4 ms·

I stopped answering the phone to unknown numbers because of this.

by adrianb 11y ago

Flenser 11y ago
I turned off my voicemail because of this.
- raverbashing 11y ago
  I just left my old number (that I don't use anymore) in linkedin
  - adrianb 11y ago
    That's still not good enough. I've had recruiters look at who my current employer is then call the public phone number of the company (the reception) and ask for my name. I'm not joking. Happened more than once.
    - kchoudhu 11y ago
      Recruiters would call the office switchboard and ask to be transferred to my extension while I sat on a trading desk next to a managing director (read: dude who brings in major $$$ for the firm). Seriously awkward conversations afterwards.
    - Xylakant 11y ago
      I have UK recruiters calling the number listed on our website and try to get patched through to my employees. And when I tell them that they just called the boss, they're not even embarrassed and just try again the next day. Only stopped when I called their boss.
    - tommyd 11y ago
      I don't usually object to recruiters and haven't had any major issues with them (one saying "I notice you have Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP experience... what about LAMP, do you have any experience with that?" did make me laugh though!) but one did go too far and when they couldn't get hold of me, Googled my name, found my name on an info page for a club night I DJed at, called the promoter's number (who was a friend of mine) and told him he urgently needed to get hold of me regarding work. Needless to say both I and my friend were pretty p*ed off (he used the line "come on, I know the best people are hard to track down" as if that made it okay) and he didn't get the time of day from me!
    - rbadaro 11y ago
      This is common practice in London. I stopped answering calls with the reception ID as they are normally just recruiters doing what you mention. The problem is that somehow they get my mobile number and stealing contacts as they themselves move between recruitment agencies is also common practice.
- dheera 11y ago
  My voicemail recording is just several minutes of classical music with the occasional "All of our representatives are currently busy at this time. Please stay on the line and we'll be with you shortly." at regular intervals.
  - kps 11y ago
    I'm fond of the Intercept tone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IC_SIT.ogg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IC_SIT.ogg
    - dheera 11y ago
      That's a nice idea too, but in reality it creates trouble (I tried it once). For example, my bank's fraud department often likes calling me several times a day asking me to "verify" transactions. I told them several times to NEVER call me, and that I will monitor my transactions via the online interface and call in the event of suspected fraud. However, they continued calling me, often at the most inconvenient times. Like when I have a bag slung across my shoulder, a grocery bag in one hand, a hot drink in the other, and standing on crowded public transit, they expect me to answer my phone, spill my drink, fall over on a moving train, and yell my social security number in front of everyone on the train? To top that, don't they realize that I need to login to my AWS account and check my instance usage before I can "verify" any transactions? Sorry bank, just DO NOT CALL. Ever. Period. E-mail me. This is the 21st century. So back when I had one of those error message tones, they once decided that my contact information was "out of date" and just disabled my credit card while I was eating lunch, leaving me stranded at a restaurant like a fool, ATM and credit cards all disabled, without any way to pay. (Like seriously, are you trying to stop fraud, or stop your own customers?) With the hold message this doesn't happen. :)

I stopped answering the phone to unknown numbers because of this.

by adrianb 11y ago

I stopped answering the phone to unknown numbers because of this.

Flenser 11y ago

I turned off my voicemail because of this.

raverbashing 11y ago
I just left my old number (that I don't use anymore) in linkedin
- adrianb 11y ago
  That's still not good enough. I've had recruiters look at who my current employer is then call the public phone number of the company (the reception) and ask for my name. I'm not joking. Happened more than once.
  - kchoudhu 11y ago
    Recruiters would call the office switchboard and ask to be transferred to my extension while I sat on a trading desk next to a managing director (read: dude who brings in major $$$ for the firm). Seriously awkward conversations afterwards.
  - Xylakant 11y ago
    I have UK recruiters calling the number listed on our website and try to get patched through to my employees. And when I tell them that they just called the boss, they're not even embarrassed and just try again the next day. Only stopped when I called their boss.
  - tommyd 11y ago
    I don't usually object to recruiters and haven't had any major issues with them (one saying "I notice you have Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP experience... what about LAMP, do you have any experience with that?" did make me laugh though!) but one did go too far and when they couldn't get hold of me, Googled my name, found my name on an info page for a club night I DJed at, called the promoter's number (who was a friend of mine) and told him he urgently needed to get hold of me regarding work. Needless to say both I and my friend were pretty p*ed off (he used the line "come on, I know the best people are hard to track down" as if that made it okay) and he didn't get the time of day from me!
  - rbadaro 11y ago
    This is common practice in London. I stopped answering calls with the reception ID as they are normally just recruiters doing what you mention. The problem is that somehow they get my mobile number and stealing contacts as they themselves move between recruitment agencies is also common practice.
dheera 11y ago
My voicemail recording is just several minutes of classical music with the occasional "All of our representatives are currently busy at this time. Please stay on the line and we'll be with you shortly." at regular intervals.
- kps 11y ago
  I'm fond of the Intercept tone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IC_SIT.ogg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IC_SIT.ogg
  - dheera 11y ago
    That's a nice idea too, but in reality it creates trouble (I tried it once). For example, my bank's fraud department often likes calling me several times a day asking me to "verify" transactions. I told them several times to NEVER call me, and that I will monitor my transactions via the online interface and call in the event of suspected fraud. However, they continued calling me, often at the most inconvenient times. Like when I have a bag slung across my shoulder, a grocery bag in one hand, a hot drink in the other, and standing on crowded public transit, they expect me to answer my phone, spill my drink, fall over on a moving train, and yell my social security number in front of everyone on the train? To top that, don't they realize that I need to login to my AWS account and check my instance usage before I can "verify" any transactions? Sorry bank, just DO NOT CALL. Ever. Period. E-mail me. This is the 21st century. So back when I had one of those error message tones, they once decided that my contact information was "out of date" and just disabled my credit card while I was eating lunch, leaving me stranded at a restaurant like a fool, ATM and credit cards all disabled, without any way to pay. (Like seriously, are you trying to stop fraud, or stop your own customers?) With the hold message this doesn't happen. :)