Telemarketers...

[moosmom]

Just when we thought we had the solution to get telemarketers to stop calling us, they come up with a new gimmick.

Remember when all we had to do was to tell them to remove our names from their calling lists? Well, now they've come up "automated telemarketing". When you answer your phone, an automated message comes on. All you can do is hang up. Can't tell them to take you off their list.

I get at least 5 of these types of calls a week. I even get them at work!!! UGH!!!

[dukedogsmom]

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

[RedHedd]

The do-not-call list works extremely well. I rarely get telemarketer calls anymore, but when I do, I immediately tell them to put me on their do-not-call list, which, by law, they must comply with.

[cubby31682]

I am also on the do no call list. If I get the automated ones, I check caller id first. If their number is on there then I answer. If it is automated I call right back to tell them to take me off the list. I have to push enough buttons to get to a real person but I get through.

[smokey the elder]

They're calling people's cell phones, too. But that costs YOU money! I think you can put your cell number on that list too.

[moosmom]

Thanks Val, I just registered.

[RedHedd]

Originally posted by smokey the elder
I think you can put your cell number on that list too.

Yup - I put all my #'s on that list - include your fax machines too if they have different numbers.

[caseysmom]

Those automated machines are illegal in california. I have had no calls since getting on the donotcall list but I use to try to mess with the telemarketers...some of my favorte things were:

1. Yes can you hold on just a sec (put the phone down for at least 20 minutes and just leave them)

2. say "you know this is a really bad time for me, can I have your number at home so I can call you back?...what you don't like to be called at home...well guess what? Neither do I!"

[PJ's Mom]

The credit card companies seem to be the worst about this. We already have the card and they'll still call us trying to sell us fraud protection or something equally as stupid. I usually ask what they're selling and when they say nothing (which is crap) I'll tell them that when I'm ready to chat with them, I'll call them.




I've been on the Do Not Call list since it started and have loved the peace and quiet.

[LKPike]

we got them 3 times... a DAY. a mix of computer and human. Last night when they called their second time, I yelled into the phone "QUIT CALLING" and hung up. They didnt call back for the third time??

[catnapper]

Yes... I HATE those! I work from home, so I get them ALL THE TIME!

Then you have to listen to the WHOLE thing to get the number you need to call to get you off their list. Sometimes thats a loooong time to listen to the message. They know they have a captive audience if you're going to sit through it all to get the number.

My daughter had one of thoseVirgin cellphone where you buy the phone and then add minutes as you need them. It was stolen waaayyyy back in November and whoever stole it used up the minutes in less than a day. We've gotten litterally DOZENS of calls from them reminding us to buy more minutes. I called DOZENS of times telling them to remove us from their automated reminder system. It took nearly two months for us to be taken off that list. SOOO FRUSTRATING. Whatever you do, don;t get one of those Virgin phones unless you're willing to keep up with the minutes

[Corinna]

It is not legal for automated machines here in Montana too. Still I get the "need your septic tank Pumped "calls.

[Karen]

We love the donotcall list. We rarely get calls from marketers at all any more. Between the national donotcall list and caller ID, our phones are much safer!

[QueenScoopalot]

Originally posted by smokey the elder
They're calling people's cell phones, too. But that costs YOU money! I think you can put your cell number on that list too.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp
Most people don't read down this far.....

The Wireless 411 service would be strictly "opt-in" — that is, wireless customers will be included in the directory only if they specifically request to be added. The phone numbers of wireless customers who do nothing will not be included, those who choose to be listed can have their numbers removed from the directory if they change their minds, and there is no charge for requesting to be included or choosing not to be included.

The Wireless 411 information will not be included in printed phone directories, distributed in other printed form, made available via the Internet, or sold to telemarketers. It will be made available only to operator service centers performing the 411 directory assistance service.
All of these points have been summed up in numerous media articles, such as the following from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
There is a grain of truth in the message making it believable, but it's wrong on two counts: Not all cell phone numbers will be listed in the national directory planned for 2006. And telemarketers will not have access to the directory. It is illegal for marketers using auto-dialers — and most do — to call wireless phone numbers.

Here's the truth:

A national directory will be compiled, but numbers will be included on an opt-in basis. If a cell phone subscriber does nothing, the number will not be listed. When the directory is ready, it will be available only as part of the existing 411 directory service, accessed by calling in and asking for a specific number. It will not be published in a book or on the Internet. And it will not be sold to telemarketers.

Cell phone subscribers can list their numbers on the do-not-call registry if they choose, but there is no deadline to get on the list, as the e-mail messages now circulating suggest
Nonetheless, many consumers don't trust the Wireless 411 consortium to uphold their promises, and although Qsent and its clients plan to make the Wireless 411 service available sometime in 2006, its implementation is far from certain as the wireless companies are still contesting proposed legislation which seeks to regulate wireless phone directories.

So, although the gist of the message quoted at the head of this page is correct in alerting consumers to a proposed directory of cell phone numbers, it is misleading in stating that such a directory will "soon be published" (the word "published" implies making a printed directory available, which the wireless consortium maintains they will not do) and in directing readers to sign up with the The National Do Not Call Registry. The latter step will not keep wireless customer listings out of the proposed Wireless 411 database — it will only add their phone numbers to a list of numbers off-limits to most telemarketers, a step which is premature (because the Wireless 411 directory has not yet been implemented) and largely unnecessary (because the Wireless 411 directory information is not supposed to be supplied to telemarketers, and because FCC regulations already in place block the bulk of telemarketing calls to cell phones).

Some versions of the exhortation to cell phone users to add their names to the Do Not Call Registry erroneously state there is a 15 December 2004 deadline for getting listed. Says Lois Greisman, the Federal Trade Commission official who oversees the anti-telemarketing registry: "There is no deadline; there never has been a deadline to register."

However, belief that there might be such a cut-off coupled with the e-mailed alerts themselves have served to multiply many times over the number of registrations. Since the initial wave of sign-ups following the 2003 launch of the list, registrations have come in at the rate of 200,000 new numbers a week. Yet in the final week of November 2004, nearly 1 million new subscribers were added, and in the first week of December 2004, that figure jumped to 2 million. At this point in time, 69 million phone numbers are contained in the registry.

Adding one's cell phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry (even if currently unnecessary) won't have any adverse effect, but customers should be aware of exactly what that action will and will not accomplish.

Updates: Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular Corp. have always been opposed to the proposed cell phone directory, and initial partners Sprint Corp. and Alltel Corp. have since pulled away from the project due to concerns about bad publicity and possible new government regulations. So, as of January 2005, even if the cell phone directory database was compiled as planned, at least 45% of U.S. cell phone numbers wouldn't be included.

In April 2005, USA Today reported that registrations for the national do-not-call list for the week ending April 2 were about double the normal level, and registrations for the following week reached a peak five times higher than average. The newspaper also reiterated what we stated above:
. . . the anxiety is unfounded. First, it's illegal to make sales pitches to wireless phones by using automatic dialers — which is how the vast majority of telemarketing calls are placed. (One reason is that cellular users must pay for incoming calls.)

Also, most of the big wireless carriers have chosen either not to take part in the directory or to put off any plans to do so in light of consumer fears. They say any directory would include only those customers who agreed to participate and that the numbers would not be shared with telemarketers or anyone else. Congress has considered a bill to codify such rules.

[Lady's Human]

QS,

Then why, If I have never opted in, am I getting blasted telemarketers calling my Cell?