BEWARE of Consumers Union's campaign to end robocalls

Update 5/17/2019 - This post has now been vindicated. The number of robocalls has surged in recent years. Consumers Union's efforts (they've now changed their name to Consumer Reports Advocacy), along with those of the U.S. (Unlimited Stupidity) government's, to end these calls have failed because they were never intended to succeed. Consumers Reports Advocacy and corrupt regulators are obviously opposed to empowering consumers. IS ANYONE SURPRISED THAT BRINGING BACK PAY PHONES NEVER MAKES THE NEWS? Meanwhile, I've saved about $4,000 since allowing thug goon AT&T to disconnect my home phone and Internet rather than pay a bill I didn't owe 'em. Consumer Reports Advocacy has apparently blocked me from posting comments on articles they publish about ending robocalls. Doncha just LOVE their devotion to free speech.

"You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." - anonymous

I got a bad first impression of the Consumers Union gang when I asked them to investigate engine failures in MR2 Spyders. They expressed an interest, then clammed up, never advising consumers of the risk involved in purchasing one. That was long ago.

So it was with cautious optimism that I got involved with their so-called Campaign to End Robocalls. Started promoting their campaign on my blog posts as I wrote about my decision to not have a landline or cell phone as an alternative to paying to be harassed by robocalls. I didn't see what participating in their campaign could hurt, and hoped to learn more about Consumers Union along the way.

I learned a great deal about 'em.

Ending robocalls is no problem - it'll soon be three years since AT&T terminated my "service" (including home Internet). I sure wish the thug had taken such action long ago. The peace n quiet that comes with an assurance that my phone ain't gonna ring remains absolutely glorious, and my bank account continues to grow. Factor in the IMMENSE satisfaction of not enriching the coffers of an out-of-control telephone industry, and it's wunna the best deals ya could ask for.

Along the way, I became acutely aware of the crooked telephone industry's campaign to eliminate coin-operated pay phones, and posted about it more than once on Consumers Union's Facebook page. Those comments were ignored, whereas my comments promoting CU's "Campaign to End Robocalls" were met with enthusiastic responses from CU, even to the point of hosting live links to my blog posts about not having a landline, cell phone, or home Internet. .

Then I began to notice businesses insisting that consumers use a phone to purchase products and services, which prompted several blog posts, all linked to in my post,"Is Mountain America Federal Credit Union in cahoots with the telephone industry?" After publishing that post, the question quickly became "Is CONSUMERS UNION in cahoots with the telephone industry?"

In the process of publishing tweets with a link to my post about Mountain America, I replied to one of Consumers Union's tweets, and my reply was apparently removed. So I fired off a tweet to CU asking if they were trying to keep things quiet about businesses helping phone companies force consumers to use phones. CU absurdly denied that my reply to their tweet had been removed, stating that it had been sent off for investigation and they would be in touch.

Just for grins n chuckles, I then posted a link to my post about Mountain America on CU's Facebook page. And the strangest thing happened. My post wouldn't appear as the most recent, which would have given it exposure on the front of CU's Facebook page. Instead, the post was buried, appearing out-of-sequence, and prompted no response from CU, even after I explained what had happened in a reply to the post.

I just love it when organizations act dumb. If CU was really interested in helping consumers, they would object not only to businesses requiring folks to use phones to obtain products and services, CU would have been objecting to the elimination of pay phones from the get-go. With me, it's a matter of choice not to have landline or cell. Many folks, for example those who are in bad health, not so fortunate, which demonstrates how greedy the telephone industry is, and how uncaring for consumers CU actually is. That CU touts itself as an advocacy for consumers is a joke. 

CU finally "got in touch" with me via a message on Twitter, suggesting - of all things - that I contact them by phone. Of course, I insisted on e-mail, and finally got an e-mail asking what I thought about robocalls.

The gist of my response was to emphasize - as though CU is unaware - that e-mail and pay phones empower consumers with an inexpensive option to handing over big bucks each month to communicate, not to mention paying to put up with robocalls or paying extra to cut down on the harassment. Businesses helping phone companies by requiring consumers to use phones demonstrates that if ya give greedy goons like AT&T an inch by allowin' 'em to eliminate coin-operated pay phones, they'll take a mile. And CU couldn't care less. Let's just say that things are often not what they appear to be, especially in a society that worships deceit. At least I wuz never suckered into donating money to CU.

I've come to be uncomfortable with any person or group that encourages any kind of "campaign" directed at getting elected officials to reign in crooked corporations. Amerika is a cesspool of corruption aimed at enriching crooked, greedy goons like AT&T, Toyota, State Farm, and Toro, just to name a few. There's also a nationwide probate racket that's been going on for decades. American government is at all levels run by crooked corporate interests, making fools of a cowardly, brainwashed public "programmed" to think they can vote their way out of the malaise. I quit wasting my time at the polls long ago. Make no mistake: Robocalls are BIG BUSINESS, and if ol' Uncle Sammy wanted to end robocalls, the unconscionable jerk would have done so long ago. So-called regulatory agencies such as NHTSA (No Help To Solve Anything) are the biggest jokes of all, acting as agents for the crooked industries they claim to regulate.

Meanwhile...

I'm literally getting paid to avoid robocalls. As brainwashed Americans wander around in a patriotic stupor, blabbering on cell phones and shelling out big bucks each month to do so, I've verified that I rarely need to use a phone. I've quit promoting CU and their laughable efforts to appeal to corporate-controlled stooges to reign in the crooked corporate interests that fund their election campaigns.

Amerika's effort to attain self-governance has been nothing more than a spectacular failure. Recent polls indicate that Americans are beginning to realize that their government is a dictatorship.

Update 4/4/2018 - Such a pleasure to tweet CU a link to this post.

Mountain America Federal Credit Union: In cahoots with the telephone industry

4/10/2019 update: The much ballyhooed Credit Karma has also apparently joined ranks with the telephone industry. Credit Karma advertises a free filing of tax returns, but can't "understand your message" when someone dares to not have a phone. Below is a copy of their reply, arriving days after I contacted Member Support as their free-file website indicated for people without phones. Meanwhile, I found a free tax-filing service via South Carolina Dept of Revenue. Read the reviews: Credit Karma's so-called Member Support is lousy for anyone, whether Credit Karma's victims have a phone or not. AVOID 'em like the plague. 

##- Please type your reply above this line -##

Help Center

Credit Karma Member Support, Apr 11, 7:08 AM PDT: Hi Parris, I apologize for the confusion but I do not understand your message. Please clarify your issue and I'd be happy to help you. Thank you for your patience and looking forward to hearing back from you! Credit Karma Member Support

4/5/2018 update: For the latest, see 4/3/18 post, "BEWARE of Consumers Union's campaign to end robocalls"

3/8/2018 update: Re 2/8 update, a minor health issue delayed things, but more info is planned re Consumers Union. 

2/8/2018 update: Consumers Union has been in touch. Earlier today, I replied to an e-mail from one of their employees who works on robocall issues. Stay tuned. 

2/5/2018 update: Still no word from Consumers Union (see 1/10 and 1/13 updates), even though I've asked. Here's a copy of the tweet they sent me, and it still looks to me like my reply was removed:

Consumers Union‏ @ConsumersUnion Jan 10

Hi Parris, your reply wasn't removed. We've shared it with the appropriate staff person to investigate. We'll be in touch!

1 reply2 retweets2 likes

1/30/2018 update: Here's a copy of the message I received from Mountain America Federal Credit Union:

Mr. Boyd,

In order for us to move forward, I need to speak with you over the phone. I am not allowed to open an account without having verbal conformation.  I tried the number on the application (803) 796-3357 but it’s not a working number. Please call me on my direct line, (801) XXX-XXXX.

1/10/2018 update: Recent efforts to tweet a link to this post resulted in a blocked link. My apologies for that. Apparently, the only link that currently works on Twitter and Facebook is a general link to this blog. Thanks for your interest. As of 1/31/18, specific link is once again blocked.

Regarding phone companies trying to force people to have home phones or cell phones, I decided to expose an unpleasant experience I had last year with Mountain America Federal Credit Union in West Jordan, Utah.

Tried to open a CD, and they express-mailed me some forms to be notarized. I complied and express-mailed the forms back in the envelope they included.

Then they e-mailed me that I would have to call them for "phone verification." Never mind that I'm in South Carolina and it was not an 800 number. (see 1/30 update, top of post, for an exact copy of the message)

So I never opened the account, and got a higher interest rate elsewhere. Sometimes it pays to look around. Searching reviews, I found one that claimed Mountain America required wire transfers if you opened an account from out of state. Fortunately, I never got that far with 'em.

I strongly recommend avoiding Mountain America.

I'm sick and tired of businesses helping telephone companies try ti force consumers to use phones, fax machines, wire services - anything but e-mail.  I posted a complaint about another financial institution last year. Adding insult to injury is the telephone industry orchestrating the disappearance of pay phones. 

The phone company "connection" to financial institutions reared its head long ago when I opened a reward checking account with Bank First in Macon, Mississippi, the deal being that in order to get higher interest on your account, you had to have home phone and Internet. I blogged about the stunt they pulled (third paragraph) when I cancelled my home phone and Internet.

Time for politicians who sell out to telephone industry lobbyists to clean up their act.

1/5/2018 update: SUCH A PLEASURE to expose all of these jerks on Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter. If Americans are DUMB enough to tolerate efforts to force 'em to pay big bucks to communicate, so be it. I'm not about to.