syd@dsinc.dsi.com (Syd Weinstein) (01/23/91)
[to telecom readers, this message is also being forwarded by myself to reallen@attmail.com] Well, tonight I got blitzed. A series of persistent calls from one of those computer outdial machines blitzed our exchange trying all of our inbound numbers in order, including the modem lines. The pitch, save money on AT&T long distance from AT&T by a marketing group which barely stayed over the line of misrepresentation of saying they were AT&T. If I wasn't a comp.dcom.telecom reader, I would have thought they were AT&T. The message did not identify the group, just gave a rather long speil (I listened to it once to see if it ever gave a company name) then asked for name, address, average monthly phone bill and telephone number. It was also persistent, if you didn't listen long enough to get to the prompts for the info (ie the entire speil) it called you back. I was not pleased that our entire bank of lines got hit, needless to say in number order. I am sure that AT&T operators got the bad end of this by people telling them to stop calling. Perhaps AT&T can force the aggregrators to identify themselves as that more clearly. It doesn't help AT&T's image any when this happens, it makes the telemarketers look good. At least those you can tell your bank of lines and they skip them, they don't want to waste their time either. Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP Elm Coordinator Datacomp Systems, Inc. Voice: (215) 947-9900 syd@DSI.COM or dsinc!syd FAX: (215) 938-0235
dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) (01/25/91)
In article <16338@accuvax.nwu.edu>, syd@dsinc.dsi.com (Syd Weinstein) writes: [ an article describing a telemarketing machine selling AT&T-agregator toll service] > It doesn't help AT&T's image any when this happens, it makes the > telemarketers look good. At least those you can tell your bank of > lines and they skip them, they don't want to waste their time either. Here in central NJ, we have been blitzed by a local dealer selling AT&T's home-security systems. Their systems have called our lines, in number sequence, three or four times over the past three weeks. The recording mentions AT&T several times before identifying the local dealer in an almost parenthetical tone. I called the local dealer and told them that if their machine continued calling the same numbers, I would consider it harassment, and would report it as such to local law-enforcement authorities. I have just subscribed to Call*Block service from NJ Bell. My intention is to use this service to prevent inbound calls from a certain telemarketing company in Bound Brook. They call almost every day, with a different advertising message, from a different local business, each time. The Caller*ID indicates that it's from the same number every time. That number is now the first one on the list of callers I don't want to hear from. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 [Moderator's Note: Over here it is known as 'call screening'. Isn't it a wonderful thing! *60 #01# adds the 'last call received' to the list of numbers blocked whether you know the number or not. *69 calls back the last call you received so you can give them a taste of their own medicine if you feel like it. PAT]