Increase in telemarketer calls after switching to FIOS phone service

[kdfdawg]

I recently switched over to the FIOS triple play. In the 3 1/2 weeks since the switch, i've been seeing a HUGE increase in the number of telemarketing calls.... did verizon sell my number to telemarketers?!?!?!?!? anyone else having this issue??

[Anthony_VZ]

You can read our full privacy policy at http://www22.verizon.com/privacy/?CMP=DMC-CV090332. You would benefit from having your number unpublished. Any marketing organizations can access public records or new additions to get numbers to add to their calling lists.

[SoCal_2012]

I pay the extra $3 or so a month for my number not to be listed by Verizon, yet I'm in the same position as those who haven't paid for this service.  We get 10-20 calls per week from credit card agencies, gov't pollers, and other random telemarketers.  We're on the verge of canceling the land-line because we cannot get privacy, even after we pay Verizon to protect us.  What a shame.

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@Anthony_VZ wrote:

You can read our full privacy policy at http://www22.verizon.com/privacy/?CMP=DMC-CV090332. You would benefit from having your number unpublished. Any marketing organizations can access public records or new additions to get numbers to add to their calling lists.

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[abi403]

this is happening to me too!! i have had the same number for 13 years. I switched to verizon from t-mobile and kept my number. All of a sudden i'm getting 2-3 telemarketer calls a day. I seriously doubt it is because it is a public number because i've had the number for THIRTEEN YEARS!! little bit too coincidental, verizon, that this should happen immediately after i switch to your company. quit selling numbers.

[Healz]

I also have been getting allot of spam calls since signing up with verizon. I have the same number for 35 years and i am on the DO NOT CALL list since its inception. This is ridiculious that I have to get these call because Im a verizon customer.

I put the numbers on the block list what happens after 10 numbers?

Verizon should have a central do not call list for compliants or do you guys profit from these robocalls?

Why has this happened since I became a customer of yours?

[Hubrisnxs]

I have seen this number posted on the message boards before. it still works today. 

Opt out of verizon marketing
English Consumer - 866 483-9700

You should also go to www.verizon.com/privacy and opt out of all the marketing that they have.  

How to Limit the Sharing and Use of Your Information

Your Choices

• Customer Information:

  You may choose to opt out of the sharing of specific customer information, within the Verizon family of companies for certain marketing purposes.
  Read more

• Telemarketing:

  You may request to be removed from the Verizon telemarketing lists at any time.
  Read more

• Marketing Email, Postal Mail and Door-to-Door Calls:

  You may opt out of receiving marketing-related emails, text messages, or postal mailings or prevent door-to-door marketing.
  Read more

• Information Used for Online Advertising:

  You have choices about whether certain information collected on websites, including Verizon's, is used to customize advertising based on predictions generated from your visits over time and across different websites.
  Read more

• Wireless Location Services:

  Verizon Wireless services that use mobile device location data provide you with notice about the collection and use of this data as well as choices about whether specific location-tracking features available on your phone are turned on.
  Read more

• FiOS TV Services:

  Specific cable-related privacy protections apply to Verizon's FiOS TV subscribers.
  Read more

• Geographic and Relevant Mobile Advertising:

  Verizon wireline Internet access customers may opt-out of participating in certain geographically-based advertising programs. Verizon Wireless Internet customers may opt-out of participating in relevant mobile advertising programs.
  Read more

• Business and Marketing Reports:

  Verizon Wireless customers may opt-out of allowing Verizon Wireless to use their information to create aggregated business and marketing reports.
  Read more

• Parental Controls:

  Age-based content controls are available for parents of Verizon's Internet, Wireless and TV services.
  Read more

[MrKenmore]

The telemarketing calls are awful with Verizon!!!  Once I got new service I got hammered with them.  3 a day minimum.  I signed up for do not call.  I also called Verizon to complain.  He said having the number unlisted does NOT stop the telemarkeing calls.  Apparently he opted me out of some other things.  Be careful everyone!

[acraftylady]

The same is true for time warner phone.  When my Mom switched from old fashioned verizon home phone to time warner digital she got a lot of telemarketer calls in the first month but I dont think they had anything to opt out of.  I went and put her number in on the do not call list again even though it was registered and then the calls stopped.  Mary

[mdjoey]

OK just suppose customers are not that lazy, we have done ALL OF THESE THINGS.

Customers like myself get dozens of calls per week with the caller ID of =  NOT AVAILABLE. These folks are marketers, scammers and other shady characters. WHY are these not blocked?

The caller ID comes up empty when telemarketers are on the line, some at 7:00 on a Sunday morning- this is absurd that Verizon call blocking cannot block a call that has NO PHONE NUMBER! Isn't this what the service is for.

Where are the real answers?  Perhaps this is Verizon's plan- make us buy more services, or go somewhere else.

[East2]

YES!!!!  We also have the triple play with Fios digital voice now for 4 months and it seems to get worse every week.  The digital voice options allow you to block 'anonymous calls' and only ten specific numbers.  We have dozens and many of them call from three or four different lines.   Our number has always been unpublished and we did not have a telemarketing problem with our other carrier like this.  We also recently switched to a Verizon family wireless plan and now the calls are starting to come in on my cell phone.  Hope there will be a solution for this that does not include another monthly fee!

[acraftylady]

If the calls are not exempt for the do not call list then you need to report them.  Mary

[Apgal]

We switched last week and have been getting 8 to 10 calls a day since...AWFUL ! Fortunately , we did not disconnect our Vonage account...FIOS can keep their stupid few dollars for the triple play package..it is not worth all the telemarketing calls ! Verizon made 70 billion dollars last year ...guessing 69 billion was from selling our phone numbers to telemarketers ! If you have been victimized by FIOS, call Bob {edited for privacy} at Verizon headquaters in {edited for privacy} ...preferably at dinner time:>) {edited for privacy}

[acraftylady]

Companies can sell your name all they want but if you are on the do not call list then they are in violation and need to be reported unless it's companies exempt from the list like charities. Mary

[Jar3dMan]

Also have been swamped by telemarketers after being switched to FIOS Digital Voice.  Multiple calls to Verizon customer service has led to nothing but frustration.  They keep denying that Verizon is sharing but I know better.  Have had 3 new phone numbers in 2 weeks and each time get inundated with telemarketers asking for me by name despite having an unpublished and unlisted number.

I tell the Verizon rep. "there's only one way these companies can get my info is from me or from you, nobody else has the information tying me to the phone number."

Found this article earlier: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/10/business/la-fi-lazarus-20120410

Despite claims otherwise, Verizon is apparently giving customer info to directory service, and they sell it to some mystery middleman.

Have signed up for federal and state do not call list, filed complaints with ftc, fcc, and anybody else I can.  Also found Verizon's privacy policy indicating that they share your private info unless you opt out : https://www22.verizon.com/about/privacy/cpni/ unless of course you are fortunate enough to live in AZ.  To opt out https://www22.verizon.com/about/privacy/cpnitelecom/#phonelist

Not sure if this will resolve the problem or not but this is where I'm at as of today.

[thetick1234]

Attention the secrete to stopping telemarketing....

Just ask them if they have underware?  Then what kind ..tell them you have no underware on and their voice is sexy.  You should not need to continue past this.

After a few calls like this I get NO and I repeate NO more telemarketers. I used to get 3 or 4 everyday until tried the above. It's disgusting but it does work.  

For charities I tell them I'm unemployed and would like to receive money not give it.

[nico213]

LOL! I changed my number when I got Verizon services and got a call from a telemarketer one hour before my number was supposed to be working? I called and thank God I got an honest employee! She told me Verizon has a habit of selling numbers to telemarketers as a way to increase profit but PLEASE do not say I told you so...WOW so the company that's says change your number to avoid the hassle of unwanted phone calls sells info to these worthless telemarketers that harass you 24/7 selling nonsense provided by your local phone company. HA HA  the joke of the day.Verizon!!!!

[tns2]

Actually all new phone installs are a matter of public record for all the providers.  So they aren't worth selling these days.  The telemarkters all get them.

[scarfish]

i switched to FIOS phone, internet and TV bundle last week. i have had the same unlisted phone number for many years and only a few family members and my job have the number. no other company has it, not my bank, insurance company or anyone else. i keep the home phone just for work to contact me in emergencies. in all the years i had the line i have never had a telemarketing call. just an occasional bill collector looking for someone i never heard of. 3 days after going with verizon and keeping the same number i have been absolutely bombarded with telemarketing calls. i've had 15 different numbers calling multiple times a day. everything from newspapers to magazines to ADT security and everything in between. my phone will not stop ringing. everyone who calls already seems to know my name.

i work nights and sleep days. this will be my 4th day straight with no sleep and the stress is about to give me a heart attack. i have to keep the phone on when i sleep incase of work emergencies, the only reason i have the home phone. so i can turn off my cell and only be woken by work during the rare emergency. my life has gone to **bleep** and i can deal with this about one more day before i hire a private investigator to figure out and prove who shared my info and an attorney. this is beyond harrassment.

i have put my number on the do not call list but that takes 30 days. even if that works i can't go 30 days without sleep. if i change my number verizon will share the new one. my life is ruined. what should i do?

[acraftylady]

I would use the cell as a work phone now and unplug the home phone when you are sleeping.  Mary

[scarfish]

it's possible but everyone i know has my cell and can wake me up. the whole point of having the landline is to have a number nobody knows and i can sleep undisturbed. also i have a contract now to keep all 3 services and will be paying for a phone that is worthless to me.

[tlb7]

I don't know if this has anything to do with it but when I recently went to FiOS triple play to add FiOS TV from my FiOS double play of broadband and phone, I was forced to move from FiOS Freedom Essentials phone to FiOS Digital Voice and one of the options for DV was to have my number unlisted (there is a $5/month charge for this if I'm remembering correctly). My memory is that this option was buried a bit during the selection process and was pretty easy to miss.

Could it be that your number is now no longer unlisted? You might try Verizon Live Chat (I find that tends to be more useful than calling Verizon customer service) to have them check to see if your number is now listed--my guess is that it is. Going back to unlisted probably won't help much because your phone number is now in telemarketers' databases. Adding your number to the Do Not Call list is a complete waste of time because my number is on it and I still get tons of telemarketing calls.

One possible to solution is to change your number and request that it be unlisted and then inform anyone pertinent of your new number. Alternatively, you could buy a call blocker. They are a bit pricey at close to $100 but from reading the reviews they do the trick. Here's one that was recommended highly:

http://www.amazon.com/electronics/dp/B009RVYEZ0