Charter Communications, you ignorant sluts!
Here’s a post I made to their Facebook page, reprinted here because I sure don’t expect it to last long. The tl;dr is that these excuses for service providers are selling unlisted phone numbers and they’re doing it so fast that the contacts couldn’t possibly come from anywhere else.
Here’s the long version, posted about half an hour ago.
Dear Charter Communications,
I just got the Triple Play service for my home last week. The wait for installation was non-existent--I had a tech at the house the first time I had time to be present for it. Beautiful! Even better, (I thought) was that the price WITH Voice over IP Phone was cheaper than not getting a phone along with TV and Internet.
However, I've discovered a couple of problems. One is minor--I asked for all anime channels as add-ons and was told there was only one. Wrong--the sales rep I spoke with thinks the two available in my area are one and the same when in fact they're run by two different places and contain much different content. I was able to add the second via remote, so no major problem other than wondering what you tell your reps.
The second is actually quite serious. I was asked if I wanted my brand-new phone number listed, and I said no. Imagine my surprise when before I've had time to give out my pretty new phone number I'm getting calls!! Not only that, but they're all from businesses offering services to people who have just moved or new homeowners!
How on the Planet does that happen? Easy--YOU SOLD MY UNLISTED PHONE NUMBER TO SPAM CALLERS! While your terms of service may allow it, it wasn't an up-front item on the table while discussing adding your service.
I find it a violation of privacy to discover this. It's pretty awful to find people who don't know me are calling me because YOU gave them the sales lead. No wonder it's cheaper to get a phone line--you've got another source of revenue and you like to push it to increase its income value. I do understand business. My issue is that I purposely did NOT list my phone number because I have little intention of using it--it's simply backup for my primary cell phone.
Shame on you. Selling your public list is one thing--selling private numbers is a slimy way to do business!
Sincerely, Moi