Man did I have a good time, I had them on the phone for 12 minutes, making them buy I was generally concerned. I even got transferred to a manager to make sure my "2005 Acura TL, w/ about 52,000 miles" on it could be specially approved. Then I said a friend was coming in, and hung up on them. Only to be called back and I said I am busy, and the lady nearly went on a rant when I responded to the wrong fake name I gave her, and how I was just jerking her chain. All this while reading the rip off report about their company and laughing at her.

How about forwarding the calls to some 800 number? Like Comcastic's? Does that cost u minutes?

@cmdrsass: More like GWS... either way it's not BYOB.

I assign numbers I do not want to answer (like my phone-stalker ex) to the entry "No" in my contact list. It's shorter than anyone's actual name so I can tell from a short glance that it's someone I don't want to talk to.

My answering machine is set to pick up after four rings, so I'll wait and if it cuts off after two or three, I figure it was just a robot anyway.

GoogleVoice gives out invites periodically on Twitter. They also have a funny voicemail contest to win invites.

@Chris Erickson: There are alot of websites where the spoofed numbers can be entered and the activity described. If you cross reference the number in Google usually someone else has complained about the nimrods...

800notes.com
whocallsme.com
whocalled.us
etc

Calls stopped mysteriously.

Maybe they're not robots. *suspicious glance*

@Plates: Or pretending to chase a cat out of the kitchen sink while banging pots around...

@RedSonSuperDave: Sweet! Shades of Tom Mabe at the Telemarketer Convention...

Go to his website and buy:
Tom Mabe
A Wake Up Call for Telemarketers
Tom Mabe Crashed a telemarketing convention in D.C.! He phones the telemarketers in their rooms starting at 3:00 AM trying to SELL THEM STUFF

@tracilyns: BTW anyone know if GrandCentral/GoogleVoice open for new folks yet?

@Eyebrows McGee (on Twitter: LPetelle): Or name it ZZ Douche and then ZZZ Douche. I have contacts from a Church group who I have listed under Z Lastname,Firstname so I can duck the call if I am busy. I also have contacts related to my ex-wifes family which I list under Q Lastname, Firstname so I can see who is calling in case that person might be watching my children and I need to talk to the little tikes.

My high importance people get a 0 zero in front to put their contacts at the top of the list...

I don't think this is 100% effective. Often times, these spammers spoof their caller ID and use a different number every time. Or sometimes they just block their caller ID completely.

I hung on the line the one time and hit the button for the opt-out option and the calls have stopped, so it might be worth a try for others. Or, register on the Do Not Call list. It won't be activated for 30 days, but at least there will be an end in sight!

Or when I give them the make of my wife's car, which is not even sold in the U.S. "A Citroen what?"

That's what happens to me. Same robot but from a different number everytime

Most cell phones nowadays also have an option to have numbers added to a "Block" list, where the call doesn't even show up on the phone, nor does it go to your voicemail. I've got about 5 random numbers currently on my list, and I get to go through my day never worrying about accidentally answering one of those stupid calls.

The problem is, they spoofed a different number just about every time they called.

All wireless carriers I am familiar with, charge you for twice the number of minutes while forwarding a call, for this reason.

If there is dead silence when you answer these kinds of called it is a predictive dialr and is a violation of the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act), report these calls, the TCPA folks don't play around. It is illegal to call a cell phone using dialers.

[esupport.fcc.gov]

Just answer the phone and report the date and time of your last bowel movement.

If you yourself can't say those things then just find an Eric Cartman soundboard and have him do the work for you.

Also check your phone. A lot of phones (especially Samsung) have the ability to send calls from certain numbers directly to your voicemail. If your going to punt them, why bother with the phone even ringing?

The only alternative I have is to change my phone number, which I don't want to do.

and each robocall takes about 3 minutes because it starts of with:
'this call is for the catastrophegirl household. is this the catastrophegirl household. please answer yes or no'

and then i say yes

and the robovoice says: 'i'm sorry, i couldn't understand you. is this the catastrophegirl household? please answer yes or no'

this usually goes on for two or three tries.
[please note i am a phone CSR for a pharmaceutical company, i do not have a speech impairment of any kind and was hired in part for my clear speaking voice. the robo-ear is defective]

then the robocall tells me that my order has been received and is in process in the pharmacy.
so i saved all of the incoming robocall numbers from the pharmacy and i don't answer them. then, since i already looked up the order status on the pharmacy website without wasting any minutes, i just delete the voicemail without listening. saves me a lot of minutes.

as a side note to that: all my doctors and the pharmacy numbers come in to the ringtone 'if i had a million dollars'
[i used to have 'don't fear the reaper' for the doctors but it wasn't available again when i got a new phone... *sigh*]

For the person who was asking about what happens if you forward your phone number to a 900 number (or for that matter any other number), you will pay for the call as if you made it yourself from the phone. At the least you'll pay for it in minutes (airtime) and you might get stuck for the charges from the 900 company as well. I would recommend checking with your carrier to confirm the forwarding rules.

Now I've been using the free services at trapcall.com
You can put a number on the blacklist. It still rings to your phone but when you hit "ignore" they get a "we're sorry, this phone number has been disconnected and is no longer in service" message.

It rules.

@gamabunta: You can call AT&T and have them send it to voicemail after 20 or 25 seconds. Problem solved. I suggested this a lot for people who got these calls and it eliminated the issue.

Also, the CEO of the largest robocalling company in America lives approximately six blocks from my house. Consumerist's terms of use forbid me from sharing his name, address, or phone number, but they don't forbid me from telling anyone interested to get in touch with me via the forums.

I'm sure he'd like to hear your feelings about robocallers at any time of the day or night, especially at about 3 AM.

@Parapraxis: Yes, I am protected.

Wrong, at least with AT&T. Any incoming call over 30 seconds that you don't answer will take a minute off your anytime plan. It's in your terms and conditions.

anyone else have stairs in their house?

But I thought Consumerist had a post on here a few days ago about people who don't use all their minutes?? I know I have about 3K rollover minutes that are set to expire at the end of this year and they're only going to keep adding up.

The calls were showing on my Caller ID as "SVCS" with a 310 area code. I mostly ignored them, but they weren't leaving anything on the answering machine and they weren't stopping. I tried "answering" by pressing the connect button on my cordless phone, and just leaving the phone sitting on the table, but that did not make them stop either. A little searching revealed many complaints about the number, and that they were shilling satellite TV. One evening they called when I was up to my ass in alligators trying to install a new washing machine, but I answered and said "hello." There was a recorded message telling me to press 1 if I wanted satellite TV, so I did. Soon I was connected to some guy. He wanted to know if I was interested in Sat TV. "Sure!" I said. There were a couple more questions and then he asked who my current cable TV provider was. I hesitated and he started listing companies "Comcast? Time-Warner? Cox?"

"OoOOoooOh!" I said. "Cox! That's exciting. What are you wearing?"

He called me a name and disconnected. I haven't seen "SVCS" on my caller ID since.

So, let's say you could forward the call. Who's on the hook for teh charges if you forward it to a 900 number?

This latest round of annoying phone calls they have not called from the same number twice. Thats what makes it mega annoying. Although again the phone book is your friend. If you have "all" of your contacts with all the numbers they might call from in your phone if you don't get a contact that pops up you know its likely a telemarketer and you can let them ring to voicemail.

Its a shame they have called me in the middle of meetings. I have been tempted to answer by screaming at the top of my lungs into the phone to blow the headset right off the minimum wage idiot that thinks its ok to call an annoy people for a few bucks. Get a real job!

I get these calls from about 6-10 diffrent numbers. I add all the numbers to one contact I call Crap. Because I also specified that these were mobile numbers, It shows on my screen as Crap Mobile calling.

I just press the number to speak to them, and when they come out I scream at the top of my lungs "F*%k YOU" and hang up.

I hat them because my telephone number supposedly has been on the do not call list for years and these assholes still call to bug me.

Who would actually be interested in dealing with a company that scams people? If they can't give out their real phone number or company name, why would you want to do business with them?

Multiple posts each day have multiple spelling and grammar errors. If I were commenting about one error in one post, I'd feel silly and wait for the replies about how petty I'm being. But it's starting to make the site look very unprofessional.

/a spelling and grammar nut

But wait, kids, there's more! This handy trick can also be used for co-workers and ex-girlfriends (or ex-boyfriends).

if you use grand central/google voice you can also just send them straight to hell, i mean voicemail, or have them hear a "this number is no longer in service" message when they dial your number. (that's the absolute best feature of google voice, imo.)

Who knew Consumerist was infiltrated by SA Goons?

I sure could use some protecting from the terrible secret of space.