Successful Do-Not-Call Complaints? 440
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?
New telemarketers tactic (Score:3, Interesting)
MO No Call List (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't heard from them about the federal list, so I doubt that they are compliant yet. They have voiced an interest in getting out of telemarketing altogether because of the growth/success of the Missouri no-call list; with any luck the federal list will be the last straw that makes them jump.
As an aside, I was surprised by how much money some companies are charging to subtract a list of numbers from a call list; I charged my regular hourly fee, which isn't too much for DELETE FROM call_list WHERE phone IN (SELECT phone FROM AGList)! I later found out that some companies were charging thousands for 'safe' call lists on CD!
Availability of the DNC (Score:4, Interesting)
I know... I know... not a lot of sympathy, but still, I work for a business who would like to do nothing more than play by the rules, but all kinds of barriers have been put up in our way.
Too many ways around this (Score:4, Interesting)
Can the do-not-call law be enforced if, when you ask what company they represent, they suddenly don't speak-ee the Eeeenglish? (or "My supervisor is not here, sorry " is the other one I get a lot)
What are you supposed to do when the call is an automated recording?
What about when half the calls you DO get are from exempt organizations, like police fundraisers?
This law is a good start, but don't for a minute think that it's gonna make more than a small difference by itself. Neither does CallerID, at least in my case - between my Mom's number being unlisted, my wife working at a place which shows up as "Anonymous", and her family calling from overseas ("Unavailable"), I'm just lucky my number is new and I only get a couple bad calls a week, 'cos I have to answer them all...
Re:Complain URL (Score:2, Interesting)
Joe IE user: "best viewed with a standards compatible browser, please upgrade to view"
Not really (Score:1, Interesting)
Keep a log (I have a printing callerID box, and even if there is no callerID transmitted, it still logs the exact date and time)
The local phone companies don't like it known, but they all can produce what is calls a "call detail report" or verbatum, that shows all incomming and outgoing calls INCLUDING LOCAL calls for any number... but those records are not kept indefinately and you have to get them ASAP.
And don't call BS on me... I get them all the time, and I have collected over $100,000 from telemarketers and junk faxers, suing them in small claims court under the TCPA. Soon I'll start going after do-not-call list violators too.
As for automated recordings, they are ALREADY ILLEGAL [tcpalaw.com] - they have to pay you $500 for each violation... more if they don't properly identify themselves. Play along, and leave a "fake" name with your real phone number... when someone calls you asking for that fake name, bingo, you got them.
recording..... (Score:1, Interesting)
How about adding a * number? (Score:2, Interesting)
RE: caller ID and telemarketers (Score:3, Interesting)
I live in Missouri, so I was already on our state-wide "no call list". A firm called, trying to sell me something. (I can't even recall what it was anymore, but one of the typical things like life insurance....) Anyway, they called with an automated recording (which I believe is illegal to begin with?), and I noticed my caller ID actually did pick up a phone number and company name. At that point, I heard enough of the recording droning on with their sales pitch, so I hung up on it and filled out a complaint form, mailed to the attorney general's department for handling the no-call list complaints. (In Missouri, you have to download a
I then discovered that the caller ID number displayed was a disconnected number. (I tried to call it back, when I realized the complaint form asked for a lot of additional information I didn't have, such as the company's mailing address.)
Doing a little more research, I found out the company name displayed was the name of a (now defunct) firm that built the auto-dialing machines that play pre-recorded telemarketing messages! The phone number was apparently their company's number too - although I'm just guessing at this, because the area code shown was for the same part of Texas where the firm used to be located.
So all I can guess is that these telemarketers were dialing out via ISDN circuits, and had the ability to tell the phone switch to modify the normal caller ID display info -- and their dialer machine had default info programmed in it showing the manufacturer name/number!
(A guy I knew who worked for Southwestern Bell once told me this was technically quite possible to do if you were on an ISDN line, because you're effectivedly jacked right into the central office computer.)