I did away with my landline phone and went cell only. However, I made the mistake of giving the cell phone when I had to. Plus, I ran into problems [credit and other] by not having a "local number". Let the @!* telemarketing begin :-( Thought I was going to have to make an in-person visit to Western Union to get them to stop calling! I finally got a local voice mailbox for around $39.00 a month. The phone company will give you one that is listed or unlisted with directory assistance. It is not physically located anywhere. When anyone dials the number, it goes directly to a voice mailbox you can customize. Here in Texas its called a telebranch number. Most of the phone companies offer a residential or business telebranch number. Although it may not be called "telebranch" outside of Southwestern Bell. *You can have the number permanently go to a voice mailbox - or permanently forwarded to another local number. I give the telebranch number as my home phone number when I absolutely have to, which has given me a lot more privacy.
but dont you think $39 is expensive to have a box only for voicemail. just turn the ringer off or dont answer when caller id doesnt pick up. i need a phone line for dsl but the phone line itself only costs $30 after taxes a month. i can only see having a cell phone and no house phone only if its cheaper but adding that $39 a month makes it more expensive, dont you think?
Why should I have to spen an extra $30-40 a month for a landline I neither want nor need just so taht Dell camn charge me 21% interest? When does the screwing stop? It stopped yesterday when I bought the computer on eBay for cash (and half as much of that as Dell wanted from me). Add Dell to the companies I will not do business with. That list is getting REAL long now.
Yes, Lbrown's replies are hard to read -- Look for blue. The replies are typically buried in a quote or totally disassociated from the original quote and tracked by a numbering system.
You could sign up for something like OneBox ( http://www.onebox.com ). If you won't or don't want to get any calls on the line you could get a metered line for less than $20. I had one for a while -- I didn't even bother bring the wires into the house.
My landline phone costs us much less then 39.00.... Don't you have voice mail on your cell phone and caller ID? If you don't want to answer it let it go to the voice mailbox. Or is that not an option? That would be cheaper then paying an additional 39.00/month.
The simplest solution is this. If the company wont accept your cell phone or wants information you dont wish to provide, you simply lower their annual profits by respectfully declining any of their services and taking your business to their strongest competitor. If they have made inquiries on your credit, wait 12 months and go after them for no permissable purpose. And don't ***** out on this one people... go after them with the full fury of a woman scorned. Make them pay so severely that they will feel uncomfortable every time they pull a hard.
No LAND-LINE phone is a FRIVOLOUS reason to deny credit--ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL!!! I have my CELL-PHONE on and with me almost 24/7...my "HOME PHONE" is usable 24/7...but I won't answer while I'm at work (BEFORE 6:30 AM) or after 9PM or while I'm sleeping...add in "FAMILY TIME"...shower time...so one has a VERY SMALL WINDOW TO GET ME...(2-5 HOURS/DAY) I DO HAVE AN ANSWERING MACHINE AND CALLER ID WITH PRIVATE NAME/PRIVATE NUMBER REJECT
I should have added more info; the voice mailbox would have been around $20 cheaper. However, our family got extra mailboxes on the service -- one for me, one for the kids and one for my wife's quilting business. May not work for everyone - but the voice mailbox helps us track calls, have the convenience of a local number - yet have a lot more privacy.
POST CARD FROM FLEET (TODAYS MAIL)---YEAR END SUMMARY CALL 1-800-421-7031 BEFORE 11/30/03 ...JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY IT SHOWS A NOKIA CELL PHONE!!! SAME PHONE I HAD...TILL A MONTH AGO
Flyingifr, I was wondering how they know it's a cell number. Do they have a list and cross-check, or had you volunteered the information. I like the idea of making up a number (but only if they're not going to call and check). Back when they could still legally ask for you phone number on credit card transactions, my sister had an interesting policy. If they said "Please sign and give YOUR phone number" she put down her phone number. If they said "Please sign and give A phone number" she just made one up (in other words, she put down "A" phone number, not necessarily hers). Alternatively, you could have an arrangement with a friend to give their number, I guess. But if they check the listing they'd know it's not yours.
Years after they stopped asking for a phone number in CO and CA I went back to ME and everybody asked for the phone number...I PUT MY LOCAL CO AAA PHONE NUMBER... They even charged for REFILLS ON ICED TEA IN SOME PLACES IN ME...kinda strange
Re: Re: Solution for Landline Phone Because in my questioning to those involved in pulling peoples reports, the amount of time they kept records on the pull or application of credit averaged 6 mos to 1 year. A full year was uncommon whereas 6 mos was very common, but it is best to be as safe as possible. http://profiles.yahoo.com/blkcarded
There are ways to determine a lot of things about a phone number There is something known as ANI-Automatic Number Identification it transmits the billing telephone number to whoever you are calling. Unlike caller ID it cannot be blocked It transmits codes along with the number so that the called party can tell 1. If it is a residence 2. If it is a business 3. If it is a cell-phone 4. If it is a Pay phone on the street 5. If it is a pay phone in a hospital or prison get the idea? Another reason never to call CA's use the mail only
