Nothing in ilfe is free [OT]

[KnowTheToe]

I'm not sure, but I think this is incorrect. The technical term I heard is their "in-house suppress list." They're supposed to put you on an ADDITIONAL list when you ask them not to call you again; when they get new calling lists, they're required to cross-reference the new list with the in-house suppress list, and knock off any numbers on the latter list. If a charity calls you again after you've asked to be put on the in-house suppress list, you can get them in all kinds of trouble.

Daniel

It could very well be. I did Business to business cold calls as part of my outside sales process. I never researched laws and only had a very few people to take off the list. I know I never tracked them from list to list.

 

[Pielorinho]

A reference from the Direct Marketing Association, from a page on direct marketing ethics (hey, does anyone around here compile a list of oxymorons?)

You might question whether you have to honor name-removal requests you receive from a third party as part of customer service. Many enterprises have sprung up which claim to offer consumers help in decreasing the number of unsolicited promotions they receive. Although you must maintain an in-house suppression list (required by two federal laws for telephone calling lists in addition to The DMA’s membership requirement), you are not obligated to accept requests that don’t come directly from consumers themselves –- this is really up to you. (Of course, this point also does not refer to state "do-not-call" lists or motor vehicle "do-not-solicit" lists, which must be used to be in compliance with law.)

Daniel

 

[Gizzard]

Although you must maintain an in-house suppression list (required by two federal laws for telephone calling lists in addition to The DMA’s membership requirement)...

I've used this before and it's been pretty effective especially with large companies (like phone companies) who have an incentive to obey federal laws. (Fly-by-nights just hang up on you when you start asking for the do-not-call list.)

Another thing to watch for is that a lot of companies sub-contract out their phone marketing. You can kill two birds with one stone by asking if you are talking directly to ATT or to a telemarketing firm. If you are talking to a subcontractor, ask to be put on both companys no-call-list.

If you want to be serious about it, get the company name and the name of the sales rep and write down the time. If they call you again, take them to small claims court for a $500 penalty. Personally, I don't have to time to deal with this, but they generally follow through once you have their name. Be polite, it's poor sportsmanship to taunt them after hanging them by the rules of the system. ;-)

 

[ichabod]

First off, do not call lists apply to the telemarketing firm, not to the charity/business they are calling for. Thus, the same company can keep calling you by changing the telemarketing firm the farm the stuff out to. Second, do not call lists are a joke. The worst job I ever had: commission only telemarketing. I realized after a while when the boss's number collection scheme ("Sign up to win this car!") was going slow, he'd just dump the slips from the do not call box back into the call box. Third, since it's by telemarketing company, I expect they can easily close and reopen with a different name, and ignore the do not call scheme.

There's one thing I want to try, but haven't had a chance to yet. I was perusing Virginia's telemarketing laws, and noticed that the caller is required to promptly give you their first and last name, and if you ask, where they're calling from. That seems like enough information to track down their home number and call them back at three in the morning.

 

[Number47]

I worked for a survey firm for 6 months. What a god-awful job. Just wanted to note that a survey company, and probably charities also, often call with a random dialer. You can ask to be removed from the list, but that just means you are removed for that particular pool of numbers. You might be called again if a survey is done in your area. They do not have to obey telemarketing laws because they are not telemarketers.

I have not signed up for the do not call list because me and my wife have gone full cellular, no land line. Telemarketers and surveyors never call cell phones, in part because the area code for a cell phone does not necessarily correspond with the area they are targeting. Most cell phones have a cell-only exchange anyways, so would never crop up in a group of exchanges plotted by area.

 

[Mercule]

There's one thing I want to try, but haven't had a chance to yet. I was perusing Virginia's telemarketing laws, and noticed that the caller is required to promptly give you their first and last name, and if you ask, where they're calling from. That seems like enough information to track down their home number and call them back at three in the morning.

Dude, that's just mean. Sure, _some_ of them deserve it, but others hate having to do it as much as you hate receiving it (I know at least one person who fits this).

I always state "We do not accept solicitations over the phone." If they cop an attitude or push the issue, _then_ I get irritable.

On the other hand, I fully advocate the death penalty for whatever soulless bastard engineered a survey I took a couple of years ago to be a solicitation. The fellow on the other end of the line actually could do the following in a level voice:

Baal: Our product XXX meets your needs perfectly. Would you like to pay by Discover, Visa, or MasterCard?

Me: None. I thought you said this was a survey only and that you wouldn't try to sell me anything [I actually clarified this up front].

Baal: That is correct, sir. This is a survey, not a solicitation.

Me: *gapes, slackjawed*

 

[Angcuru]

Blackshirt5 has an interesting method of answering telemarketing calls:

*Phone rings*
*BS5 picks up*
"Satan's House of Horrors, you soul is our goal! If you've got the soul, we've got the gold! Bob speaking, how may I help you?"

It's actually quite amusing to see him do this.

 

[Imperialus]

I very rarely get calls from tellemarketers... I dunno maby it's an American thing. Round election time I can usually count on a survay or two and I get maby 4 or 5 charities a month but other than that I almost never get anyone I don't know calling me. Political survay's I usually respond to, if for no other reason than because my left/lib politics tend to throw some wierd numbers into the political climate here. Cherities I'm usually very polite to though I rarely give (Alzhimers, AIDS, Cancer and the Salvation Army are about it). The occasions I do get tellemarketers though I tend to enjoy haveing fun with them. My favorite is. "Ok I'll listen to what you have to say if you can get my name pronounced right in 3 tries or less" No one has succeeded so far.

 

[ichabod]

Blackshirt5 has an interesting method of answering telemarketing calls:

*Phone rings*
*BS5 picks up*
"Satan's House of Horrors, you soul is our goal! If you've got the soul, we've got the gold! Bob speaking, how may I help you?"

It's actually quite amusing to see him do this.

When I was a kid, I used to answer the phone "Bat Cave, Robin speaking." One day this stodgy old womans calls and I answered that way. She replied "Just who do you think you are young man!?" Thinking fast on my feat, I responded "What? You're not the commissioner! What are you doing on the hotline!?" and hung up on her.

As for being mean, Mercule, I used to be a telemarketer myself. Because of that I used to always try to be nice and polite to telemarketers. But they just have gotten worse and worse, and they wore out my patience. If people don't want me yelling at them, frankly they shouldn't be calling me up and trying to sell me stuff.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

I pretty much let my answering machine get everything. If it's a telemarketer, they have less than five seconds to get out their spiel before I hit the 'Delete' button. (Of course, it helps that I bought the answering machine from Best Buy, because the accompanying cordless phone, even though 900MHz and digital, never worked and when the battery died years too early, I didn't bother replacing it... that's the LAST major purchase I made at Best Buy...).

Now I only worry about all the junk mail and spam I get. Grrrrr...