DEAR SUN SPOTS: Please tell us how to stop those “there is nothing wrong with your credit card” calls.

Now they say “you haven’t paid any interest in the last six months.” Well, we didn’t pay any interest, because we pay our credit card bill as soon as we get it.

Once I started to tell them that we don’t pay interest, and before I could finish my sentence, they hung up on me. Another time I pretended we were thousands in the hole. For a moment there was dead silence on the phone, and then they hung up on me.

So why do they call if they won’t listen, and how can we please stop these annoying calls? We can’t be the only ones getting them. — Sick of the calls in Lewiston

ANSWER: Your arguments are all very logical, but the problem is these calls have nothing to do with logic. They are scams.

The Federal Trade Commission is trying to stop them and is making some progress, but the calls cost almost nothing to make, are usually computer generated and don’t necessarily originate from the United States. 

The people that answer when you stay on the line have no authority — or even any way — to take you off the call list.

Picture this scene: A room full of people on headsets. Next to them is a “script,” which tells them how they should respond depending on what you say. They are looking for the perfect candidate for the “deal” being offered, but they know nothing about you, often not even your phone number, when the computer tells them to pick up a call. 

If you don’t follow the script, they hang up. If you do follow the script, you get ripped off.

There is a new rule requiring companies using robocalls to offer an opt-out option (often said to be pushing “3”), but an FTC official said recently that that command is frequently ignored and instead the fact that you responded at all encourages them to call again.

The official said you should just hang up without saying anything.

Sun Spots knows that is difficult to do. There is something about human nature that makes us want to connect even when there’s nothing on the other end but a malevolent computer voice. 

But hanging up will work eventually. Sun Spots followed that advice, and her calls have decreased greatly.

About the only thing you can do to effect immediate results is to change your phone number. A new unlisted phone number, or even a cellphone, will keep you off the robocallers’ lists for a while. 

And you can register your phone number on the Do Not Call list, although that won’t affect many of the robocallers who fail to obey the law anyway. You can do that at www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222 from the phone you wish to register.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: This is a reply to the June 25 question about a hospital bill that is four years old. If the hospital did not submit to the insurance company in a timely manner, the patient is not responsible.

There are a maximum number of days you can submit a claim, and if they do not do that, the patient is not responsible.

If they did bill the insurance company and the patient either has a co-pay or deductible, then the patient is responsible for the balance of the approved amount. — P.B.L. via email

DEAR SUN SPOTS: This is for Paul, who received a bill from a collection agency regarding a Central Maine Medical Center charge. The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. Several months after paying off a hospital bill that was from surgery in 2008, I received a bill from a collection agency that was for more than $400.

I immediately went down to CMMC’s billing office and was told that I did not owe the hospital any money. The young clerk said that she would take care of it.

Two months later I received the same bill in the mail again! Another trip to the billing office. This time I spoke with a lady who verified that I did not owe the hospital any money, and she assured me that it would be cleared up. She explained that when the bill was paid, it was entered as a debit instead of a credit, thus the mix-up.

CMMC’s billing office is on Main Street, in the former Knapp Shoe building. — No Name via email

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.

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