Kathi - numbness and annoying phone calls

[Guest guest]

Well, Kathi, I'm not laughing at #1, but I am at #2!

I don't have the numbness problems you describe. Please mention it to

your physician next time you have an appointment or call him or her

about it. With all the spinal damage you have, I wouldn't be surprised

if that's it, but you should ask about it. Sorry it's so annoying.

As for telemarketers - I can't stand the intrusion. I was getting so

many calls that I broke down and bought CallerID. I hate paying the

phone company any more money for anything, but CallerID is worth it to

me. Between telemarketers and calls for the three kids (two of whom are

teens), the odds are slim that it's anybody I want to talk to when the

phone rings. Normally, if I'm busy I don't even go near the phone.

Do you have an answering machine? If you are doing something else, just

let the caller leave a message. You don't have to answer the phone if

you are busy. Also, if you do answer and it is MCI or some other

solicitor and you don't want them to call back, simply tell them to

remove you from their call list. They are supposed to then remove you

and not call again.

Another solution that works with CallerID: I bought a gadget at Best Buy

for $10. It's a terrific invention. The kids and I call it " The Button. "

I even gave it to my good friend and neighbor for part of her 40th

birthday present and she loves it. She was having similar telephone

problems.

It plugs into the phone and then the line from the wall plugs into it.

When a call comes through and you see on the CallerID that it is an

unidentified or nuisance call, you press a button and it plays a

recorded message for the caller to hear. It's an official-sounding man

saying something like, " I'm sorry. This number does not accept calls of

this type. Please make a note of it. " It repeats the message and then

disconnects the call. I'm not sure it's cutting down on the number of

telemarketing calls (but I think it is), but it is satisfying to push it

when I do happen to be by the phone and see that Carpets R Us or

ChemLawn is calling. The kids have a ball with it. Fun for the whole

family!

Another option: You can register with the Direct Marketing Association's

Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which, according to them is " a

do-not-call service, is a service to assist those consumers in

decreasing the number of national commercial calls received at home. "

It's $5 to register online and free if you do it my snail mail. I tried

this for snail mail junk mail and I do think it helped.

http://www.the-dma.org/consumers/offtelephonelist.html

I love your " hold on please " story! I have a friend who asks the

telemarketer for his or her home phone number and tells them that he

will call them back at their home when he is at work. They hang up fast!

Wish I had a better answer for your first question and could have

stopped myself from going on and on about #2. Can you tell that

telemarketing calls are a pet peeve of mine?

[ ] RE:Got some questions

> I have a couple of questions,one is serious and the other kinda a joke

> 1. Do any of you have problems with your legs ...I dont know how to

> word this...kinda like going to sleep ,really numb, sometimes pins

> and

> needles, but not really painful, just really irritating, and then

> when

> you get up you cannot feel them? At first i thought it was caused by

> my lumbar problems but that has been being quiet lately, so i dont

> want to talk to loud....I just cant figure this one out,,,,it is

> driving me nuts.....

>

> 2. Has MCI been driving you all nuts this week.....I bet i have

> recieved 10 calls just this week....you say NO and then in an hour

> they call back and it is always when you are on a roll doing something

> and in my case if you stop me it (the roll) might never come

> back....anyway I saw this on the web and thought I wonder if it would

> work...tell me what you all think

>

>

> I suppose some degree of commerce would grind to a halt if

> telephone

> solicitors weren't able to call

> people at home during the dinner hour. But that doesn't make it any

> more pleasant.

> Now Steve stein, a writer for the San Francisco

> Chronicle, has proposed " Three Little Words " based on his brief

> experience in a telemarketing

> operation -- that would stop the nuisance for all time.

> The three little words are " Hold on, please. "

>

> Saying this while putting down your phone and walking off instead

> of

> hanging up immediately -- would

> make each telemarketing call so time-consuming that boiler rooms

> would

> grind to a halt. When you

> eventually hear the phone company's beep-beep-beep tone, you know

> it's

> time to go back and hang up your

> handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

>

> Three little words that eliminate telephone soliciting.