Signed up for FIOS Digital Voice days ago. Already getting telemarketer calls!!! Did I opt in?????
njweb
Enthusiast - Level 2

I switched to FIOS this week. As part of my triple play bundle, I have FIOS Digital Voice.

 I signed up online to take advantage of some nice bundle savings.

The install went well and everything is working fine, with one MAJOR exception now:

I am getting several telemarketing calls daily on my FIOS Digital Voice line. I will need a larger timeframe to confirm this is not just typical fluctuating telemarketing call volume, but the fact that I a didn't notice it before porting my home phone number to FIOS implies something is amiss.

1. My first important question:

When I signed up for FIOS online, I recall a checkbox during the ordering process (at a cost of $10) not to have my number published or listed in some Verizon directory or other type of phone directory (can't recall which it was).

I apparently selected the option to save $10 and thereby have my number published or listed.

Did I, unknowingly (hindsight is 20/20) attract these telemarketing calls that way?

I would appreciate it If someone can shed some light for me on whether that $10 I saved when signing up for FIOS was for opting out of (i.e.. for not signing up) for one of the following [apparent since I don't recall for sure what exactly the checkbox was:

(I recall something to the effect that it said we won't publish your name if you check the box and pay $10 for not publishing you name???]:

Here is the official distinction from FIOS' site:

Non-Published, Non-Listed, and Additional Listings Non-Published, Non-Listed, and Additional Listings   Non-Published Service

    • Your name, address, and telephone number are not published in the Verizon Directory White Pages.
  • Your telephone number is not available from Directory Assistance (411).


Non-Listed Service

    • Your name, address, and phone number are not published in the Verizon Directory.
  • Your telephone number is available from Directory Assistance (411).

Their site notes both of these have a monthly fee.

http://www22.verizon.com/residentialhelp/generic/phone+generic/phone+product/questions/124388.htm

Anyway, back to my questions:

2. Does what I did make a difference anyway (hinges on the response to question 1 and on what it really means since i thought I read somewhere that telemarketers will get numbers even if they aren't officially listed and / or published).

Any feedback from the community on what EXACTLY that checkbox said and what implication it may, or may not, have as far as getting telemarketing calls as a result is concerned would be appreciated.

Thanks!  

EDIT - After posting this, I got a few more telemarketing calls already.  

Today alone I am averaging  roughly one telemarketing call every 45 minutes (different telemarketers mostly with a few repeats).

I have had this number for numerous years while under Cablevision's Optimum Voice service and I was getting less than 5% as many telemarketing calls while under Optimum Voice, even though I ported it to Verizon just two days ago!!! As others have noted, this is very frustrating.

The worst part is now there is nothing that can be done by Verizon even if they wanted to since my number is already out there and being passed around!!!

Anyway, I do want to know if the item I checked (or left unchecked) when ordering FIOS online had to do with either opting out of my number being unlisted or unpublished?

I am pretty sure it mentioned something about a directory listing if I did not pay the $10 to opt out, but I don't know if it was unlisted or completely unpublished....

Can someone confirm which it is?

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Re: Signed up for FIOS Digital Voice days ago. Already getting telemarketer calls!!! Did I opt in???
ocean25
Specialist - Level 1

@njweb wrote:

I switched to FIOS this week. As part of my triple play bundle, I have FIOS Digital Voice.

 I signed up online to take advantage of some nice bundle savings.

The install went well and everything is working fine, with one MAJOR exception now:

I am getting several telemarketing calls daily on my FIOS Digital Voice line. I will need a larger timeframe to confirm this is not just typical fluctuating telemarketing call volume, but the fact that I a didn't notice it before porting my home phone number to FIOS implies something is amiss.

1. My first important question:

When I signed up for FIOS online, I recall a checkbox during the ordering process (at a cost of $10) not to have my number published or listed in some Verizon directory or other type of phone directory (can't recall which it was).

I apparently selected the option to save $10 and thereby have my number published or listed.

Did I, unknowingly (hindsight is 20/20) attract these telemarketing calls that way?

I would appreciate it If someone can shed some light for me on whether that $10 I saved when signing up for FIOS was for opting out of (i.e.. for not signing up) for one of the following [apparent since I don't recall for sure what exactly the checkbox was:

(I recall something to the effect that it said we won't publish your name if you check the box and pay $10 for not publishing you name???]:

Here is the official distinction from FIOS' site:

Non-Published, Non-Listed, and Additional Listings Non-Published, Non-Listed, and Additional Listings   Non-Published Service

    • Your name, address, and telephone number are not published in the Verizon Directory White Pages.
  • Your telephone number is not available from Directory Assistance (411).


Non-Listed Service

    • Your name, address, and phone number are not published in the Verizon Directory.
  • Your telephone number is available from Directory Assistance (411).

Their site notes both of these have a monthly fee.

http://www22.verizon.com/residentialhelp/generic/phone+generic/phone+product/questions/124388.htm

Anyway, back to my questions:

2. Does what I did make a difference anyway (hinges on the response to question 1 and on what it really means since i thought I read somewhere that telemarketers will get numbers even if they aren't officially listed and / or published).

Any feedback from the community on what EXACTLY that checkbox said and what implication it may, or may not, have as far as getting telemarketing calls as a result is concerned would be appreciated.

Thanks!  


   Even with unplished/unlisted numbers those scambots have a way of randomly calling anywhere

   and everywhere - - at least that's been our experience.

   I ended up called our consumer rights advocate and explained how the "don not call" registry was

   not working and she did something on her end, as it's been over 2 months now and no telemarker

   calls.

   Good luck!

Re: Signed up for FIOS Digital Voice days ago. Already getting telemarketer calls!!! Did I opt in???
njweb
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks a lot ocean25!

So was your number unlisted or unpublished?

More importantly, that is very interesting about your consumer rights advocate technique and how it seems to have worked. I wonder what they did since I had not heard any stories of anyone having much success in that manner.

Glad it worked though!

Would you mind PM'ing me the details of the consumer advocate you contacted. My state has multiple, some at the county level etc.

I would love to try that approach before things get really crazy given I only just signed up 2 days ago and it is already crazy...

I also just registered for the Do Not Call registry.

I had avoided it in the past since a) I was only been getting an occasional telemarketing call before signing up for FIOS Digital Voice

and

b) I had read somewhere it could make things worse (i.e. your number is now on a list that in the wrong hands could result in your number being added to a database and sold). At this point, I have nothing to lose.

My question still stands about whether the option I was presented with upon signing up for FIOS  was to

a) have my number be unlisted

b) have it be unpublished

or c) some entirely different directory listing / publishing option.

I just want to get a feel for which option I was presented with to betrer understand the potential impact. 

I will call Verixzon customer support with that question tonight if nobody here knows. I figured someone on the forums who signed up online recently might recall the specifics.

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Re: Signed up for FIOS Digital Voice days ago. Already getting telemarketer calls!!! Did I opt in???
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

These days telemarketers are calling all new numbers, sometimes even before they are installed.  I.e. they just have their autodialers set to do all numbers in an exchange and know what ones are just being assigned.

To make matters worse some of this information is mandatory public record in some areas, so they know when you are installed. 

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Re: Signed up for FIOS Digital Voice days ago. Already getting telemarketer calls!!! Did I opt in???
njweb
Enthusiast - Level 2

It seems like several / most of them are ADT dealers.

I signed up for the DNC registry last week. Had been avoiding since a) with Optimum Online I rarely got telemarketer calls and b) I heard it could make matters worse, so I didn't bother signing up since I was not experiencing calls at the time.

Too bad Verizon and other telecom firms do not automatically block these calls on their end for consumers who wish to opt out of telemarketing calls.

It would be easy enough to develop a simple database where users could flag numbers.

If a given number is reported several times by different users, Verizon (and other telecommunications firms could the validate that these are telemarketers and block them.

Verizon FIOS Digital Voice's current 10 number block list is not nearly enough, as many others have stated here.

They should increase that to 200 or more if possible (in any case, at least 100) per phone service customer.

I found a post that contains content that I will add to my voicemail announcement. It won't stop robo dialers though. 😞

Ask to be put on their do not call list, ask the person you talk to to verify the number they're DNC'ing. Make a note of this. If they call back, let them know that you informed them on "xx" date you asked to be put on their DNC list, and you'll be keeping track of every call they make to you from here on out and will pursue remedies under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act if the calls don't cease immediately. 47 U.S.C. 227 et seq is where you'll be looking. A lot of consumer protection attorneys will take these cases since each call is at minimum a $500 violation, and if you can show it to be willful, the damages treble to $1500 per call.

Re: Signed up for FIOS Digital Voice days ago. Already getting telemarketer calls!!! Did I opt in???
samglo
Newbie

Same issue for me. Was receiving one or two calls per week with this number through Comcast. Switched to FIOS and now have about 4 calls per day within a matter of 3 weeks. Extremely frustrating!!

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