Harrassing Telephone Calls and 10-Minute Voicemails

Fusion Voice service, features and help.
15 posts Page 1 of 2
by ben1960 » Sun Sep 09, 2018 11:08 am
I get my landline telephone service from Sonic.com. I have been receiving harassing telephone calls. The person who has been making these harassing telephone calls has been leaving me very long voicemail messages. One of these harassing voicemail messages was over 10 minutes long.

I want Sonic to block the telephone number that these harassing telephone calls are coming from. I want Sonic to place a cap of one minute on the length of voice mail messages that can be left for me.
by liamo » Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:47 pm
It looks like we reached out to you today via phone call about this issue to block the number. If you have any other issues on this matter feel free to reply.
Liam O.
Sonic Community & Escalations Specialist
by ben1960 » Tue Sep 11, 2018 5:35 pm
I was the one who initiated telephone contact with Sonic on September 10. This telephone contact did not resolve my issue.

The supervisor I spoke to (Michael) initially stated that Sonic cannot block telephone numbers. However, I was able to persuade Michael to ask his supervisors to take my needs under consideration. Michael told me that I should expect a decision from Sonic by September 12.
by ben1960 » Wed Sep 12, 2018 1:29 pm
Today Michael stated that Sonic is unwilling to block the harasser’s telephone number. I asked Michael if I had further routes of appeal within Sonic’s corporate structure. Michael stated that their were no further options for informally appealing Sonic’s decision.

Sonic’s refusal to block the harasser’s telephone number is unacceptable and does not serve Sonic’s best interests. I have professional training as a hospital ombudsman, and this skill set can be applied to my endeavors as a consumer activist.

Filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) would be an exercise in futility, because Sonic stopped responding to BBB complaints in January 2016. This failure to respond to consumer complaints is why BBB has given Sonic a rating of F.

For the above reason, I have filed my complaint against Sonic with the California Public Utilities Commission, rather than with the BBB.
by dane » Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:14 pm
Have you filed a police report? Do you know who the caller is?

-Dane
Dane Jasper
Sonic
by dane » Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:12 pm
I checked with voice ops team, and the issue is that the voice switching behind the copper-based Fusion network does not have per-line block-listing capabilities. It’s a technological limitation.

Our newer VoIP-based phone services on fiber and IP Broadband do have this capability, and each customer can manage their own personal block list.

Hope that helps explain why support hasn’t been able to resolve this for you.
Dane Jasper
Sonic
by ben1960 » Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:30 pm
dane wrote:Have you filed a police report? Do you know who the caller is?

-Dane
I have filed a police report. I know who the caller is. The caller lives in my apartment building. I have reported the caller to property management.
by ben1960 » Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:38 pm
With ATT landlines, one can block up to 6 numbers by entering *60, then #, then the 10-digit number to be blocked, and then # again.

Since I am getting my Sonic service by copper wires owned by ATT, would I be able to use this command on my current landline?
by ben1960 » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:57 am
Several years ago, Sonic told me that while Sonic does not have the technology to block the harasser from calling individual numbers on the Sonic network, Sonic does have the technology to block the harasser from the entire Sonic network. Several years ago, Sonic told me that Sonic would be willing to block the harasser from the entire Sonic network, should I ever ask Sonic to take this course of action.

The harasser is an alcoholic who is medically incapable of exercising good judgment when he is under the influence of alcohol. When the harasser is not under the influence of alcohol, he is a gentleman and a scholar. Sadly, it has become increasingly rare for the harasser to not be under the influence of alcohol.

Several years ago, Sonic pointed out that if the harasser was blocked from the entire Sonic network, and if the neighborhood sandwich shop was on the Sonic network, the harasser would then suffer the hardship of not being able to phone in orders for sandwiches. Alcoholism is a progressive disease. The harasser is no longer interested in sandwiches, because he now prefers to get most of his calories from vodka.

My need to have the harasser banned from the entire Sonic network is not based on a desire to punish the harasser for his bad behavior. The issue at hand is that the harasser has abused his telephone privileges so badly that he needs to have his telephone privileges revoked, in order to protect the people that the harasser would otherwise be making telephone calls to.

If Sonic will not block the harasser from the entire Sonic network, the harasser will have to endure an even worse fate. One of my remaining options is to identify the company that provides the harasser’s cell phone service. I could then attempt to have the harasser’s cell phone service shut down. I hope that Sonic will not subject the harasser to this catastrophic hardship.
by dane » Thu Sep 13, 2018 10:14 am
While it is technically possible to block an incoming telephone number on our entire network, the result would be that they would be unable to reach any of their neighbors or family or businesses (that sandwich shop and thousands of other businesses) that use Sonic as their telephone carrier.

As a telecommunications common carrier, the FCC does not allow us to do that.

I would encourage you to engage with local law enforcement, and to consider a restraining order.

Reporting the harassment to the individual’s carrier may help, but I expect they’ll be similarly constrained, unless there is a court order that tells them to discontinue service.

All of that said, here is a potential easy solution: a phone and answering system that has a blocking feature. I’ve had good success with Panasonic DECT phones, and here is one with a one-button caller block feature: https://imgur.com/gallery/PEL3HTm

Panasonic KX-TGE433B Cordless Phone with Answering Machine- 3 Handsets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HXMJ14S/re ... MBbV2QVNMJ

I’m sorry I don’t have an easier fix!
Dane Jasper
Sonic
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