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telemarketing
Posts Tagged “
do not call
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telemarketing
junk mail
If You Love Junk Mail, Visit The Direct Marketing Association's Advocacy Website "MailMovesAmerica.org"
Did you know that "advertising mail is under threat?" It's true! But what can you, the consumer who loves junk mail, do to stop the 15 states that, in 2007, "proposed the creation of state Do Not Mail registries, similar to the national do not call registry"? The Direct Marketing Association has set up a website just for you! More »
harassment
Every day for the past eight months, Dell has called Kat to demand payment for a bill she doesn't owe. Kat unfortunately inherited the phone number of a Dell debtor when she started a new job, something Dell would rather overlook—along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Kat has tried calling, escalating, and having the debtor tell Dell to leave her alone. Dell continually assures her that the problem has been fixed. And then they call again.
More »
Dell Has Called Every Day For The Past Eight Months... And I'm Not A Customer!
Every day for the past eight months, Dell has called Kat to demand payment for a bill she doesn't owe. Kat unfortunately inherited the phone number of a Dell debtor when she started a new job, something Dell would rather overlook—along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Kat has tried calling, escalating, and having the debtor tell Dell to leave her alone. Dell continually assures her that the problem has been fixed. And then they call again.
More »
do not call
Telemarketers Weep As President Signs Do Not Call Improvement Act
Never again will you have to worry about renewing your Do Not Call List registration thanks to Public Laws 110-187 and 110-188. Our newest laws provide a permanent stream of funding for the Do Not Call List and guarantee that registrations will never expire. Read the White House's ebullient press release, after jump. More »
do not call
Dish Network Refuses To Leave You Alone After Cancellation
Recently I canceled my service with Dish Network. It was nothing personal, I had just moved in with a friend that already has TV service and doesn't want to change providers (they talked their way into some kind of deal with Comcast; it's pretty cheap, but knowing Comcast it probably involves the naming rights to their first born). In any case, he owns the house so he decides who provides us TV service.More »
Now Dish Network calls me LITERALLY every day trying to get me to sign up again. I explain my situation every time and they treat me with disgust, as if I am making up some elaborate story because I don't have the guts to tell them I hate their service.
news from the swamp
FTC Vows Not To Expire Numbers From The Do Not Call List
The FTC will vow in Congressional testimony today not to purge numbers on the Do Not Call List while Congress considers making registrations permanent. Do Not Call registrations currently last for five years, and are set to start expiring in April 2008 despite the list's broad popularity: 92% of Americans have heard of the list, 76% have added their number, and 92% claim to receive fewer calls marketing calls. Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hail the list for 'restoring the sanctity of the American dinner hour.'
The FTC's promise, after the jump.
More »
news from the swamp
Should Do Not Call List Registrations Last Forever?
Powerful Members of Congress are backing measures that would prevent Do Not Call registrations from expiring. Though the list has proven wildly popular, covering 150 million numbers in a country of 300 million, the FTC currently expires listings after five years to ostensibly account for people who move or change their number. Proposals to make registrations permanent have already won over the editorial board of the Asheville Citizen-Times:The popularity of the list confirms that few people want to have their dinner or other personal time interrupted to deal with a telemarketer intent on selling something. The argument that people can just not answer the phone doesn't work for everyone. Those with loved ones overseas or with family members who need special care are usually unwilling to risk missing a call that might bring critical or time-sensitive information.More »
directv
We Use Illegal Telemarketing Not To "Change Your Do-Not-Call Status," But To "Give You An Opportunity To Change Your Do-Not-Call Preference"
DirecTV is defending automated sales calls to Do Not Call List subscribers as "informational," and "not telemarketing." The satellite TV provider recently called customers to say: "Because you are on our Do Not Call List, we can't call you with all of our super-awesome special promotions." This bothered reader Nina, who fired off angry letters to both DirecTV CEO, Chase Carey, and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Nina received the following pigheaded reply from DirecTV counsel, Rose Foley: More »
friendly reminders
Mark Your Calendars: Do Not Call List Numbers Start Expiring In June 2008
The "Do Not Call List" comes with a built in expiration date, and the date is coming soon for people who signed up for the list when it first started. More »
insiders
To Get Telemarketers To Stop, You Must Specifically Say "Put Me On Your Do Not Call List"
According to a reader who works as a telemarketer for a timeshare company, it's not enough to say say, "Stop calling me," to get yourself off a company's calling list, you must unequivocally request the removal.
"If you want a telemarketer to stop calling you, do not say "Quit calling me" or "Don't call me again." In some companies, Reps are informed under strict guidelines to only delete records if the customer specifically requests they do so. Telemarketers are only required to put you on the "Do Not Call" list if you SPECIFICALLY request to be put on it. Be clear about this and ask for written documentation to be mailed to you if they have your mailing address, but don't provide it to them if they do not."
Furthermore, if you're on the National Do Not Call list, you can report the infraction to the FCC here. An important caveat is this technique will only work for non-skeezy, non-fly-by-night telemarketing operations.
(Photo: Getty)
misunderstandings
What Part Of "Do-Not-Call" Do Skeezy Telemarketers Not Understand?
Meet Bluegreen, a Florida time-share company that regularly skirts the Do-Not-Call Lista by offering a $50,000 raffle. By entering the raffle, unsuspecting consumers give Bluegreen - and over a dozen of their affiliates - permission to contact them, even if they subscribe to the Do-Not-Call List. We explain how this is technically legal, after the jump. More »
news from the swamp
Liveblogging the Senate Commerce Committee Oversight Hearing On Telemarketing Fraud
Join us at 2:30 we liveblog the Senate Commerce Committee's oversight hearing on telemarketing fraud. The Committee wants to fight telemarketers who target vulnerable senior citizens, so they're going to ask the FTC to take center stage and explain its implementation of the Do-Not-Call list and the Credit Reporting Organizations Act (CROA.)
The Committee will hear from two panels. The first will spotlight the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, while the second will feature an assortment of interested parties, including AARP, the Direct Marketing Association, Equifax, and the Assistant Attorney General of Iowa.
Keep hitting refresh for up-to-the-minute analysis and the Senator Steven's meme watch!
(AP Photo/Brian Bohannon)
2:30: Looks like we'll be starting late. Again.
2:36: Here we go! Use this handy video feed to peer into room 253, the Senate Commerce Committee's preferred hearing room in the Russell Senate office building.
consumer action
True-Life-Tale Of Dealing With A Telemarketer Who Continually Ignored The Do-Not-Call List
I just got yet ANOTHER call from a third party selling life insurance policies for BoA. Sometime last month, I told them to stop calling me, and that just because I bank with BoA (I had...I terminated that week before last for reasons unrelated to this) doesn't mean they're allowed to keep calling despite my telling them to stop. If I had access to our call records at the moment, I'd list the time, date, and duration of each call, as well as the date I told them to stop.More »I quit being amenable on the day they called for the third time before 3pm...
do not call
