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.

I quit being amenable on the day they called for the third time before 3pm…

So today, as soon as I heard ‘insurance’ and ‘Bank of America’, I said, “Ma’am, allow me to interrupt. I know that you personally probably don’t have access to your company’s do-not-call list, but I’m on it. What’s the proper name of the company for which you’re calling, and a corporate contact number?” [Sitel, 304.697.3000; What shows up on called ID is Not Provided, 800.448.2755; when you call that second number, you get a BoA greeting that allows you to opt out of these calls by pressing two.] According to the FCC, telemarketers have to transmit caller ID information:

“If you have caller ID, a telemarketer is required to transmit or display its phone number and, if available, its name or the name and phone number of the company for which it is selling products. The display must include a phone number that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you.”

Once she provided me that, I asked for the call center manager’s name, and said to her ‘and I don’t necessarily mean your immediate supervisor. I want whoever heads the call center from which you’re calling’. I didn’t want her to think that I was going after her, and for her to keep information from me to try and cover her ass.

A Donald Sims got on the phone, named Demi Roseman as the call center supervisor, and said that they at Sitel were calling on behalf of Interaction Insurance Services, 866.879.0179. He was cordial, and although he tried to be wily by spouting off the name and number as quickly as possible, he did repeat both when I asked him to.

I hate Bank of America so much.

Because right now, North Carolina has a relatively awesome attorney general, I’m not only filing with the FCC: I’m filing a complaint with the AGs office. Even if the federal gov’t won’t do anything with the information I’ve gathered, Roy Cooper’s office will.

I know it’s not a ‘BoA carbombed my dead grandmother’s house’ story, but it seems it has been a while since I’ve seen a post about dealing with wayward telemarketers, so maybe at some point in the future, this will be something you can use.

If anything interesting comes of this, I can either send you an update out of the blue, or wait for a request from yall. I know you’re busy. At any rate, with stuff like this, I make the calls at my computer so I can email myself notes on the call immediately.

Lessons learned:

• Telemarketers have to transmit Caller ID
• If you’re on the do-not-call-list and they won’t stop calling you, ask for the call center supervisor and get the place’s name and number. Be persistent and don’t let them get away with fast-talking if you can’t understand them.
• Use this information to file complaints with the FCC through the Do-Not-Call Service.

See, getting on the do-not-call list is only one-half of fighting unwanted telemarketers. The other half is reporting those who fail to comply.

(Photo: amyadoyzie)

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