ULPT - Nobody can question your gender anymore!
Posted by tomwatson92@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 258 comments
This started last year and it just popped into my head and its too funny not to share;
I (32M) moved in with my girlfriend (27F) last year, property and all household bills are in her name.
I work from home and have an abundance of free time whereas she works in an office and isn’t allowed her phone during work hours.
It came to the point in the year when the energy suppliers/water suppliers renewed their contracts and put on extra charges for extra usage for the past year which were applied incorrectly so naturally, you have to phone them to see whats going on and get them removed.
Knowing data protection, i knew that if i phoned them they’ll say no but maybeeee i could swing it if i told them that i lived with her so i gave it a try.
First company - phoned them, went through data protection. Passed (as expected) they then informed me that they can’t speak to me because i’m not the account holder. I tried explaining that my girlfriend doesn’t have phone access during the day so she will never be able to phone and question the bill, they weren’t budging. They said she would have to email them giving them permission to speak to me. Happy days, she sent the email that night.
I phoned up a few days later and they hadn’t got the email. Annoying.
I phoned up the next day to see if i could swing it again.
She asked for my address, phone number and DOB which i gave. THEN the next question was “are you xxxxx” (girlfriends name) for some reason i panicked and nervously answered yes? The response? “Thank you, how can i help?”
I couldn’t believe it worked and because i was too excited that it had worked i stumbled on what the reason was for why i was calling haha.
After that phone call i was wondering, can that work every time? So i tried another and they didn’t bat an eyelid.
I came to the conclusion, we live in a time where companies can’t really question your gender so i stuck too it.
Now every time i phone companies on my girlfriends behalf, i put on the most manliest deepest voice which such confidence because i know they can’t question it.
todaysbird@reddit
This isn’t something new. 9 times of 10 they don’t gaf who’s on the other end.
These_Sorbet_1585@reddit
moreso just mitigates risk on our end because they have on a recorded line someone having all the correct info, who are we to say it’s not them?
GreyNoiseGaming@reddit
This isn't an "anymore woke phenomenon". I worked in student loan debt collections since 2012. I, nor the person on the phone, give a fuck if you want to commit fraud. There is no grounds for calling you a liar over the phone unless you give them one. They just want to get on with their day as easy as possible.
I was collecting a debt from a well known Hollywood B- celebrity who sounds like he eats a pack of cigarettes everyday. His wife called in to cancel a payment he set up. We know it's not him. No one in this conversation is stupid, but it's not worth the fight.
GreyNoiseGaming@reddit
That celebrity just died a couple days ago.
No_Army_5410@reddit
People mistakenly called me mam when they hear my voice a lot.
birdistheword_@reddit
Back in the 90s my mom used to call places that had my dad as the account holder. They would ask, "is this Russell?" and she would say yes but correct them by pronouncing it "Rooselle" and they'd help her no problem. Her name is Ellen.
nealesa@reddit
My MIL’s name is Roberta but people call her and ask for Robert A. She doesn’t even bother to correct them anymore
BlackEngineEarings@reddit
When telemarketers call and ask for my wife I say how can I help you, and they say 'i need to speak with XXX ', and I get an offended time and let them know they are pronouncing it wrong and it's said this other way. They get so flustered. It a great tactic!
laplongejr@reddit
I got the reverse, they ask if it is X, I tell them no it's my dad and they start speaking anyway.
OlyVal@reddit
What a great story! Loved it.
I'm a woman with a deep voice. I've talked to technicians, sales people, customer service, etc, on the phone for over an hour and had them say, at the end, something like, "Thank you, Sir." Should I correct them at that point? Haha!
Lucentdepths@reddit
IT'S MA'AM!
OlyVal@reddit
LOL! Hey, it's an honest mistake. I just kinda laugh.
totalfarkuser@reddit
I’m male and have a maybe slightly higher than normal voice. Once and awhile (couple times a year maybe) I’ll get a thank you ma’am and I’ll go really really deep and say “your welcome”. Flusters them.
OlyVal@reddit
Lol. Fun!
Emotional-Cat-576@reddit
Thank you, individual!
JynsRealityIsBroken@reddit
Russell can claim to be her by using the same strategy: "it's pronounced Allen."
GenXMDThrowaway@reddit
💀💀💀
LivytheHistorian@reddit
I love the pronunciation bit. When I was in college I was on my way to a big event when I had a medical emergency. One of my make friends asked if he could take my place at the event so the ticket didn’t go to waste. I told him yeah as long as he could figure out how to convince them he was an “Olivia.” He boldly told them it was French and pronounced it “oh-Lee-vay.” He also finagled them into a vegan meal because I had noted an (unrelated) allergy on my form and he made a big deal about possible cross contamination. I’m sure it threw the event staff but I was impressed at this 6’6 man impersonating little ole me.
verypupper95@reddit
That’s hilarious. This deserves more attention lol
__thrillho@reddit
You deserve more attention
dotcarmen@reddit
Ur mom deserves more attention
JMFe95@reddit
Aww
logicblocks@reddit
Mrs. Russell
TiredMemeReference@reddit
Ellen is a gem.
Stainless_Heart@reddit
In college, we used to portmanteau the names of friends/couples who were inseparable. Your parents would have been the Russellen Unit.
Frosty_Herb@reddit
Push to this to the top.
nympholeptics@reddit
That is….magnificent
SoMyBossCantFindIt@reddit
I've done this for decades. My husband pretends to be me and vice versa.
Makes you think just how easy identity theft is. That's technically what we are doing
kielchaos@reddit
If the other person gives you permission, is it still identity theft? Isn't it more like identity... Borrowing?
forested_morning43@reddit
Technically, you’re supposed to have another account holder or provide a power of attorney document to act on account holder’s behalf (those with aging parents have probably run across this), otherwise it’s somewhere around fraud or improperly accessing a private account or whatever.
They probably don’t care as long as the person says they’re the account holder, then it’s on the person who lied about being the account holder and not the person answering the phone.
ArbitraryContrarianX@reddit
This! I've worked in customer service. Granted, the only confidential info we had was the payment information, so we weren't suuuper strict about confirming identities. But basically, it was exactly that. If you have the requisite information to get me into the account, I have done my job, my ass is covered, and I absolutely do not care AT ALL if you're lying.
laplongejr@reddit
Got the exact reverse.
My wife had a work accident, so she called her boss (still in a dizzy medic'd state).
The week later, she reprimended for "talking with a union before them"
"Hello, I was next to my wife last week and there was no union on the phone"
"Don't lie sir. There was another woman"
"Yes. It was my mom helping her. I would like you to provide to my wife the list of callers you gave her private info without even checking the identity"
anonymowses@reddit
I know the last 4 digits of my dad's SSN. Even though I'm female, I just act like I'm him. Between hearing issues and age, it's just easier.
deferredmomentum@reddit
I think it would be moreso fraud? In identity theft, the victim is the person, whereas in this case the “victim” is the company which (only from a technical standpoint obviously) has been defrauded into giving information based on false pretenses
not-hardly@reddit
Social engineering*
Fragsworth@reddit
Yes, identity lending
-YellowFinch@reddit
It can actually be made legal! I know a couple who can legally just sign each other's signatures on things, and impersonate each other. It's actually legal, you just need a lawyer to set it up.
PaganPsychonaut@reddit
My wife hates making calls and I've been doing it so long that it feels like we are practically the same person haha
manicmonkeys@reddit
Yup...but we also lock down people's bank accounts when that happens. Liability matters.
amd2800barton@reddit
I don’t remember which of the 3 credit bureaus it is, but one of them ignores my password and just asks “security” questions every fucking time I need to unfreeze my credit. Except those questions are personal details that can be found with some googling. And they don’t let me change my mother’s maiden name to “Bangladesh” or the street I grew up on to “Star Wars” or any other phrases. It’s details they collected from my credit report that they’re quizzing me on. The same details that an identity thief would already have.
Thankfully the other two bureaus use some form of 2FA with a password and authentication either via SMS or code generator app.
Proper_Possible6293@reddit
They ask for my mother’s maiden name and I have a hyphenated last name!
slylte@reddit
yeah?
unless your parents took your mother's last name, your hyphenated name would just be your father's last name
your mother's maiden name is your mom's last name before they got maried, e.g. your grandfather's last name
Proper_Possible6293@reddit
Hyphenated means it has a hyphen between my TWO last names.
dads last name (hyphen) moms last name.
So it’s a 50/50 guess what my mom’s maiden name is for anyone that knows my name, and two seconds on google removes even that.
WhoRoger@reddit
Your answers to security questions don't have to be the real answers. You can use any combination of words you want, like extra passwords. (Unless it's a really stupid bureau, but I don't know why they would check for that.)
amd2800barton@reddit
I don’t think you read my comment in full. I literally said that one of the bureaus will not let me put my own answers in for the questions. They pull the correct answers from my credit file. So they ask me things like my mother’s maiden name, and street I grew up on, and they give me a multiple choice possibility. Anyone who’s ever done a credit check on me has those exact same answers. I don’t have the opportunity to change the questions, otherwise I would.
lucas00000001@reddit
Identity theft is not a joke. Millions of families suffer every year, Jim!
TobyFunkeNeverNude@reddit
Michael!
peskyboner1@reddit
Yeah, this isn't "woke corporations" or whatever, this is people working at a phone bank who aren't paid enough to care
Hash_Tooth@reddit
Legally I think you are the same entity for many things so idk if it’s even untrue
Palludane@reddit
I have a credit card for traveling. My girlfriend borrowed it for a 2 month roadtrip with a friend, and just used my manly name and signature the entire time without a single issue
Dirty_South_Paw@reddit
I think I've only been asked for ID once when using a debit/credit card in my whole life. We use each other's cards all the time with absolutely no issue lol.
PerpetualPusher@reddit
Don't people recognise male from female voice? Or it's better to use a voice changer?
redimp89@reddit
My spouse is enby FTM with a beard and voice that come from testosterone, I'm AFAB and mostly female presenting. The hardest thing to change sex/name on wasn't ID documents, it's their credit cards. So now I get to make phonecalls as {incredibly generic Deadname}.
Oh_Fur_Fox_Sake@reddit
I do this when my parents need help with something. It feels like acing a test when I can confidently answer every security question and they say those golden words "how can I help you?"
BaldDudePeekskill@reddit
Being a gay male with a partner with phone anxiety (or maybe just laziness?) I always have to pretend to be him. I also act as my father (with his permission) as he is quite old and deaf and English is his second language.
Lorelei_Ravenhill@reddit
As a woman with a deep voice, I've had the opposite;
In the past, I've been trying to sort out some kind of account that's in my name, and been told, "I can't talk to you, you're not, you sound like a man" 😒
Euclid-InContainment@reddit
I'm male but scammers are always calling my elderly mother. It's to the point she's afraid to answer the phone. Now I answer for her, use an extra deep voice, "Hello." "Ummm is this [mom's very female name]" "Yes sure is." Long pause in which I'm just daring them to challenge me. Then I get to say no to the burial insurance or Medicaid scam or whatever old people scam they have. My mom cracks her shit up listening to it. It's like her favorite thing now.
gencofontane@reddit
I tried somehow like this recently, pretended to be my mom and the support fuckers would keep putting me on hold endlessly. They cant deny you but if its obvious to their judgement they can just waste your time
luv3horse@reddit
Don't do this with a bank or credit union. Anything what I'm fully unopposed.
NotoldyetMaggot@reddit
I've been pretending to be my husband for years, he had social anxiety and didn't like making phone calls. If they question it, you can act annoyed and insulted.
VStarlingBooks@reddit
I'm a child of immigrants. I've been my dad, mom, aunt, uncle, grandma, and grandpa. Possibly a great aunt too.
Aggressive-Shock5857@reddit
I made several calls for my old boss who was a Korean immigrant, and he really had a hard time talking in English on the phone, so if do that part for him. Had one or two conversations where people were like "Mr. Lee, it says you've been in the US for about 18 months is that correct?" And I'd just answer in my southern drawl "yep, came from Seoul, but my family loves it here in Georgia!"
julz_yo@reddit
I'm embarrassed to admit I have done the opposite: in a perfect native English accent:
'I'm sorry but I don't speak a word of English'
Similarly: nobody can really call you out.
Joey_JoJo_Jr_1@reddit
One time someone from the phone company called my brother and tried to get him to sign up for some new calling plan, and he told them "oh, sorry, we don't have a phone."
julz_yo@reddit
Love it!
PomeloPepper@reddit
You should definitely check out Henry Cho!
VStarlingBooks@reddit
The Texan Asian? Lol or whatever he is
Talory09@reddit
He's from Knoxville, TN.
tell_me_when@reddit
Knoxville, Taiwan?
Stainless_Heart@reddit
Saw him do his routine live in 1987, playing the tiny social hall at my college. He was funny as hell.
Still just as funny. Still the same routine. Jonly Bonly, what’s that clickin’ noise, do you know the Kims, etc. Can’t be mad, it’s still a great set.
VStarlingBooks@reddit
That's hilarious. I expected for them to say something about your accent being great.
wahznooski@reddit
Yeah, my mom is from Vietnam and I’ve made countless calls on her behalf starting as a young child.
yourmomlurks@reddit
My friend was smarter than me and made whole emails for her parents so she could have them “confirm” etc.
wigglybuttmen@reddit
I've worked in a call center and as soon as someone presents themselves as account holders son/daughter/whatever I had to say that the account holder needed to come on the line to consent. Some people were smart enough to callback and present themselves as the account holder or change their voice, but I've had people place a call on another phone and get me to talk directly to the account holder for consent.
IntelligentChard2955@reddit
Same but I quit when I learned that most if not all companies now have interpreter services. So, now I just make the initial call and say that my “so and so” doesn’t speak English and they need an interpreter. Then, when they found an interpreter, I hand them the phone and they do the rest while I just sit there and assist if they need it. It helps to do it this way so that my family members know what’s going on with their problems, and how difficult it is sometimes to deal with these problems. Also, some family members didn’t appreciate you and treated it as your responsibility so I just did it this way.
As for my grandparents, I take care of the problems for them since they’re old.
VStarlingBooks@reddit
See, that's the thing. My family speak English. They are just lazy and entitled.
roundysquareblock@reddit
Haha, this is so true. I remember calling the IRS for my dad as a 14-year-old. She asked what my position in the company was. I said I was the owner. She almost laughed but couldn't say anything. I noticed it too but decided to just keep going. Managed to solve the issue for him.
VStarlingBooks@reddit
I love that the person on the phone understood hahaha
Murkmist@reddit
Ahaha that is so real, me on my phone for my mom, "yes this is Jenny Chu speaking" in flawless English when just last week they had been low-key bullying Jenny Chu cause her English is broken.
PopularBonus@reddit
I remember doing this one time to pay my husband’s Amex. They wanted to give me trouble, but like, I know all the answers. And I’m giving you a bunch of money. It’s not theft.
The rest of the time, no one cares.
Inevitable_Resolve23@reddit
Thank you for doing this. I'm in a similar situation and it can take weeks for me to build up to making a phone call where I immediately forget everything I wanted to say and get fobbed off, then have to spend weeks more gathering my wits to call again. My wife does in two minutes what could take me months.
HolyFrickers@reddit
Propranolol could help with this. I used it to get over my agoraphobia
NotoldyetMaggot@reddit
I used to be like you as well, and then I met my husband. We are both autistic but he had much worse anxiety whereas I have a snarky sense of humor, so I learned how to make the phone calls fun. High five to your wife!
InsomniacUnderGrad@reddit
I know that depending on the company we need to ask and we don't care if you don't sound like your husband. We just need confirmation. To the point one company said if you get the same person again and they answer yes this time just let it go through.
DoubleDad15@reddit
I do the exact same thing for my wife. And sometimes, if it is something we both need to call in for, I will tell them, "I'll have her call you as soon as she's free." Then I'll hang up and immediately call back. Especially if it is a bank or some large company where I know we aren't going to get the same rep.
dplans455@reddit
My mom always pretended to be my dad even way back in the 70s.
_rainbow_brite_@reddit
I tell my husband to just say he’s me all the time. He thinks they won’t believe him but who are they to question what someone sounds like!
SoMyBossCantFindIt@reddit
I go with the deeply heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry, this is MISTER Smith?"
Siiiigggghhhh
(Exasperated) "Yes."
WillyWanka-69@reddit
Finally, a fucking good advice on a sub intended for sharing advices
SSYe5@reddit
ultp: lie
Eiskoenigin@reddit
I worked in a call center. When a Jane sounded a lot like a John, I would ask again: are you Jane? And then proceed if the answer was yes. What else could I do
imihajlov@reddit
That's all cool, but when and how do the piss discs come into play?
Qyuk@reddit
Bro too afraid to ask, but can I get the link to the og loss disc post
UntestedMethod@reddit
It's always been more of a social justice movement than any single post could cover.
Rise up for piss discs! We won't take this discrimination anymore!
Fatassgecko@reddit
While they're on the call with you, you travel to their call centre and smack their head with a piss disc knowing he'll be on his seat
somethingimadeup@reddit
I had a UTI once. It’s very annoying that females can be given UTI medicine online but men have to see a doctor in person and get tested for it.
I booked an online consultation and put my gender as female.
I have long hair in my ID picture that I submitted so I figured I could pull the trans card and roll with it.
After a couple minutes of speaking with the doctor about issues (I told her I couldn’t remember when my last period was), she must have finally looked at my photo because she asks “……….u/somethingimadeup, what was your gender assigned at birth?”
Now, any rational person would have probably given up at this point and went to see a doctor. But me?
I doubled down.
“Ma’am I’m not sure why that’s relevant. Your form asked me my gender and I gave it to you. Are you questioning my gender now? Are you denying me my medical care because of some sort of gender assumption you’re making?! This sounds like classic gender and sexuality discrimination to me!!!”
She sighed with, and after about 15 seconds of silence she just said “I’m prescribing you UTI meds, please fill out the form so I can send them to your pharmacy” and hung up the call.
Success.
simmypom@reddit
As long as you can provide the personal information they ask, they will work with you. It removes liability from the company, they can say "We asked, we were defrauded too."
diescheide@reddit
Not necessarily. I was trying to cancel Comcast for my mom once. I knew all of her info. I did a lot of calls for her since she'd had a few strokes and, communication wasn't her strong suit. They happened to ask one question I didn't know the answer to.
Once they heard me ask her, they got mad. "We know you're not the customer. We can't do anything unless we're speaking to the account holder. Children often defraud their parents by pretending to be them.." Okay, you got it, Comcast, here's my mom.
What could've been a quick, easy call turned into a 30 minute screaming match. Not even because she was mad. She just can't hear or understand much anymore. Really caused a lot of pain and confusion for no reason.
Joey_JoJo_Jr_1@reddit
Comcast is, quite literally, the WORST.
Kiwifrooots@reddit
Not true. I've worked in fraud for a big multinational and had to have the conversation about the caller voice not aligning with their listed gender
SteveNotSteveNot@reddit
This is really what it's all about. The company can show that they followed their identification procedure. It's not that you've cleverly tricked them by pretending to be your wife, it's just that they don't actually care who they're talking to as long as they're following their call center rules.
xxxams@reddit
I really didn't like my boss at all. He is a true shit bag. Anyway, I had his phone number and email address. So, whenever I signed up for anything—Like at the state fair., events I went to order cans of Copenhagen, I'd get discounts.extra, —I used his details.I went to A half Ironman triathlon thing, and was checking out some EV cars with a guy that worked with me. And he noticed that I had put our boss's info down. Asking 'You do that all the time?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I've been doing it for the past four years.' He knows he's gone through five phone numbers because of what I had done. Could change the email. And he said he's heard him literally melt down because of spam calls.
vadutchgirl@reddit
I have pretended to be my mom and my daughter don't think I ve been my husband yet. I'll have to try it.
Rageybuttsnacks@reddit
When I'm doing phone work for my friends (O the power of ADHD buddies to trade off our "impossible" tasks), I'll always breeze by with a quick nonchalant preface "Hi I'm [Name]'s wife and I'm calling because they need-" So far I haven't been called out, probably because I'm not seeking information just rescheduling appointments or asking for call backs from the doctor.
samfacemcgee@reddit
I figured this out about 10 years ago when my ex-husband (not ex at the time) was deployed. Most stuff was in his name but I had power of attorney since I was the one stateside handling all our finances. Basically none of the customer service reps I talked to knew wtf power of attorney meant (for all intents and purposes, I WAS my husband). I realized quickly they didn’t give a shit that a very feminine voice was claiming to be Andrew as long as I had all the correct identity info which made changing/closing accounts SO much easier.
PearlySweetcake7@reddit
Agents don't care if you speak for her. Agents DO care about their QA points so they go through the motions. They know you're not her.
bettyknockers786@reddit
I love answering my boyfriend’s spam calls, because they ask for Nicholas and I say this is she and they never have a response 🤣 I get hung up on constantly. It’s actually cut the number of his spam calls wayyyy down
capre_diem@reddit
I work at a call center. People do this all the time.
pellakins33@reddit
I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve even had someone tell me to get my father on the phone- I just put it down, waited a minute, then picked it back up again and told them I was him. I’ve only been called on it once or twice, and then I just call right back
-KingAdrock-@reddit
Not that shocking, IMHO. What are they supposed to say, that you sound like a man? Even decades ago that would get them in trouble. But now? That’s practically considered a hate crime.
Aggressive-Watch-195@reddit
bro it's been like that since at least the 90s, everyone has been doing this for years - there's no need to tie it to your weird gender obsessed agenda...
take that stuff back over to 4chan
SuspiciousOwl816@reddit
My mom would have me state that I was my dad and was giving her access any time she needed to do something on a bill under his name. I was still in my early teens so I had to sorta fake my voice. Worked almost every time!
InternalOk2158@reddit
This is such an interesting post.
arlen_pdf@reddit
As a trans person with a fem legal name and a deep voice, I only wish it worked more often lol
I've failed my bank verification over the phone four times bc they don't believe me when they ask "is this [girl legal name] and I go *deep ftm voice* yes this is she" lmao
Neat_Panda9617@reddit
Yeah this doesn’t work for me. I often have to make calls for my dad and they make put him on every time because I’m a girl.
Gabriartts@reddit
Unironically this helps
mdubelite@reddit
'HI, this is the water company. Is Princess Rosie Sparkle there?'
*deep man's voice* 'You got her'
kahluastud412@reddit
I do this all the time.
upsidedown_life@reddit
Both me and my partner have “gender natural names” and I often phone companies pretending to be him. The best one was when we started dating and he broke down so used my break down cover to get home
logicblocks@reddit
Here in Sweden you can use some form of digital ID app over the phone. The identity is never questioned if you go through. Anybody can call on your behalf, given that you identify on the ID app once they put your SSN-equivalent on the call.
agentredfishbluefish@reddit
When I worked for a Verizon call center years ago they told us if someone said they were the account holder and knew all the info we were not allowed to say anything even if we knew it was obviously not the account holder or was sus. Too much liability.
TheEggieQueen@reddit
My husband and I both have unisex first names so we have always been able to call on each other’s behalf. It’s been pretty helpful the last decade, having the other make important calls when one is busy.
ChaosViaConfusion@reddit
I have an unusual first name that often gets mistaken for other similar names and a last name that no one knows how to spell or pronounce. I put so much shit in my fiancé's name, especially when I have to call in. It's a traditional male name that I've seen be used for women plus a very easy last name. No one would question either of us for using it.
farting_buffalo@reddit
I tried calling about something for my husband and when they asked if I was him I said yes and the person was quiet then told me I could get in trouble for pretending to be someone else. :/
Ok_Bandicoot1766@reddit
Ran an IT services company for 17 years. Our clients were small businesses and we essentially served at their IT department.
I learned early on to tell the ISP/VOIP company/email provider, etc. that I was was the owner of the account regardless of gender. Was never questioned.
Nothing to do with all the trans BS going on these days. It was/is simply a case of low paid workers not really giving a shit.
G0ldMarshallt0wn@reddit
I'm often mistaken for a woman on tbe phone, just due to a higher-than-average speaking voice. I haged that as a young man, but over the years I've realized how much NICER people are when they think they're speaking to my hypitgetical nagging wife, and in time to prefer the illusion to the correction.
LibrarianFit9993@reddit
I have a friend who suspected her husband was cheating, among other things. She called his (secret) credit card company and asked some questions about charges (from gambling) on his account, said she was him. They couldn’t challenge her. She got everything she needed. 😏
not-hardly@reddit
I have done this with apple support on business devices. Call up. "My name Marsha and I don't have access to the email I registered with." I'm clearly a man. And they just go with it like okay ... Marsha let's get you fixed up..
It never occurred to me that it was a woke thing. I figured they just didn't care about people stealing devices, etc.
Zwesten@reddit
Haha
Part of my job involves me handling the boss's (and his small family's) personal business. I learned early on to just be whichever person I'm calling for. Wife? No problem. College age daughter? A little trickier, not always possible. Boss? Easy peasy. Helps that I have all their info pretty well memorized, birthdates/last four/address etc
Before I figured it out it would be such a pain in the butt passing the phone back and forth for permission or sending emails etc etc. Now it's all so much easier
sho666@reddit
they can and will
during covid here in australia we had to sign into stores to enter and this was done with a QR code (or a long with for a staff member to ull their finger out of their arses to manually sign you in), my grandmother is in her 80's and didnt have a smartphone, so i upgraded her
then less than a year later they upgraded to 5g and turned off 3g, unbenownst to me the phone id just upgraded her to wasnt compaitible with VOLTE? (still dont know how what this) but short story i had to upgrade her again, which required a micro-sim
anyway, being 80 an not wanting to go for a fairly long drive to a telstra store, i just swapped her number over to a new sim on a new carrier which i also use, amaysim, this way i can just pay the bill out of my account and she doesnt need to bother with recharges and i know she has a phone that works and has credit
anyway they were spamming her with texts saying "the 3g network is shutting down" etc and it was annoying her so i had to ring them
now i pay the bill, the money comes out of my account, but i need her permission to change anything or talk to to cutomer service reps
"what do you mena i dont sound like an 80 year old woman, are you questioning my gender?"
(didnt work)
Qu33nArlene@reddit
I used to work at a call center. They told us verbal confirmation is enough. We just had to take their word for it. It’s not like we could’ve checked an id. If you really want to protect your accounts, add a passphrase where possible.
madonna-boy@reddit
my spouse has done this like 6 times today alone.
748aef305@reddit
Lmao this isn't new at all. It's literally just a base requirement to have you verbally confirm you're the account holder as a CYA measure for them.
I've been my mom for years, she was her mom (my grandma) the better part of 3 decades, and even my grandpa for some years after he passed... In the 80's in a country that still doesn't embrace, well anything
It's not a new thing, it's a legal cover is all.
Heck I forged my mom's signature (with her permission, she was busy at work) to get my driver's license, just outside the DMV equivalent office on the hood of a taxi cab lol.
RaqTheFoxx@reddit
Yeah, having worked in a call center, we don't usually pry if all the verification answers are correct. However, I have had instances where they call in and they dont have the necessary permissions, then they immediately call back and get me again and then give the account holder information. In that case ill ask for last 4 of a SSN.
FeelingKaleidoscope0@reddit
Hehe I love this!! My mom unintentionally used to do this. She had a usually considered female name(Lynette), but a deeper voice. Lots of, “sir” “Mr. Solheim” etc lol she would correct them but I love the thought of doing this on purpose lol
coccopuffs606@reddit
Asking if you’re the account holder is just them covering their own ass if it turns out to be fraud…they just say they also were lied to
NationalJackfruit282@reddit
Call center manager here in the financial services industry. Depending on security procedures you may get account access shut down if you try this with a bank or retirement account. Our process is to turn off web and IVR access and send a letter to the address on file. Needs a notarized signature to unlock it. Just don’t be shocked if you have some unintended consequences!
iusedtostealbirds@reddit
Me, a lesbian, was confused about why you’d be worried about gender questioning when impersonating your wife on the phone to the utility companies 😂😂
Good on you for just sending it and doing what you needed to do! Back in my customer service days I’d have people on the other line do this, who was I to question why Brenda’s voice was so deep? Lol as long as they passed verification…
Btw welcome to the club. My wife and I have an agreement: she squishes spiders, I call strangers. I “become” her on the phone all the time! At our next house the utilities will just all be in my name 😂
airlinesarefun@reddit
Far as I understand, it's not their job to actually figure out whether you are who you say you are. They need to ask the question as per company policy, and then if you lie and it eventually comes out, their ass is covered in any legal issue that may follow.
lam3001@reddit
off topic but you might want to get your name on some of those bills- it will come in handy when you need to prove your residency for some reason (like a real id, for example)
Ok-Marzipan9366@reddit
It is true that we are not allowed to question it.
But we can flag your account for possible fraud.
rogerarcher@reddit
I see nothing unethical here, but have an upvote 😄
DaddyCrit728@reddit
Operator "is this [OPs girlfriend]?"
"NO, THIS IS DAN!" (He's a high-talker)
biggunks@reddit
I think this has less to do with gender identity and politics and more to do with the csr not caring because you answered in a way they wouldn’t get them in trouble…. even if it was obvious that it was a lie.
MonicaLane@reddit
Customer service call centers, in my experience, are generally trained to accept whatever you say. You are the one committing fraud on a recorded line so the risk is for you the caller. By doing the security check and asking you to confirm identity they absolve themselves of being held responsible, and companies really don’t care beyond that.
Due to all kinds of people existing in the world, no one can really assume what a specific gender, or a masculine/feminine name will sound like over the phone, so this is kind of the only way they can operate. Or else end up in hot water for deciding the woman with a deeper voice isn’t “womanly” enough to be named Jessica (as a random example).
Bencudi@reddit
As an insurance call center rep, it caller verifies all info and introduces themself as policy owner, we can't pry or question it.
bigatjoon@reddit
thanks, i literally tried this today and my wife gave me the craziest look when i did it, but the phone rep didn't even blink
Dry-Nefariousness400@reddit
Welcome to social engineering
Schlitz-Drinker@reddit
I speak with people all day over the phone as part of my job and honestly you couldn't ever really assume. There are some very masculine sounding women out there and feminine sounding men and the phone can distort your voice just enough that you really can judge by someone's voice. Age too, I've talked to people who I thought were ancient then later met them in person and was surprised to find out they just graduated college.
NaviLouise42@reddit
Let me chime in with a perspective from the other side of the phone- I worked customer service for one of the major American cell phone companies and we had training about this exact scenario. When someone called in and gave the name on the account and could give all of the correct security verification information we were not allowed to call them out or accuse them of lying about who they were if they did not sound like their voice matched the name given. The long and short of it is that fraud prevention is not customer service's job. Our job is to help anybody who has the information needed to "prove" they are the account holder. Best we can do is note in the account exactly what we did for them and that they sounded different then they maybe should. I spoke with numerous women calling as their husbands, husbands calling as their wives, kids calling for their parent's or grandparents and many many more. I once spoke with, what I assume was, a 7-8 year old Indian kid who was translating for their grandmother. Mostly it was for reasons similar to yours, where the primary account holder is just to busy to call themselves, or were calling for someone who was bad at handling conflicts or tech issues, or even that they were calling to translate for their non-English speaking family member.
magicmitchmtl@reddit
My parents, sister, and I do this for each other all the time. Have for decades. We have a business where certain aspects are in certain people’s names, but if they aren’t available we just are them. One time an agent asked if I was “father’s name” and I replied “close enough”. I don’t know if they assumed they had mispronounced it or if they just didn’t care, but it worked.
Fluffy-Study-659@reddit
temu Mrs Doubtfire
rip Robin Williams
Sultry_Penguin@reddit
This had me cackling. Thank you <3
deejuliet@reddit
I train customer service people and yes, we specifically train them to not question if someone really is who they say they are. If they can pass security verification and they tell us they are that person, we believe them. If they are lying, that is on them! We did our part by asking the security verification questions and for their identity on a recorded line.
Y_eyeatta@reddit
How did them asking if you were "girlfriends name" equal asking for you to reveal your gender? What kind of self gratifying agenda are you on? You have to answer the questions that they ask to make sure you aren't making changes to the account without authorization. Thats it They dont care what your mind is on about in terms of socio-political gender debates. Its about data protection and consumer safety from a liability standpoint. Has nothing to do with what gender you are
yukichigai@reddit
Nah, this ain't unethical. Every goddamn company conveniently "losing" or expiring my wife's authorization for me to deal with her account is unethical.
codenameyoshi@reddit
Idk if my wife has ever talked to a customer service individual… she hates every second of it…the amount of times they say “can I speak to her” and I just put on my flamboyant voice and go an Octave higher is fairly frequently.
Weak_Fee9865@reddit
Now I need to listen that flamboyant voice!
Phantom_Absolute@reddit
Here you go!
foxed-and-dogeared@reddit
More than 20 years ago my boyfriend at the time did this. I had phone anxiety so he called and said he was me. The representative said something like “Isn’t foxed-and-dogeared a lady’s name?” And he just deadpanned “And?” She has nothing to say to that.
anon_opotamus@reddit
There’s an older woman in my town that has a very masculine first and middle name. It’s not one of those names that’s commonly unisex. It was her father’s name and her parents were older and knew they’d only have one child so they decided to use the name no matter what.
anon_opotamus@reddit
I had a male friend many years ago that had a naturally higher pitched voice. He’d tell stories all the time about having customer service people act suspicious but of course as long as he verified his into they’d have to help him.
Every time I pretend to be my husband on a phone call, I give thanks to my old friend for letting me know that they aren’t really going to risk denying you. Thanks Chris!
AsleepJunket486@reddit
This has been this way for years. All they need is the person on the phone to pass security questions and say they're the account holder. They're minimum wage workers, why are they going to care if you're clearly not the account holder?
TallDankandHandsome@reddit
I've done this for years. My mom's name was Francis and I used to do this all the time with her info.
SokoPKT@reddit
As someone who worked in customer service; that's just the rules were expected to follow.
If you say you're that person, who are we to question you? Could be trans, could be a higher/deeper voice that you would usually expect and we're really not paid enough to argue with you.
saranowitz@reddit
Gotta love that we’re at a point where society is so scared of possibly offending someone, that they make the point of security questions redundant in the first place.
Ms-Anthrop@reddit
I have to make lots of calls for a disabled relative and I have POA, at this point it's faster to tell them I am this person, than explain the POA (power of attorney)
blindreefer@reddit
The method described in the post is probably much easier than what I’m about to suggest but couldn’t you also pretend that you’re a hired interpreter for a person with hearing impairment?
TampaBob57@reddit
My ex's name is Janice and I would say I was Ja-niece, if there was a pause or a perplexed look I'd say, "It's French" then everything was cool.
trash_panache@reddit
This is why I love that my husband has a traditionally female name!
My favorite one was a former coworker who would pick up the phone for scammers asking for the owner and say "this is the owner". One day, somebody got smart with her and said "this is Paul?" and she said "yes, this is Paul" in an extremely irritated tone.
JiveTurkeyMFer@reddit
Hold on...did this dude just invent lying on the phone?
incrediblepepsi@reddit
Nothing to do with the "times"! Call centre operatives aren't paid enough to give a shit, and plenty of people have voices that are difficult to gender- if you say you're the account holder, you're the account holder.
bigfathairymarmot@reddit
The people on the phone also don't get paid enough to question it. They just need you to say the right things to check the box.
SirDouglasMouf@reddit
I'm assuming you aren't 1st generation.
OPdoesnotrespond@reddit
My wife has a name that is almost certainly unique and cannot be gendered. I impersonate her all the time on the phone.
ikerryyy@reddit
So i'm 28/M.
I was talking to T-Mobile trying to switch my phone line to my own account from my parents and the account was under my moms name (who doesn't speak english/ also was downstairs while i was upstairs) and they tried telling them them and thar she already gave me permission to do this but they weren't having it.
so i just said "ok, here she is" tapped the microphone a few times, blew a lil air into it and then for some reason i made my voice even deeper and just said "Hello" like Batman.
The lady on the phone started dying 😂 and just asked do you allow your son to make these changes?
GotSmokeInMyEye@reddit
I’ve been acting like my mom since I was like 12. All you need is the account owner info and they don’t care. They can’t tell you over the phone that you don’t sound like a 40yr old lady and sound like a teenage boy. One person asked me multiple times if I was really my mom and I kept repeating yes and finally she sarcastically said “so what can I do for you MISS”.
lorienne22@reddit
Well, my ex-hubby's name is Kelly and I had all the info, so it has never problem for me.
Ryolu35603@reddit
Hey some people have incredible vocal range.
MiaLba@reddit
I can do a great pigeon sound.
beepichu@reddit
I couldn’t find a concise clip that demonstrates it, but this voice actress has such a wide range that I thought she had a cohost for the first 10 minutes. you can skip ahead to 2 minutes in if you’re interested. https://youtu.be/cMG7rzD_o2c?si=k_DNOn-2p0DYv7oP
MiaLba@reddit
Lol I do the exact same thing because my husband’s name is on all the bills. I had a couple people ask again to verify I’m actually and I just said yes I am. They seemed a little suspicious but didn’t say anything and proceeded.
123ihavetogoweeeeee@reddit
This has always been true.
darknessbemerciful@reddit
This is a free service I provide to my family. I can’t make my own phone calls because I get so anxious, but I can cancel mom’s credit card and her gym membership with zero hesitation.
That_Xenomorph_Guy@reddit
I have a child who prefers “they/them” at the ripe old age of 13 and goddamn it’s hard to remember these pronouns. I blame the English language for not having a singular genderless pronoun
Sekreid@reddit
They do ——. It
That_Xenomorph_Guy@reddit
I mean it’s hard to remember to use them. Because it’s so awkward in language and I’ve been calling them the presenting gender terms since they were born. Probably get corrected on it at least once a day.
I honestly have no expectations for them. They may change their preferred gender etc. multiple times a year. As a Millennial, I honestly think it’s just part of the times we are in and kids are just confused until they figure it out.
THE_Lena@reddit
Someone said she used her brother’s Costco card. When they questioned her, she said the card/picture was her. LOL
Freyjas_child@reddit
I found out the hard way that this is the way to go if someone passes away. My Mom had so much trouble when my Dad passed away because he was the account holder for many of the utilities. When a friend’s wife passed away I offered myself as a substitute voice on the phone. I canceled some things and added “my husband” to others and no one questioned me.
Tronracer@reddit
I’ve been doing this for thirty years. It’s nothing new.
Wwwweeeeeeee@reddit
I handle utility accounts for different properties and always pose as the owner. So long as you have DOB and address, it's no biggie, but I am very glad you got the job done!
VStarlingBooks@reddit
I've been pretending to be my family members since I was like six. This is what happens when you are an immigrant's child.
CSR- is this Matthew? Me with my girly vocie- Yes.
Sorrymomlol12@reddit
Yeah I am a woman and I have been my dad thousands of times calling the phone company. I know all the details and passwords, they just sigh and give me what I want!
VStarlingBooks@reddit
You asked the secret question and I answered. Lol
SendokeSamain@reddit
Me too ou my god
Joeness84@reddit
My dad has a story about calling the bank on behalf of my mom in the early 90s, Her name was Jackie C. Lastname and apparently theres some old movie actor named Jackie Carol, my dad slipped that in and still claims hes one of the original social engineers.
anynameisfinejeez@reddit
Bud, these customer service people are hourly. If you can answer the security questions and affirm you are the person on the account, they will work with you. I doubt they would ever have questioned it. They don’t get paid enough to GAF. Haha
terminonoctis@reddit
My middle name is my dads name, so when i have to deal with the phone company or warranty stuff at best buy, and they ask for ID, they dont even question that i go by my middle name
TheBigJiz@reddit
My wife's ethic name is also a common Hispanic male first name. This has been working flawlessly for me and my fake spanish accent for years.
jacksaw917@reddit
Were you just born yesterday? If you didn't know this all these years then I don't know how you survived lol
chnkkhalifa@reddit
Neither of my parent's speak great english so I've been doing this for years helping them as their liaison lol. If you answer all their security questions what're they gonna say?
Troopydoopster@reddit
I work with IRAs and brokerage accounts. That’s a good way to get your account locked for suspected fraud. If you sound like a dude and the gender is female on file we’re not going to take the request
Tw1ch1e@reddit
They choose not to question it…. But I do every single time. I work in insurance and if I think I’m talking to someone else, I will ask to verify your drivers license number or I will flat out say I believe you are not the policy holder and I don’t feel comfortable continuing.
NorthRoseGold@reddit
This is a nice side bonus of having weird names
TamarindSweets@reddit
It's less that they can't question it and more that you gave enough correct details that they don't give a fuck
cottonbiscuit@reddit
I am an executive assistant and I do this all the time when changing plans for my executive!
likethispicture@reddit
I’m an executive assistant and been doing this for my bosses the last 18 years
Doktorbees@reddit
Oh yeah, if you call up a call centre and pass security, if you say 'yes, I am the person I am claiming to be', call centre staff have to take you at your word. If they think there's something fishy going on they can mark it down in the notes for the next person to deal with, but other than that, if you say 'yes, I am this person' they have to help you as much as they can
Source: 20-odd years working in call centers
LouisWain@reddit
This is not really unethical. There's no first-order or second-order negative effects.
Strange-Style-7808@reddit
Just marry or date people with gender neutral names.
No one questions when Jamie, Jessie, or Sam are any gender.
mikewarnock@reddit
I do the same thing with my wife. The cable bill is in her name so I just say I am her. Nobody ever pushes back at all.
hacksoncode@reddit
You picked a bad year to go with that.
deathhead_68@reddit
I thought everyone knew this...
el_smurfo@reddit
My wife's version of my signature is so much nicer than mine...
FragrantCatch818@reddit
I’ve been my brother several times when his wife needed them both while he was at work. We’re not twins. People don’t question much unless you give them a reason.
peter365@reddit
Whenever I do it, and say “i am her” they apologize and bend over backwards for me!
Arlochorim@reddit
This isn't an unethical pro tip, it's straight up illegal. You are intentionally impersonating another person for personal gain.
It's by definition fraud (second party fraud to be precise), and by doing this you are actively putting yourself and your partner at risk of legal repercussions, especially where the call involves finances, bank accounts, setting up direct debit etc.
as someone who has worked in call center environments (and specific with fraud prevention teams) you are one randomised quality assurance review of a call away from serious issues.
Best case is they'll just put some account protections on and lock down the account (which are hell to remove), worst case they'll pursue you legally.
Just get them to add you as an authorised contact or put the accounts into your name, risking making the precess even more tedious or even legal consequences/ jail time just because you're dont want to put in the effort to change the account holder or get authorised is so many levels of stupid.
Agent_Goldfish@reddit
In the provided example, this is not what's happening. The advantage of being in a long term relationship is that this kind of thing is generally accepted and ok by the people who are together. It's not for personal gain, it's for the benefit of the party who's unable to get to the phone.
Gotta love when people pretend to be lawyers without actually understanding really important basics.
For there to be (civil) legal problems someone had to have been harmed. Who was harmed in this example? Seriously? The person who didn't have to deal with something because their partner did it for them? The company being called wasn't harmed, so they have no complaint. Without a plaintiff, there is no civil legal issue.
No, best case is that they do what's being asked, as is happening for literally everyone. And what would they persue exactly? How has the company being called been harmed? Civil law exists to ease harm, in order for any action to take place, a harm needs to be done.
Except 1) not every company does this and 2) even when they do it's a giant pain to get someone added. For medical stuff, my wife and I added each other for easier access to each other's medical information, but we had to go to our local hospital in person with our passports to do this. We're not figuring out the authorization procedure for every single service, that's a giant pain and genuinely not worth it. Because there's a very simple fix.
Ooh jail time? Doubt this rises to the level of a crime, but even if it does, a prosecutor would need the aggrieved party to participate. In the example, that's not going to happen. Plus, in many jurisdictions, in order for it to actually be fraud/attempted fraud, a criminal would have to actually intend to gain to from the fraud. A married partner just trying to get an errand done? That's not going anywhere.
No prosecutor would take the case. No judge would rule against the couple. No jury would vote to convict. Hell, even in the court of public opinion, the only loser would be the company because literally everyone has had bullshit experiences with customer service reps who think their job is really important, but are actually just self-aggrandizing to the point of making a chore more of a hassle than it actually is.
letuswatchtvinpeace@reddit
I've been doing this for years for my brother. He also works where he can't phone and everything is closed when he can.
When I say years its been like 20, I am woman with a very woman voice and his name his super masculine, but then my sister has a very masculine name, so
bsischo@reddit
I’ve doing that for years.
JadedOccultist@reddit
You gave them your DOB and then her name? Wouldn’t your DOB and her name not match
..,
Am I stupid?
Not2daydear@reddit
Nobody would’ve ever recognized my husband‘s signature on anything because it was always me signing everything back in the day.
Scary-Drawer-3515@reddit
It has nothing to do with your sex and everything to do with people are POS. I worked for the electric co for 20 years and trust me when I say this….we know when u r lying. We have heard every lie over and over.
The reason why you cannot do this is because roommates and couples break up. Some are ok but most of them are pissed. What do they do u ask? They call up and pretend to be the person whose name is on the bill and have their electric, phone, cable etc turned off. They we get screamed at because u refused to lower the toilet lid and it is all our fault.
Guess how many come set up accounts with their babies brand new ss card? There are a lot of stupid people out there. I have watched the blood drain out of people’s faces when I would have to ask them did they ever live on so and so street, and they reply when I was a baby! Hate to tell you but your Mama turned the electric on in your new born name and now you owe us $1012.00. Plus a $500 deposit
Terrible_Spot_3454@reddit
I do this for my parents because they suck at sorting anything haha
I work in financial services (banking, investments etc) and one of the fraud awareness steps is identifying what you say and how you sound, with regards to being the client. They might give you some info, some firms are more lax than others, but be aware these would go to fraud teams to investigate which can result in stopped cards or limited account functions - just a wee FYI :)
Brueguard@reddit
When you move to a new address and you keep getting junk mail for the previous resident, call up the magazine or whatever and take their name off the mailing list. Occasionally they will say they can only speak to the account holder. Now you know what to do about that.
jsodfskavi@reddit
Everything in our house is in my brother's name, however my brother has a hard time speaking English, so whenever he needs to call something, he makes me take over for him.
I've been using his name, DOB, and such for quite a while now, that I've started confusing it with my own.
RedactsAttract@reddit
Why did you write “Happy Days”
zippy72@reddit
Northern English I assume. I heard it a lot when I lived 'up North'
RedactsAttract@reddit
Yeh but what purpose does it serve
zippy72@reddit
Same as "that went well" or "lucky me"
I'd expect it in the context of "went to fill the car decided to get a scratch card while I was there and won a hundred... happy days!"
Kasaikemono@reddit
I've been on both ends of such calls before - I think the operators usually don't care who exactly you are, as long as you pass the legal requirements. It's basically like those "Are you 18?"-Checks when entering certain websites. I've actually given people that tip in the past, too. I work as telephone support for a doctor's office who provides online access to the reports and images. I am allowed to give information to the patient and their doctor, and that's it. There were several calls in the past that went like
"Hello, I am Mrs. Smith, my husband had an exam and we lost the access code, can you give me a new one?"
"I'm terribly sorry, but I can't do that. Our data protection laws require that only the patient themselves can request a copy of the access code. There is no way for me to know if you are who you say you are. And I need to talk to Mr. Smith. It's all about the rules, you see."
"Oh, okay, I understand."
*hangs up, the same number and voice calls again*
"Hello, I am Mr. Smith, and my hus... I had an exam..."
"Say no more. I'll send you the code."
bigdave41@reddit
It's not even really a gender thing, they presumably wouldn't have wanted to accuse a man of having a feminine voice or vice versa in the past anyway, so long as they can pass the security questions. The only person likely to get in trouble for that is you, for fraud
random-guy-here@reddit
Deep Male Voice: "Yes, this is Sue... My parents were big Johnny Cash fans..."
Tomakeghosts@reddit
We’ve been married 17 years. I’m still Mr. Maiden Name when I call our ISP. They wanted a marriage certificate, license, and birth certificate to change the name. We’ve never changed it.
the_cardfather@reddit
Try this one on. Wife changes name when she gets married but you take step kid to Dr and all of a sudden they are calling you Mr Step Kids last name (wife's maiden name).
I roll with it but I just want to bust out yeah that's my father-in-law you want me to get him on the phone.
SloppyMeathole@reddit
Pretending to be someone else, especially if you are talking to the government, can definitely be a crime. Impersonation can be a criminal offense depending on where you are and how this is done.
394948399459583@reddit
NotoldyetMaggot@reddit
/lostredditors
peekaboooobakeep@reddit
My husband has a name that you can add a letter or two and make it more of the "lady" version of the name. I tell everyone my mother could never spell well and fix what needs fixing for the account.
the_cardfather@reddit
My wife has a gender neutral name so it's even easier. I have never been questioned.
random08888@reddit
I started doing this too- utility only wanted to talk to my husband. “Let me get him real quick”, same voice “Hello?”
therealmaninthesea@reddit
a couple years ago I was buying a fridge for my girlfriends house with her credit card. the cashier asked for my ID. I showed my own drivers license with my first and last name not even close to hers on the card, ”thank you, please sign here.”
Honky_Town@reddit
We sit in a callcenter 24/7 and are chained to our phones and get paid 2,50€. If you say you are her... IDGAF okay Miss Thomas with a deep male voice and a beard and third leg, how can i help you?
femmefatalx@reddit
Exactly. I don’t work at a call center anymore thankfully, but as long as the person on the phone could verify the account I did not give a fuck, I did my part and did not get paid enough to care beyond that. Call center work is literally soul crushing and sucks the life out of you, fuck that.
ArmThePhotonicCannon@reddit
It’s been ‘a time’ like that since at least the 90’s. I used to make calls for my dad as a teenaged girl.
thomasanderson123412@reddit
I tried that one time. My voice is way too deep and I got called on it immediately. They refused to speak to me and ended the call.
NotoldyetMaggot@reddit
You should have called back, highly upset because you were insulted by the rep based on the sound of your voice. In my experience, if you force the issue they will back down.
FilDaFunk@reddit
Yeah most call centres know this. They can evidence you pass security and the fraud is now your burden. (if you have permission from gf then that's unlikely to go against you).
Savet@reddit
When I was 12, there was TV commercial for Craftmatic adjustable beds. These beds were targeted at old people, but 12yo me thought that was the coolest thing ever. On the commercial it said they were "50% less than these quality flatbeds." and of course I didn't know how much a quality bed cost. So I called to try to get the free information by mail that the commercial promised. Unfortunately, my voice hadn't broken yet and trans was not a common thing. Fortunately my name is one that can apply to women too with slight modification, so I called up again and sailed right through. Unfortunately, this put me on a senior citizen mailing list and I was getting "as a senior citizen..." outrage fundraising letters until after I was 18.
Nonametousehere1@reddit
There's an even simpler solution: have your partner or whoever call in and give permission for you to speak on their account. No need for lies or feeling nervous.
NotoldyetMaggot@reddit
Been there, done that, most of the time they claim not to have a record of it, or require something in writing to be mailed in (like anybody couldn't just mail in a form and now they can speak for you). It should be simple but never works out like that.
Master-Manipulation@reddit
My parents do this all the time with these companies
IllegalIranianYogurt@reddit
It works face to face if you've got balls (pun intended)
Affectionate-Boat505@reddit
I don't know about everyone else, but most of the time when I talk to someone on the phone, the sound quality is utter crap and broken up. So they probably can't even hear well enough to make a distinction between m vs f.
dusbotek@reddit
I did this in 2000, when my husband was in another country. They asked if I was him, I said yes, answered their questions, and took care of the bill.
DGJellyfish@reddit
I e been doing this for years. It’s great
DiligentCockroach700@reddit
I've done this too, impersonated my wife. If they question you, just act insulted.
Blue_Iquana@reddit
This is beautiful.
I had to pretend to be my boss's wife once to get him around this when he was on a phone call. All I had to be was a female voice. How is that secure?