Do-Not-Call Violations

[GeeMack]

According to the FTC web site where you can file complaints against violators of the Do-Not-Call registry, you need a company name and phone number in order to report a violation. And of course that doesn't do you any good when the company in question has hidden their identification from your caller ID. I've recently become aware of one resource available to report even those calls which don't show any ID information.

If a company calls and has masked their company name and/or the phone number from which they're calling, you can report that violation directly to US Congressman Aaron Schock of the 18th Congressional District. Just make sure you have the time of day when the call occurred, the phone number that received the call, and whatever information showed on your caller ID screen even if it's nothing. Here's the Congressman's phone number: (309) 671-7027

 

[BPSCG]

If a company calls and has masked their company name and/or the phone number from which they're calling, you can report that violation directly to US Congressman Aaron Schock of the 18th Congressional District. Just make sure you have the time of day when the call occurred, the phone number that received the call, and whatever information showed on your caller ID screen even if it's nothing. Here's the Congressman's phone number: (309) 671-7027

Why?

Here's a better idea:

I've used it a couple of times. I haven't gotten any telemarketers to stay on the line long enough to find out what toothpaste they use, though.

 

[Checkmite]

Why?

Here's a better idea:

I've used it a couple of times. I haven't gotten any telemarketers to stay on the line long enough to find out what toothpaste they use, though.

To hell with that. The whole point behind getting them to stop calling is that so that I don't have to waste time with questions on the phone. Being the one asking the questions is still wasting time with questions on the phone.

 

[BPSCG]

To hell with that. The whole point behind getting them to stop calling is that so that I don't have to waste time with questions on the phone. Being the one asking the questions is still wasting time with questions on the phone.

Well, some of us get a kind of sick pleasure out of asking telemarketers personal questions and seeing how far we can get. De gustibus non disputate.

 

[Checkmite]

I was simply answering the question you had asked.

 

[CORed]

Well, some of us get a kind of sick pleasure out of asking telemarketers personal questions and seeing how far we can get. De gustibus non disputate.

I'm more inclined to just lay the phone down and let them keep making their spiel to nobody. It wastes their time without wasting mine.

 

[GeeMack]

Well, some of us get a kind of sick pleasure out of asking telemarketers personal questions and seeing how far we can get.

I do figure when they call my house I can say whatever I please. I've had phone solicitors who told me I wasn't allowed to say this-or-that. Wait, if they call me, in violation of the law, I'm liable to say just about anything that might offend them. I also like the idea of just leaving the phone off the hook for as long as it takes them to decide to hang up.

But we shouldn't have to do that. The real answer would be to make it impossible for companies to mask their identification, and make it a simple matter to report them. As it is now, if you have the company name and phone number of the violator, you have to report it on-line or by calling the FTC. After reporting you'll get a form in the mail, several pages long, which you are required to fill out, sign, and return. If you don't have the violators information, the only recourse is to call Congressman Schock's office.

It would be trivial to require the phone companies to provide valid caller ID information. Then if there was a violation where the caller's information was unavailable, we would know who is responsible. It would be the phone company.

And since nobody thinks it's a good idea to be bothered by phone solicitors, especially after having gone through a specific effort to opt out by signing up on the Do-Not-Call Registry, it seems ridiculous that the FTC, FCC, congressmen, senators, police agencies, etc., would refuse so vigorously to do anything about the ongoing violations.

 

[Scootch]

do you know the number you called?could you tell me what it is?

At my last house the only reason why there was a landline was because it was bundled with my cable bill and with landline service my cable bill was $20 a month cheaper. I never knew what the number was but I everyday I would get telemarketing calls (they even knew my name). I would ask how they got this number and they replied I must have given it to some company to which I replied I couldn't have given it out and could they tell me what the number was because I had no idea. They never would.
It was a game that I grew quite tired of
PS-Still have landline service (for bill) just no phones plugged in.
Scootch

 

[Thanz]

Telemarketing is a crappy, crappy job. I don't see why I should add to some persons misery by being an ass to them on phone. It is not the actual person on the phone who has decided to call you. They probably don't even dial any numbers - the computer does it for them.

If I get a telemarketer call, my response depends on what they are selling. If it is some local company selling windows and doors, I just use a firm but polite "no thank you". If it is a survey, and it is not particularly inconvenient (like during dinner) I'll answer most of the questions. If it is for some sort of scam (the most popular being that I have won some sort of prize and my wife and I have to come to some "prize ceremony" to collect it) I either ask a number of pointed questions or just end the call with another no thank you.

 

[Zep]

Telemarketing is a crappy, crappy job. I don't see why I should add to some persons misery by being an ass to them on phone. It is not the actual person on the phone who has decided to call you. They probably don't even dial any numbers - the computer does it for them.

Yeah, it really is. But that doesn't make the practice any less annoying for the receiver nor illegal on the part of the telemarketing companies.

If you don't want them to call, make it not worth their while doing so. Two approaches:

1) Get their marketing company and contact details (or those of the firm they are spruiking for), demand to be put on their Do-Not-Phone list forever, then politely but firmly close the call. They will then know that repeat offenses will get reported.

2) Put the phone down and walk away until they have hung up. The callers know exactly what that means.

 

[Thanz]

Yeah, it really is. But that doesn't make the practice any less annoying for the receiver nor illegal on the part of the telemarketing companies.

I don't see how taking it out on the poor schmuck who has to do the call helps the situation any.

If you don't want them to call, make it not worth their while doing so. Two approaches:

1) Get their marketing company and contact details (or those of the firm they are spruiking for), demand to be put on their Do-Not-Phone list forever, then politely but firmly close the call. They will then know that repeat offenses will get reported.

I see nothing wrong with this approach. Being polite with the person on the other end of the phone may help in getting this information.

2) Put the phone down and walk away until they have hung up. The callers know exactly what that means.

I don't see how this helps you. It also ties up your phone so that people you may want to talk to can't get through.

 

[GeeMack]

I don't see how taking it out on the poor schmuck who has to do the call helps the situation any.

The poor schmuck is violating federal law. Wahhh.

 

[quixotecoyote]

Probably not his fault. I've worked in bill collecting, and I imagine telemarketing uses the same systems. The employees aren't actually dialing numbers, it's (mostly) a computer program that matches people who answer to available employees.

 

[Random]

I just say, "Hold on just a sec", put down the phone, and go back to playing WoW.

 

[GodMark2]

I don't see how taking it out on the poor schmuck who has to do the call helps the situation any.

Because the only way the companies responsible will ever stop the practice is if you make it economically impossible for them to continue. You can't change their income, so you have to affect their expenses. Their primary expense is the salary of 'these poor schmucks'. People demand higher pay for nastier jobs. If I make this job as nasty as possible, they will demand higher pay for it, or find another job with less stress. Eventually, the companies responsible will either run out of money or suckers willing to work for them.

 

[Cactus Wren]

Telemarketing is a crappy, crappy job. I don't see why I should add to some persons misery by being an ass to them on phone. It is not the actual person on the phone who has decided to call you. They probably don't even dial any numbers - the computer does it for them.

I usually take this attitude -- I don't even let them finish the opening spiel. Just "Not today, thank you", and hang up.

UNLESS it's a particular variety of call.

I've been getting a lot of calls lately with shielded Caller ID information, that open with a recorded voice telling me they've been trying to contact me, and this is my last opportunity to repair my credit rating/consolidate my credit card payments: "to speak with a live operator, press 1".

I press 1, get a live operator, and ask him/her to place my number on the company's Do Not Call list -- at which point the operator hangs up. Sometimes I don't even get through the phrase "do not call".

This is illegal, and the operator knows it.

For these calls, I get out the air horn.

 

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

I don't know if having an unlisted number helps, but I don't get many telemarketers. I did get my bank phoning me selling life insurance. I told them nicely twice that I don't need life insurance, but I got a bit irate at the third phone call, and snapped at the woman, explaining that, as a single man with no family, I would pay into a plan for twenty years, drop dead, and the insurance company would be up a few thousand dollars, a very nice racket for them.


I also got a call from a company that assured me I had won a free trip, all I had to do was give them my credit card number. I accused them of being criminals and threatened them with physical violence. They phoned me back thirty seconds later and threatened to shoot me. I invited them to try, and laughed at them. THEY hung up on ME.

 

[GeeMack]

I've been getting a lot of calls lately with shielded Caller ID information, that open with a recorded voice telling me they've been trying to contact me, and this is my last opportunity to repair my credit rating/consolidate my credit card payments: "to speak with a live operator, press 1".

I press 1, get a live operator, and ask him/her to place my number on the company's Do Not Call list -- at which point the operator hangs up. Sometimes I don't even get through the phrase "do not call".

This is illegal, and the operator knows it.

For these calls, I get out the air horn.

For these calls I place the responsibility where it belongs. I leave a message at 309-671-7027.

 

[R.Mackey]

The way I see it, the more abuse a telemarketer receives, the sooner they get a better job. Tough love.

Quite a few telemarketers ("successful" ones) make a buck by scamming easily confused people, notably the elderly. I've had several telemarketers try to cloak themselves as a government representative, e.g. county recorder, city public works, etc., when they are nothing of the kind. Some won't use those tactics, sure, but many do. Screw them.

Out of the last ten telemarketers I played by the book, only one followed her legal obligation to provide her actual business name and contact information. (I keep a log.) The average is so poor that I have no patience for the few who do.

Know your rights. See here for starters, also note that if caught the penalties can be substantial. They know it. Once they know that you know, they'll vanish.

 

[ChrisC]

Telemarketer: "Hello, ma'am. May I please speak with your husband?"
My Grandmother: "Sure! Just give me a few moments to dig up the box."

I love my Grandma.