Tuesday, February 23, 2021

'Tis Better to Have Listened and Glossed Than Ever to Have Answered at All

You know this house can't run without Val, right? It almost goes without saying. But I enjoy saying it seven times a week, just to prove my point.

I was getting out of the shower Monday morning when I heard the phone ring. There's a phone on the wall of the bathroom, but the ringer doesn't work. Hasn't for over 20 years. You'd almost suppose I didn't have a husband who earned a living as a facility maintenance manager, or had a dad who worked for the telephone company. Surely there's an easy fix for that ringer thingy.

Anyhoo... I don't pick up the phone if I don't know who's calling. Hick was available in the living room, and The Pony just steps away in his bedroom. I heard the phone continue to ring, and a muffled voice message. When I asked Hick who had called, he glossed over it. Like he wasn't responsible.

"I don't know."

"You were sitting out here, right, when the message was left?"

"Yes. It was some delivery service."

"Delivery service? What do you mean?"

"Not UPS. And not that other one. FedEx. But the other one."

"I don't know another one. I don't have any packages out. I guess I'll have to listen to the message..."

Here was the message:

"--Amazon gift card. Please hang up if you recognize this charge. To cancel this gift card order, please call back to Amazon Support on the same number which is displayed on your phone's Caller ID. Alternatively, call Amazon Customer Support at 424 426 0737." [That was the number on Caller ID]
 
Of course this is a scam. Starting the message in the middle of a sentence. Wanting me to call back the same number the call came from. A robovoice that sounded suspiciously like the one last week threating us with prosecution (over something that was cut off at the beginning of the call) if I didn't PUSH 1 to talk to somebody.
 
I'm glad Hick didn't answer. He might have called back! He wanted to call to find out why we might be prosecuted! Even though our name, and no personal details, were ever mentioned on either call. 
 
Hick's off the hook for this phone call. What he doesn't investigate can't hurt us.

8 comments:

  1. They try every trick in the book and hope we are frightened enough to tell them what they want to know. I just hate robo calls!

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    1. My mom fell for the one that said, "Your Windows computer has a virus..." She gave that caller the information they asked for about her computer, then she called me saying they were supposed to call her back for more info.

      Lucky for her, she had no vital information in her computer, and I made her promise not to answer if they called back! She only used it for email and to play games.

      Delete
  2. I could fix a BR wall phone for only $38, I have expertise in Amazon ordering.

    Sometimes I call those robocalls with the hopes of tying up their time for a bit...it never seems to bother them.

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    1. Heh, heh! You can order yourself an Amazon gift card to pay your fee! Since I won't be responding to any calls to cancel it.

      I bet they keep on talking right over you, too! Almost as if they're a recording...

      Delete
  3. So this is one time we can be thankful for Hick's and The Pony's laziness. I've been known to answer an unknow caller, say hello and immediately hang up.

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    1. Yes, but I can't let Hick and The Pony hear that, or they might expect an award for their laziness.

      I've been known to answer an unknown caller, and SCREAM into the phone, "OH NO! NOT MY WINDOWS COMPUTER! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

      That's when we kept getting the same call 6-8 times a day. The Pony was mortified. Like he actually cares what people think, and like the caller would even know he was there, and related to me.

      Delete
  4. Remember when they used to have real scammers make their own calls? I loved to tie them up for as long as I could. I got a call about resurfacing my kitchen cabinets right after we bought our house in Minnesota. The house was new, no one had ever lived in it before us. I took the bait, or so the caller thought and I became hysterical, asking him what other things in my brand new house needed to be worked on. "I am looking at my cabinets right this minute, and I think you must be right! They are defective!! How soon can you get here? Do I need to file suit against the house builder or the real estate agent who sold us this house?" The poor man kept trying to calm me down, but as HeWho likes to say, he might as well abort that mission! It was fun

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    Replies
    1. It's definitely more fun to mess with a live pest than a recorded pest!

      Delete