Just Say 'Yes' To Telemarketers
Want to drive a telemarketer crazy and amuse yourself at the same time? Here's an example of how to do it.
Want to drive a telemarketer crazy and amuse yourself at the same time? Here's an example of how to do it.
A woman sued Wachovia last year because it allowed a telemarketing scam company to process stolen payments through its banks, despite complaints from customers and warnings from other banks and federal authorities. Wachovia said it had no idea what was going on, but now documents have been revealed that prove people high up in the company not only knew, but that "the bank, in fact, solicited business from companies it knew had been accused of telemarketing crimes." Why? How about millions of dollars of extra revenue from steep fees whenever a fraud-related chargeback went through? The lawyers for the woman are now seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.
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Chris recorded a little sound file onto his answering machine that stopped a debt collector robot that kept calling him, seeking people who didn't live there. This .WAV is the U.S. Special Information Tone signal for "vacant circuit", which signifies and out-of-service or nonexistant number. You know it better as "boo-boo-BOOP!" Chris recorded a new message on his answering machine with the tones at the beginning and the next time the robot called, it thought it was getting a dead line and dutifully erased the number from its system. Voila, automatons be gone. Some places have autodialers that don't (or have been tweaked) to respond to SIT tones, but if you've got a persistent unwanted robot caller, it's worth a shot.
SIT-VC.WAV [Art Of Hacking]
insiders
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
Subscribers to Comcast Digital Voice service get more than just digital phone service installed when they sign up. They also get the pleasure of Comcast selling their phone number to telemarketers, fresh out of the box!
Numerous consumers have begun to complain online (read the comments, too) about receiving telemarketing pitches on their phone number within days of installation, referring to them by name, before they even had time to give the number to anyone. In some cases, the telemarketers asked for the person by a misspelled variant of the their name, the same wrong name that appears on their Comcast bill.
Consumerist reader Kevin writes, "I was receiving calls from telemarketers within 3 days of installing my digital voice line in my house. It got so bad that I just unplugged the phone."
Undoubtedly, new subscribers will open their first bills to find a "marketing fee" surcharge for the pleasure.
Comcast sells your new phone number [Messaging..... Technology...... Life.....]
(Photo: Getty)
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...
confessions
donotcall
The agency said the program's primary goal of reducing unwanted telemarketing calls is succeeding, largely due to a "high degree of compliance by telemarketers." The report notes that while roughly 1.15 million complaints were received in fiscal 2006 from 374,937 registered phone numbers, that was the equivalent of only about one-quarter of 1 percent of the numbers in the database.Telemarketers are required to pay an annual fee to access the list so they know whose dinner not to interrupt. Still, the FTC put down its fork and left the table to fine 28 companies, including DirecTV, for calling people on the Do Not Call registry. More »
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readers