Consumerist
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collection agencies
Am I Responsible For My Parents' Debt?
Jay's parents have gotten quite, uh, spendy with their retirement income, and now they've got a lot of debt they can't pay off. This has become Jay's problem not because he's a party to any of the debt, but because they've put him down as a reference and now bill collectors are harassing him. More » -
in your wallet
Capital One Calls To Dun For Payment Before It's Even Due
Cory says Capital One's Collection Department called his mother-in-law the other day in an attempt to reach him, which was weird because his account is in good standing. Their reason? They just wanted to remind him that his credit card payment was due soon. Oh, and to try to upsell him. More » -
donations
Why You Shouldn't Let Telemarketers Help You Donate
Earlier this week we posted a warning to watch out for calls from people asking for donations on behalf of local police or fire departments. Today an alleged former employee—who says he quit after two days of training and one day of seeing what it was really like on the call center floor—wrote in to tell us a little more about how a company on the other side of that phone call works. More » -
donations
Don't Donate Money To Public Safety Organizations Over The Phone
The website Consumer Affairs (which is not related to us or our owners in any way) is warning people in Oregon to watch out for calls from people asking for donations on behalf of local police or fire departments. It's a good reminder to everyone that telephone solicitations should be ignored: "At best, the solicitor will probably take the lion's share of your donation. At worst, the caller is an outright fraud," the site reports.
"Oregon Warns Against Bogus 'Public Safety' Solicitors" [Consumer Affairs via LA Times]
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resolutions
Vonage No Longer Charging International Rates For Transferred Domestic Calls
Vonage apparently rustled up a map and is now apologizing to customers who were accidentally charged international rates for their domestic calls. Reader J.R., who in April received a $38 bill after Vonage billed a call to Los Angeles as a call to Algeria, sent us the telecom's apology note... More » -
contests
This Subway Shop In Virginia Promotes Timeshares
Tim thought he was entering an innocent giveaway at his local Subway in Warrenton, Virginia earlier this month. Nope. It was just timeshare bait. We wish the Subway would have known better than to allow the dropbox in their store to begin with, but after reading Tim's story you'll know what to watch out for should you run into a similar contest. More » -
jackasses
Another Angry McDonald's Customer Calls 911; Angry Employee Also Calls 911
A 20-year-old in Aloha, Oregon, called 911 on Memorial Day to complain that he wasn't given the orange juice he ordered. While he was on the phone describing this emergency, a McDonald's employee also called 911 to complain that the 20-year-old was blocking the drive-thru. And somewhere in the city, a kitten died in a tree fire because the emergency lines were all tied up. UPDATE: We've located the audio of both calls. More » -
about to expire
FTC To Investigate Car Warranty Robocallers
You knew it was imminent: after the "your car warranty is about to expire" robocallers pissed off the internet and the government within a matter of days, it was just a question of who would take them down first. Surprisingly, it looks like it's going to be the government. More » -
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vonage
Why Is Vonage Billing Domestic Calls At International Rates
Vonage charged J.R. $38.94 for a three-hour call transferred from Texas to Los Angeles because Vonage apparently thinks L.A. is somewhere in Algeria. After some digging, J.R. learned that if you transfer a call without adding +1 to the number, Vonage will mistake area codes for country codes and bill at the international rate, even though the calls are domestic. More » -
your rights
What Do The Notes On Your Account Really Say?
Pretty much every problematic customer service story these days includes some reference to the Notes—that unseen record of what you've been told, and by inference what you've agreed to, on previous calls. The funny thing is, you never get to see them. More » -
comcatastrophe
I Canceled Comcast Now The Phone Won't Stop Ringing
Reader Evan canceled Comcast — which seems to have lead to a barrage of annoying phone calls that simply will not stop. A little Googling turned up others with the same problem... More » -
Feature Films For Families
Verizon Wireless Sues "Velveteen Rabbit" Telemarketers
Hooray for Verizon Wireless! Wait, what? The cellular carrier has just filed a lawsuit against Feature Films For Families for illegally telemarketing. Specifically, they're accusing the company of using an auto-dialer to cold call hundreds of thousands of Verizon Wireless customers earlier this month, which is illegal according to NJ state laws (where the suit was filed) and the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
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telemarketing
This 'Velveteen Rabbit' Teaches You The Triumph Of Love. Also Of Telemarketing.
Oh no, someone's gone and made a terrible looking half-animated, half-live action, religious-on-the-down-low version of this beloved children's book. That's bad enough, but then they decided to direct-market it to households by cold calling strangers and offering them a "producer's guarantee" that if they don't like it, they can purchase other movies from FamilyTV.com for $4 each. Update: Here's how the company producing the film is sneaking past the Do Not Call rules. More » -
OSP Communications
Check Your AT&T Bill For Fraudulent Charges
Ralph discovered a mysterious $18 charge on his most recent AT&T bill. A little research turned up OSP Communications, which is apparently a front for a fraudulent biller that has repeatedly hit AT&T customers with a cramming fraud. Read Ralph's email below, and be sure to check your own phone bill for charges like this each month. More » -
scammers
'U.S. National Bank' Scammer Thwarted By Google, Consumerist, And A Fake Bankruptcy
Idolina was targeted this morning by a U.S. National Bank scammer. As he was prattling on with his heavily-accented seesaw of threats and incentives, she Googled the bank. (And no, we're not anti-anyone, but there's something funny about a supposed U.S. National Bank and/or government representative who sounds like he's currently calling you from a foreign country.) The third search result was our interview last October with Laurie Lucas, who faced a similar scam. Idolina writes, "I was reading it while I was on the phone with him." More » -
time warner
Time Warner Calls You In Another Dimension, Or Something
Kushal wants to know how Time Warner verifies the call logs for its installer technicians, because when they say they call, his phone doesn't ring. More » -
phone books
Should Consumers Be Able To Opt-Out Of Phone Book Deliveries?
Phone book publishers spit out over 600 million phone books for just over 300 million Americans. Now the $17 billion a year industry is defending itself from state legislatures that want to restrict phone book circulations so consumers don't wreck their snowblowers when they hit snow-covered phone books. True story. More » -
new york philharmonic
Dear New York Philharmonic: Please Don't Call Me In The Middle Of Performances To Ask For Money
As I enjoyed the New York Philharmonic's production of Tosca this past Tuesday, I received a solicitation call. From the New York Philharmonic. More »
calls
New York, 9:35 PM
Sat Nov 21
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