Stopping Phone Messages

[ptkelly]

I'm deaf and don't use the cell as a telephone. I send and receive text messages. I have a company that says I owe them money for television shows--I don't own a television--and they keep phoning. I keep blocking the number but they apparently have an endless string of numbers. My phone doesn't have any sound for notification but I still get notifications for missed calls and voice mail.

Is there a way to totally disable voice mail?

 

[B. Diddy]

Contact your carrier, and see if they can completely disable your voicemail.

Is this a legit company that keeps calling you? If it's some kind of phone spam, you could report them to the FTC: Cell Phones and The Do Not Call Registry | Consumer Information

 

[Laura Knotek]

You may also file a complaint with the FCC. https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/203332190-Spam-Unwanted-Email-and-Text-Messages

 

[N4Newbie]

I had a similar problem with a new line (Cricket Wireless/AT&T) which I added to my account last year. I complained to Cricket and all they would offer was to assign me a new number but I would have to pay a fee - I think it was maybe $10 or $15.

I finally just returned one of the phone calls (perhaps you could have someone do it for you) and made it clear that I was not the person they were seeking and that they needed to stop calling me or I would file a complaint with their phone carrier, the FCC, and my local district attorney's office. The calls stopped immediately.

However, as a more general solution, you might want to look into tools which are capable of converting voicemail to text. Google Voice & Google's Project Fi do this, for example. I think there are variants of "Visual Voicemail" which also provide this function (albeit, for a fee...).

 

[ptkelly]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to the Telcel Customer Service Center for help with something else tomorrow and will ask about disabling the voicemail.

I've never found the government much help for anything either in the U.S. or in Mexico. At least in Mexico they're friendly when they don't help you.