If you have my number, why can't I have yours?

[BlaqueKatt]

Blocking the caller id is in violation of this. However, the number shown on the id need not be the actual number of the call center, but that of the "remove me from your call list" contact.

if it's telemarketing yes-however we call back customers that have called us first-we are contracted by cell phone company x to be their customer service department, we are not company x, we are an outsource(the largest outsourcing company in the United States) so no we don't have to have that as we do not have a call list-not all call centers are telemarketing-we only call the numbers the customers give us when they call in with their issue.

example-
Step 1: customer calls csr with a billing issue say they're getting billed for voicemail they didn't order-rep fills out research form and gives it to me, with the number the customer wants us to call them at.

STEP 2:I look in the account notes account history, and see that it was put on as a free trial, and the customer never cancelled it. I fix the issue and give credit where applicable.

STEP 3: Call the customer and let them know the issue has been resolved, X.xx in credit has been issued, your new bill total is YY.yy

if customer has call block I cannot complete step 3-customer calls back angry that we did not call them back(we cannot unblock the number due to the confidentialty clause in the contract with company x, They do not want it known that the customer service department is actually a different company<the caller ID would show Company Q outsourcing>, well actually there are 20 centers run by 5 different companies-company x does not have any of it's own employees in customer service-it's all outsourced)

Does that help?

[Ryu]

the problem with blocking the number being illegal is how do you find who is doing it? no number is listed, theres very little chance theyll say who they are if you ask, i find it easier to just never answer if theres no number given... ever.. if they need to reach me theyll leave a voice mail

[Princess Kim]

Number Blocking

This is loosely regarding the same topic, although not involving call centers. When you're calling out, you can block your phone number during any individual call (even on cell phones), for free, by dialing *67 before you dial the number that you want to call.
As for people reaching me, I never give out my actual phone numbers any more. I have a voice mail-only line that rings like a real phone would. I got it at http://www.privatephone.com .

[Misanthropical]

I tried to get call intercept on our phone, but I guess it's not offered in PA yet. The only thing I could get was to have calls listed as "restricted" to not ring through.

I don't answer the phone if the number doesn't show up, but that doesn't stop my husband. I'm working on him about that though, since it's usually a scam fund raiser, a survey or the worst of them all, prerecorded political ads that take up nearly all the time on the answering machine.

The thing that ticked me off the most was an "unknown" number came up, so I just picked up the phone and hung it back up. THEY CALLED RIGHT BACK! I was livid and told them to put us on their "do not call EVER" list.

[Ryu]

i agree, unknown calls are awful, i seriously wish they could be blocked
cant do anything about them and when i used to pick them up 99% of the time no one would be on the other line and once i said anything(i experimented with not saying anything for up to several minutes) the line would go dead
so now i no longer answer those calls
about 1% of the time i get a voice mail from an unknown number and its always the red cross.. why must they use an unknown number!!!

[Pagan]

This is exactly why I always let my answering machine pick up! People that know me, know to start leaving me a message and if I'm there, I'll pick up.

One of my friends has a neat thing on their line. I'm pretty sure it's through Qwest, but I don't know how much it costs. It basically says, "this number does not accept solicitation calls, please hang up now and remove our number from your list, if you're someone we know, please press 1". I'll have to ask how well it works. I put my name on the "do not call" list, but haven't really noticed a dramatic drop. Especially right before the last big election day. I was gone for 4 days and had 75 calls when I got back! I didn't even know my machine could hold that much!

[Geek King]

This is exactly why I always let my answering machine pick up! People that know me, know to start leaving me a message and if I'm there, I'll pick up.

One of my friends has a neat thing on their line. I'm pretty sure it's through Qwest, but I don't know how much it costs. It basically says, "this number does not accept solicitation calls, please hang up now and remove our number from your list, if you're someone we know, please press 1". I'll have to ask how well it works. I put my name on the "do not call" list, but haven't really noticed a dramatic drop. Especially right before the last big election day. I was gone for 4 days and had 75 calls when I got back! I didn't even know my machine could hold that much!

Well, I do know that the Do Not Call List does not automatically restrict Political Campaign calls, Charity, or Bank-owned call centers from calling you. For those, you can try to keep a log of who calls you, and when. Then warn the frequest callers that they are not protected from harassment laws. If they still don't stop, you should be able to find a nice lawyer who would be happy to get a contingancy cut of the lawsuit that could be filed

[RecoveringKinkoid]

You really don't even need a lawyer. Sue them in small claims, and claim 500 bucks per violation. Here in SC, the max for small claims is 2000 bucks.