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The call and text log
The single highest-value thing you can do on the first unwanted call is write it down the same way every time. Here is the format, and a spreadsheet you can download.
Almost every person who ends up with a real complaint has the same regret: they started writing it down on call fourteen. The first thirteen are gone. A log is worth building from the first call because it costs you ninety seconds and it is the difference between "they call me constantly" and a dated record of twenty-two calls from six numbers over eleven days.
What to record, and why
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Date and time | Time-of-day restrictions exist in the federal rules and in a number of state laws. A time-stamped pattern is also what makes "constantly" measurable. |
| Number that called | Rotating numbers is a tactic. Logging each one is how a rotation becomes visible. |
| Channel | Call, voicemail, ringless voicemail, text, email. Different rules attach to different channels, and revocation has to cover all of them. |
| Company named | Whatever they said the company was. Note if they refused to say, or if the name changed between calls. |
| Caller name | Usually a first name. Log it anyway — names repeat across "different" companies. |
| What they said | One line. "Pre-approved for $150k", "said we applied", "said this is the second attempt". |
| Did you ask them to stop? | The most important column. A dated request to stop is what makes later contact meaningfully different from earlier contact. |
| Recording or screenshot? | Whether you kept the voicemail or a screenshot of the text, and where it is saved. |
The log
The CSV opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Keep it somewhere that timestamps itself — a cloud drive is better than your desktop, because the file history is itself a record.
Then what
A log on its own does two things. It makes a written request to stop — a cease and desist — land differently, because you can attach the pattern to it. And it is the thing every complaint form asks for: dates, numbers, what was said. Where to file walks through which agency actually wants which complaint.
Getting the calls? Shut it down.
MCAFax was built to do the thing you can't do from inside the room: make the phone stop. Check any broker against our member-built database, send cease & desist letters from your own Gmail, and build the paper trail. Some laws, like the TCPA, put statutory damages on illegal calls — whether they apply to your calls depends on your situation, and business lines get less protection than home ones. It's free, and we're not a law firm.
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