Telemarketing Industry Sues Over Do-Not-Call List

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[chance33_98]

Telemarketing Industry Sues Over Do-Not-Call List

POSTED: 1:52 p.m. EDT July 28, 2003

WASHINGTON -- The telemarketing industry is widening its legal challenge to the government's national do-not-call list.

The industry is suing a second federal agency over the call-blocking service, which telemarketers say will ruin their business and put up to 2 million people out of work.

An industry group had sued the Federal Trade Commission in January to try to stop the list. Now it's asking a federal court to reject new rules set by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC added its authority to the list to close regulatory loopholes and block calls from certain industries -- including airlines, banks and telephone companies.

The head of the American Teleservices Association calls the government agencies' actions "regulatory overkill."

Beginning in September, telemarketers will have to check the list every three months to see who doesn't want to be called. Firms could be fined up to $11,000 per violation.

The toll-free number to call to join the Do Not Call list is (888) 382-1222.

To register online, visit DoNotCall.gov

[RightWhale]

They'll get the word out eventually unless they are all wiped out simultaneously in a huge disaster. Besides, I'm the tribal elder and they should be doing welfare checks on me periodically rather than vice versa. There is email, which I do check before hi-lighting and hitting < del >. The phone line is a necessary evil, but we need to develop a little stronger code of morality in that area.

[discostu]

I think you're too friendly with your cards. I changed my number a couple years ago, never told any of them, and haven't been hassled.

Caller-ID has always struck me as the worst answer for the puzzle, now you're paying extra to not get harrassed by somebody that shouldn't be bothering you in the first place. Then you add ID blocking into the mix and it's a wierd parable of the cold war.

The telemarketers should have been more responsive to people wanting off the list. I think they're going to come out of this in better shape than they went in. Basically the list is made of people that wouldn't buy from them anyway, this should increase their sales percentage and decrease their labor costs. Problem is they've always had this mentality that it's all about the number of calls they make, that's why they didn't want to take anybody off the list. Bad thinking led to backlash.

[TexRef]

Big difference here. Your phone is a service you pay for. So telemarketers are in a way stealing from you when they use your service at your expense. Mail is a service they pay for.

Not really. I mean, who actually pays for incoming calls anymore? I would suspect that for the vast majority of their "customers" these calls are free.

Telemarketers and junk mail are very similar -- it's just that junk mail is slightly less annoying because it doesn't take as much time for you to go through it. That's what they are stealing -- your time -- just like the spammers of the world.

[MEGoody]

While I symphathize with the telemarketers who are just trying to earn a living, these calls are extremely annoying.

If they win, I wonder how long it will take the programmers to start suing because their jobs are 'off shored.'

[discostu]

You pay to have the service, the implication of that is that you're paying to be able to receive calls whenever you're not making them.

I've never gotten so much mail that I couldn't do the sort on the walk back in the house. And now I have a fire place, I want that junkmail now.

[steve86]

I changed my number a couple years ago, never told any of them, and haven't been hassled.

They tried to get ahold of me, found the old number was disconnected, panicked and sent a letter demanding that I provide a land line number or repay my outstanding balance immediately. I actually did have a new land number, gave it to them and no problem since. But I would caution people that unintended consequences could result from cancelling your service.

[BlazingArizona]

Has anyone else been getting an unusually high number of telemarketing calls since this national Do Not Call list was announced? It's as though telemarketers know they will be done for in October, so they're blowing out the phones now in one last splurge. I get calls early Sunday morning. I get calls late at night. If I step out of the house for an hour or two, I come home to multiple advertising pitches stacked up on my answering machine.

The telemarketing business has not a shred of a reason to live. I want it to die horribly, with absolute crushing finality.

[discostu]

My calls have dropped to almost none since the list started. My junk e-mail has ramped up to around a 400% increase though.

[MizSterious]

If this works the way they say it will, this should help with a good many of these calls! Thank you for this link!

[brewcrew]

LOL...Then take the catalytic converters off YOUR car!

As much as I'd like to do that with MY car, the way I see it is thusly: I own my dog, but I can't let his poop lay anywhere I feel. I don't own the atmosphere, and my car leaves its dregs in the atmosphere.

[BlazingArizona]

Not really. I mean, who actually pays for incoming calls anymore? I would suspect that for the vast majority of their "customers" these calls are free.

When telemarketers call my cell number, I'm paying for all those minutes. It's supposed to be illegal, but there's big loophole: it's illegal to knowingly call a cell number. If they claim they called your cell by mistake, there's nothing you can do.

[wjcsux]

Mostly in Bombay, Calcutta and New Delhi.
Don't forget those poor prisoners doing time in numerous state institutions.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Anyone that really knows me or needs to talk to me will leave a message. Telemarketers never do.

My telemarketers always did. Before I cleared out my phone messges, I had dozens and dozens from them. This one British guy in particular used to leave the same message over and over. What's wrong with these guys? You'd think they'd give up after getting no response. But they're relentless, like pit bulls.

[e_engineer]

The other posters who replied to you failed to mention that telemarketing is THEFT of a service that you and I pay for. Laws against theft are not "anti-conservative".

Email spam is theft of mail server resources that belong to the ISPs, and are paid for by you and I.

Junk snailmail is paid for by the sender.

[TexRef]

When telemarketers call my cell number, I'm paying for all those minutes.

Good point. I have had telemarketers call my cell phone. In fact, I had someone from HUD keep calling me for a damn survey -- they kept calling and calling even though I told them to put me on the "Do not call list". Of course, like everything else, the government exempts itself.

I finally had to just about cuss the guy out to get him to stop calling. Maybe it was the line about how I don't even think that HUD should exist and that it was a total waste of taxpayer money that worked :)

[gorush]

Maybe a better analogy than the car would be my DirecTV service. I pay for the equipment and the monthly subscription fees for which I contract...yet I would become irate if people were able to change my channel from afar...much as I used to become irate at telemarketers. (We have since removed our telephone landline because of it.)

[moehoward]

"I would suspect that for the vast majority of their "customers" these calls are free. "

 

The calls are never free. You pay a bill each month to keep the phone on.
It may pro-rate to just pennies, but you pay for their avenue to personally contact you. They are not only wasting the "customers" time, they are in fact stealing a service paid for by someone else. This applies to spam as well.

In direct mail the solicitor pays the entire service fee.

[cherry_bomb88]

The industry is suing a second federal agency over the call-blocking service, which telemarketers say will ruin their business

Ruin their business? Works for me.

Wasn't that the whole point??? No one likes telemarketers!

[Conservababe]

The other posters who replied to you failed to mention that telemarketing is THEFT of a service that you and I pay for. Laws against theft are not "anti-conservative".

And do you realize that your own government is selling the lists to telemarketers? Lord love a duck, they are the biggest sellers of lists.

And now, they are, for now, giving you a free service to shut down the calls they are responsible for in the first place.

Soon, you will see a new government tax on your phone bill for this new service.

Conservatives, always remember to be wary of the government's greeting....Hi, I am from the government and I am here to help you. I am laughing.

[dogbyte12]

You are also losing the ability to take important calls. If you live in an apartment in Phoenix, and some jerk is leaving a 5 minute tapes message on your box, for winterizing your house, and your box fills up, making you miss a crucial call, it well frankly sucks.

It's creating wear and tear on your answering machine, which is mechanical and will break down.

The other thing that drives me nuts are junk faxes. They use your ink, on your dime, to spam you. What is up with that?