Melaleuca Annoyance call nightmare Idaho Falls Idaho
10 weeks ago, I moved and got a new phone number which seems to have been the fax number of a former Melaleuca rep. This is when my nightmare began.
I started to receive at least 9 annoyance calls per week, all between the hours of 3:00-5:00 a.m. The calls show as "private caller" on caller ID, and when answered, are fax tones. One night, trying to identify the sender, I plugged a fax machine into my phone line. The fax received looked like a commission report but did not even list a company name or fax number of the sender. Isn't that odd?! It took some detective work to finallly identify the caller as Melaleuca, Inc.
I found them on the Net, called to confirm that they were sending the faxes, and asked that they stop. The woman who answered was polite enough and said she would stop them immediately. But they continued.
I finally had to call the police department. The officer thought it would be a simple case, that if he called, the calls would stop. Wrong! They stopped for a full weekend but started up again, this time increasing to 12 calls per week, all in the early morning hours.
With the assistance of the phone company and local police, we found out that the calls were being generated by a computer using a spoof number, meaning they were trying to hide their identity. In short, there was no way that the calls could be stopped, so my options would be to unplug the phone every night and remember to re-plug it every morning, or to change the number. I run a home-operated business, so either of these options would cause great inconvenience.
I am not surprised to read all the complaints against this company. After this letter, I'm going to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office. I hope everyone stands up and takes action against this dishonest company to put them out of business.
Localizers
Walled Lake, Michigan
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Nikki
Coconut Creek,Florida,
U.S.A.
Here's what is probably happening.
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, November 09, 2007
I doubt the computer is using "spoof" numbers because they were trying to hide their identity. The computer is probably set up to not be identified so their salespeople, who get those commission reports, do not fax things back to that number.
Unfortunately since the calls are computer generated, the computer keeps trying the phone number over and over and daily until it senses the fax has been received. If the fax hasn't been received, it will keep trying. If the fax was received, it stops until the next time it generates the report.
I do not deal with Melaleuca even though I used a product or two a long time ago (knew someone who was in it). I do know that they have been in business for over 15 years since that is when I first heard of them.
What I don't understand is why you call them a dishonest company and should be put out of business? What does that have to do with their computer calling you?
Meg
Appleton,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Get real!
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, November 09, 2007
Come on, get real. You say that you have had the phone number for only 10 weeks and it would cause "great inconvenience" to change it just because you work from home. Whatever! And if you do happen to have an old fax number from Melaleuca than why would they NOT want to fix it, do they want you to have their information?
Nothing you wrote here makes ANY sense!