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	hallidae 2007-01-19 11:30 pm UTC (link)
	See, this is why I'm so happy I don't have a landline. If my cell rings, I know it's either someone I know, or something important (unless it's a drunken wrong number at 4AM, then I'm pissed), so there's no reason for me to not answer. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	whimsy_chan 2007-01-19 11:46 pm UTC (link)
	I'm glad I have caller ID and an answering machine. If I don't recognize the number, I don't pick up. If I'm in the middle of something and someone calls, I let them leave a message and call them back as soon as I can. The last thing I'm going to bitch about is the phone interrupting my life. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	iwanttobeasleep 2007-01-20 12:30 am UTC (link)
	By my understanding, that might soon end. Apparently, since so many people are ditching landlines for cell phones, the telemarketing companies are lobbying to be allowed to call cell phones. Which is just all kinds of evil, if you ask me. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	hallidae 2007-01-20 12:49 am UTC (link)
	Oh, goddamn. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	antigone 2007-01-20 01:01 am UTC (link)
	But as long as people pay for incoming minutes (which is another scam altogether, imo), that can't be made legal. Can it? It'd be like PAYING to talk to a telemarketer. At least most cell phones come with caller ID. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gloria_mundi 2007-01-20 02:19 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, but a lot of cell phone plans now are just one flat monthly rate, as far as I know. Paying for incoming calls no longer really applies. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	antigone 2007-01-20 02:22 am UTC (link)
	Well, insomuch as incoming calls count as "minutes" and if you go over your minutes it's very expensive. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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mydruthers, 2007-01-20 02:33 am UTC

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thesilentsenshi, 2007-01-20 02:36 am UTC

lady_red
2007-01-20 04:11 am UTC (link)

Wait, you pay for incoming calls?! I saw people mentioning that in the thread, & assumed they'd got mixed up while typing, or I was reading it wrong...

At least most cell phones come with caller ID.

Trouble is often that comes up as 'private number', which could be a company trying to sell me something, or it could be a company I've sent a job application to offering me a job.

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	loonylupinlover 2007-01-20 05:50 am UTC (link)
	I have a pay-as-you-go type phone, and yeah, picking up incoming calls is just the same as sending one out myself. cry Lucky I don't use it for much besides seeing how many times I can slide the screen out again and again and again before I go crazy! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	bubosquared 2007-01-20 11:50 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, my understanding is that if you call a mobile in the States, you pay for the call and the person you're calling pays as well (or it counts on your minutes if you're on a contract rather than pay-as-you-go). It took me ages to catch on to that as well. America: weird! (Reply to this)(Parent)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-01-20 04:14 pm UTC

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felinephoenix, 2007-01-21 08:34 pm UTC

	rosalita 2007-01-20 01:01 am UTC (link)
	What? I don't see how that will fly since it costs me to get a call on my cell. OTOH, I'm glad I put it on the do not call list. (Reply to this)(Parent)

telemarkers are not going to get your cell phone number

mrbimble
2007-01-21 02:08 am UTC (link)

trust me. it's not going to happen. I work for a Very Large Cellular Company and every 3 months this rumor flies around and we get deluged with calls.

The large cell companies in the US have plans that use plan minutes for incoming as well as outgoing calls (I think Sprint claims all incoming calls are free but I don't know the fine print so I'm going to go off what I know). The cell companies already have our hands full with people using all their minutes and there's no freaking way they're going to put out a directory of cell phone numbers to increase our customer service calls.

That said, if you give out your cell number? There's no way to control where it goes (I know JC Pennys, for example, sells their credit card customer list because my name is spelt one particular way on their card adn when I get mail from other marketers I know the source).... and I certainly wouldn't put it past telemarkers to randomly put numbers in their systems and hope to get someone. Like someone else said, I've had good luck with the "this is a cell phone and if I hear again from you I'll be on the phone to the BBB and your corporate headquarters" line (had to do that for my 16 yr old son who got a new phone number and more than a half-dozen calls from bill collectors. Between "16 yrs old" and "not at this number/this is a cell phone" not one called back.

So. Cell phone number? Keep it safe, keep it secret. Don't give it to businesses as your contact number. And don't worry about a general directory of cell phone numbers. If it changes, believe me, you'll be seeing MY name all over the Net wanking about it. I don't need more upset customers calling me....

(please note: I'm in customer service. They call ME, I don't call THEM. *whew* mops up)

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	Re: telemarkers are not going to get your cell phone number iwanttobeasleep 2007-01-21 02:10 am UTC (link)
	Aw, you're kind of awesome. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2007-01-22 04:52 am UTC (link)
	This will probably piss you off, but... here in Australia, I work at a market research company (we don't sell things, we just ask people a bunch of questions) and we're allowed to call cells. And apparently whatever legislation we're using to allow that is rolling right over to other countries and occupations. So in effect, it's already happened :p (Reply to this)(Parent)

	bigbigtruck 2007-01-22 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	I already get calls from telemarketers, actually... usually selling insurance. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bigbigtruck 2007-01-22 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	Er. On my cell phone, that is. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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miraba, 2007-01-22 07:16 pm UTC

	demonbean 2007-01-20 12:31 am UTC (link)
	Actually, I've started getting spam telemarketing calls (I don't know what to call them other than spam) on my cell phone ... in Spanish. So who knows. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	dandywolves 2007-01-20 02:15 am UTC (link)
	oh yeah, I get those a lot. the first call I ever recieved on my new phone was one of them, which was incredibly disappointing. (Reply to this)(Parent)

tez
2007-01-20 12:41 am UTC (link)

Oi. I've been getting telemarketers on my cell phone -- though largely they're from places like Sprint and Comcast and people I've done business with -- and caller ID doesn't help me at all. Why? The school my mother works at (and my daughter attends) shows up as unlisted. So I have to answer all of those calls.

When they hear the words "cell phone" they tend to bugger off right fast though.

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	thesilentsenshi 2007-01-20 02:38 am UTC (link)
	My mom's work number is unlisted, too. xD Did you put your number on the no call list for cell phones? I did as soon as I got wind of it, and all I tend to get are mistaken numbers. ^^; (Reply to this)(Parent)

harrylovesron
2007-01-20 04:41 am UTC (link)

I get calls roughly once every two weeks from people whom I assume are bill collectors looking for someone named Gilford Kinsey, which is nowhere close to my real name. They either have horribly outdated information (I've had my phone for a year and a half) or Gilford Kinsey keeps giving them the wrong number on purpose, and the fuckers simply do not believe me when I tell them they've got the wrong number. If I answer (I usually don't if the number is unknown or from a state I have no reason to be getting calls from) and tell them "you have the wrong number", they hang up on me and call again for the next two or three days until they get the hint. I once had somebody call me every single weekday for three solid weeks (I wouldn't answer because they'd call either when I was asleep or in class) until I finally picked up and said they had the wrong number and told them to leave me alone.

Whenever these people call, I so want to hand them off to my favorite professor, whose mother tongue is French; I wouldn't want him to curse them out, just say something inocuous like "This is Mary's phone, not Gilford Kinsey's, do not call again!" and hear how they react. XD

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your_face
2007-01-20 06:52 am UTC (link)

Bill collectors never believe they've got a wrong number (and I kind of understand why, but still argh). I think the weekly calls for a Maria something-or-other have only stopped recently, after months of being bothered about it.

I'm a lot more annoyed by regular people who call me over and over, looking for someone else. WTF did I not tell you this wasn't their number the last three times!

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harrylovesron, 2007-01-20 07:28 pm UTC

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your_face, 2007-01-21 06:56 am UTC

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harrylovesron, 2007-01-21 09:27 pm UTC

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lexin, 2007-01-22 01:12 pm UTC

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harrylovesron, 2007-01-23 10:05 pm UTC

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lexin, 2007-01-23 11:08 pm UTC

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v_digitalwytch, 2007-01-22 08:38 pm UTC

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your_face, 2007-01-23 05:45 am UTC

harrylovesron
2007-01-20 04:30 am UTC (link)

I don't bother to keep a landline at school for that reason; I used to get drunken calls all the damn time (but we're a dry campus lol) with the occasional wrong number or telemarketer (thanks for whoring your students' numbers out, NKU). The only time my cell wakes me at odd hours is when my brother (who goes to work at 4 AM) feels like being an ass. *g* I was so glad to get a cell phone because I can control who gets the number for the most part...

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	also_not_a_pipe 2007-01-20 07:12 am UTC (link)
	Somehow skimming this thread I managed to misread your comment and icon as in part, "If my cell phone rings at 4AM, it's either someone I know, or zombies." I am highly disappointed that you didn't really say that. (Reply to this)(Parent)

stella_polaris
2007-01-20 02:06 pm UTC (link)

They're allowed to call mobile phones here. (Here is Finland.) They're allowed to pick random numbers from phone books, if they want. I worked as a telemarketeer last summer. It was the most confusing job ever. I worked with the coolest people ever and my boss was just too nice (I guess you have to be an optimist to work in that profession long term), but the job itself sucked balls.

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