Journal annielaurie's Journal: Help Needed: I Actually Need to Hurt Somebody 2
The topic is junk faxes arriving at our home phone number. They traditionally begin at about 8 a.m. and continue til about noon. A few days ago, I finally had the smarts to hook my fax modem up to the residence line, and I caught someone. I have that fax number and a landline number, as well as a fax.com "removal" number.
The hellish nightmare began this morning. I had a business appointment right across the street at 10 a.m. and was emerging from the shower at about 9:15. Residence phone had rung a time or two with fax beeps.
(Residence phone rings): "Anne, I'm not feeling well. I'm very dizzy, and when I try to stand up I feel as though I'm going to fall down." It's Aged Mum, aged 80--in other words it's non-trivial but not cause for an ambulance. I tell her to stay right there at her apartment, that I will be there.
(Residence phone rings again): Junk fax.
I am down on the first floor. PDA, cell phone, and even Day Timer are up in my office on the third floor. (Yes, this is a very old, Amsterdam-like house.) I find the client's pager number hanging on the fridge and dial it, entering the home number. He calls, but not before another junk fax call comes in. We cancel.
Another junk fax call. I locate doctor's number. Another junk fax call. I dial doctor, get recording, get emergency number. Another junk fax. I dial emergency number, am told to stay by phone and call back in a half hour if I haven't heard. Two fax calls. Has the doctor tried to call and gotten a busy?
After 45 minutes of waiting, I give up and decide to collect Aged Mum and take her to the emergency room. On the way out of the door, there's yet another junk fax call.
The good news is that Aged Mum has not had a stroke. She has an inner ear thing going on, and she'll be fine. But after cooling my heels in the ER for four hours, my rational outlook regarding the faxes has not returned. (There were several beeping messages when I got home.) I will contact the doc tomorrow, as I suspect he was unable to get through.
This, I believe, was a bona fide medical emergency, and it was made infinitely worse by these junk fax calls. In fact, there's a very real possibility that I was prevented from speaking with her physician by them.
As I said in the journal title, I would like to hurt these people--badly. By "hurt" I mean either big money or long jail time. I know there's a law on the books. What's the best recourse? Local Telco? Some national organization? Is there a lawyer who specializes in these cases?
I suspect that, staying in my office tomorrow, I can catch a lot more of these faxes in hard-copy.
Anybody with ideas?
Anne
Stopping the harassment (Score:2)
Re:Stopping the harassment (Score:2)
i think might help you there. maybe.