As I blogged a while back, the creation of the National Do Not Call List is not stopping bastards I don't know from calling at all hours... they always have some kind of loophole that they claim makes them immune from the list. Here's a clue for anybody calling to sell me something: immunity doesn't make you any less of an asshole, so don't expect me to be happy when you call. On the contrary, I will probably yell at you and then threaten to hunt you down and kill you. Here's a typical example:
It's 8:40 at night and the phone rings while I am watching television. I answer the call, but there is nobody there... they've hung up. I then check the Caller ID and see it is a company called "RESULTS TECHNOLOGY @ 1-815-754-8823." So I call the ass-clowns back and get a voice recording. As I navigate around, I find a menu option to be removed from their call list, so I enter my number. Then I get a message telling me that their call volume is too high, and I should try back another time (keep in mind that I am PAYING for this call).
For the next two nights, I get the same call and each time I try to be removed without success. Finally I try a few other menu options and learn that "RESULTS TECHNOLOGY" is a front for STONEBRIDGE LIFE INSURANCE, a company where I have a small policy. That explains why they can call me... we have an "existing business relationship" which makes them immune from the list!
What a bunch of slimy assholes! I call Stonebridge Life to tell them to STOP CALLING ME, and the woman takes down my name and number and tells me that I will be removed. But before I can hang up, she wants to sell me some cancer insurance. Can you believe this crap?!?
If I get another call tomorrow night I will go to their offices at 2700 West Plano Parkway in Plano, Texas and beat the crap out of some people. I hope the company president isn't out golfing or something, because his ass is getting kicked first.
UPDATE: The saga continues in another entry.
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I agree with everything. I have had no fewer than 7 or 8 calls in the last week or so from them. I usually just ignore the calls, but it is getting tiresome. They call at all hours, morning, daytime or evening. Doesnt matter.
Don’t want to do anyone physical harm, but I just wish they WOULD LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!
I finally cancelled my insurance and screamed at a Stonebridge Life supervisor for twenty minutes to get them to STOP CALLING ME. That seems to have done the trick. All I can say is that now that I have cancelled and severed our “business relationship” they had better NEVER call me again or else I’ll be finding a lawyer to sue their abusive stupid asses.
Good Luck. I got them a few months ago and they always hung up. Finally turned them in to the PA Attorney General Office and also called the Plano, TX office. I said the calls came from the 815-787-7851 phone number and they should tell that branch to quit calling me for any reason as I reported them to the Attorney General. She said that number uses an automated dialing system and dials lots of numbers at once. When they get a response that line is sent to the sales person and if the rest get answers the machine just hangs up. I said that should be illegal because they are knowingly placing hang up calls. I said just put me on the DO NOT CALL LIST for any reason.
This week I started getting them again. After 4 or 5 calls I was ready to fight. I again notified the attorney general and the Stonebridge Life, Plano, Office in Texas. When talking to Stonebridge in Plano I am told that machine is malfunctioning and there is nothing they can do. I said unplug the phone lines and the machine can’t make hang up calls. She said that is impractical and there was nothing they could do to stop the calls.
A few hours after I called Plano I get another call from Stonebridge and when I answer I expect either a hang up or someone from the home office. Instead it is a sales call. I listen politely and ask to speak to a supervisor. Eventually I speak to a Jeremy and tell him I am on the DO NOT CALL LIST and about what I have done so far. He only works for Americall Group INC. who is hired by Stonebridge Life (who are actually owned by JC Penney). He says I will try to help but can’t promise. So I am filing a civil suit for $500.00 per call they made to me and might go for 1500.00 per call since they knowingly are calling me. It is a violation of the Telephone Consumer Laws and even worse to knowingly continue to call someone who is on the DO NOT CALL LIST. Since I have paper work from the Attorney General I have proof of my efforts to get them to quit calling me.
However, in your cases, they will continue to call until you pick up and listen to their sales pitch. Then, when they cycle through every phone number they are calling, you will be back on the list getting hang up calls again.
If you speak to them tell them to send you a copy of their DO NOT CALL LIST and their client’s DO NOT CALL LIST as well as their DO NOT CALL Policies and Procedures for both them and their client. Make them send it and it costs them money plus you tie up the sales person getting all your info, etc. Make sure you also state to put you on their DO NOT CALL LIST and also any partners or affilaites of theirs and their clients. If you get another call take them to civil court for 500.00 and go buy something nice for your aggravation. They will get the hint and stop calling you.
Good luck.
Mike
If you read a little further, in my blog… you will see that they did NOT stop calling me after all:
https://blogography.com/archives/000321.html
After canceling my policy, they called one last time (and hung up of course) but never again after that.
Their entire deal is that they had a “current relationship” with me that made the “Do Not Call” law not applicable. After I severed this relationship, they were wide open for legal action.
Out of morbid curiosity, I am VERY interested in knowing how you make out with your compensation efforts. I get a lot of hits to my blog for what I’ve posted about them (I show up on several Google searches AHEAD of the actual Stonebridge Life company, which must really upset them!)… so I KNOW it is a very sore spot for a great many people. If you somehow manage to score even a small victory, I would very much like to post about it here.
Today is July 2, 2004, and I’ve just finished going through the process of calling back Stonebridge Life Insurance and “signing up” for their OWN do not call list — for the second time in two days. I don’t know how long it takes these people to get it through their heads that I AM NOT GOING TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. And since they use telemarketing annoyance tricks to harass people, I am NEVER going to do business with them.
We signed up for the national do not call register the very minute it became available. We also live in a state that has its own do not call registry, and we signed up for that, too. Don’t let the “pre-existing business relationship” crap fool you — they’re calling us, and we HAVE no pre-existing business relationship with them.
By the way, we got the calls from “Results Technology,” too. I think it was even the same phone number. If you Google that number, it comes up as belonging to some private residence. Go figure!
I’ve been to their web site, and there’s no way I can find to email them directly – contact links are only good for policy holders. I guess you either send them a registered “cease and desist” letter, or you just go straight to your state’s Attorney General.
I continue to get emails and comments over the harassment by Stonebridge Life (Results Technology) four months after my initial incident. I find it amazing that this type of business practice can continue to exist… surely they have received hundreds (thousands?) of complaints by now?
Today is July 7, 2004, and I’ve just finished making my third call to Stonebridge Life Insurance Company.
It turns out that we DO have a tiny little policy with them — through J.C. Penney, of all things!
I called their customer services department for the second time, having already called them 5 days ago. Got the same run-around this time: it takes 30 days to remove a number from their calling list.
30 DAYS? What are they using, for gawd’s sake, stone tablets and chisels?
I gave up on customer services and tried calling their sales department instead. I thought maybe having that little policy might give me some leverage. I told them point blank: stop the calls, or we’ll cancel the policy. And by the way, we are never buying anything else from your company because you harass us by telephone. Got the same sorry story about it taking 30 days “from your first request.”
However, I DID get a name: Marilyn Carp. The sales department says she’s the president of the company. So I’ve written directly to her.
Marilyn Carp, President
Stonebridge Life Insurance Company
PO Box 869092
Plano, TX 75086-9092
Y’all might as well try writing to her, too. Maybe if she gets enough irrate letters threatening to cancel the policies that already exist, she’ll get a clue about how hated telemarketing really is, and how little good it does.
So long as Stonebridge gets results… ANY results from their horrible practices, they will continue to practice it (it’s “Results Technology” after all!). The only thing that might possibly get them to stop would be if everybody who is victim to these outrageous and sadistic harassment “techniques” were to cancel their policies. I am surprised that you still had any insurance issued under the JC Penny brand, as I had thought that everybody was switched over to Stonebridge Life long ago. I am so enraged that this is considered “acceptable” that I no longer shop at JC Pennys (their parent company?) either. Somehow these harassing sales practices need to be brought to light, and companies like Stonebridge Life need to be made examples of.
I also am receiving calls from that exact number. The question coming to my mind… I live in NM. Why on earth would they call me? I have never done business with them, and I don’t even live in TX. So, I suppose they are moving on to different states now. Annoyingly enough it does hang up on you, so screaming at them would not help me out here.
I called 1-800-542-0800 (JC Penny), they had a setting they could change on my account to block this. Solved the problem for me. Thank you all for posting this and giving me the ammo and direction I needed to resolve this (they were calling my cell).
I came across this site as a result of the phone number (Google seach). They’ve been calling me several times since the beginning of August, sometimes twice a day! I finally got fed up and reported it to BellSouth, and I hope they handle it. They told me “I left them your number to have it removed from their calling list. If the calls continue you will need to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-382-4357.”
After reading the posts here, I realize I also at one time had that insurance through J.C.Penney. That was a nightmare too, as they tack it on to your Penney’s credit card without warning, give you a “trial” period, and then it’s a pain in the ass to get them to cancel before the insurance payments start.
Ooooh… it’s funny now, but wait until they call you five times each night and all you get are hang-ups since they use annoying automated dialing equipment!!
This is truly a horrible company, and since I am certain the people who find my blog are only the tiniest fraction of people who are actually being annoyed, it’s hard to understand why Stonebridge Life would continue to act so irresponsibly. I mean, who in their right mind would actually buy something from somebody who has harassment as a company policy?!?
Add another to the list of those that have a small policy with Stonebrigde and who are suddenly getting hang up calls from them. I also found this blog by doing the Google search on their number. Very interesting information here…glad I stumbled into it. Now I know the root of this problem and how to handle (cancel that policy for starters!) Thanks. (BTW, if anyone has anything to do with JCPenney, either through a credit transaction or whatever, I’ll bet that falls into the Stonebridge pre-existing business relationship loophole as well!)
I bought accident insurance with stonebridge after being contacted by representative had two policies was in accident due to no fault of my own filed a claim with supporting documents that i sustained lower back and hip injuries as the result of injury was out of work for 2 months have medical bills therapy and incurred expenses that has caused financial hardship the company would not pay claim. the auto accident was caused by drunk driver still have back and hip pains
My 85-year-old parents have been receiving the calls for the past week. The calls scared them terribly. They were afraid somebody was about to rob their home. A recent heart attack and a spouse with a broken leg means neither can get to the telephone without great difficulty. Unfortunately they have a small policy with the Stonebridge Insurance Company. They are on the Georgia Do Not Call List as well as the National list.
Ah….so that’s who’s phone number (815-787-7851) belongs too! Glad you cleared the mystery up for me. I, too, have been receiving calls, but never once do they leave a message. If one wants/needs to talk to me, and I’m not able to answer the phone….leave a message…I’ll give ya a call back…DUH!!!!
Thanks for the information….enjoy your weekend…
dianne
We get the calls about weekly, at the office and I told them they needed to take us off their calling list, ‘ok thank you’ is their reply, only for us to keep getting the phone calls. I guess it’s a never ending call.
They are still going strong.
I found info on the CO. at the BBB in Dallas.
It gets worse. Being that Stonebridge is a Dallas based co. I figured I’d pull them up.
Go to http://www.dallas.bbb.org/qsearch.html and enter the local phone number (972) 881-6000. You will find a list of companies of which Stonebridge is the last one on the list. Click the link to find out more info about the co.
Stonebridge Life Insurance Company is an operating company of the AEGON Insurance Group
i have a j.c. penney credit card and stonebridge sent me a letter i thought it was junk mail so i didnt open it right away. turns out it says i have a 30 day trial period after which they will charge my card if i do not cancel.i am trying to cancel it the number in the letter is 18005275590 i am as i type on the phone trying to get this off my card and have been on the phone waiting for 4hours now. i feel stupid for waiting that long but i have no other choice. my mom had a similar problem with an insurance company that came through her macys card. she called many times and even after she cancelled the card because she still had a balance they were authorized to keep charging their fee. will it never end? now im scared to get any kind of credit card afraid their partners will put me in debt without my knowledge. if there are any other numbers to cancel stonebridge please let me know. im sure they are going to win on this call i got stuff i have to do
1 800 527 7557
Stonebridge Benefit Services
Number for information and cancellation
as of today 3/02/2006.
This is to clear up some stuff, 1st, JC Penney does not own Stonebridge. JC Penney sold their Insurance Department to Aegon, which is a Company in Netherlands. Stonebridge is a part of Aegon, which is operated in the United States. JC Penney no longer has anything to do with the Insurance, Life or AD&D, or credit card Ins from Capital One etc….this was done back in 2001-02.
I worked there from 1997-2003. They do not do telemarketing from the Plano location. That is outsourced to another company. The Plano location would take incoming calls regarding policies only. So, who ever says they called and spoke to a Supervisor about the calls, and they were told the computer is down, is full of crap! If you actually filled out the DNC information then we would send this to the outsorce company. If you are still getting calls from Aegon/Stonebridge, then call the outsource company. And also, the “bigwigs” aren’t in the Plano Building. They live in a whole entirely different country. Netherland! And also, sales are never just “put on” your account, they had to be authorized by someone who could confirm your name, dob, and sometimes they would ask ss#’s. I’ve heard it all before, and I’ve even done it myself, but, Stonebridge is a great company, JC Penneys is a Department Store. And own up to your own mistakes people. Get Real!
ok, you people are giving out phone numbers, and not to what you think. ok, Stonebridge is not based in Dallas! It is in Plano, about 20 miles North of Dallas! 972-881-6000 is the number for the Stonebridge home office, the 800-527-7557 is for customers of Capital One to call for info about their Credit Card Insurance! So if you have insurance on your credit card (Capital One) and you want to cancel, get info, file a claim, then call….other wise, you are calling a wrong number. Life Insurance is located in a different area in the building, and so are the other insurances Stonebridge/Aegon has…so, no. People do not know about all the information for each different kind. unless you should get someone who actually worked that department.