The Scam Email - now, via Phone

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muirford

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Phone call this a.m. from unknown caller, asking to speak to reservations. Phone quality is very poor - echoing like an old-time international call and the caller has an obvious Indian accent. I can't hear her well enough to understand what she wants so she says will send an email. No email. Call back about 10 minutes later, still with unknown caller but a different phone line - the caller id is slightly different. The line is more clear now - her name is Anil Kapoor (famous Bollywood actor currently starring on 24) and she wants to book two rooms for 29 days in July. It just so happens that I have no vacancies for 29 days in July, and I tell her so. Darn it, though, now she has my name, email and phone number. Now I'm going to have to waste my time answering these phone calls, not just deleting the spam?
 
Has anyone gotten this one. Someone calls and ask if you have smoke detectors. This an unknown number so it is not a guest. I am thinking they are sure you are going to say yes and they record your yes and use it for something not good.
 
It had to happen sooner or later.
I got a call early this morning that I missed. I checked the caller id and looked up the number. Labor Law posters. We got hit with this one our first year. Gomez actually paid them for free posters. (BTW, he just read the article about telephone spammers in AARP this month so now he realizes what I've been telling him for 5 stinking years is true.)
I told him at that point to get on the phone, call them back and tell them he didn't want the posters. They canceled it, but we still get a bill every couple of months. I throw it out.
 
Has anyone gotten this one. Someone calls and ask if you have smoke detectors. This an unknown number so it is not a guest. I am thinking they are sure you are going to say yes and they record your yes and use it for something not good..
I try to answer all questions in a complete sentence if I can't figure out if it's a real guest or call or not. So, 'We do have smoke detectors.'
We get the callers who are updating some list or another, probably to sell to telemarketers and they ask questions like that all the time...do you have a pool, a spa, a gym. Things like that. Do you have free parking, on site parking, lighted parking.
Pretty much a 3 question theme.
This is also why I NEVER say I'm the owner. I tell Gomez not to admit he's the owner but he can't lie. He really should learn how to if he also thinks it's rude to hang up.
 
Has anyone gotten this one. Someone calls and ask if you have smoke detectors. This an unknown number so it is not a guest. I am thinking they are sure you are going to say yes and they record your yes and use it for something not good..
I try to answer all questions in a complete sentence if I can't figure out if it's a real guest or call or not. So, 'We do have smoke detectors.'
We get the callers who are updating some list or another, probably to sell to telemarketers and they ask questions like that all the time...do you have a pool, a spa, a gym. Things like that. Do you have free parking, on site parking, lighted parking.
Pretty much a 3 question theme.
This is also why I NEVER say I'm the owner. I tell Gomez not to admit he's the owner but he can't lie. He really should learn how to if he also thinks it's rude to hang up.
.
If Gomez can't fib and just can't hang up, he can use my line: "I'm sorry but you've called at a very bad time."
And then hang up gently.
Do it every time they call - because there will never be a good time for that stuff - and they'll eventually stop.
 
Someone else here has the line "You have called the reservation line, are you trying to make a reservation?" and then just keep saying that til they give up.
A lady called from the UK two nights ago and discussed a portal she operates for special itineraries here in the states with recommended lodging. She was asked to email the information. It was a no charge to us - website - and lo and behold every link I clicked was broken and there was NO info at all on the website. Oh and her email arrived to my inbox via an aol.com account. DOH!
 
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