Some companies steal your numbers… at TollFreeNumbers.com

Some companies steal your numbers…

Why is it important to get your number from an independent company like ours? Quite frankly, it’s scary what some small companies think they can get away with. Here’s a quote from a representative at Telecenter Voicemail, an enhanced voicemail service.

COA Network owns of all of it’s numbers. We do not let numbers go and any number that is transferred to be on our service becomes the property of COA Network and will remain so even after the subscriber cancels.

If that’s not stealing, I don’t know what is. That was their policy about a year ago. When questioned about it, they refused to budge. Now a year later, they say they’ve changed their policy. Then the president said that wasn’t their policy.

I asked him if he was a democratic politician because they’re the only ones I know that can defend a policy one day and then a year later, say that was never their position.

I could go on about how horrendous this is, but I think it stands pretty much on it’s own and is obvious. This is why you should always get your number from an independent source and then transfer your number over to the service you want it with. That way you’ll be guaranteed to be able to transfer it away, no matter what their policy changes to next year. And if anyone ever has a problem with the ownership of any number I’ve gotten them, I will personally defend my customers. You still have an obligation to pay for the service you’ve received, but outside of that nobody will be able to steal any number we get for you away like this.

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11 Comments »

Judd Legum says:
November 27, 2008 at 10:06 am

I have a question about a toll-free number.

I’m representing a company that used a toll free number through Verizon. Verizon dropped the number last April. Verizon has admitted this is there fault.

In October, the number was picked up by Primetel and is now a phone sex line.

Is there anyway that Verizon can get the number back for the company I represent?

If so, do you know how much Primetel and the companies they represent would expect to be paid to relinquish the number.

Could you or any other entity you know help to recover a toll free number controlled by Primetel?

Thanks for any assistance you might be able to provide.

– Judd

Bill Quimby (678 comments.) says:
November 27, 2008 at 2:55 pm

Judd,

Here’s a page that explains what I usually tell people in this situation:
http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/blackhole
It happens a lot more than anyone realizes. They have literally millions of numbers and get more every day. And unfortunately they won’t release numbers like that at any price whatsoever. That’s because if they did then they could be accused of hoarding and brokering and no amount of money anyone wants to pay for a single number is worth risking their entire multi-million dollar business over.

Your ONLY slim hope would be if you can pressure Verizon enough to get them to try to trade (a lot) to Primetel to get it back. Primetel didn’t do anything technically wrong though if they just picked it up out of the spare pool. And you will have a hard time getting to anyone in Verizon that even knows what they can and can’t do, beyond the normal company line.

Verizon will also say rightly so that if someone doesn’t contact them during the four month disconnect holding period then they obviously aren’t using or caring enough about a number and can’t come back afterwards and say they still wanted it. That’s what the four month aging process is and they have a point. That’s kind of an industry standard to protect the customer but it also limits the phone company’s liability too.

Bill

Moe Sands (1 comments.) says:
March 18, 2009 at 10:10 pm

I have had a number for 3 weeks now, that just recently dropped and poof – transferred to Primetel this morning.

I have proof of ownership too. How did Prime tel just take the number?

Is this common ?

Bill Quimby (678 comments.) says:
March 19, 2009 at 12:53 am

No, that isn’t how it usually works. I’ll look into it and let you know what I can find. Primetel has a number of ways to get numbers. I’ve even talked to people who have had someone say they misprinted their number and offer them a couple thousand dollars for it. The only way we could tell it was Primetel was that the 800 number they gave went back to Primetel. They have friends in many phone companies and too.

Bill

Anonymous says:
March 19, 2009 at 5:57 am

Geez, can they get away with that ?

Can I just NASC the number back ?

Can I bring this to the attention of anybody to get Primetel into trouble ?

This is stealing from what I see

I am the legitimate owner after all

Bill Quimby (678 comments.) says:
March 19, 2009 at 3:22 pm

Without knowing the details there’s no way to answer this. What is the number and is it on your current phone bill?

(send it via email don’t post it here)

Bill

Anonymous says:
May 11, 2009 at 6:58 pm

Primetel once took my number before it went into the spare pool. It seems this is how they get all the good numbers. They ultimately gave it back when I pressed them. Someone should report this practice to the FCC; I believe if they are caught, many good numbers will be released and become available again.

Bill Quimby (678 comments.) says:
May 11, 2009 at 11:28 pm

Unfortunately it’s really not as simple as that. This happens a lot more than anyone realizes. I’ve been keeping a list of numbers like you’re describing with questionable situations. I actually hide most of the ones that go back to Primetel only because it’s not smart to piss off the 800 lb gorilla. Unfortunately there’s no good solution to the situation. There’s just no easy way to put the genie back in the bottle.

Bill

Anonymous says:
July 24, 2009 at 3:20 pm

PrimeTel is owned by a woman with a sex line business. She scoops up any 1-800 that can spell anything. Maybe her new number is great 1-888-YOUR-BIZ until you find PrimeTel has your mis-dialed calls at 1-800-YOUR-BIZ. I know of a Law Firm that is rumored to have paid $300k for their up-stream 1-800 she held hostage. Anyway she has 100 telecom lawyers and most were working for the FCC. She owns 1-800 CALL FCC upstream of the real 1-888 CALL FCC. I think it is just busyed out and not the talk line. She also owns the 1-800 HOWARD S (Howard Stern was in trouble with the FCC). It is a big joke and there are other companies doing the same thing. Obama want do anything.

Justin Goldberg (3 comments.) says:
September 29, 2009 at 9:08 am

It’s going to take a lawsuit to get the number back

BTW, Has anyone gotten a phone number from corporateimage released to them? They have my companies 877 number on their system.

Justin Goldberg (3 comments.) says:
September 29, 2009 at 9:12 am

Does anyone know when 855 will be released?

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