anyone know how to get one's home phone number removed from telemarketing lists in France? The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
You can ask to be put on the liste orange that doesn't have those two drawbacks, but it doesn't change a thing.
the problem we have is that we get lots of calls from overseas and people using Skype, so when "ID MASQUEE" or some bizarre sequence of digits shows up on caller id, it's hard to tell if it's a telemarketer or my brother in India or some random friend in Minnesota. The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
Another solution is to get an answering machine and pick up only if someone is leaving a message that you actually wish to speak to.
I'm not sure sure if these would be seen as rude in France, but these tactics are/were commonly done in the U.S.
In my experience, telemarketers hang up the moment they figure out they're talking to a recording.
Happened to me when I relocated to my present house about 2 years ago: I called Orange customer service immediately and (almost) haven't been bothered since. But you have to be quick or else your number will end up in all data bases in France, Andorra, Monaco and beyond...
Caller ID doesn't help much: these guys mask their number. They are required by law to remove them from their database if you ask them, but you have to do it with each company calling...
So yeah, answering machine may be the best practical solution, short of your mom changing her phone number (and have it unlisted).
As for relatives calling from overseas, sorry, there's no cure for that :) When in California we got called every so often at 3 AM by some well intentioned cousin who got the idea that CA was 9 hours ahead or Europe... Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
Wonderful.
Bernard: Happened to me when I relocated to my present house about 2 years ago: I called Orange customer service immediately and (almost) haven't been bothered since. But you have to be quick or else your number will end up in all data bases in France, Andorra, Monaco and beyond...
I'm afraid it's too late: my mother's had this service for three years, I think.
Bernard: Caller ID doesn't help much: these guys mask their number. They are required by law to remove them from their database if you ask them, but you have to do it with each company calling... So yeah, answering machine may be the best practical solution, short of your mom changing her phone number (and have it unlisted).
I think that's what we're going to try. On the other hand, I had a thought this morning: maybe I can use these telemarketers as free French conversation practice. :-)
Thanks, Bernard! The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
