Companies Use 'Loophole' to Avoid Do Not Call Lists

Same goes for those "mall surveys". They stand outside their "store" with clipboard in hand, offering $5 or a discount off some real mall store if you take their survey. DON'T DO IT!

The real intent is to collect your phone, address, yada, yada and automatically wipe out your rights of the Do Not Call List. (They also sell your info to tons of other telemarketers.

I agree with that statement, but wish I would have known sooner. I did one at canadian tire and have been getting  all kinds of telemarketing calls since.

Called me today to remind me to vote for proposition 15. Something about cancer.

something about cancer, blah, blah, blah... nothing important or anything.

Watch our for the give-away contest at stores, you never win and they call you anyway.

If you think THAT'S bad, let me tell you something about how telemarketers can really get around the do not call list. I was a telemarketer for a few months (I know... I know..), and learned of all the loopholes and BS-Scare tactics they use (and are legally allowed to do so!).

First of all, the company I worked for represented several organisations, all non-profit. HOWEVER- the organisations we called for only received about 10-18% of the proceeds we raised for them.

Secondly, if our company called for one of these non-profits, and the person who answered said "I'm on the do not call list" we were required to inform them that "the Federal Do-Not Call Registry applies specifically to commercial calls, being as the FTC/government didn't want to limit the good work of non-profit organisations, and their need to share their message with the public."

This personally made me sick every time I had to say it, because it's such a ridiculous loophole.

However, it's legal. But what you can do is this:

1.) DON'T hang up right away. Interrupt the telemarketer and tell them to "Remove me from all of your lists, from the list of every organisation your company represents."

2.) DO be sure to make sure you let them know you don't just want to be taken off of the Police Officers whatever group calling list, but every single solitary group that telemarketing company represents. If you don't, another loophole says that all they have to do is take your number off this list for that specific group they're calling you for. The company I worked for called at least a dozen non-profit groups, across the country.

3.) DON'T let them take over the conversation. Telemarketers are trained to NOT take no for an answer. We are told to be heartless. If an old woman was on the phone, telling me she was on a fixed income, had cancer, diabetes, and was on her death bed, I wasn't allowed to be compassionate. Regardless of the fact I KNEW she didn't have money to donate, I was still told to push her until she either hung up, asked to be taken off of the list, said YES to donating, or said no at least 3 times.



Like I said, we are trained to be ruthless, heartless, money-sucking machines. This is why I'm glad I got out of the business, I hated it!

Tired of telemarketers??? Try this script and see how long it is before they hang up on you...

http://www.xs4all.nl/~egbg/counterscript.html

The old woman you referred to sounds like you were talking to my poor little elderly mother...  I keep telling her, once they start the pitch, simply hang up.  She gets extremely upset and agitated after every single call.  By the way, thanks for the info - I'm printing it out for her to read.

well boneheads, what you do is tell the "store" or place thats letting them give out the "$5 coupons" or contact the mall office and bitterly complain like i did and had them removed, for decptive business practices...  dont just walk by... say somthing, make a scene.. dont know about you but this kinda [***] pisses me off... and i let the mall or business thats allowing this to happen know about it..

is the one that forwards the call from the telemarketer back to one of their other numbers

also check the back of those "mall car giveaway" contests.  I recently went to a mall where they asked you to check off your income level.  of 4 of the check boxes 2 were below $45k a year, and two were above $45k a year, the back of the card stated if you made anything less than $50k per year you were uneligible for the contest, but would still receive literature and financhial advice (presumable via phone; another required field) for mortgages, refinancing, home loans, personal loans, unsecured credit, debt management, and discount coupons...

talk about opening the flood gates, a quick look around and i was pretty sure 80% of the people filling out these cards would not qualify based on salary level alone.

This is getting too much: distracting, annoying, even disturbing and all unwanted calls. No matter how "insignificant" this issue might sound to some or how some others deliberately paint this issue as such, this is NOT a problem of annoyance only.

Ability to place unidentifiable calls, for instance, is used widely not only by "innocent" marketers, but for criminal purposes, which makes the little benefit of it actually unimportant, and which has to give the Government legitimate grounds for taking appropriate centralized measures to protect individual and public safety. Existing laws has to be corrected and/or new law(s) have to be introduced for this matter, equal to individuals, companies and organizations, with possible rare exceptions for law enforcement and government only and only under special circumstances.

Here are some ideas:

- ALL calls have to be identifiable. Caller ID and Name (Company Name) have to be displayed (real, legally obtained, listed, and that could be tracked back). Calls from public phones/booths have to display appropriate IDs/numbers.

- Technology has to adapt to satisfy mandatory identification. (E.g.: existing devices that currently enable ID suppression have to be rendered unable to place calls without positive identification; an attempt to use such device and/or method has to be tracked and recorded at a service provider level; etc.)

- Any attempt to fake an ID/Name, use someone else’s ID/Name, illegally obtain and use right to hide Caller ID and Name has to be deemed as a punishable offense.

If a person, company or organization is legal and honest there should be no reason to hide their identity. By keeping themselves “private” they are actually violating other’s peace and privacy. (E.g., one can not drive a car without a valid license plate, or enter a plane without a valid passport/ID, etc. Calling without a Caller ID/Name has to be viewed as knocking someone’s door with a full face cover mask and costume on.)

Regards,

NKS

You [***]. I worked in market research for 15 years. Those people work hard. They are trying to pay their bills just like you. They do not collect names and numbers. Your information is kept Confidential. Do the survey.
I am going to college for market research. I will be making millions in a few years. While you make your measly wage.

If someone were to knock on your door with a full face covering or costume, would you open the door?
If the caller won't identify themselves then simply do not answer.

I agree that telemarketing can be annoying, inconvenient, and even invasive. But I must admit that I have gotten some great deals, exposure to cost saving products, and other very beneficial services from phone calls as well as door-to-door salesman. The thing I like most about these types of sales is that I can negotiate a lower price or customize their product or service to my needs. This is not as easily done when responding to print, tv, or radio ads. If we totally remove the outside salesman's ability to reach us with their product offerings then we will always be forced to make purchases at the location of the seller. We will lose an important and powerful negotiating platform. These salespeople who telemarket and go door-to-door are generally commissioned paid. They will take a reduced commission to make the sale or add to the product/service offering to make it more attractive to you. I don't know about you but I don't want to lose the opportunity to benefit from these type of sales. I also don't want to be harrassed or frequently inconvenienced. So I simply don't answer the door or phone if the salesman's timing is inconvenient, or if the person won't identify themselves. It is, I have found, the quickest way not to deal with them.

I like your ideas and agree that legitimate business should happily identify themselves but if a caller, by door or phone, annoys, disturbs, or distracts you, then why continue the conversation? Hang up, close or slam the door and lock it if you feel compelled. We all have the ability to not answer the phone or to hang up on someone, as well as to not open the door or slam it shut if they offend us. Why do we need the government to do it for us. That is what I don't like about this approach. Come on everyone, we are big boys and girls, let's be proactive, assertive, protective, and responsive to this issue. But let's do it for ourselves.

I am all for the intent of the DNC list. I wish there were a better way.

It is a fineable offense for any telemarketer to:

-Make any telemarketing calls before registering with the FTC;
-Block or disguise their company name on Caller ID
-Block or disguise their phone number on Caller ID


My voicemail fills up with those automated messages "It is important that we speak to you about your current credit card account," or "Your car's warranty is about to expire...", or the best one "Please consider this your final notice..." (I wish!!!)
I think these outfits use independent contractors, so when you tell one of them to quit calling you, they flip you to another contractor to get around DNC regulations.

I'm going to research this a little further - I wonder if they might be required to give you their company name and a callback number when you speak to a live person?