If you are like me, you know that a call from the 206 area code that you don't recognize is often a Zillow solicitation and one from area code 415 is Trulia. We've learned this over the years because of the barrage of calls we receive from their salespeople.
Not long ago, I got a call from the 718 area code, which I recognized as originating from one of the outer boroughs of New York City. Since the Bronx is one county away, I answered the call expecting to speak with an agent or consumer. No, it was some guy from Trulia. I asked if he was in New York, and he said he wasn't- they had a new system to improve call quality. I couldn't talk and ended the call. I have received a few more calls since then, and I keep falling for the 718 spoof on the caller ID.
I think that is bull. I don't buy for a hot minute that they care about call quality. I unfortunately heard everything they said in sales pitches before. It is bad enough to get calls in the middle of my day from hopped up 20-somethings promising real estate riches if I buy their offering. It is even more oily to call from a blocked number so I can't decide to interrupt my current task to answer. But to call from a local area code when you aren't even here is pretty deceptive.
Spoofing is a terrible way to do business. If you have a good thing to offer, call from your actual number and be real. Masquerading under a new, local number because YOU have trained me to avoid you doesn't fix things, it calls your integrity into question even further. Trulia may offer a fig leaf that they use this 718 exchange for place beyond my market. But if they use a Pittsburgh area code in Western Pennsylvania or a Miami area code for southern Florida then they are just employing subterfuge.
That is a crummy way to do business. And I am not buying.
Comments (35)Subscribe to CommentsComment