OT: Robocall hell

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August 3rd, 2010 at 3:53 PM
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megalomanick
Joined: 07/06/2008
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OT: Robocall hell

First things first: If this thread violates the no politics rule, I apologize. Feel free to remove.

 

This has gotten absolutely insane. I've been bombarded by robocalls in past elections, but nothing like this. Starting about two weeks ago and only getting worse by the day, these constant calls are out of control. After looking through my caller ID list, I see that I have had 17 of them since 9am Monday. Yesterday I had 7 partial messages on my answering machine. This is especially aggravating as I work a night shift and need to sleep during the day. Disconnecting the phones isn't an option as I have elderly relatives nearby and would be the first phone call were something to happen.

 

I understand the need to get every willing participant out to the polls, especially in a low turnout election like this one. I wouldn't even mind if there was a real person on the other end instead of some damn recording. This is perhaps the most ironic aspect of it all. Every one of these candidates who has bombarded me with robocalls is promising more jobs for the state, yet apparently can't even be bothered to pay a couple of college kids a few bucks to make phone calls for an afternoon.

 

Is anyone else getting absolutely hammered by these things? Anyone know of a way to make it stop? I really could use some sleep...

I'm almost tempted to write a letter to the State Attorney General about the harassment. Oh wait...

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August 3rd, 2010 at 4:00 PM | you better learn robot karate. (Score:1)
ronmexico
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Joined: 11/19/2008
MGoPoints: 453

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:03 PM | I think people on all sides (Score:1)
Zone Left
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Joined: 07/03/2008
MGoPoints: 13967

I think people on all sides agree that being cold-called makes it less likely you'll vote for the organization making the call.

It's all John Navarre's fault.

 

August 3rd, 2010 at 5:05 PM | This is true except when the (Score:1)
NationalOffense
Joined: 08/10/2009
MGoPoints: 122

This is true except when the person making the robo-call is none other than Lloyd Carr.

I got a call from him yesterday where he intimated to me that Jay Riemersma will make a "tremendous" congressman.  I must say that would have made me more likely to vote for him (at least a little) had I been a resident of his potential district.

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:08 PM | Go mobile (Score:1)
MichiganMan2011
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Joined: 07/03/2008
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Might be time to consider dumping the land-line...

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:14 PM | Almost did (Score:1)
megalomanick
Joined: 07/06/2008
MGoPoints: 1992

I was strongly considering this earlier in the year until my local media overlord informed me that it would cost more to get just cable and internet than it would if I did the nifty triple play deal. As soon as my "I'm switching to DirectTV unless you lower my bill" promotion rate expires, I'll take another look at it.

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:24 PM | You could always buy the (Score:1)
MichiganMan2011
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You could always buy the triple play deal for the cheaper price and disconnect the phone

August 3rd, 2010 at 5:44 PM | Comcast Triple Play (Score:1)
Njia
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Joined: 09/15/2009
MGoPoints: 6038

Land line phone service is "practically free" on Comcast and most other "Triple Play" plans these days. My last bill showed no charges for land line, even though its part of the plan, and we use it extensively. So I agree with your statement: going with a plan like it makes a lot of sense, even if you unplug the phone.

"If life is the road, then Ohio is simply a place to stop for gas." -- Scott Burgess, Detroit News, 9/16/2010
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:15 PM | One Word (Score:1)
psychomatt
Joined: 08/25/2009
MGoPoints: 3440

MagicJack.

$19.95 per year and it works perfectly.

You can kill the comcast phone service (I hate Comcast) and you still get a mutli-service discount if you keep both TV and internet. I am saving about $30 per month including taxes, which is roughly half the price of my two season tickets each year. And I get to f%ck Comcast in the process!

"I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything."  B. Simpson

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:08 PM | Your fault for having a home (Score:1)
His Dudeness
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Your fault for having a home phone, old timer.

Boom. Roasted.

or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:08 PM | Snyder (Score:1)
CRex
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Snyder's folks are spookily fluent in many languages.  I have my GF handle door to door types during election season, since she just looks at them blankly and swears in Korean.  Snyder's folks got themselves a translator and came back for round two.   

My favorite part of the season are the flyers from this guy running for the state House.  i don't know his name, but all his flyers make him look like a child molester.  He has this kid on his lap that looks kind of scared and this crazy glint in his eye.   Freaky.

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:13 PM | I'll give them credit (Score:1)
Seth9
Joined: 04/01/2009
MGoPoints: 2336

That's pretty damn impressive.

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:25 PM | I'll bet (Score:1)
RayIsaac91
Joined: 06/25/2009
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I'll bet that they wouldn't have come back if you had sent the GF's mother to the door!

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:30 PM | I need to train the dogs to (Score:1)
CRex
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I need to train the dogs to work the door and the landline, at least until election season is over.   

If I want to discourage visitors, I'd deploy a grandmother.  Mom would have invited the nice Korean man who came to translate in and introduced him to her daughter. "Look honey he's Korean and in politics..."

(Jehovah's Witnesses and one of the local evangelical churches also have door to door folk who are fluent in Korean.)

August 3rd, 2010 at 8:03 PM | I'd have my wife do that (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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But she hides when the Mormons come around.  

Doesn't like telling everybody no.

And yes, the calls have been ridiculous.

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

August 3rd, 2010 at 8:10 PM | You get Mormons?  Lucky, (Score:1)
CRex
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You get Mormons?  Lucky, they're the most decent of the bunch.   Plus you can always go nuclear on them by offering them booze or drinking a beer in front of them, but I feel bad about that since they're nice.  I used to live right across from their mission in the good old days.

The Jehovah's stopped coming around after they sent over two cute Korean girls.  I invited them, gave them limeade and kim-chee and then did a two hour presentation on how their organization uses many techniques for group control that Kim Jong-Il uses.   It beat writing a program for the EECS class I was in.

August 3rd, 2010 at 8:24 PM | They are nice (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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That's the problem.  She can't be mean to them.  I've often thought to offend them myself...but they're usually so young, I think Chris Hansen would be knocking next.

And if they were two cute Korean girls...well...

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

August 3rd, 2010 at 8:35 PM | Could Be Fun (Score:1)
CRex
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I discovered there is a fair amount of "North Asian" vs "South Asian" racism floating around.  You could get some fun fireworks depending on various peoples racial attitudes.   

PS:  The new noodle bar on Liberty has some decent pho, at least according to early reviews from my operatives.  Also get the steamed dumplings, they're quite good.   

August 3rd, 2010 at 8:40 PM | Yes (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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It's amazing for people that all have to stick together vs. the white man, how much backbiting there is between the groups.  That's why it's so funny when someone can't tell the differences...I mean, sometimes they HATE each other.

And nothing against Korean girls...I mean, it'd be trouble now (actually, heck, they were alway trouble)....but, even in the day, inviting two girls in....the porn music starts playing in the background of my head...bwow-chikka-bow-bwaaaaa...

Not that I'm endorsing kidnapping...because that's the only way that scenario would have ever become real.  And then, Chris Hansen would have been the LEAST of my worries.

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

August 3rd, 2010 at 9:12 PM | Like the Girls in Goldmember? (Score:1)
CRex
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but, even in the day, inviting two girls in....the porn music starts playing in the background of my head...bwow-chikka-bow-bwaaaaa...

I hope you would also find having bamboo shoved under your finger nails and being impaled with punji sticks amusing as well. Because I'd imagine your wife's reaction would run along those lines. For all the evil the white man can claim to have done, we can't hold a candle to the local feuds that run back as far as the 12th Century BC. I'm told a few of my better features are that I'm not Chinese, Japanese or Filipino. I might be a ginger, but it could be worse. (For fairness, I should point out my Irish and English relatives do the same shit. The population of the British Isles is not that diverse compared to the rest of of the world, yet for a long period of time they happily slaughtered each other over the few minor differences they have.)

August 4th, 2010 at 5:32 PM | Yeah, well, that's why it was once upon a time... (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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Because my wife comes from a Communist country, where they teach you to shoot rifles.  We already lost that war, I have no interest in fighting it again. 

But, it is a thought...

Though actually, I think they looked worse in that movie than they do normally:

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

August 3rd, 2010 at 9:18 PM | I used to work in Utah (Score:1)
Njia
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So, naturally, I knew a thing or two about the LDS Church. One day, I had some missionaries stop by my home here in Michigan. Nice young men. We stood on the porch as we talked at length about their beliefs. They were amazed that a Gentile, (in the LDS Church, anyone not Mormon is a Gentile, even Jews -- /pause for ironic effect) knew as much as I did. Finally, they got down to brass tacks and wanted to know if I was interested in discussing more with the local chuch elders. My reply, was, "Nope. I'm a devoted Catholic. But thanks for asking," and sent them on their way.

"If life is the road, then Ohio is simply a place to stop for gas." -- Scott Burgess, Detroit News, 9/16/2010
August 3rd, 2010 at 4:12 PM | I took this week off of work. (Score:1)
Jeremy
Joined: 06/14/2010
MGoPoints: 590

I took this week off of work. It was mostly to relax and to watch the Big Ten Media days. I honsetly wish I hadn't as my phone as been ringing off the hook. From 9-5 yesterday I must of had a phone call every 10 minutes on average. Today I had a flurry of them in the morning but not any since 2.

 

Thank god the Primary's are done with today.

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:20 PM | Primaries aren't all that bad (Score:1)
Seth9
Joined: 04/01/2009
MGoPoints: 2336

After all, you get to see ads like this:

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:20 PM | Going mobile (Score:1)
MMB 82
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MGoPoints: 1367

doesn't specifically solve the cold call problem. Congress, in its non-partisan infinite wisdom, have excluded political groups (i.e. themselves, no matter where on the political spectrum they may lie (pun intended)) from the Do Not Call lists. 

August 3rd, 2010 at 4:47 PM | FYI (Score:1)
CRex
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MGoPoints: 8737

A lot of modern cellphones have a "Send To Voice Mail" for contacts you've added and most robocalls come from the same number.  All my Cox calls came from the same number, all my Snyder calls from a number, etc.   So just program in contact (I call mine "Annoying Political Shitheads") and add numbers to it as you get robocalled.  You have to clean out your voicemail from time to time, but with "Send To Voice Mail" your phone never even rings when they call.  

Edit: Verizon will actually let you block numbers through their website.  Log in to your Verizon Wireless Account, go to My Verizon > My Services > Verizon Safeguards > Usage Controls > Spam Controls and just add numbers.  I'm too lazy to do it for primaries since I don't get a lot of calls, but if they start blowing up your cellphone it is an option.  I assume the other carriers offer the feature as well.  

August 3rd, 2010 at 8:13 PM | I received a robocall from (Score:1)
TheLastHoke
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I received a robocall from Lloyd Carr yesterday. I was really excited, but then he informed me that I should vote for Jay Riemersma and I hung up.

It was worse than spitting out good beer and I don't want to hang up on Lloyd Carr ever again.

Come on Lloyd, you're too good to pimp yourself out to political candidates, even if they are former players.

HOKEAMANIA RUNNIN' WILD

Formerly, TheLastProphet

August 3rd, 2010 at 9:30 PM | I'd politely listen to the entire recording (Score:1)
megalomanick
Joined: 07/06/2008
MGoPoints: 1992

If Lloyd was the one robocalling me I wouldn't be quite as upset. Although yeah, the involvement in politics kind of sucks.

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