FTC Says National 'Do Not Call' Registry Is Working

My dear...
it isn't the magazine companies per say.  Ever buy a car?  Ever buy a computer, ever had any type of credit card?  ALL these places sell YOUR information to telemarketing companies.

And e-mail spamming is illegal too. That's why we never get it.... Oh, wait a minute!!!!!!!!!!

If you look at the stats they list, it isn't working. 28% say it flat isn't working and of the 72% that say it's working somewhat, 18% get no calls and 54% are still getting calls. I think that's about 2/3 that are still getting calls. 25 cases???  I have filed at least that number of violations that were multiples.  80 million into the budget...free money, that's what's working.

telemarketing rules (which exempt legitimate nonprofit entities).

Legitimate non-profits like ASPCA, Food Banks, volunteer service org's like all volunteer fire departments, are exempt and may call you whether you're on the do not call list or not.

previously the number you registered would only be on file for 5 years, so every 5 yrs you need to reregister.  there are further steps consumers can take against unwanted calls, and against those obviously not non-profit companies. FTC websites, and thos of your local SCC and trade organizations operating offices in your area are also helpful.

best of luck to you all.

the do not call registry has worked for me. I was getting 15 calls a day on my private line, at work, and once i submitted that number, within a week, all of those calls stopped.

Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Owner: Out of Area
Phone Number Report: Had a prefix of 5 and I wondered if it was from 501 - BELIZE ? In this age of RED and ORANGE National Security alerts, TSA Security searches etc. - I am bewildered how this type of harrasment is tolerated. If these companies or organizations are doing this calling without sanction why are they NOT prosecuted ?! I intend to ask the local Governor's and Senator's Offices the same question !

Since I registered my number on the Do-Not-Call list, I haven't received a single call from a legitimate business. I have, however, received many calls from surveys, fake charities (when you ask questions they hang up), and most of all from scam companies---purporting to be from my credit card company when I don't even have a credit card or telling me the warranty on my car has expired when I just bought it. I have received many, many more of these calls than I ever did before the Do-Not-Call list. Since they all call from unknown numbers or with fake caller id info, there isn't even a way to block them. If I could go back and receive the legitimate telemarketing calls instead of these scams, I would in a heartbeat. "Sorry, I'm not interested" used to be all it took but the scammers don't care if they call over and over again even within the same day.

Here's the bottomline...There's no way to stop telemarketers and scammers other than blocking them from calling your home...This is accomplished with a machine called the Caller ID Manager....Google it and read about it....We receive ZERO unwanted calls!....It's simple...It cost about a hundred bucks...and it WILL restore your privacy....We bought one about 2 years ago and I can't tell you how good it is to NEVER be interupted by an unwanted call....All you ever see of telemarketers is their number on the ID registry...(but it doesn't ring the phone)...I just use this site to see who was attempting to invade my privacy...LOL...

BTW..Privacy Corp has the best price in the unit (and NO, I don't work for them I'm just a VERY SATISFIED customer)

And your lives are ruined because you receive phone calls from people you don't know.  I think that's amusing.  I get my fair share of calls all the time just like you...  I'll talk with whoever it is; tell them no if I'm not interested or if it sounds fishy and that's it... Done deal.  Haven't said yes yet in fact.  If I don't want to talk with someone, I don't answer the phone.  The quality of my life is fine.  Why does this bug everyone so much, honestly?  My opinion is people are too scared to just say what they're really thinking (ie. a matter of fact 'NO') so they think every phone cal they receive from someone they don't know needs to be some sort of a game.  Your experience with telemarketers is your own self fulfilling prophecy.

I signed up for the DNC list the day it opened and it took 9 hours just to get on the page to enter your information. Then, the confirmation e-mail is supposed to come in 24 hours - it took 3 days to arrive.  Any time the house number has changed, I've added the number to the DNC.  As soon as the number is effect, there's month of hell until the number is scrubbed from the list.  

Also, when I HAVE to enter a phone # , I always switch 2 of the numbers and I switch the same ones consistently so if I need to verify the # on the account I know what # to give them. This is nice if your employer blocks the outgoing # on caller ID.

Now, I share a house and I don't use the house number at all, but Silkies did an illegal (my account was current) skip search and matched my mailing address to the house owners number to call and annoy me.  I told him I don't accept calls at that #.  Silkies is history now.

( hours??!!! It took me one second. Get rid of that ol' 300 baud dail up modem. ROTFL

I'm beginning to think so too. All of a sudden I'm averaging 5 to 6 calls a day on my land line which is registered on the DNC list. I say we have them investigated for possibly manipulating the DNC list.

The Do Not Call List does absolutely NOTHING to stop calls to cell phones that pitch reduced credit card rates or auto warranties.  They break multiple laws with impunity (calling cells, using taped messages, making it impossible to request being taken off their calling list, etc., etc.).  Plus, if you are rude to them, they fight back.  I've had them call me back repeatedly just to harass me.

- The caller ID number is fake
- No-one knows who is making the calls
- No-one knows where the caller is located

What we need is a NAME, a COMPANY, and the ADDRESSES of their places of business and their homes.  I'm quite certain with that knowledge they can be shut down permanently.

Since the DNC Registry hasn't done anything to lower call volume at our house, either, I signed up for VoIP phone service on the home line that allows the ability to block numbers.  

All I need is for a telemarketer, even if they are associated with a charity or a credit card company, to call me once and I add their number to my list of blocked numbers.  I never receive another call and they receive a busy signal.  I use Teleblend, which has been a really great service. (http://www.teleblend.com)  It is affordable, reliable and I can block all of the telemarketers that I want to!  

My business line is VoIP through Time Warner Cable, and it sucks.  They offer NO useful services.  Heck, I can't even figure out how to get the voicemail working on the line.  It was part of a bundled deal, though, and since it is bundled with the high-speed cable, Time Warner's VoIP packets have higher priority than Teleblends VoIP packets.

Since I couldn't rely on the government to help, I had to do something to stop the constantly interruptions.  Most of the companies didn't even follow telemarketing time rules when calling!  We'd begin receiving calls as early as 8am EST and as late as 10pm EST!  I filed numerous complaints with the FCC, but none ever came to fruition.

My house and business lines have been on the Registry for years, and renewed, when needed.  My business line gets nailed with telemarketer calls and since I run two project teams on a completely virtual (we all work in different cities) global program, I rely on my phone.  During the little precious time I have when I'm not on the phone, I don't want it to ring constantly and distract me!  The ADHD does a good enough job of that.

My cell phone is a whole different matter.  Between the calls and the text messages, it is a mess.  I typically turn the ringer off and just ignore it.  Work people can get me through instant messengers and family and friends knows where to find me.  Everyone else can wait until I have time to sludge through the BS to pull out the important stuff.  It is a good thing I have more minutes than I could possibly ever use in a month and unlimited text messages.

All of this is really frustrating because companies DO look for ways to intentionally break the rules.  Offshore call centers are a perfect example.  Not only do we lose jobs here in the US, but then those companies can't be held accountable for pissing off and/or taking advantage of a large percentage of Americans.

Those people are hypocrites, too, because the first thing they do when they get home from their jobs planning how to use their offshore call centers to spam us is complain about telemarketers who call during dinner!

Karma is a [***].

What annoys me about the credit card companies is that you can't request of them, when you're on the phone with them about that fantastic new rate they just couldn't wait until after breakfast to let you know about, that you want off the marketing call list.

The credit card companies all have "secret" phone numbers that you have to call separately in order to be taken off their lists!  See, they know that a percentage of people will forget or not take the extra effort to call the second number to be removed, which means they can still harass that customer.

If I want off the list, why can't I just tell the person who rang me up at 7:45am EST to remove me from the call list and have them make a note of it in the system?

Are all of those computer systems not linked together in some way?

I've been in IT since I graduated college over 10 years ago and I know how most of that stuff is set up.  I mean, if they know that you have well enough credit to be eligible for their spiffy new interest rate, and then they should be able to see a note in the same system that says, "DO NOT CALL OR COMPLAINT WILL BE FILED!"

Duh.

Charitable/ volunteer/ political organizations are only marginally better.  The legit ones are typically really nice about it and will remove your number immediately, plus be really apologetic about calling in the first place.

The sketchy "non-profits" attached to a "for-profit" organization are usually a serious pain in the ass.  I've been known to sink to the "You're just a wolf in sheep's clothing and I'm not afraid to advertise that fact to everyone I know!" level with the organizations who didn't want to cooperate.  Since I have some connections, which I also let them know about, it typically works.

I hate dealing with the "exceptions" to the DNC rules...  UGH.  But, there are creative ways to deal with companies who aren't cooperative.  :)

I used to transpose the last 4 digits of my number, until I realized I was probably sending my telemarketing hell to someone else and that that was just poor etiquette on my behalf.  (Plus, talk about adding bad karma!  Eek.  I would not wish telemarketers and their annoyingness on anyone.)

I do two things now.  I will give out my home number, but I also write on any form I put it on that they cannot contact me for marketing purposes, and then sign my name.  It is within our legal rights to not be contacted for marketing purposes, period.

If something I'm joining has a marketing clause, I modify it and initial, which is perfectly legal.  I also revoke their rights to share my Personally Identifiable Information (PII) with outside third parties for marketing purposes.  Under federal law, they can't share it once I've made my wishes known to them.

The only time I'm careful with the complete revocation of release/sharing of PII is when it comes to healthcare.  In the case of healthcare, I select what they can and can't do.  For example, if my doctor's office needs to share my PII to better my care, say with a local hospital, go for it.  If they want to share my PII with Bristol-Meier Squibb to market drugs to me, no way!

The other thing I've done is moved my number to Teleblend VoIP where I can block telemarketer phone numbers from ever reaching our phone.  All the telemarketer receives is a busy signal.  (http://www.teleblend.com)