead.
...that really happened too.

@Tiber: If that's the case I apologize. At 7:26 AM, I'm really not fully awake anyway, but I can rant like all heck.
@RageTowers: If that was a joke, I'm sorry, I missed it. Carry on, sir.

I still hate Verizon, despite this show of awesomeness.

It's a bummer that they're getting off so cheap, but it's great that the money is going to the NDVH. I work as a Womens Advocate for a local domestic violence agency and I can attest to how critical the services that the NDVH provides are.

Even in good times, DV-related non-profits aren't flush with cash-- Americans donate far more money to animal shelters than they do shelters to provide safe harbor for abused women and children-- but in times like these, non-profits everywhere are struggling.

Every penny counts and this $25k will help save lives. Too bad it's not more like $500k...