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From: weave@brahms.udel.edu (Ken Weaverling)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Return*Call Humor
Message-ID: <14952@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 26 Nov 90 05:31:05 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 845, Message 14 of 14


Here in northern Delaware, we have had CLASS calling in most exchanges
for a few years now. Return*Call was great at first, but is slowly
losing its effectiveness with cranks as more and more people realize
how it works.
 
About a year ago, my girl friend had an encounter with Return*Call biting
her back. It went like this ...
 
My girl friend gets a crank phone call, the typical heavy breathing type.
 
She immedialely Return*Calls it. A lady answers. My girl friend shouts
into the phone "I know who you are and what you are up to, so you
better stop it now" and then hangs up the phone.
 
(A typical Return*Call bluff. You don't know who they are, but it
works effectively until word gets around how Return*Call works ...)

A minute later, our phone rings again. My girl friend answers and it
is this woman again, who obviously Return*Called us. She stated that
she knew who we were (bluff again) and if the crank phone calls don't
stop, she was going to call the police.

We sat around puzzled for a moment, then finally figured out that
there must be several extensions in their house and the original crank
call must have originated, perhaps, with a child, and the child's
Mother answered our Return*Call.

I then did a Return*Call myself to her to try and explain the
situation to her. When she answered, she was at the boiling point. I
tried explaining but I don't think she heard a word. She hollered that
she had had enough, was going to hang up, initiate a call trace, and
then call the police.

At that point, I realized I should have probably just let it go after
her first call, but by this time it was too late. We just sat back and
waited for the police to contact us. However, this never happened,
thankfully.
 
So, the morale is, "Those that live by Return*Call can get bitten by
it too!"  --or-- "Those that never had class to begin with, shouldn't
try and get it from the phone company."