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Fri 30 Jan, 2009 04:44 pm
Has the "Don't Call" thingy been dumped?
I have been getting telemarketing calls regularly lately...granted, not nearly at the rate I got them before the "Don't Call List" was instituted...but they have been coming with increased freqency.
Wass up? Has anybody heard anything?
I just discovered that if you're a current subscriber to a particular company (AT & T, Comcast, the Symphony, etc.) their telemarketers can hound you about additional services. I bought tix to the symphony last year and because I voluntarily gave them my info, they can now call and bug me and it's not considered a cold call. It stinks but that's how they play the game. Or so I was informed.
@Frank Apisa,
Frank Apisa wrote:
Has the "Don't Call" thingy been dumped?
I have been getting telemarketing calls regularly lately...granted, not nearly at the rate I got them before the "Don't Call List" was instituted...but they have been coming with increased freqency.
Wass up? Has anybody heard anything?
I have a faint memory that it might have to be renewed every five years. Or, maybe I'm making that up.
interesting thing happened in canada,
CRTC in hot water over failed Do-Not-Call List
Posted by Rob Lewis on Fri, January 23, 2009 2:31 PM
Have you noticed that you're receiving more call from US-based telemarketers since adding your number to Canada's do-not-call registry?
Well it turns out Canada's highly touted do-not-call list is having the opposite effect, leading to more telemarketer calls, says the Bruce Cran of the Consumers' Association of Canada.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) launched the registry in September to great fanfare, promising that those who registered would see a drop in unwanted calls soliciting goods and service. Millions of Canadians registered their names, home phone numbers and in some cases their cellphone numbers.
So what's the problem? Penalties for misuse of the registry run as high as $15,000 for a corporation or $1,500 for an individual... but it's difficult to fine fraudsters who are based overseas or those in Canada running fly-by-night businesses.
According to Cran, the CRTC sells the registry list online - "In Toronto, you can get 600,000 names for $50."
I get so many wrong number calls for a local sports clinic that has a phone number one digit off from mine that last year I resorted to getting an answering machine and recording a message that says:
"You've reached Lynn at (phone number). Because of the number of incorrectly dialed calls I get for a doctor's office, I screen my calls. If this call is for Lynn, announce yourself and if available I'll pick up."
I don't even bother answering the phone anymore. 90 percent of the calls are not for me. I get all my personal calls via Skype on my computer now.
@Frank Apisa,
Not to mention, political calls are exempt anyway. Free speech and stuff like that.
@Frank Apisa,
Does your phone have caller id? I think most new phones do now. I am also on the Do not call list - but because of reasons others have noted below (if you are already a customer, charities and political stuff), I simply do not pick up any calls if I do not recognize the phone number.
However, the down side is you could miss a call that is important. I almost missed winning the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus tickets because I initially did not answer a call - they called back again and I remembered today is the day the radio station said they would call the grand prize winner so I picked up.
You guys should be welcoming these phone calls.
95% of telemarketing happens w/in the USA.
Often the poorest among us are telemarketers and they NEED these jobs.
Do you guys want America to suffer?
@maporsche,
Your logic is not compellling
@roger,
Lets see where this logic takes you.
Telemarketing agencies employ American citizens.
The Do-Not-Call list reduces the amount of telemarketing work.
Less telemarketing work means less telemarketing jobs.
The Do-Not-Call list means less jobs for American citizens.
Clear?
@maporsche,
Everybody should use a service they don't need, and don't like just because it's operated by Americans. Sure. Perfectly clear.
Bernard Madoff is an American. So, invest in America, by all means.
@maporsche,
Actually, it is an aid to telemarketers. Anyone not on the Don't Call list is supposedly open to receiving and listening to a sales call from them.
They won't have to waste time calling 100 numbers that rudely hang up on them in order to find that one gem that is willing to hear their advertisement script.
@Butrflynet,
I work for a company that does/did A LOT of telemarketing. My job for a number of years was to analyze performance of telemarketing campaigns. For a while I also was in charge of the team that managed this dialer used for contacting customers. My job was made a lot harder when the DNC list was put into place.
It DID NOT make telemarketing more profitable, or aid companies in ANY way. We went from a growing department to a rapidly shrinking one. Subsequently, since it was much tougher to grow revenue by sales, we had to invest those resources in collection activities, which have become a lot more fierce.
Actually, looking back to the beginning of the DNC list, my company has probably eliminated 3,000 jobs. And we're a company who gets to utilize the 'existing business relationship' rule in the law.
It is much worse for companies who complete cold calling. I have a lot of contacts throughout this industry who can confirm that things are not easier, and most all of it can be attributed to the DNC list.
I can't imagine how many 10's of thousands of jobs have been lost.
If they would just leave their home telephone numbers on my home answering machine, I'd be glad to call them back when they too are at home.
@Butrflynet,
haha...
they get just as many phone calls as you do.
@maporsche,
I don't care whose son it is, they're invading my space.
@maporsche,
maporsche wrote:
Lets see where this logic takes you.
Telemarketing agencies employ American citizens.
The Do-Not-Call list reduces the amount of telemarketing work.
Less telemarketing work means less telemarketing jobs.
The Do-Not-Call list means less jobs for American citizens.
Clear?
So what??? Because they're doing an irritating job it should be allowed so they can be employed? Get real.
@ossobuco,
That's fine...just don't pretend that regulation like the DNC list doesn't have un-intended consequences.
Think of all the changes in banking fees, late fees, interest rates, etc since the implementation of the DNC list. Telemarketing USED to be profitable; once that was gone the money had to come from somewhere...hence raising interest rates, higher and higher fees, etc.
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