Rant about bank callers

Blasted · Post by **Blasted** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:04 am

Every month or so, my bank calls me about stuff.
Sometimes, it's about a new product, sometimes a 'suspicious' payment, whatever.
Before each call, they insist on me telling them some personally identifying information, even though I have no possible way of authenticating them.
They could be anyone. If I were fishing for information to enable identity fraud, this is exactly what I would do.

And so, every month I politely explain that I'm not going to provide them with the information and will instead call them back. And when I do call them, they inevitably make me regret doing so by providing some inane information I do not care about.

In order to completely drive me insane, they then occasionally 'forget' that I've called them and the next day they call me again. Just because I love this merry-go-round.

/rant

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:18 am

Wow, that is impressively incompetent. You might want to find another bank before it turns out they do stupid things when called by unauthenticated people, too.

K · Post by K » Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:51 am

Yeh, get a new bank. The one that is training its customers to be phished doesn't sound too secure.

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:09 am

Ooh, that sounds bloody annoying.

Wait until you get a messed up credit card company. One kept calling me, telling me i owed $10,000 (well, 9k and change). Every day, a phone call.

Every day, I'd explain no. They'd insist, but then I'd ask for my signature. They didn't have it. I'd ask them what it was for. They didn't know. I'd ask who I bought from. They didn't know. I'd ask when I bought whatever it was. They didn't know. The only thing good about it was I stopped getting credit card offers.

A year and a half of this before, finally, they acknowledged they were in error. I still have that letter, honestly didn't think I was ever going to explain to them that their methods made no sense, above and beyond them being in error.

And now I'm back to getting credit card offers every few days.

But back to your bank, start tracking down names. Play the "let me speak to your boss" game. Go to Radio Shack and blow the $30 or so to get the cassette recorder and cords so you can record the phone calls...and ask, every time they're on the phone, for them to identify themselves and when (day and time) they are calling, and keep a written record, too (I used a small spiral notebook, Wal-Mart sells 'em cheap). Then, on the same recording, specify that you are not to be called any more, that all communication must be in writing.

When you get about 20 such recordings, talk to a lawyer. It's annoying and painful and tedious and slow, but it does work.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:26 pm

Doom wrote: Go to Radio Shack and blow the $30 or so to get the cassette recorder and cords so you can record the phone calls...and ask, every time they're on the phone, for them to identify themselves and when (day and time) they are calling, and keep a written record, too (I used a small spiral notebook, Wal-Mart sells 'em cheap). Then, on the same recording, specify that you are not to be called any more, that all communication must be in writing.

Depending on location, you may have to ask permission to record a phone call because recording on the sly is wire tapping.

Yeah, it's stupid, but there have been some recent cases where people who recorded their calls in order to protect themselves were prosecuted. But perhaps the threat of being recorded will make them stop calling.

RobbyPants · Post by **RobbyPants** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:54 pm

Yeah. Asking up front could be off-putting.

Blasted · Post by **Blasted** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:42 pm

I've taken the first steps in making a complaint to the privacy commissioner, but as they've technically done nothing illegal, the best I can hope for is they'll stop calling.
Which would fix my issue, anyway

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:49 am

My bad, should have pointed that out.

You're right, some states don't allow you to record phone calls to your own house (but, not all states, and most allow it).

The reason I forgot, was every single time the bank called, it was preceded with an announcement: "For quality control purposes, this call may be recorded."

Granted, there's more than one way to interpret that, but I chose to interpret it as permission for me to record the call.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:20 am

Doom wrote:My bad, should have pointed that out.

You're right, some states don't allow you to record phone calls to your own house (but, not all states, and most allow it).

The reason I forgot, was every single time the bank called, it was preceded with an announcement: "For quality control purposes, this call may be recorded."

Granted, there's more than one way to interpret that, but I chose to interpret it as permission for me to record the call.

You just need to respond with "For quality control, this call may be recorded".