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Privacy Communications

Do-Not-Call List, Two Years Later 426

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the but-telemarketers-are-so-much-fun dept.
Carl Bialik writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that two years after the National Do Not Call Registry took effect, regulators say the system is working, but only six federal fines have been issued. More than half of registered consumers say they're still getting unwanted calls, according to a recent phone survey. Now, a fresh fight is brewing over which calls are restricted and which ones aren't. Twenty-five states maintain their own do-not-call lists, and many of them impose tougher restrictions on the kinds of calls that telemarketers can make."
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Do-Not-Call List, Two Years Later More

Do-Not-Call List, Two Years Later

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  • Ironic... (Score:5, Funny)

    by vmcto ( 833771 ) * on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:49PM (#13669474) Homepage Journal
    Am I the only one that finds it shockingly ironic that the survey to determine if consumers are still receiving unwanted calls is done by initiating unwanted telephone calls?

    I mean isn't that bound to skew the results?

    Consumer: Hello?
    Survey Operator: We're conducting a survey on unwanted phone calls
    Consumer: OK...
    Survey Operator: Have you received any unwanted calls lately?
    Consumer: Yes... Quite recently actually!

    • Re:Ironic... (Score:3, Informative)

      by Neil Blender ( 555885 )
      Telephone surveyors are exempt.

      http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/dncalrt .htm [ftc.gov]

      • Re:Ironic... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by vmcto ( 833771 ) * on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:54PM (#13669532) Homepage Journal
        That doesn't mean their calls aren't unwanted... Just not illegal.

        • Dumb survey. (Score:3, Funny)

          by SeaFox ( 739806 )
          That doesn't mean their calls aren't unwanted... Just not illegal.

          So the survey was worthless because it didn't even ask the right question! They should have asked if the individual had recived any calls that should have not happned becuase they were on the Do Not Call list.

          "Did you get any unwanted calls lately?"

          "Well yeah, the Gas company called to tell me I'm over 60 days past due. My boss called me to come in on my day off. My mother in law called and berated me while I was trying to watch the game last
    • Well, they had three options to conduct the survey: 1. Unsolicited phone call 2. Unsolicited email 3. Unsolicited Business Reply Mail I'm glad they went with the ironic option. It shows they have a sense of humor about our privacy.
      • They could always start a slashdot poll [slashdot.org]. Of course then they might get slightly skewed results.

        19% said they no longer get junk phone calls.
        32% said they still get junk phone calls.
        43% said they still get junk phone calls from Cowboy Neal.
        6% said they don't have phone lines, you insensitive clod!

        That might add up to 100%. If not, see my sig.

    • hehe... I gotta say though, I really *love* the DNCL. It's cut my daily telemarketing calls from about 10-12 a day to 1 a week or so. I can live with that, usually the 1 a week is an exempt caller anyways.

      There is very little other than spam that is as annoying as telemarketing.
    • Obligatory PC Weenies comic [pcweenies.org] on same subject.

      And here are a few [pcweenies.org] other toons [pcweenies.org] on telemarketers, as well.

    • Re:Ironic... (Score:3, Funny)

      by Twid ( 67847 )
      When I lived in Ohio back in Ameritech days, they called me to tell me about their new anti-telemarketer service. (One of those ones where you could whitelist numbers and block unidentified caller id from getting through.) It went much like that.

      Ameritech: Hi, we're calling to tell you about our new anti-telemarketer service that will prevent unsolicited calls.
      Me: You mean like this one.
      Ameritch: Ummmmmmm....

      I was surprised the guy didn't have an answer for that in his script.

  • Do-Not-Survey list? (Score:5, Funny)

    by overpayd ( 855430 ) * on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:50PM (#13669476)
    More than half of registered consumers say they're still getting unwanted calls, according to a recent phone survey

    From TFA:Regulators say the system is working, but a recent random survey (by telephone) by the Customer Care Alliance, a Virginia-based consortium of three customer-relations consultants, found that 51% of registered consumers say they're still getting calls they think the list is supposed to block.

    So they conducted the survey by CALLING the people on the do-not-call list...
  • So... did anyone try to turn in the survey-takers?

    • Re:Unwanted call survey (Score:3, Interesting)

      by SiO2 ( 124860 )
      Uh. Funny story.

      A while back, for about a week in a row I was getting a phone call about the same time of day from a number I didn't recognize. I never answered the call and the caller never left a message. I finally get fed up and traced the number back to some organization I had never heard of: Customer Care Alliance. The company sounded like some marketing firm to me, so I turned them in to the do not call list.

      Yep, I'm feeling like an idiot right about now.

      SiO2

  • Worked for me (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Reality Master 101 ( 179095 ) <<moc.liamg> <ta> <101retsaMytilaeR>> on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:51PM (#13669490) Homepage Journal
    Here in Southern California, ever since I went on that list, I get almost no calls at all. Every so often I might get a call for a survey, but that's about it.

    But then, my calls had dropped pretty low even before the do-not-call list went into effect. I had learned the magic phrase, "Could you take me off the call list?", which I diligently said to every telemarketer. By law, they have to take you off, so that had already almost completely solved the problem. The national do-not-call list eliminated the last bits.

    • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Informative)

      by mpathetiq ( 726625 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:56PM (#13669546) Homepage
      Thank you for stating the simple phrase! I'm amazed at how many people scream and yell and get angry about telemarketers. One simple phrase "Please place me on your Do-not-Solicit list." would cure most of it.

      I worked as a telemarketer for a year. I heard people yell at me every day and it didn't change anything. Those people would get calls over and over and over. It was the ones who were calm and said the magic phrase didn't call again.

      A little polite respect gets you much farther than spewing vitriol across the telephone line.

      • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Surt ( 22457 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:02PM (#13669617) Homepage Journal
        A little polite respect, and the threat of expensive fines.
        • Statistically, most of my telemarketing calls over the past four years have been from AT&T local service. "Did you know you can get AT&T local service in your area now?" "I have DSL." "Oh, I'm sorry. We don't offer service to DSL customers at this time." Followed a week later by the same phone conversation. I finally asked them to put me on their do-not-call list, then proceeded to call up through their call chain, tying up somewhere around an hour of their 1-800 number time, and filed a compl

      • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Interesting)

        by AuMatar ( 183847 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:04PM (#13669628)
        Because you show no polite respect to us. You've taken a job that you know annoys the hell out of 90% of the population. That shows an utter lack of consideration of any type for the rest of humainty. Be polite? If I met you I'd punch you in the face.

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Golias ( 176380 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:22PM (#13669786)
          Because you show no polite respect to us. You've taken a job that you know annoys the hell out of 90% of the population. That shows an utter lack of consideration of any type for the rest of humainty. Be polite? If I met you I'd punch you in the face.

          You were modded down as flame-bait and troll for saying this, but I'm behind you on this one.

          Yes, saying "put me on your do not call list" is a simple thing to do, but doing so three times in one evening when you are trying to enjoy a DVD or play a computer game is very tiresome. Before Minnesota's do-not-call registry was set up, that's what it was like.

          I'm generally a nice guy, but I delight in being rude to telemarketers. I deliberately waste their time. I belittle them. I pummel them with questions about why they want to be parasites and how can they sleep at night knowing that they make their livings spreading human misery.

          Why? Because I want every telemarketer to utterly hate his or her job. I want them to go home crying and wonder if the paycheck is worth the stress and heartache, so some of them will quit and companies who rely on telemarketing have to spend more money to hire new people. This makes telemarketing cost more for the same return, which makes it a less attractive means of generating business.

          If everybody who disliked being called by soliciters was as mean, rude, and disruptive as me, the entire industry would dry up within a couple years.

          • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Interesting)

            by nmb3000 ( 741169 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:39PM (#13669947) Journal
            I agree with what you're saying, though I usually am less harsh in my time wasting. Often I'll come up with something that makes them feel foolish for calling me. It might not be very nice, but I have been known to berate them for calling and trying to sell home exercise equipment to "a paraplegic cripple". It's fun to see them try to explain their way out of that.

            In addition it's fun to play the Hold game. When they ask for somebody or something, I'll ask them to wait for me to find them and then put them on hold (my phone even played music) and go back to whatever it was I'm doing. The record holder (pun intended) is 1 hour and 25 minutes. I guess he liked the classic 80's songs playing...

            I try to waste as much of the company's money as possible by wasting their time and resources. At the same time I feel bad taking out my annoyance on the employees because it's very possible that they are at the only job available to them at the moment. Being a telemarketer doesn't require much in the way of skills, but it is better than other skill-less opportunities like fast food.

            • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Informative)

              by M. Baranczak ( 726671 )
              The record holder (pun intended) is 1 hour and 25 minutes.

              Oh, that's nothing. A friend of mine once managed to string one of them along for 6 or 7 hours. He was painting an apartment while the owners were away, so he had no use for the phone anyhow. If you have multiple phone lines - all the better.

              Most telemarketers are required by company policy to stay on the line until they make a sale or the victim hangs up - they're completely powerless to stop this. Especially if you say something like "Yeah, let me

            • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Interesting)

              by Frogbert ( 589961 )
              I once worked doing telephone surveys, No joke the worst call I ever made went something like this:

              Me: Good morning may I speak to Bob Someone

              Sad sounding woman: I'm sorry you can't

              Me: Is there another time I can call?

              SSW: No this is his wake.

              Me: Okay then sorry about that
              *hangup*

              Were it not for the sobbing in the background I'd have thought it was a joke.. it was not.

              That was so awkward.

      • well, not that simple (Score:5, Informative)

        by rjnagle ( 122374 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:06PM (#13669653) Homepage
        These kinds of companies generally need call only once for the damage to be done. I can't remember many occasions where the same company has called several times.

        That solution "tell them to put me on the do-not-call list" simply keeps the burden on the consumer, not the telemarketer. Also, how do you do it to recorded calls?

        BTW, before the national registry, there was a law requiring all telemarketing firms to send out written copies of their do-not-call policies to consumers upon request. Any individual violations of the request to send written copies of the DNC policy was something you could sue for in small claims court. Most telemarketers had never heard of this rule, and most were never trained about it.

      • Re:Worked for me (Score:4, Funny)

        by IthnkImParanoid ( 410494 ) * on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:11PM (#13669692)
        ...except that sometimes that doesn't work. 7-8 years ago my parents had a line dedicated for modem use only. AT&T would call that line three or four times a week, usually around 7pm (ie dinner time). The "magic phrase" didn't deter them in the slightest, so some of the screaming and yelling and getting angry at telemarketers in general may come from similar experiences. Bad experiences are hard to forget.

        Of course, I like to find the good in every situation, which in this case was answering the phone with greetings like "Thanks for calling the Psychic Hotline, but I know this is a wrong number." or "Genital Piercings R Us, would you like to hear about our special on clitoral spikes?" or "$City chapter of the Cult of Satan...". You get the picture.

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:15PM (#13669730)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Messing with telemarketers does not get them to stop calling you. No matter how many times you call them a fag or ask them what they're wearing or hang up on them or ask them how they'd like it if you called them during dinner, they're still going to call back. JUST TELL THEM TO TAKE YOU OFF THEIR FUCKING LIST.

          1) Until now I didn't actually think telemarketers were that colossally stupid. If *I* were a telemarketer I would use my amazingly advanced intellectual powers to deduce that people who screamed, thr

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Insightful)

          by lurker412 ( 706164 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:49PM (#13670062)
          Right. So lots of people are dumb. But why should the burden be placed on them to know the magic phrase? Seems to me that if someone screams "I'm on the do not call list" that should be good reason for a reputable company to never call the person again, regardless of legality. People get pissed when companies ignore the obvious. Don't you?

          • Re:Worked for me (Score:4, Interesting)

            by geminidomino ( 614729 ) * on Thursday September 29, 2005 @02:58AM (#13673924) Journal
            if someone screams "I'm on the do not call list" that should be good reason for a reputable company to never call the person again,

            Apparently you've never dealt with Qwest...

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Insightful)

          by pete6677 ( 681676 )
          Get a clue. Calling people who obviously don't want to be called, as anyone with an ounce of common sense can figure out, will only decrease your potential sales. For every minute you spend on the phone being abused, that's a minute that you won't get back which you could have been making a sale. You would think the telemarketing morons would figure this out and voluntarily trim their list of leads to get rid of people who will obviously not buy, but that seems not to be the case. The only logical conclusio

          • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Interesting)

            by myov ( 177946 )
            Telemarketing != sales.
            In fact, it screws up the reputation for people who are professional sales people.

            A telemarketer could try to sell new windows to anyone, at random. They basically use a dictionary-style attack and if they're lucky they will get a sale.

            A good sales person would first determine the market (ie: eliminate apartment/condo units but approach landlords). They might even drive around looking at houses and noting if the windows are old (=replacement) or new (=recently replaced). They might w

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Interesting)

          by soft_guy ( 534437 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:57PM (#13670163)
          My wife asks telemarketers not to call again and asks them to take her off the list. Generally they just start cussing at her. She has actually had a telemarketer say to her: "Shut the fuck up, Bitch! We will call you whenever we feel like it." Unfortunately there is nothing we can do because they were in Canada.

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Funny)

          by eaolson ( 153849 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @05:00PM (#13670224)
          People not understanding the DNC law was the biggest annoyance we got.
          Yeah, because one thing we wouldn't want to do is annoy telemarketers.
        • Perhaps you can tell me this since Qwest won't. I just moved and got a new land line from Qwest. Mostly to get cheaper DSL than I would without a land line. In any case I got an unlisted number that I haven't given out. Since then I get several calls a day from telemarketers who already know my name. I politely ask them were they got my number and every one of them has said that they bought the list from Qwest. Qwest of course denies this. Does Qwest sell lists?

          In any case I am rather upset that I

          • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Informative)

            by rworne ( 538610 )
            While I forgot what these phone books were called, they do give out phone numbers:

            I did computer work on the side for a mortgage company back in the mid-90's, and they had the most interesting phonebooks. The phone company has a special white pages that are leased to certain companies that list phone numbers not by customer/company names, but by street address. All numbers are included in this book, even unlisted ones. While I was able to manage to leaf through one, the owner of the business treated them

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Choco-man ( 256940 )
          I've been using the magic phrase 'please take me off your call list' for years now. Some people are very polite in return, and thank me and have a good day. I've had other telemarketers sigh and hang up, or even curse and hang up. Just last night I had one argue with me. I asked her to please take me off your call list, and she said she couldn't do that unless I provided her with personal information. I politely informed her that she's federally obligated to comply, and I don' t have to provide any inf
          • 1. Having some facility to record your calls on demand is a good idea for dealing with this. When this sort of thing happens, start recording.

            2. If caller-id is blocked, you can use *57 to generate a log at the phone company containing the true origin of the call. It will not be available to you but it is held for some time (30 days? -- I'd have to check on that) and can be retrieved through a subpoena. So if someone breaks the law like this, or by making threatening calls, and you are mad enough, you ca

        • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Informative)

          by DiveX ( 322721 )
          You worked as a telemarketer and you still don't know what you are talking about. I don't blame you for the ignorance only your lack of proper training. Having someone say 'take me off your/the/some/a list" does nothing. The entity can purchase a new list with your number and call again. So what you have suggested has no ligit purpose. One needs to specifically state that they want their number (name is unnecessary and not relevent) ADDED to the company's do-not-call list. That specificlaly requires the com

        • Punching in the face (Score:3, Insightful)

          by typical ( 886006 )
          Tell you what. Suppose we have a new rule that anyone who wants can punch you in the face. But you can make any one person stop by saying "Don't punch me any more, please!"

          Asking to be removed from a telemarketer's list is kind of like that, except they can punch you from anywhere in the world.

          Now do you see why people get pissed off?
      • I said the magic phrase over three thousand times before the law took effect. It was like bailing the ocean out with a teaspoon.

        BTW, it's not respectful to call me to try to sell me something, so no respect is due. Just GO THE FUCK AWAY.

      • Yeah, but then you can't play games like:

        "Special Ed"

        "Evangelical Christian"

        "Guy who gets turned on by Telemarketers"

        "I have these voices in my head... "

        "Get head and get Called"

        "Terrets Syndrome Poet"

        and my personal Favorite:

        "How come you don't call more often... I think you don't like me anymore.... *plays gunshot mp3*, *throw something heavy on the floor and drop phone*, *moan*.... why don't you LOVE ME!!!!"
      • The problem is that a very large proportion of these telemarketing companies are dodgy, unprofessional, and sometimes illegal. Just like e-mail spam companies.

        Most of the telemarketing phone calls I recieved had to do with me sending them $200 as an entrance fee for a contest for a trip to Jamaica, and things of that sort. Do you really think they'd take you off their "list"? Chances are they have no list at all.

      • Hi spammer! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by freeweed ( 309734 )
        Spammers say the exact same things you do.

        I don't want either you of contacting me, ever. Period. Never.

        Why is this concept so difficult to understand?
    • I'm seeing similar results in Kentucky now that we have the state Do-not-call list. Soon after signing up for my state's list, the annoying calls dropped to zero.

      Now, I get the once per year call from the firefighters trying to get me to donate (exempt because they are a charity), and lately I've been participating in a phone survey once a week or less (which I don't mind) but that's it.
    • Exactly the same here -- the "Please remove me from your list" worked, until you got handed off to a new company. Since the Do-Not-Call list went into effect, my telemarketing burden has dropped to zero.

      That's one of the reasons why I'm optimistic about a government-imposed spam solution working, eventually. (The other reason being that Microsoft, AOL and the rest need such a solution and they'll make sure it gets done.) Even if such proposals are always met with derision here from the dorks with their "You

    • Same here- I have gotten maybe 2-3 calls since the do not call list went into effect. Now if only I can get rid of those unwanted "family thinks I'm tech support" calls....

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Despite one million reports of violations, the FTC has filed only 14 lawsuits and levied only four fines.

    Wow, that's only 0.0014% of reports turning into lawsuits.

    • Re:0.0014% (Score:3, Funny)

      by Shakrai ( 717556 ) *

      Wow, that's only 0.0014% of reports turning into lawsuits.

      Yeah, but it's 28.5% of lawsuits turning into fines.

      Jeez, try to think of the glass being half-full once in awhile ;)

  • Questionable List (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The DNC list goes against free market capitalism which our country was based upon. Yes it's legal by the letter of the law, but it grossly violates the spirit of America. We are a country of entrepreneurs and all this law does is chop down the new cherry trees of companies before they have a chance to blossom and provide jobs for poor people. Think of the recent victims of Katrina and Rita, think of how much better those people would be if there were more companies to lend them jobs?
    • drop dead along with your telemarketing friends. I pay for my telecommunications service, and it is therefore my right to forbid and restrict who may consume my time using it. There's a multitude of other ways any company can market their products and services.

  • I just don't understand ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by crimethinker ( 721591 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:53PM (#13669516)
    why the telemarketing companies fight this so hard. I mean, here's a list of people who don't want to hear your sales pitch, so why waste time calling them? I suppose they are worried (justly) about people convincing grandma to sign up so she doesn't get so many "buy this shit now" calls.

    Once and for all, somebody needs to drive this into their heads: it is MY phone, and you may not use it (i.e. call me) without my consent. P.S. refusing to pay $3.50 a month to NOT be listed in the phone book does not mean I consent to have you morons call me.

    -paul

    • Re:I just don't understand ... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Darkon ( 206829 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:55PM (#13669541)

      I suppose they are worried (justly) about people convincing grandma to sign up so she doesn't get so many "buy this shit now" calls

      This is exactly what they are worried about. They don't care about you, me, or Joe Geek who would never buy their crap anyway. They care about concerned friends and relatives signing up the vulnerable people who they bleed dry as their staple source of income. Telemarketing is just a polite term for scamming.
    • A lot more people then just grandma get sold things they don't really want or need.
      Do not underestaimate the power of the sales force.

    • I've always wondered this myself. Wouldn't they expect to not have much luck making a sale to someone who has specifically requested no sales calls? I think the reason is that telemarketed products and services are high cost and low value, so they wouldn't sell by more traditional methods. This also allows a huge overhead for the marketing firm. It becomes purely a numbers game. They know the vast majority of people they call will not buy, but it is still profitable just because they con some idiot into buy
    • convincing grandma to sign up so she doesn't get so many "buy this shit now" calls.

      you may have hit the nail on the head. my uncle-in-law has to monitor all the mail that his aunt gets because she will write a $20 check to every single charity that sends her a letter asking for money. word about her got out, she gets a large stack of charity solicitations almost every day.

  • I still get calls from companies that i have a "business relationship with" and a few others taking "surveys", but my unwanted calls have dropped from a couple a night to one or two every few months. And now since i'm no longer used to getting interupted i am intensely rude to the people that do.
    • i've discovered a new way to deal with the few that get through. Like yourself, I used to get furious with unsolicited callers. Now, I simply take my cordless phone into my living room, pick the first random object that I find, and try as hard as I can to sell it to the person who is calling...until they hang up on me.

      yes, it wastes time, but it is incredibly fun.

      dude.

  • I IS working, in unexpected ways (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pharmboy ( 216950 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:54PM (#13669531) Journal
    I am NOT on the Do Not Call List, but I am getting about 90% less telemarketers calling me. I would have to say its a pretty good track record considering I didn't do anything. Some are having problems, but no one is getting MORE calls than before, unlike spam and CAN-SPAM.

    This is because many companies that do telephone marketing are doing something else instead (spam maybe?). So while the system isn't perfect, and can be improved, it has to be considered a success for the most part.

  • Do-Not-Call works for me. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Futurepower(R) ( 558542 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:54PM (#13669535) Homepage
    The federal Do-Not-Call system has worked very well for me.

    The Oregon state government was charging [state.or.us] for Do-Not-Call. Now the state system has been terminated.
  • If it's working, one would expect there to be very few fines.

    Most of the annoying calls coming in now are pretending to be "surveys," rather than sales calls. They're lying, of course, but the volume has gone down considerably.
    • Most of the annoying calls coming in now are pretending to be "surveys," rather than sales calls

      At home, I get an automated recording on the machine (from a telemarketer, no doubt), saying that isn't a sales call. What good is is law if simply saying "this isn't a sales call" makes it so, even if they are trying to sell you something?

      • Re:People are idiots (Score:2, Interesting)

        by GlassUser ( 190787 )
        At home, I get an automated recording on the machine (from a telemarketer, no doubt), saying that isn't a sales call. What good is is law if simply saying "this isn't a sales call" makes it so, even if they are trying to sell you something?

        I've been getting the same thing recently. To my cell phone. i wonder who's doing it.

  • The question is (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hoovernj ( 827158 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @03:59PM (#13669572)
    I think the question is, do people report - or even know where to report - telemarketers when a violation occurs?
  • The part that always concerned me about the do-not-call exemption was the allowance of getting calls from a business that you had a pre-existing relationship with.

    What constitutes a pre-exiting relationship? I get calls from a local suto dealerchip's service center "reminding" me to get my car serviced.

    What if they get bought by a corporation that owns credit card companies? Does this mean the credit card company would be able to solicit me?

  • What they let in: (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ZachPruckowski ( 918562 ) <zachary.pruckowski@gmail.com> on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:01PM (#13669601)
    Well, considering charities, political parties, pollsters, and anyone you've had a prior business relationship with can still call you, there is a significant percent of telemarketers who can get through.

    Then there is the fact that to report someone, you have to jump through hoops, and have a lot of information from the telemarketer, most people probably don't report illegal calls if they get them.

    Lastly, I think we need a "Do-Not-Fax" list, as it drives me crazy that people will send vacation offers (that are probably scams) to the office I work at sometimes (which is technically a residential number), and not only does it waste time, it wastes ink and paper. Essentially, we have to pay to get spammed.
    • Lastly, I think we need a "Do-Not-Fax" list, ...

      That's already illegal - after a similar flood of advertising faxes back when fax machines were becomming common in businesses but were not yet so cheap as to be common in residences.

      Unlike the old "do not call" lists the "take me off your fax" number generally works. (I've only had to do it once at work and twice at home to get the bogosity to stop.) Meanwhile I hear you can get a couple hundred bux per fax if you want to take 'em to small claims court. Se
    • Junk faxes are already illegal, under separate legislation. The FCC has prosecuted under those laws and won.

    • Re:What they let in: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Thud457 ( 234763 )
      In los estados unidos, unsolicited faxes are illegal , since the mid 1980's.

      While looking for the appropriate legislation, I googled up this [faxrecoverysystems.com] What's up with that? Are they legit? Has anyone used them with success?

    • Re:What they let in: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Fnord666 ( 889225 )
      "Lastly, I think we need a "Do-Not-Fax" list, as it drives me crazy that people will send vacation offers (that are probably scams) to the office I work at sometimes (which is technically a residential number), and not only does it waste time, it wastes ink and paper. Essentially, we have to pay to get spammed."

      If you are in the U.S. and the line is registered residential, then this has been illegal since 1991.

      Some relevant links:

  • Carl Bialik sends in a free Wall Street Journal article every few days and they seem to be always accepted. Does Slashdot get a percentage of ad revenue/new subscriptions they generate for the WSJ? If so, shouldn't you make this more obvious? If not, why should Slashdot be a de facto WSJ advertisement?

  • No Calls in KY (Score:3, Informative)

    by ayeco ( 301053 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:06PM (#13669649)
    We get no calls in KY. The only calls we do get are from the police, firefighters, and a few other fund raisers. KY has it's own list. The KY / Fed combo is working great for us.
  • I have my home, cell and work numbers on the DNC list. I dont get any unsoclited calls from telemarketers. That part is working well...

    My volume of new credit card offers via snail mail has tripled however. On any given day I get 3 or more offers to sign up for a new credit card. And now I'm started to get very aggressive home refinance offers too - I got a real, 100% legitamate cashable check for over $50,000 and on the top it says in big letters "cashing this check will bind you to the terms of the loan d
    • Snail mail ads are easy to deal with. The Post Office has a "Form 1500", or application for prohibitory order, that you can file with a copy of any ad you consider obscene. Note that it is at the sole discretion of the recpient to decide what is obscene. The Post Office is not allowed to question it. The Supreme Court case law was over a dry goods catalog.

      Once you file it, the Post Office is specifically required to compel the sender to stop sending you ads.

      Or, you could just fill them all out and send them

      • Bad idea (Score:3, Informative)

        by freeweed ( 309734 )
        Or, you could just fill them all out and send them in. It costs them about $50 to pull a full credit report on you. This is a bad idea on cards that have an annual fee, of course, unless you're sure they'll reject you.

        This is very, VERY bad advice. At least here in Canada, and I'm pretty sure credit bureaus work the same in most countries.

        Each time a credit report is done on you, it gets entered into your record, to stay there for 7 years, as an attempt at obtaining credit. Every one of these entries lowers
  • I've had far less problems with telemarketers since the Federal Do-Not-Call list came into existence. However, I have found that robo-calling has increased. A few of them are setups that call for a previous holder of my phone number because that person had an existing business relationship (i.e., gym membership, etc.) but many are deliberately designed to make tracking them difficult, so I cannot get them to stop calling. They might leave an 800-number to call them back, however it leads to a maze of peo
    • Yes, I've been getting more robo-calls as well. My answering machine will have them on there. When I call the number that shows up in the caller-id (if there is one), all I get is a busy signal. When I am home, I've gotten the robo-call with the greeting "do not hang up" to which I usually hang up. On one occasion, from robo-call from Direct-TV, I punched thru to get an operator/salesperson. As soon as a human answered, I said "put me on your no call list" and I was hung up on. Telemarketers are findi

  • I cant believe that number (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bizitch ( 546406 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:17PM (#13669748) Homepage
    Over half say it doesn't work?

    I don't get it - I was totally harrassed by at least 4-5 calls per night before this list came along.

    Not only has it blocked almost 95% of the bullshit, it kicked in almost instantaneously. The execptions for charities are annoying/minor. Some utiliies and banks I do business occasionally bug me with the claim that I opted-in somehow - or that its just a "courtesy call .."

    But IMHO - The list rocks!

  • The irritating loopholes (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ValentineMSmith ( 670074 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:17PM (#13669749)
    The irritating thing for me was that I'd never received much in the way of "traditional" telemarketing calls. Instead, it was always charities (wanting me to donate) and businesses with whom I have a current relationship (credit card companies trying to sell me extra crap, and so on).

    And, so, when the law was passed, they had loopholes for

    • politicians (of course: wouldn't want you to forget to donate to someone's [re]election campaign)
    • charities
    • businesses with whom I have a previous relationship

    The only thing that seems to work is to hang up on the charities and to tell the businesses that you'll be closing your account with them if you get any more calls.

  • Unfortunately, I still received numerous unsolicited fund-raising calls from charities and the fire/police departments. It's also annoying to endure having both the cell and land line ring in turn when someone is trying to reach me (at times when I don't want to be reached).

    Finally, I asked myself, "why am I paying an extra $40/month for harrassment?" As many people are doing -- I canceled the phone service and bumped up the minutes on my cell plan. Overall, I save $20/month and have MUCH more peace i

  • Have some fun with 'em (Score:3, Funny)

    by Wansu ( 846 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:31PM (#13669859)

    Sometimes, I just lay the phone down and say nothing or cut a big fart or hold the phone down and get my cat to meow. I've used airhorns, the alarm clocks on Dark Side of the Moon, police whistles and tape recordings of me talking about something.
     
    Have some fun with 'em.
     

  • Now the question is... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stubear ( 130454 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @04:33PM (#13669879)
    "More than half of registered consumers say they're still getting unwanted calls, according to a recent phone survey." ...was this phone survey unwanted as well? Nothing would be more ironic than an unwated phone survey about unwanted phone calls.

  • Look up your state's Attorney General (Score:3, Interesting)

    by deanj ( 519759 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2005 @05:07PM (#13670306)
    I got a call a little while ago from one of those annoying taped messages wanting to let me in on some sort of "special deal" to "make money fast". I'm on the state's do not call list. I went to the state government's website, and they had a form to fill out to register a complaint. I did. A couple of days later, I got a letter from the Attorney General that said they're pursuing it.

    That do not call list has been pretty good over all. It's really cut down to number of calls we used to get. Of the few we get, nearly all of them say "we're not trying to sell you anything" during their taped messages.... SUUUUUUURE.

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