Successful Do-Not-Call Complaints?

bcrowell writes "After some legal delays, today is supposed to be the first day that the Do Not Call registry will be enforced. Got my first illegal call just now, and strangely enough, when I said I was on the list and started asking for information, the telemarketer said my signal was breaking up (particularly strange since I wasn't on a cell phone.) Has anyone successfully gotten the necessary info from a telemarketer and then managed to file a complaint? You're supposed to be able to file a complaint at 888-382-1222, but their touch-tone system doesn't give you any way to do it. You're also supposed to be able to do it via the web, but there doesn't seem to be any form, although they say "You can file your complaint on this Web site using the File a Complaint page, which will be available starting October 1, 2003." Remember, it may take up to 3 months after you register until they're required to stop calling you." Tales of success? Tales of failure?

DNC Site

[dj961]

The Do Not Call site does have a form that you can fill out to file a complaint the address is https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.a spx

By Email

[Anonymous Coward]

I hunted around for a while. From the "Do Not Call" page, click on "File A Complaint". At the bottom of that page, click on their privacy policy (yes, really).

At the bottom of *that* page are three links to click on to file a complaint. I used to first of these.

I'm still not sure if that was correct... The same suggested an email address, so I just used that instead.

this might work

[1000101]

i got a call one time from a telemarketer and went along with it and said i was really interested. i told her that i was busy and asked if i could write down her information and call her back. she agreed. busted. i only did that once to see if it would work and it did. now i don't even answer the phone. caller ID is a wonderful thing.

Good Luck

[NetNinja]

You are going to need some very good social engineering skills to try and get that information. Most telemarketers only want YOUR information. When you start asking them for thiers they will get suspicious and hang up.

I forsee a large increase in caller ID being purchased.

Just karma whoring..

[wfberg]

You can file a complaint here [donotcall.gov].

Complain URL

[no soup for you]

Have you tried to complain at https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.a spx [donotcall.gov]?

NOTE: Seems like only Mozilla will work when submitting a complaint. At least, that was my experience.

Telemarketer Information

[Anonymous Coward]

Got my first illegal call just now, and strangely enough, when I said I was on the list and started asking for information, the telemarketer said my signal was breaking up ... Has anyone successfully gotten the necessary info from a telemarketer and then managed to file a complaint?

As far as I know you just need a few details like the company name and maybe a phone number or something. I've had two telemarkers call since the DNC list went into effect, and both times it was relatively siple to get a website out of them simply by role-playing a "naive but cautious" person, saying something like "Hmm, the offer sounds good, but I'm not sure. Do you have a website where I can find out more infomation, just so I can see that you folks are legitimate?" Telemarketers are usually happy to do whatever it takes to make you trust them. If they don't have a website, you should at least be able to get a phone number out of them by letting them give their pitch for a minute or two, then saying you're in the middle of something really important, but what they're selling sounds very interesting, so if you could just get a number where you can call them back... "And what was the name of the company again? Oh, ok. Where are you guys located?"

Of course, if you start off the conversation with "Hey buddy, I'm on the Do Not Call List", you can't expect to get very far...

But if you're polite and play your cards right, you can easily get all the information you need out of them. (If you really feel the need to dig at them, just save the "Hey buddy, guess what" bit until the end of the call, after you have played the nice and interested consumer and gotten all the necessary information out of them.)

That said, both times I've gotten all the information I could possibly want about the telemarketer, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to submit a complaint...

Re:Good Luck

[EvanED]

I think there's a law that will take effect around the turn of the year that will make it illegal for telemarketers to block caller ID information.

"National Consumer Council"

[Brian Stretch]

I got another automated call today from "Jeffrey Caldwell at the National Consumer Council" today. You probably know the message [whiteice.com]. The FTC has heard of them [ftc.gov]. They're a "nonprofit" front for a couple of commercial companies [promomagazine.com].

I filed a complaint, though that "nonprofit" bit might shield the bastards. Other than those folks, I don't think I've received a telemarketing call in the past few days. Good riddance!

Anti-Telemarketing Script

[Doodhwala]

One of the most useful resources I have found is the Anti-Telemarketing Script [junkbusters.com] from Junkbusters.com [junkbusters.com]. Apart from this, they also have tons of information on how to stop snail-mail junk, etc. Check them out.

Illinois

[elmegil]

I had the same sort of thing just yesterday. Telemarketer called, I asked if they'd heard of the do-not-call list, they started giving me some BS about it wasn't being enforced yet. I pointed out that indeed it was, why don't you bother someone else, or better yet, give me the name of your >click< company again?

Luckily for me, I have privacy manager, and the only way that calls come through is if they're identified on caller ID in the first place. So I pulled the name and number and had exactly the same problems trying to find a place to file my complaint. Ultimately, linking from my state do-not-call page (which is really only a front for the federal stuff), I got to a generic FTC complaint page here [ftc.gov]. So that's where I filed my complaint. Good luck.

Re:Good Luck

[pyros]

I thought it was illegal (federal law) to use an automated dialer and not include all the pertinent info. Perhaps the phone number alone would be enough to pursue under that law. Also, SBC has reverse phone number lookup for business listings on SMARTpages.com [smartpages.com].

Re:Not active yet

[dacarr]

Old news. It's active again. Telemarketers who aren't compliant have until Friday to get their act together.

Re:Good Luck

[jerde]

I found a 1997 Texas law [state.tx.us] that mandates proper Caller ID identification. But individual state laws are harder to enforce...

The federal law that accomplishes the same thing will take effect next year. From the FTC's page [ftc.gov]:

Requires caller ID transmission.
Beginning January 29, 2004, telemarketers must transmit their telephone number and if possible, their name, to your caller ID service. This will protect your privacy, increase accountability on the telemarketer's part, and help in law enforcement efforts.

That should help. Vigilant anti-marketers should notice any blocked Caller ID, and switch into feigned-interested-consumer mode to gather enough information from the company to report them.

- Peter

A jury

[www.sorehands.com]

A jury would not be terribly sympathic to a telemarketer's time being wasted when they illegally called a person.

They are supposed to fully identify themselfs at the begininng of the call.

Re:Availability of the DNC

[dacarr]

Believe it or not, the FTC is charging a premium per year to use the list. Runs something like free for up to five area codes, $25/area code thereafter, not to exceed like $3000 per year or something like that. If it means having the money from tax dollars for some other worthwhile program like, say, how to make better canned spagetti sauce (I wouldn't put that one past the FDA, believe me), then yeah, they should probably charge the TM companies for the usage of the list.

Re:play along

[Anonymous Coward]

...and posting foul messages on Slashdot. You sound like a real jerk.

Re:Availability of the DNC

[jerde]

and the cost is staggering

Oh, WAAAAAAAAAH! Poor telemarketers.

From FTC's info page [ftc.gov]: (my emphasis added)

How much does it cost to access the registry?

Data for up to five area codes will be available for free. Beyond that, there is an annual fee of $25 per area code of data, with a maximum annual fee of $7,375 for the entire U.S. database.

That's so much less than a penny per phone number that you don't get any sympathy at all.

If you're a national telemarketer, you pay your $7,375.00 and download the 122MB compressed file [donotcall.gov] annually. I don't think this is a large fee or burden compared to the actual costs of the telecommunications equipment, not to mention your staff.

On the other hand, the amount of lost revenue from the diminished "audience" for your calls has got to hurt. Cry me a river. :)

- Peter

Re:Link to DNC compaint form, but SSL problems?

[farmdwg]

Here is the reason why those of you are having issues with Mozilla. If you are using Mozilla/Netscape and you get a message that the browser does not recognize the signer of this certificate or something like that. The reason is that the DNC site is running either apache or iPlanet and doesn't have the Intermediate CA installed. The reason why IE doesn't get that is that the Intermediate CA is included with all IE browsers. Now IE on the Mac platform is another story. It is a hit and miss if that browser will work. MS made IE for the Mac platform just to get the name out there. It is the most stripped down browser I have ever seen. How I know all this... I see this stuff everyday at VeriSign... I support all the SSL products.

Single nationwide phone company

[SysKoll]

Personally I kind of like the idea of a single, nationwide, regulated telephone company.

This has been done before. Aren't you old enough to remember Ma Bell? C'mon now, ask your parents if you're a kid. The AT&T company (motto: "We don't care. We're the phone company. We don't have to care.") forced you to lease your "terminal" (phone), didn't allow you to connect a modem on your phone line (remember the accoustic couplers?), took forever to start providing what's regarded today as basic amenities...

And it's not an exclusivity of AT&T either. As a European, I can tell you volumes about the wonders of the State-owned telephone monopolies in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. Up to the late 80s, you enjoyed:

• No detailed bill (you pay a sum according to a mysterious meter at the phone company)
• Metered local calls (10 cents per 3 minutes for LOCAL)
• Months of waiting for installing a phone line.

So instead of wishing for things, ask around and check if these things have been tried in other times or places. You might get surprising answers, as well as a richly desserved cluebat whack.

-- SysKoll