Has Linda called you?

If you too are being harassed by Capital One then you know what I am taking about.  For others an automated voice message is left on your answering machine once a day.  Linda says:

"Hi. This is Linda. We have some opportunities that can be available to you at Capital One. Please call me back today at 1(800) 955-6600 to discuss them. Thank you." Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems and Artificial or Prerecorded Voice Calls The FCC has specific rules for automatic telephone dialing systems, also known as “autodialers.” These devices can be particularly annoying and generate many consumer complaints. The rules regarding automatically dialed and prerecorded calls apply whether or not you have registered your home phone number(s) on the national Do-Not-Call list. Autodialers can produce, store, and dial telephone numbers using a random or sequential number generator. They often place artificial (computerized) or prerecorded voice calls. The use of autodialers, including predictive dialers, often results in abandoned calls – hang-ups or “dead air.” Except for emergency calls or calls made with the prior express consent of the person being called, autodialers and any artificial or prerecorded voice messages may not be used to contact numbers assigned to: any emergency telephone line; the telephone line of any guest or patient room at a hospital, health care facility, home for the elderly, or similar establishment; a paging service, wireless phone service (including both voice calls and text messages), or other commercial mobile radio service; or any other service for which the person being called would be charged for the call. Calls using artificial or prerecorded voice messages – including those that do not use autodialers – may not be made to home phone numbers except for: emergency calls needed to ensure the consumer’s health and safety; calls for which you have given prior express consent; non-commercial calls; calls that don’t include or introduce any unsolicited advertisements or constitute telephone solicitations; calls by, or on behalf of, tax-exempt non-profit organizations; or calls from entities with which you have an EBR. In addition, the FCC’s rules prohibit the use of autodialers in a way that ties up two or more lines of a multi-line business at the same time. All artificial or prerecorded telephone messages must state, at the beginning, the identity of the business, individual, or other entity that is responsible for initiating the call. If a business is responsible for initiating the call, the name under which the entity is registered to conduct business with the State Corporation Commission (or comparable regulatory authority) must be stated. During or after the message, the caller must give the telephone number (other than that of the autodialer or prerecorded message player that placed the call) of the business, other entity, or individual that made the call so that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. The number provided may not be a 900 number or any other number for which charges exceed local or long distance charges. Autodialers that deliver a recorded message must release the called party’s telephone line within five seconds of the time that the calling system receives notification that the called party’s line has hung up. In some areas, you could experience a delay before you can get a dial tone again. Your local telephone company can tell you if there is a delay in your area. Telemarketers must ensure that predictive dialers abandon no more than three percent of all calls placed and answered by a person. A call will be considered "abandoned" if it is not transferred to a live sales agent within two seconds of the recipient's greeting.  http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tcpa.html

Capital One Phone Numbers

These are the numbers that Capital One used to call me for months.  Please feel free to add other number not posted here in the comments section.  My goal is to save others the time & frustration that I went through.

+ 805-964-0386 

+ 866-929-5306 

+ 813-202-7244 

+ 909-391-1768

+ 866-381-0453 

+ 866-929-5307 

+ 800-955-6600 

FYI: Sometimes these numbers show up as 800 Service with a Capital One number.

Capital One emails

Their main email is abuse@capitalone.com the others listed below are currently working emails as of Feb 26, 2011.  Further down are emails that I found online in my research.  I emailed them and they bounced back as of Feb 25.

Valid emails (As of Feb 26, 2011)
abuse@capitalone.com (main email)
Lisa.Jackson@capitalone.com,
tom.givens@capitalone.com,
joaquin.jackson@capitalone.com,
doug.murphy@capitalone.com,
carol.gibbons@capitalone.com,
carrie.woods@capitalone.com,
nikki.arsenault@gmail.com,
john.finneran@capitalone.com,
Richard.Fairbank@capitalone.com,
Jayne.Pearson@capitalone.com,
Michael.Woodburn@capitalone.com,
Caroline.Stone@capitalone.com,
Claire.Pickford@capitalone.com,
Richard.Rolls@capitalone.com


No longer valid emails (As of Feb 25, 2011)
marcia.corning@capitalone.com,
alice.fleming@capitalone.com,

christinel.smith@capitalone.com,

Herb.Boydstun@capitalone.com,

rick.hense@capitalone.com,

dan.hurwitz@capitalone.com,

carol.ward@capitalone.com,

brad.bone@capitalone.com,

Suzanne.smith@capitalone.com,

David.Lawson@capitalone.com,

Telephone Consumer Protection Act 1991

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tcpa.html

Background Has your evening quiet time or dinner been interrupted by a call from a telemarketer? If so, you’re not alone. Congress first passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 in response to consumer concerns about the growing number of unsolicited telephone marketing calls to their homes and the increasing use of automated and prerecorded messages. In response, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules that require anyone making a telephone solicitation call to your home to provide his or her name, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at which that person or entity can be contacted. The original rules also prohibit telephone solicitation calls to your home before 8 am or after 9 pm, and require telemarketers to comply with any do-not-call request you make directly to the caller during a solicitation call. Telemarketers covered by the National Do-Not-Call Registry have up to 31 days from the date that you register your telephone number to remove it from their call lists and stop calling you. In June 2003, the FCC supplemented its original rules implementing the TCPA and established, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the national Do-Not-Call list.

10/20/08 Federal Communications Commission · Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau · 445 12th St. S.W. · Washington, DC 20554 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)  ·  TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)  · Fax: 1-866-418-0232  · www.fcc.gov/cgb/

Google Voice

First set up a google voice account, then have all the numbers from Capital One forwarded to this number.

Set Up Google Voice
To set up your Google Voice you first need to have (or get) a gmail account.  Then under that you ca set up a google voice number.

Your Phone Account
Log in to your phone's account system from your phone company.  Go through the choices and set it up so the numbers are forwarded to your new google voice number.


http://voice.google.com

http://mail.google.com/mail

I am not a Capital One Member (My Story)

I am not a Capital One card holder nor do I owe them any money.  In fact they don't even know my name. They only know my phone number.  That is it!  They began auto calling me 4-5 times a day for months.  Most of the time no one was there when you answered.  When they did leave a message it was an automated message from "Linda" telling me that "she" has opportunities for me.  I decided that I had had enough call on Sundays and after 9pm everyday.  I decided to have the numbers from Capital One forwarded to my Google Voice (Thank you GV for your services) number.  On, Feb 8 I became fed up with Capital One.  This isn't the first time they called me at this number.  In Jan 2010, I had this number (800.955.7070) forwarded to my Google Voice.  They stopped calling.

In the fall of 2010 they started again.  So on Feb 8, I took the numbers that I had for them and went to my phone company website and on my account page had all their numbers forwarded from my home phone to my google voice number (I have listed all of their number that called me in another blog post).  I then had a written record of every time they called. I called them on Feb 9 asking them to remove my number and was told that it would take 24-72 hours to have my number removed.  On Feb 14, when the calls had not stopped and their 72 hours were up, I emailed them through their website asking them to remove my number from their calling list (I wanted written proof that I had contacted them).  An email response from them said it would take 3 days to get back to me.  So I waited.

At this point I had received 26 phone calls in 5 days from 6 different numbers.  I was tired of hearing my phone ring and no one being on the other end of it.  I called them 4 different times and multiple emails.  Each time I called I gave them my phone number and then they asked for my name which I refused to give them.  This is how I knew that they had no idea who I was.  Each time I asked to have my number removed, each time I was told it would be removed with in the 24-72 hour time. Each time the person was hard to understand with their accents.  I waited and they still called.  When I hit the over 500 hours since I originally asked them to remove my number I emailed (see address in other blog) them.  I also began forwarding each call back to them at their "abuse" email.  Yes, I forwarded all 70 plus phone calls back to them each time asking that they stop calling me and each time  showing "proof" that they had called.

On Friday Feb 25 at 12:56 p.m. I received an email from them saying that my number has been removed effective immediately. Finally!!  It only took 16 days and hours of my time.  WRONG! On Feb 25 at 6:33pm and again at 6:36 pm they called me again.  I returned their phone call (and forwarded their calls to them) 6:49 pm and asked to speak to a supervisor.  They person on the line refused and said she could help me.  I gave her no information as to my number or what I wanted.  I was being polite but assertive and continued to ask for a supervisor.  After a 4.55 minute hold.  I finally spoke to a supervisor. She told me that my number was not in their system.  I asked her to pull up the email that they had sent me today and gave her the 21 digit number that they had given me in the email.  She told me that she did not have access to that it was a different side.  Okay so they don't communicate with each other. She then re-processed my request to remove my number from their system immediately.  What?  No 24-72 hour wait? The supervisor also told me that my number was probably connected to a member account which is why I was being called.  Really?  However a search of my number found no connection.  It wasn't in their system at all.  If my number was connected to someone else account (who owe them money), then why were they calling me for opportunities to become a member?  Doesn't fit.

It didn't work.  Go figure.  I received a phone call from them at 9:20 pm on Feb 25.  Don't they know that since 1991 that it is against the law to call people after 9:00pm local time according to the TCPA?  Yes, I am sure they know that. When I call them on it they don't respond.  I have received 3 additional calls today (Feb 26).

I did contact the Do Not Call List and report them, but have not heard back.  I am now writing to the Attorney General and forwarding all 70 plus phone calls and multiple emails to them as well as the Federal Trade Commission and anyone else I can think of.


As of Feb 26 they have called me 72 times in 17 days.