Sleep Interrupted

I was going to start off my blog today with

To the morons at 1-604-484-8064 who keep calling me at 6am Taiwan time day after day and don't leave a voicemail, CUT IT OUT. You're interrupting my sleep.

But instead, I called them back directly and got this poor-quality recording.
You've reached RSVP Customer Care. We're a call center doing telemarketing for companies across north america. You have been contacted with regards to a special promotion in your area. Thank you and have a great day.
[long pause]
If you want to have your phone number removed from our calling list, please clearly leave your phone number including area code after the tone."

Immediately after, the local phone company's voicemail service announced,
"This subscriber cannot receive messages at this time."

Lovely. I can't even get a real person to chew out from that telemarketing company. So I Google for the phone number and found that RSVP was named in one of those telemarketer scam cases (HTML version) down in South Carolina, October 2004. Here's an interesting excerpt which was highlighted in my search:
October 28, 2004 - 1:57 p.m. An RSVP telemarketer from Vancouver B.C. called from 604-484-8064. [-RSVP Customer Care, 201-1265 Howe Street, Vancouver B.C., Canada V6Z 1R3.] The telemarketer said that a company called Sparks had taken over Epicus. She needed to verify Michelle's information. She had Michelle's name and phone number and requested Michelle's address. Michelle responded, "Why would you need my address if you have all my information?"

A quick Google for "rsvp customer care vancouver" found RSVP Customer Care. Can someone please drop by 201-1265 Howe Street and kick their asses for me?? Better yet, maybe Leslie Marshall, VP of Sales & Marketing (604.484.4179, leslie@rsvpcare.com) would appreciate a piece of my mind?


[Update Dec 2009 - Seems like that contact page link no longer works, but I found this front and center on their main page:
"To no longer receive calls from RSVP Customer Care Centre, please enter a phone number in the box on the right or email dnc@rsvpcare.com. *Expect a delay of up to 2 business days for removal

So I did that, and got the immediate response:
"The phone number 408XXXXXXX has been put in the DNC queue."

I find it funny (and totally believable) that there's a queue of people trying to get off their annoying list.]

66 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm getting the same problems from those morons, at that number: 604-484-8064.

Did you ever resolve the issue with them?

I have no idea why they're calling, or what they want. They've called me about 10 times, so it's more than annoying -- and like you, I want to kick their @sses.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting something about this number. We have relatives in Vancouver, and we were almost considering picking up the phone, but that "Unknown Name" in the caller ID always stopped us.

Now that I know that they're telemarketers, and have been involved in a pretty underhanded customer stealing scheme, I can either merrily ignore them, or answer the phone "RSVP Customer Care Centers" and see how fast they get back on their feet :)

After reading the .pdf, though, I think I'd rather have a recording device on the phone, if possible.

Anonymous said...

hahaha
I had to google this number because they just called me. And what do I get, the first listed web page on google is your blog about them.
I get all this lovely information just from reading your post.
thanks
Eryn (Santa Cruz, California)

Ben said...

I'm glad that the story of my experience is helping you guys out there! I serendipitously stumbled across a good way to get them to remove me from their list: read here.

And let me know where you guys live (city), so we can plot this telemarketer's reach!

Anonymous said...

I just got a call from 604-484-8064, even though I am enrolled in the national 'do not call' list. Also called the number back and got the message about leaving my phone number to get removed from their call list, but their mailbox was full so I could not leave my number. Will try continuing to call back in near future. Dang!

Anonymous said...

Thank you! I too googled this phone number. I only got 2 hits, and your blog entry is great. I'm so glad I'm not wasting cell phone minutes by picking up their call. LUV the comeback about being in Taiwan! Wonder if they actually removed you from the list.

Ben said...

Apparently, my little "I'm living in Taiwan" trick -- which isn't really a trick, since I do live in Taiwan -- worked because I haven't gotten a call from them again.

And to be fair, that company RSVP might not be a scam company -- I can't be sure that they are. I can be sure, however, that they are telemarketers hired by other firms (like the San Jose Mercury or whatever they were trying to get me to subscribe to), and that was enough to piss me off.

Anyway, glad the post has helped you guys. Feel free to read my other adventures in an otherwise bland life. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking the time to make the research and making it public!!!!
I was wondering who the hell was 604-484-8064 that is always calling without leaving a message.

Anonymous said...

I'll ad my thanks to this blog I get the 604-484-8064 on my cell all the time and they need their asses kicked. In Canadian... "They are a bunch of hosers A!" I suppose they can get around the national do not call list by sourcing their calls from ouside our nation. It's actually my vonage phone that is forwarding the call to my cell. I'll have to call Vonage about blocking them.

Thanks again,
--Jeff

Anonymous said...

I was getting the same 604-484-8064 call on my cell phone daily. However, since I tend to leave my cell phone in the car, I was never there to actually answer the phone. Finally, after about 4 months of seeing this number almost daily, I had the phone in hand when they called.

When I answered I cut the caller off in his first syllable and told him to stop calling my damn cell phone every damn day. He said "Uh, sorry, we did not know this number was a mobile phone." And hung up. I have not seen that number appear since.

Anonymous said...

they called me, and the one time I answered they hung up??? telemarketers get paid for the number of dials.. and a bonus if they sell something.. the best thing you can do is waste their time.. and not buy anything...

Anonymous said...

I get the same calls, and then the hang up when I do pick up the phone.. just waste their time with stupid questions..

Anonymous said...

Sorry everyone. I run the company in question. We mean no harm. The number 604-484-8064 should be used to leave your phone number so it can be removed from our calling lists. We try and have a live body answer it whenever possible. Again my appologies.

Charlie said...

I get the same calls! Hello company to my misery.

Anonymous said...

Well, here we go... I just got a call from them... About the 5th or 6th I have gotten. What sucks is that they are using my cell, which I have given to pratcially no one. It's really a sad state of affairs when you have to waste cell minutes on this crap.

Thanks for the info!

Bill (San Jose, CA)

Ben said...

Yeah, it's really annoying from these guys, particularly since they seem to have obtained our various mobile phone numbers and other numbers that we haven't really broadcast to many people.

There's a "National Do Not Call Registry" in the United States (www.donotcall.gov) where you can register your phone number, and supposedly if you get spammed they could be punished for it. But "RSVP Customer Care" is a Canadian company, so I'm not certain that applies.

Incidently, for a while Googling "604-484-8064" didn't bring up my page. It's a shame not because I'm all hit-hungry, but rather because I think my page was the only really useful resource I could find about the spam telemarketer! And Googling for "rsvp customer care" shows that now they also spam -- uh, service -- several different products: newspapers, publications, bottled water, sports teams, utility companies, etc.

Keep me posted on your experiences!

Anonymous said...

I live in San Diego, and work for a company in Silicon Valley (408 area code). I am in software development, and have a number of ''408'' test phones that repeatedly get called by this number. I have even recorded a message for voicemail saying, ''This is a test phone, do not leave a message'' and yet, they continue to call me.

I know that if your number is on the do not call list, you can report a violation. I don't know if it will work for these guys, but at least for my home number, I've had great success getting calls to stop. Will give it a try and report back.

Anonymous said...

I get calls once a day from this number in Redwood City, CA. This page actualy has a way to remove your number from their list. The phone I have is a test phone so I will try it and see if it works or if I get a crapload more calls and report back.

http://www.rsvpcare.com/pages/contact.htm

Anonymous said...

I was on another call when 604-484-8064 called. I checked my missed calls and saw 3 in a row from this number. I Googled and found this blog. I will see if our IT dept can block this number. We use Voice of IP so perhaps the switch can filter these calls.
Sunnyvale CA

Anonymous said...

Just got a call from these jokers on my cell (650 area code). And of course, nobody is on the other end.

Anonymous said...

Funny...

I Googled that phone number and found your blog. RSVP has been calling my cell phone soliciting subscriptions for The San Jose Mercury News for months. After six calls and six identical answers ("Stop calling and remove my number from your database!"), they still persist.

So, I wrote a nasty e-mail to The Merc in hopes that they will do something about it. Since they are the ones directing these scumbags to call me, it is their responsibility to undo the damage. If this is what's happening to any of you all, I suggest you take the same course of action.

If they choose to do nothing, I can always drive down to the newspaper in person. If I have to do that, things are going to get ugly, I promise you.

Anonymous said...

They are using an automated dialer - which is illegal in the US.

They are calling numbers on the DO NOT CALL list - which is illegal in the US.

They are calling cell phone numbers for telemarketting - which is illegal in the US.

Ben said...

But ... they're a Canadian firm. Are they still subject to the "illegalities" you mentioned? Or is there some loophole here they're on?

Anonymous said...

Yes... thank you for posting the phone number... I did not want to call Canada OR expose my number to some ponzi scheme.

Anonymous said...

I got a call from this number yesterday. I told the telemarketer three times that I wasn't interested in a Mercury News subscription and I didn't want them to call me any more. Each time, he asked me if I had read the paper! I finally hung up on him. Big surprise, I got another call the next day. I am on the national do not call registry and I reported it just now. I hope their whole stinking company goes under.

Anonymous said...

Thank you all - I, too, have many mobile phones which we use for testing purposes at my company. RSVP seems to have gotten to one or more of them. I guess the joke's on them, wasting their time on lines with no real owner. If I have the opportunity to pick up one of these calls, I'll try one of the gags indicated above -- I especially like the one about answering "RSVP Care" ;)

Live, from San Jose.

Ben said...

Hey, Live from San Jose.

I used to work out there, in the mobile/wireless industry. We should hook up -- drop me a line somewhere (by a comment with your email in it)?

kat said...

somebody please make them stop calling!

Anonymous said...

Just got the billionth call from this number. No one is ever on the other end, however, so what the eff is the point in even calling?

Grrrr.

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone i think i found a solution to the problem ..here is the link

http://www.rsvpcare.com/pages/contact.asp?Phonenum=4086872232&submit.x=3&submit.y=5&submit=submit

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone i hope you got the message i sent , Im from San Jose California , and i got a number you can call to stop this annoying call from 604-484-8064 , You can call Leslie Marshall @ 604-484-4179 Or go to their website R S V P Customer Care ,(which States on the message when you call back ) http://www.rsvpcare.com/pages/contact.asp?Phonenum=4086872232&submit.x=3&submit.y=5&submit=submit

Anonymous said...

if you have a problem , you can email me and i can send you all the links and phone number to the staff there m but Leslie is the one you want to call , Please call her and bug the hell out of them like they do us , Thanks everyone , and glad i can be some help Christopher
San Jose, Ca

Anonymous said...

Ohh and here is My Email Address gomez63@comcast.net

Anonymous said...

AHHHHHHH!!!

They keep on calling!

$#@$@#$@

Anonymous said...

I too googles this number. I live in Alberta and don't know anyone from BC.

Thanks for the BLOG!

Anonymous said...

These fuckers keep calling me too. God. I told them I wasn't interested and hung up on them the first time and they just keep calling back. And this is on my cell phone too, which I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to telemarket on? I keep missing their call, but if I get the chance to talk to them again...

Anonymous said...

If you're still tracking, this same number has hit all 3 of my separate lines in San Mateo, most recently the most persistent one being a brand new studio line for an off-site office. They're everywhere! Maybe we can RSS feed your blog to the FCC & the FTC and get 'em in deep dung for not obeying the do not call list. I'll try the tips you've given, but frankly, am thinking I need to use a spoof e-mail so it doesn't track back and start spamming my URL next. THAT's how awful these annoying misfits are...argh. This "Sleep interrupted," post may end up making it around the world a few times at this juncture. egad. Thanks for your follow through and resources!

Anonymous said...

I;m getting tired of this illegal in Ca. computers calling us crap marketing too! So, I just did something about it- maybe. I just reported this information via telephone calls to the following people's admin assistants at the San Jose Mercury. I even made each one of them find this blog on Google and read it. Let's see if this set of management can respond to the problem they are causing us all with the "wonderful" marketing company they have enlisted to call ALL cell phone numbers in the Bay Area.......Feel free to call them yourselves and politely complain.....

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/contact_us/


Back to Home >
Friday, Sep 08, 2006
Contact Us
.....

OTHER ADMINISTRATION

Vice President/Operations: Dave Bauer, (408) 920-5323

Vice President Human Resources/Labor Relations: Kathleen Slattery Hall (408) 920-5095.

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer: Lisa Buckingham, (408) 920-5255.

Vice President/Advertising: Jeff Kiel, (408) 920-5649.

Vice President/Circulation: David Rounds, (408) 920-5674.

WhizGidget said...

They just hung up on me, when I answered the phone...

...while I was at my desk at work.

So, they're calling work extensions now too, apparently. Probably farming for numbers.

Anonymous said...

!!!!Remove your phone numbers from the calling list!!!!!
click the link and ad your number to the do not call list,
http://www.rsvpcare.com/pages/contact.asp?Phonenum=4086872232&submit.x=3&submit.y=5&submit

add your number and the calls WILL stop.

Anonymous said...

i hate it when people dont leave a message, im at work, and since im in the military i just cant answer my phone anywhere i'd like, so i get away from everyone and everything thinking its an important call, then i look at my caller id and its this stupid number. these people suck, but i put number in the DNC thing so hopefully it works.

Anonymous said...

I also googled this number. They've been calling my apartment several times for the past two weeks. I went to the rsvp page and entered my # to be removed; hopefully it will work.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I'm in Santa Cruz, CA.

Anonymous said...

This number of 604-484-8064 has now started calling my home every night for the past 4 days. I too looked the number up on google and found your site. Thank you for your postings - I will block this number from my phone and I'm sure they will stop calling shortly.

Anonymous said...

margin calgary AB here.....I have recieved at least 12 calls today alone from this #, sometimes three or four in a row. Finally googled it and THANKFULLY came across this post. I have entered my number in their DNC as per your post. Thanks again and I will hope it works. If not my Nasty will call whomever I need to stop this madness as I have free Northamerican long distance.

Anonymous said...

Hi, just found this blog on google. Im in Calgary Alberta, these people (604-484-8064) have been calling me for months now almost daily, at about 5 to 10 pm. When I answer it, there is no answer on the other side. Then I get about 20 $%#@ing calls from Ontario telemarketers. Im going to try some of the methods listed in this blog to get rid of these people. I called Telus privacy relations about this number and I guess I have to pay money to block this cal? I'm going to try telus again tommorow and see if they can do anything about these jackasses!

Anonymous said...

I just found this blog too, and I LOVE IT! RSVP care has been calling me daily as well (in Calgary, AB) and hanging up. I've added my number to the don't call list. Thanks for your help!

Anonymous said...

Has anyone in Calgary, AB, or anywhere else had success with entering their phone number on their don't call me page.

Anonymous said...

Yet another person who's now getting calls from this number on his cell phone. Thanks for the blog.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this site. I've periodically been getting calls from them, but never have been around to answer my cell so I would always wonder who it was. I finally picked it up and there was no one there so I searched the number and got your site which has now made me very aware to no longer waste any more of my time with them.
Thanks,
Kevyn

Anonymous said...

I came across this blog when I was trying to search up the address for RSVP.

Yes, I HAVE actually worked at RSVP in Vancouver as a telemarketer for almost two months and believe me, it's not the most enjoyable job in the world. It's not particularly fun having people swear and b!tch at you all the time. But someones gotta do it.

No, RSVP is NOT a scam. The reason why people keep calling you is because the employees that are working at RSVP are either teenagers or people in their 20s, or old geezers that can't find any other job so their full time "job" is to be a telemarketer.

Next time they call, just CALMLY ask the person on the other line to take you off their list. You have a higher chance of getting taken off the list then cause trust me, the employees are more willing to take someone who asks nicely to be taken off the list, off the list. Whereas if you constantly b!tch and yell, they won't take you off the list since they take it as revenge for getting yelled at.

Ben said...

Wow, a post from an actual (ex) employee! Anyway, I figured as much; people working there are actually people too, so I'm glad that they did eventually get me off the list and didn't swear at me and hang up.

Anonymous said...

You can register your number and address to the Canadian do not call at http://www.the-cma.org/consumer/donotcontact.cfm. Note that it takes up to 6 weeks to remove it. Good luck all

Anonymous said...

I say we all fill their email inbox with messages requesting our phone numbers be removed from their list.

leslie@rsvpcare.com
connie@rsvpcare.com
james@rsvpcare.com

Anonymous said...

Damn it! I am getting a call from this number 10 times a day!!! I never once answered it, first time someone called and I didn't recognize teh number, I called back and figured it was a marketing company, so I never picked up. This is so ridiculous!
Who the hell are these jokers??

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this blog. I just received a call from them and I decided to google the number...and your blog came up. Thanks for all of the suggestions and insights.

I also found that they may have created a new website. I'm assuming the www.rsvpcare.com was receiving many complaints.

Here's a link to their new website:
http://www.rsvpcare.com/new/pages/company.asp

Anonymous said...

Here's the link to contact Leslie Marshall, VP Sales&Mrktg.

http://www.rsvpcare.com/new/pages/contact.asp

Leslie Marshall, VP of Sales & Marketing
604.484.4179
leslie@rsvpcare.com

RSVPCARE
201-1265 Howe St
Vancouver BC
Canada V6Z 1R3

Anonymous said...

Just go to this site, add your number and they wont call you again.

http://www.rsvpcare.com/pages/contact.htm

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU SO MUCH 1/26/2007 7:09 AM | Anonymous.

Now hopefully it works.

If not I would test out my acting skills on them.

Anonymous said...

Very helpful, thanks for posting. For those in the US, apologies for this RSVP annoyance - they are also targeting and preying on their fellow countrymen and we are also annoyed and embarrased by this

Anonymous said...

I am having the same problem with this same number calling my cell number. When I dont answer they do not leave a voice message. When I do answer they do not say anything. When I try calling it back I do not get thru. Leave me the hell alone.

Anonymous said...

For other Canadians reading this:

I started by referencing the CRTC website's section on telemarketing (http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/INFO_SHT/T22.htm). They say first to contact the telemarketer and ask to be removed. If that does not work, second step is to go to your phone provider. If they can't help you, third step is to go to them. They suggest keeping records of all contact, including dates of contact, etc...

Anyway, I tried calling the number back, as many here have done. I got the message that I could have myself removed from their list by leaving a message, and then the VM system would not allow me to leave a message. So I called Shaw (our phone provider), and the person was very sympathetic but said they didn't have the authority to block the number or anything. They suggested they could help us change our number, or if we hit (I think) *57 right after a call it would help us report the violation to the police. I'll be trying that next time, and will try to remember to report back.

Anonymous said...

Another Googler here who found your blog. Received two calls within an hour from 604-484-8064. Both times when I picked up there was no one there.

As long as they call and don't say something when the phone is answered, and despite what the supposed employees of this company have said, when that happens, it is a scam. Simply put, they are scamming you out of your time and cell money, neither of which you can get back from these assholes.

Anonymous said...

WHen you receive a call from the morons, report them to the National DO NOT CALL. www.donotcall.gov/

Let them start fining this guys for breaking the law.

Anonymous said...

These bastards called my CELL phone over & over again! They wanted to sell me a Canadian newspaper subscription. I'm in Southern California, bastards! The girl said she KNOWS they are calling a cell phone. I asked her how they got it and she said they have a variety of ways. She asked if I wanted to talk to her manager - afterall, it's her first day! BAH! I don't think I'll be wasting anymore minutes on my phone, thanks! So I googled the # and here I am!

Anonymous said...

Jan 2009 and they are still at it! Every darn day.