General Chat

Had the Amazon prime one again this afternoon

I just put the phone down

Expired warranty on domestic appliances are a frequent one here.

Not sure where they get their information from, but in the past these calls are about my TV.....acquired as a gift from her family, after OH'S aunt died or about my Hotpoint washing machine.
I've never owned a Hotpoint machine.

Today's call did at least get the correct brand name.

Spot on Peter! I read a few years ago not to engage in any chat with these people as they are part of criminal gangs, who will circulate your number to others. Hubby took no notice when I told him this and some time ago used to engage in baiting them. He didn't half get a shock when one started phoning every week and began using the fake name he had given them! The advice I read also said not to say your children deal with all these matters for you either! That tells them you are probably both old and vulnerable, may not be as sharp as you once were and might easily be persuaded, good news for those they sell on to!

Just had a new one. Very faint , I thought he said he was John from France. Wanting to know if I need any medication.

I'm afraid I used a word I don't usually use.

Hand this morning got the Amazon prime call again


I was expecting my sainsbury grocery delivery and had an earlier call saying the delivery was delayed because of the weather
No problem am at home and grateful to get my shopping

So when the phone went again was thinking was my delivery

Nope bee Amazon again

I just put the phone down

Have reported to Amazon a spoof email

The latest round is from "BT" or "Openreach" to say our broadband account has been compromised and will be cut off in 24 to 48 hours unless we press 1 on the keypad.

I got rid of the previous scams about "an accident I have been in" which was a human on the other end when I said yes, I had an accident and went into distressed mode and sobbed on about the blood, the bodies and the blue lights, flashbacks etc.. Haven't had that scam call since.

Shirley ..................

my mobile hand set also show the phone number and lets me block a number, but it also shows the name of the business, or another longer number, or is blank.

If a longer number also shows, this can be a company operating as a numbered company without bothering with a name, or a spam call ......... generally the latter!


One problem that we noticed this year is similar to the one that I have mentioned many times on here and elsewhere .......... that people in the UK do not generally put their name and address on the outside of the envelope of a letter or card. So one has to open the envelope to see who has sent it ......... but it also means that the letter or card cannot be returned to sender if the address is wrong or the person has moved or died, unless someone takes the initiative to open the letter and try to trace the sender ........... who usually has not put the inside either! :-P

In Canada and the US, one is obliged to put a return address on all mail, either at the front top left of the envelope (preferred) or on the flap on the reverse.

We found that we got a couple of phone calls from overseas over Christmas with no identifying name, and number not recognised.

Just like a spam call ............. but it turned out they were from friends trying to make contact.

OOPS

Peter ..............

I don't work, I've been retired about 20 year. I'm also mobility challenged which is why I have a mobile handset on a base. The mobile handset goes everywhere with me, and is rarely out of reach ;-)

Your "mobile" is my cell phone; my "mobile" is a handset with a base and is connected to the landline, which is our main phone. The cell phone is used only for safety reasons when OH goes out walking or we are on holiday.

I'm not talking about out-of-the-blue business calls, but calls from places that I do want to do business with ............ I did mention only doctor's office and financial, plus businesses calling to do business with us, such as clean chimney, clean the furnace, etc. They are usually ones that we have used before, but they are calling now to see if we want them this year. It's a cold call to get us to book an appointment, but it is not an out-of-the-blue cold call.

Almost all these business calls are very local, within about 10 km range of the house.

Unfortunately I live in Vancouver which is now so big that one 3-number local code is no longer sufficient .......... plus cell phones have very different systems, with even the area code being different.

You see, we have to use our area code as well as the 7 number local code when we dial.

It is absolutely amazing how many places have people working from home and using cell phones that are not identified as business. I can certainly understand it if someone is using their own phone and getting reimbursed by their company ..... although all local calls are free in North America so would not be costing anything.

Most people have a similar plan to the one that I have for our cell phone (and for my landline) ........... unlimited free local calls. and emergency calls anywhere. It is the number of long distance phone calls and amount of internet usage that can cost a lot.


I try to be very specific when describing what we use here and in making suggestions, because what I have often cannot be compared to the UK, nor may the same item be available over there, or vice versa.

One of the problems of having people from different countries all contributing to a chat page!

It makes reading and posting very interesting, and really opens my eyes at times, especially when something is said that has a VERY different meaning ;-)

My Panasonic shows the callers tel nos too

It also has the option to block nos which I have done several times

After Michael passed away i cancelled sky and told them that I could no longer afford it

They left it for a time then started to ring with offers

I blocked one nos so they used another one and I blocked that too

They haven’t ring since

Sometimes they write but I don’t open the letter It goes straight into the paper recycle

I do appreciate the difficulties you experience with your phone Sylvia. I do not work so have no business type calls. . I am physically disabled and having to keep struggling to get in & out of my chair was too much Somehow I needed to stop nuisance calls. . I notified everyone who might phone me that I don't answer unless their number shows up. No one complained about that, it has worked well. In the UK it is simple to buy a telephone number with the Code from anywhere in the country, so the local code that shows up isn't necessarily my/your local code, so I would always ignore a local call unless I knew the full number. As this Panasonic telephone has been such a good buy for me and certainly done what I had hoped, I thought I would tell others about it..

Would you believe now received an email supposedly from Amazon about suspect purchase being done today on my account

Even said hello Shirley!

Usual click here to verify your account

Nope the click I did was delete :-D

Pete ...............

That sounds a good idea, except ............

My mobile handset shows me the number that is calling, so I can decide to answer it or not

Or I can wait until it rings 3 times before deciding whether to answer or not, as most people grab the phone at about 2 rings, especially lonely folk, or their answer machine clicks in.

HOWEVER, I have over the last year discovered there is a problem, at least over here.

Many legit businesses have people working from home, or on cell phones, and they are not identifying themselves for security reasons.

My doctor's office is one of these ............... if the receptionist phones you from the office, then it is identified on my screen. But if one of the doctors or a resident phones, then they use a cell phone and there is no identifying name on the screen.

They do make a point of saying immediately you answer "Is that Sylvia? I'm Dr xxxxx from the Family Clinic".

Our financial manager's staff are others who do not identify as they are working from home.

I can name several other business who are doing the same thing.

They are not scamming, but they might be "cold calling" to see if we want them again this year.

In all those cases, I don't want to miss that call!


Just as a matter of interest ................. none of our friends, or I myself, identify ourselves on our outgoing calls.

Calls from our phone show as "[my province]", my daughter's and some other friends are blank in that part of the screen.

I was made aware of how to be rid of these types of nuisance calls some time ago. I too got really fed up with them. Unfortunately the caller does earn some money every time we pick up the phone to answer them. Apparantly for us the nuisance-caller just dials any number, not knowing who they are calling. As soon as you or I pick up the 'phone they know "someone" is at home on our number, at that particular time on that particular day of the week. They then sell this information on to companies who will use it to try to sell us something? double glazing? etc. etc.. Quite clever if it wasn't such a nuisance. I do still have the very occasional unwanted call which doesn't bother me at all, I just don't answer.
I was advised to buy a certain Panasonic phone which has proved to be excellent. When a call comes in, the phone rings as usual couple of times then a recorded voice repeats the number of the caller and continues to repeat it so I don't answer unless I know who it is,...It works for me so it might work for you.

Shirley ...............

I've been told many times that being ex directory or whatever means diddly squat for many of these companies.

They can get your number.

Caroline ..............

my Visa account has been used almost every morning at 5:00 am for an amount of $600 and something for several months.

Most annoying when "security" calls to tell me about it at 7:00 am, instead of a decent hour of the day, as they sometimes do.

Strange, it always sounds like the same woman.

At least I have got OH to hang up on them if he answers the phone, instead of bringing to me :-D :-D


My Amazon card must have been really compromised because I got another phone call about 2 hours after the first one :-D

We are getting loads of scam calls lately - quite often very early in the morning (well, early for me as I don't rush to get up these days with nowhere to go :-D).

This morning's call went like this:-

James - Hi ma'am, my name is James from Virgin media (in a foreign accent).

Me - no, you are not James and you're not from Virgin, stop phoning me.

James - my name IS James, shut up, shut up, shut up.

I then put the phone down.

Kath. x

Caroline

' They' have been using my card too...quite frequently it seems and always to purchase something which costs £600.

What with those calls and the automated ones supposedly from Aamer-zonn ( said with long drawl accent) the phone is quite busy some days.

4 scam calls today,international + uk
even though were on TPS
I don't answer them ,just listen to see if they leave message,really annoying.

Maryb.

Every morning this week without fail I've had a phone call from someone who doesn't quite say Dollar correctly...seems every single morning someone has used my visa card for the same 2 items...every morning....they must like shopping at Eb*y....and they spent the exact same amount........

I don’t usually Linda because of being ex directory etc and on the telephone preference but just lately there has been a few getting through

Even supposedly genuine ones I say I don’t do business on the phone write to me and I have later received a letter