cell phone story

[rivendellrose]

So, I leave my cellphone on silent-mode when I'm at work or in classes, meaning that I don't answer my calls immediately, but effectively 'screen' them later. And the last few weeks, I keep getting calls around the middle of the day from some weird-ass number I don't recognize.

Naturally, I'm not calling them back (do I look stupid?), but here's the funny thing - the number had an area code I totally didn't recognize, so I decided to look up where it comes from.

It's area code 786 - which turns out to be in Florida.

Now, there's a limited number of people who actually have my cell number, and none of those people are in or from Florida, as far as I know. I've only had the damned thing for a year, after all. So I'm feeling pretty vindicated in my original notion that this is a telemarketer of some kind. I've flagged the number so that I can recognize it, now, and see if it's always the same exact number... if it is, I'll probably just block it if this continues. Or, if curiosity gets the better of me, call them back during my free hours. Also known as "late at night on East coast time." ;)

Incidentally, if I were a telemarketer... I'd want my company to at least be smart enough to call numbers in my region.

Comments

[shadawyn.livejournal.com]

[cell phone industry professional]
Unless your carrier's technology is different, you cannot block a number from calling you on a cell phone. You can choose not to answer, but you cannot stop them from calling you.

What you CAN do, though, if it is a telemarketer, is call them or answer and tell them to remove you from their calling list, because it is actually illegal for telemarketers to call you on a cell phone unless you have specifically given them the number as a contact. (And you might be surprised at who it is.)

And telemarketing companies are usually set up nationally, rather than regionally. Big companies have ways around a consumer's long distance bills. Otherwise, *I* wouldn't be calling people in Florida to help them troubleshoot their phone for an hour at a time :)

[/cell phone industry professional]

[shadawyn.livejournal.com]

I'm such a freak :P

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

You're not a freak, you're an expert! ;)

I'll have to call them back at some point, then - they always call while I'm in class or at work, it seems like. Which is really irritating, since, because everyone nearby knows my hours, I always assume it's some kind of emergency when my phone rings, and I've gotten kind of sick of sneaking off into the bathroom at the Museum to check who's called me, just to find some random-ass Florida number.

If it is somebody I know, that's great. If it isn't... yeah, then they're in trouble. ;)

[arcane.livejournal.com]

Can telemarketers get cell phone numbers now? That would be bad.

My first guess would be that you might owe a company money and it's the agency who is trying to collect that is calling. You might want to try just giving the number a call to find out who answers. If it is a telemarkter tell them to take your name off the list and they are obligated to do so. If they don't and they call you again they have to pay some pretty exhorbitant fines.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

From the sound of what shadawyn said, they're not supposed to.

Since I only just incurred my first debt ever that wasn't paid off completely in a month, I can at least rest easy in knowing that it's not a collector. Besides, I don't give companies my cellphone number unless absolutely necessary. ;)