That Persistant Caller!
By Morley Hunt
@Morleyhunt (21737)
Canada
January 25, 2016 12:17pm CST
In the last week I have read, the methods many of you use to deal with telemarketers. How many of you have resorted to calling the police?
The tale begins in August of 2013. A certain telephone number appeared on my store's telephone call display at least four times. (We had been closed for to days.). It wasn't given a lot of thought until twenty minutes later the telephone rang, same number.
It was a telemarketer wanting to sell me a store service. I politely declined and asked them to remove my number from their call list. I hung up.
The next three days, the same routine was followed. I was beginning to feel frustrated. The fourth day, I was a little less ( maybe a lot less) polite and hung up. (CRASH)
A week or two went by. No new calls. Yes, it worked.
No, it didn't.
The calls resumed, sometimes twice a day. I asked, I pleaded...stop bothering me.
The store was closed for several days. This number was on the call display fourteen (14) times.
A telephone call was made to Bell, our service provider. Can we block this number? No. What are our options? We had already reported this as harassment.
The next morning, the same number called again. I WAS FED UP! I WAS LIVID!
They told me because I was a business they did not need to honour the 'Do not call' list. I informed them if they EVER called again, I would call the police and if need be file harassment charges.
The VERY next morning, yup, they called again. I called the police.
Apparently the calls were originating at a telephone booth in Toronto. It was a scam to try to get my banking information.
The police were very understanding, very respectful. The officer told me what to ask, and say if they ever called again.
The number never appeared on the stores call display again.
18 people like this
19 responses
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
At home I have blocking options and so far I only use it for wrong numbers as some make the same dialing mistake over and over. What did the police say you should ask?
5 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
@buenavida I wanted to block this specific number. Bell Canada told me this was not possible.
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
@buenavida Yes, a name has to show or it will view it as a troublemaker. 
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
I was actually so upset at one point, I felt tainted by their non stop harassment. Thank goodness the police put an end to it.
@paigea (35635)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt I am glad they could stop them. Seems like in this case they can't
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
25 Jan 16
good that you fought these parasites - if only more people did the same as you did
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
28 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt hopefully she understood what you were going through
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 16
@arthurchappell she sympathized. The next time she was in my store she asked if the calls had stopped.
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
I felt like I was fighting for my sanity. The customer who was in the store when the last call occurred applauded my action. I apologized to her. Unfortunately she had to listen to my end of the conversation, and the was also there when the police came to investigate.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
25 Jan 16
What did you have to say to them in the end ??
This is really without any conscience this type of harassment.
I am glad they never called again.
I do not have that problem here thank goodness.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
I had to ask for the full business name, the callers full name and I'd number, a number I could reach their management.....the police told me, they would likely hang up before answering those questions, but if they did supply answers I was to report back to the police department.
3 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
25 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt Good good, I will keep that in mind if I ever do have that problem Morley, thanks.
2 people like this
@akalinus (40432)
• United States
27 Jan 16
When I first got my phone here, I got calls for 10 years for someone named Jonathan. It was constant, I told them not to call because I don't know who this person was but they kept doing it and I got more calls from more places. Jonathan was going around running up debts and giving everyone the phone number that happened to be mine. I talked to supervisors and it did no good.
1 person likes this
@akalinus (40432)
• United States
28 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt It was. Every time I went out, the message machine filled up with messages for Jonathan. We know you are there, pick up the phone, Jonathan. Supervisors did not believe me. They said how would they get my number if Jonathan did not live there? I said people lie and they said I was.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
28 Jan 16
@akalinus did you threaten harassment. I would have used call forward to send those messages to the police.
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
25 Jan 16
Sorry you had to go through all that
It is a good thing you reported and i hope they got caught not to do that to another
2 people like this
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
26 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt Hope they will not be able to con anyone
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
Whether they called someone else, I do not know. They never called me again.
1 person likes this
@infatuatedbby (95001)
• United States
26 Jan 16
Glad to hear you were able to resolve those annoying scam callers! 
Those harassing calls can be annoying!
Those harassing calls can be annoying!1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
Some of the calls from other telemarketers were almost amusing. You know they are reading from a script.
@Letranknight2015 (51498)
• Philippines
26 Jan 16
wow they were using a telephone booth?! that's a whole new way of scamming. wow can't imagine that happening here.
1 person likes this
@Letranknight2015 (51498)
• Philippines
26 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt that's scary, im glad you called the cops. but wished whom ever that creep is, should have been arrested.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
Hint. I don't think I was that Subtle. How many times did I need to say. Do not call me.
@akalinus (40432)
• United States
25 Jan 16
We are constantly harassed by scammer/spammers from everywhere. We have even gotten calls from Africa and lately Finland. They never give up. We have a message machine and don't answer the phone anymore.
We get scammers pretending to be the sheriff, people saying something was returned to the bank etc. They all demand that you call them ASAP and give them all your info or they are coming to arrest you.
Just don't answer the phone and never talk to these despicable people.
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
I just wish it hadn't been so difficult. I wanted to ask them, which part of no do you not understand.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
They do seem to limit the number of unsolicited calls we get.
@HanVanMeegerin (1161)
• United States
26 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt wow that's scary/ I'm glad that you persevered. How do you think you ended up being targeted? Was it just random?
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
They were targeting small businesses. Why they picked me to harass to the point of trying to drive me insane, I don't know. It should have been easy to just not answer the phone, but only one of the three phones had call display.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
Annoying, hardly covers it. I was almost 'afraid' to answer the telephone.
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
26 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt Good for you! You know they were sure you would not call the police.Many of us may say,we will call the police.But we hesitate.It was really good that you called the police.
1 person likes this
@Jackalyn (7559)
• Oxford, England
26 Jan 16
I am so glad you called the police and resolved this. My Mother tells me she nearly got caught out in one of these scams. She did give her bank details, but immediately realised her mistake and high tailed it to the bank and cancelled the account.
@LeaPea2417 (36399)
• Toccoa, Georgia
26 Jan 16
We have blocked some of the persistent telemarketers but still there are some who call. There are so many these days, its sickening.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
26 Jan 16
The dang creeps @Morleyhunt . I found out too that you can't blocked 800 numbers either. I get so many calls from scammers using 800 #'s that I could scream.
1 person likes this
