Prank phone calls.

Autodialiers appear to be set up to call before a person is ready to handle the call, then transfer to a live persion when they detect you on the line. If no-one is available you will just get a dead line.

It is certainly rude to use an auto dialer in this manner. I think I saw news of some specific telemarketer FTC rules prohibiting this, but I don't know whether they are in effect yet. FDCPA specifically prohibits using the telephone for harassment:

§ 806. Harassment or abuse [15 USC 1692d]

A debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section: ...

(5) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.


Assuming they are negligently but not deliberately misusing their autodialer, what action do you want from them? Stop calling you completely? Stop calling you and hanging up? If you just don't like the thought of anyone, collector or not, misusing your phone, maybe just report it repeatedly to your phone company until they stop. If *69 calls it back, caller ID will probably catch the number.

 

My favorites are the collections calls you get, that as soon as you answer it says "You have an important call, however all representatives are busy please remain on the line".

Well By George, if you want to attempt to collect from me, you best have your sorry butt on the phone when I answer!

 

I had a message on my cell phone of a recording telling me to call a number. At the end it said this is NOT a collection call or sales pitch. So out of curiosity, I called the number. Sure enough, it was a collection agency (not for me luckily, it was a wrong number). I thought that was pretty dirty though.

Some time ago a friend of mine used my address & phone number as she was going to be making several moves over the following year and didn't want to risk her mail getting screwed up. What a mess!! Several years later I start getting all these collection calls for her. I told them time and time again she didn't live here. I gave them her current address and phone number. They continued to call several times a day claiming the information was never updated.

I also had a collection agency calling me recently about somebody I don't even know. I told them they had the wrong number. They said let me speak to your husband. I said I'm not married. "What's your x-husbands name". They could hear my daughter talking in the background and asked who that was. I said it was my daughter. They asked what her husbands name was. I said she is only 10. They asked what her dads name was. It was quite comical. After the fun was over I insisted they update their files to show this is a wrong number. I told them I work shift work and sleep during the day and sometimes evening. They continued to call for months. I would estimate I got about 10-15 of those "Phantom" hang-up a week in addition to the times a live person was on the phone. They always refused to give me their company name though so there wasn't a whole lot I could do. They seem to have finally given up now but boy did I lose a lot of sleep.

 

I'm getting calls in cell phone and person hangs up as soon as the phone is answered. The cell phone has caller ID and when I call the number back it's a recording for a resort-some kind of sales pitch I think though I never stay online to hear the entire recording. I wonder if this is a way around the no call list? They call you, hang up and then you call them back.