Mark Sutcliffe: My candidate for "incompetent idiot with enough resources to be dangerous"

[bunsen_h]

A little earlier, my phone rang. The caller ID showed a toll-free number and "Unknown name". Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of ignoring such. Several people and organizations have valid reasons to call me without showing ID, and some of those calls are urgent.

The call turned out to be from the Mark Sutcliffe mayoral campaign, "inviting" me to a virtual town hall. When I tried to hang up, his robocaller wouldn't let me go. For several minutes, it tied up my phone line. I was unable to make outbound calls; his system just kept on talking at me. If I'd had an emergency, I wouldn't have been able to call 911.

When I finally was able to place a call, I left a blistering message for his campaign staff on the number he provided.

A few minutes after that, his robocaller called me again. Same schtick.

This isn't mere incompetence. This is literally life-threatening incompetence.

I wasn't sure I was going to get out for the mayoral vote. I don't know enough about the people and their campaigns; I'm just too drained to deal with it. I____ is ill with COVID again.

But this idiot has galvanized me to get out to vote for his main opponent.

Comments

[armiphlage]

So evil!

[dewline]

As if I didn't have enough motives to do likewise...your situation gave me another.

And our local fascist candidate for OCDSB Zone 8 out here in Orléans has praised the guy too. I have to wonder why she did that.

[madfilkentist]

Aren't there laws against that kind of telephone abuse, under which you can make a report? It sounds like harassment to me, even if a bot is doing it. Or have the politicians carved themselves an exception?

[armiphlage]

The one time I successfully pushed authorities to do anything about an autodialer, they told me, "It's their first offence, so I'm going to let it slide".

[dewline]

...damn it.

[armiphlage]

I had even managed to identify their address and everything, and got an email from them admitting to autodialing.

[bunsen_h]

There are some exceptions for political campaigns, charities (IIRC) and surveys. I don't think the exceptions cover blocking the use of the line. I filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission.

The primary regulation is the "Do Not Call" list... basically an opt-out list, unfortunately. Most callers are legally required to respect it, but there are the above exceptions. Unfortunately, some advertisers haven't heard of it, or claim not to. I make a point of reporting violators, though in most cases it's unlikely to do much good. Most of the phone spam I receive is from India or Pakistan, or so I infer from the accents -- either soliciting for "air duct cleaning", or a scam along the lines of "we're going to cancel your Social Insurance Number" or one of the credit card / Amazon scams.

I____ is much less harsh to the salesthings than I am. When she was young, she briefly worked in phone sales for a newspaper. I point out that what they're doing is now outright illegal rather than merely annoying... even if it isn't a scam, which I strongly suspect it is. They also use spoofed caller IDs, sometimes with real people's names and numbers. I really don't care if they can't find other work; that doesn't justify what they do. I want to make their lives as unpleasant as possible, as a deterrent.