Disconnecting telemarketers: FTC 'do-not' list seen reducing calls by 80%

New York Daily News ^ | April 14, 2003 | MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN

[mongrel]

You seem to contradict yourself. You say market research is exempted, that you work in a market research firm, and that you would go under if this law went into effect. Did I misread something?

[JoeSixPack1]

Your entire rant seems dependent upon your ability to ring a phone somewhere in someones home, office or wherever and make a sales pitch or a request for information.

If you did it on a street corner you'd have medical bills.

You stated you hire the bottom of the work force to do this and by doing so keep them off the welfare rolls.

Welfare is worth it if it puts YOU out of business! Harrassment is no way to make a living. But to you it's ok because it's your living.

[Amore]

I had the same thought. Every day I attempt to remove myself from 4 or 5 mailing lists. They're growing like Topsy!

And then there are the ones that truly fit the definition of SPAM with no way to get away from their list!

[dogbyte12]

The email is a larger irritant to me than the telemarketing calls. I get upwards of 30 email solicitation a day, and about half of them are pornographic or otherwise offensive.

The porn and other spam ads could be eliminated completely from our mailboxes with just a simple fix that congress doesn't seem willing to demand.

All sex related sites end in the extension .xxx All advertisments for products end in the extension .adv You choose if ya want to filter all email from those two address extensions. Heavy fines for violating the rule. If hosting companies overseas decide to let people use non .xxx and .adv sites to spam people, all US companies such as MSN, AOL, Earthlink etc... are required to block everything from them.

Problem solved. When you go to a website that asks you to go on their mailing list... there is a mechanism for "ONLY" allowing things from them to pass thru your .adv filter.

Simple, easy, effective, not requiring too much difficulty... good luck on seeing it happen anytime soon though.

[dogbyte12]

OK.. the weird ones I am getting, are the people... shouting Hellllllllooooooooo, Hellllllllllllooooooooo into my answering machine.

I picked up finally a few weeks ago, and it was asking me if I was (name of guy) who used to have this phone number. I said no, quit calling, then he told me that it didn't matter if I was him, I could get a great deal on a nokia cell phone anyways. I instructed him to take me off the list...

2 days later... got another Helllllllllllllloooooooo Hellooooooooo shouted into my answering machine, picked up to tell the Nokia guy off, and it was somebody pitching a cruise. It's like they know those repeated long hellos will get people to pick up.

Also,... I am getting home and I usually delete right away, but I am getting the taped messages on to my answering machine. 60 second ad for satellite dishes, cruises, home siding, etc...

I had the misfortune of moving, getting new number a week before the primaries last year. I literally got 3 dozen political phone calls within my first few days of having the number. These folks were just going down the numbers randomly calling people.

I tell these folks to stop calling, but like cockroaches more crawl out of the woodwork. For that guy who works in the industry... tough luck.

There are millions of businesses in this country. It should not be my obligation to tell all of them individually to keep calling me, and keep a record of which freaking telemarketer I informed to quit it. You jerks did it to yourselves, when ya realized that calling people at the dinner hour was the best way to get a live person to answer.

I do not work all day, bust my ass to cook for my family, when my wife is working late, just to hear you take away from my time to hear about time share opportunities.

[Diverdogz]

The way I look at it, by signing up for the "Do Not Call List", I'm saving you time and money.

I sign up for the list because I'll NEVER buy crap solicited to me over the phone. Ain't gonna happen. Every now and then, I let the dufuses who work for you spout off their entire schpiel before saying "No thanks".

So, the list may actually save you money!

[Revolting cat!]

why punish legitmate business?

You make some valid points, nevertheless many here and elsewhere question the very legitimacy of a business which depends on breaking and entering uninvited into private homes (or if you prefer a different angle - using and private telephone line.)

As for the libertarian argument against government involvement, protecting citizens' security is one of the few legitimate functions of government, isn't it.

That said, and not in a direct response to your post, I for one am not comfortable with the idea of a do-not-call list. This is completely bass ackward and illustrates how much power and privacy we have lost in this country. No, common sense tells me that there should be a do-call list instead. I don't wish to be called and I don't wish to have my name on any stinking list!

[dogbyte12]

My father in law is more malicious than I am... He answers the calls, says to hold on while he gets a pen and paper, and just continues doing whatever he was doing. He then hangs up the phone after 30 minutes in case the person is still on the line.

[nanny]

Even with computer dialing and incentive of a paycheck, how can a human being be so cold hearted as to have a job phone soliciting? The gov't hasn't authorized the mega dose of prozac I would need to accomplish a day at the phone!

I don't like them either - I just don't like the government getting involved. That always makes me nervous. As for them getting involved with Spam emails - I certainly hope that never comes. We should never, ever, give them a foot in the door on the internet - they are just salivating for some excuse to get involved. It may be the last place for freedom in this world. Please be careful what you ask for

[T Minus Four]

Oh what a crock! My being annoyed and hanging up on people who bother me in my home in the evening is keeping people off the welfare rolls? Oh, please! I will never, ever, EVER buy anything from a telemarketer, even if I it were something I wanted! You're just protecting your right to hire people to work out of their homes at a pittance and with no benefits.

[Diverdogz]

I love it.

Tell them to hang on a second while you end another call. Click the phone real quick and say "Hey man, I'll call you later, I got this idiot telemarketer on the line and I'm going to mess with them"." Of course, its the telemarketer who hears you say that.....

Or sometimes, if it is a younger female telemarketer, I start asking questions about the product....then at some point change my tone to 'sleeze-mode' and ask "mmmmm.... what are you wearing?"

[dalereed]

I've had 2 calls already today!

I scream at the in the foulest language that I can think of!

I've already signed up on the California list (not in effect yet) that will get transfered to the federal list as soon as it opens.

I despise salesman of any stripe and the 40 years I was in business I wouldn't even talk to one that was from a $30k monthly account and told them if they ever called, for any reason, I would take our account elsewhere and would never have lunch with one under any condition!

[MEGoody]

"Even with computer dialing and incentive of a paycheck, how can a human being be so cold hearted as to have a job phone soliciting?"

I hate these calls too, but there was a time I was in need of money and took a job as a telemarketer. Believe me, the folks at the other end of te line aren't having any fun either. Calling them 'cold hearted' is a bit over the top.

[Revolting cat!]

"mmmmm.... what are you wearing?"

Heck, nowadays "mmmmm.... what are you wearing?", or better, "mmmmm.... are you wearing any underwear?" oughta work with either sex, and with the transgender ones too! You gotta watch out though if they start answering!

[dogbyte12]

The prob is we are giving up part of our lives to these people. I get so frustrated talking with these people, that on M-F until 8 pm, I leave the answering machine on to avoid them. I have had family emergencies, people going through surgery, and to dash from outside to pick up the phone, to hear how things are going, only to be pitched a new phone company is just disgusting.

TV is a passive medium, as is the radio. If you don't want to listen to the ads, change the channel or turn the tv or radio off. The phone is your extension to the outside world though. These bloodsuckers pray on that fact when they con older people. The folks who they are targeting are in the AARP demographic. The lonely people, not out in the workforce, desperate for human contact. My grandmother was fleeced $25 here, $100 there by everybody in the book. She was getting hit letters from Jimmy Carter and Linda Tripp, all over the spectrum on every issue. She was late in her 80's suffering from the early stages of alzheimers, and within a year, her entire nest egg was gone.

My mother, my brothers and I, had to pay for her care, which was extensive. Instead of $50 going to the democrats, $50 to the republicans cancelling each other out, that money could have gone to her nursing care, which we were obligated to take care of in lieu of her sudden poverty.

Telemarketing is lower than being a lawyer.

[JoeSixPack1]

When times are tough you do what you have to, to survive. My statement, with hindsight, was a bit rough, but at least you knew better than to make a career out of it.

I'll stand down on the term "cold hearted" in reference to short timers in the trade.

AND.....offer up an apology to you. Just don't call me at home! :-)

[MEGoody]

Come on, guys, I know you hate these calls. I hate them too and have gotten rude with the 'insistent' ones. But most of these people are just folks trying to make a living. As soon as you know it's a telemarketing call, just say "No thanks" and hang up. (Or get on the Do Not Call list.)

From some of the comments in here, you'd think these telemarketers were demons on the other end of the phone trying to suck your brains through the line or something rather than just someone trying to put food on the table.

[MEGoody]

"I get so frustrated talking with these people, that on M-F until 8 pm, I leave the answering machine on to avoid them."

You've found a perfectly acceptable solution. Since you are no longer talking to them, then you probably aren't frustrated any more, right?

[dalereed]

"you'd think these telemarketers were demons on the other end of the phone trying to suck your brains through the line"

They have more suction than a Hoover and need to have their plug pulled and cut from the end of the cord!