This telemarketer has had it up to here with all of you people at home hanging up on her every time she needs to sell you something! Randall Whited in Austin, Texas, received an earful recently, when he answered the phone shortly after hanging up on the unnamed telemarketer.
telemarketing
Meet Leverage Connections, King Of The Robocallers
By 8.25.08
Last week we reported that some types of unwanted robocall telemarketing will soon be banned. If you’re on the receiving end of Leverage Connections’ prerecorded harassment—they frequently operate under the generic names “Consumer Services” or “Credit Card Services”—you’ll finally have a way to formally complain to the FTC about them. Why would you want to complain? Because they’re the scammiest, most obnoxious robocall telemarketing company we’ve seen so far—even though what they do is apparently legal.
FTC Listens To Your Complaints, (Mostly) Bans Telemarketer Robocalls
By 8.20.08
After reviewing the more than 14,000 comments left by living human beings, the FTC yesterday amended its Telemarketing Sales Rule to ban most types of robotic telemarketing calls. By this December, any recorded calls will have to lead off with an automated opt-out option; by September 2009, telemarketers will need prior written permission to contact someone—simply being a recent customer won’t cut it.
AT&T Calls 9 Times In 12 Days Trying To Sell DSL
By 8.5.08
Would you buy DSL service from a company that either doesn’t care about Do Not Call lists or doesn’t know how they work? A man in Missouri was harassed to the point where he considered calling the police, because no matter what he did, AT&T wouldn’t stop calling. Every time he tried contacting AT&T to get it to stop, he ended up in automated phone systems with recorded messages, busy signals, and disconnections—but never a live person. Only after he wrote to a local consumer advocacy columnist did AT&T pay attention and turn off the telemarketing fire hose. AT&T didn’t, however, explain why they were targeting this person, or whether anyone else is facing the same barrage of calls.
How To Report Do Not Call List Scofflaws To The Proper Authorities
By 7.28.08
Reader Brian says that he’s getting weird scammy calls about “lowering his interest rates” and would like to know what he should do about it.
Dish Telemarketer Fined $75,000 For Hanging Up On Customers
By 7.16.08
The FTC fined a Dish Network telemarketing firm $75,000 for hanging up on customers, reports the Deseret News. The company used teleautobots to dial peoples’ homes, which were then supposed to connect to a live telemarketer when someone picked up. However, the system would sometimes get more live customers than there were telemarketers, leaving some customers with a silent line. Federal regulations stipulate that if you use teleautobots, you have to connect the customer to a person within two seconds. The FTC made this law because people, in particular women and old people, were worried they were being stalked when they answered the phone and no one was there.
Dear New York Philharmonic: Please Don't Call Me In The Middle Of Performances To Ask For Money
By 6.21.08
As I enjoyed the New York Philharmonic’s production of Tosca this past Tuesday, I received a solicitation call. From the New York Philharmonic.
Discover's Speed-Reading Sales Technique Means You Can Get To "No" Faster
By 6.5.08
A zealous Discover rep tried to get Richard to sign up for a “protection program” by speeding through the details of the agreement as fast as possible—you know, the fine print part that makes it clear you’re agreeing to a paid service. When Richard made it clear that he wanted to hear the details again and that no, he hadn’t agreed to anything, the rep hung up on him. Discover, maybe you want to have a talk with your reps about their sales techniques.
Domino's Pizza, Please Stop Calling Me To Tell Me Your Specials
By 6.4.08
Reader Ron is annoyed that Domino’s Pizza will not stop calling his cellphone 1-3 times a week to let him know the specials. Yuck!
Oops! Verizon Sells 12,500 Unlisted Phone Numbers And Addresses
By 6.3.08
Verizon announced last week that they accidentally sold over 12,500 private addresses and phone numbers to a phone book company in West Virginia. “We certainly apologize to those customers whose numbers were published. … We’re taking accountability for that,” said a Verizon spokesman. Translation: they’re calling customers to let them know what happened, offering to change their phone numbers for free, and offering to pay the fee to have an unlisted number ($1.98 a month) for a year. Since this is the second time Verizon has made this mistake in the past four years, we wonder if “accountability” can also include taking steps to find out how the numbers keep getting offered up for sale.
Beware: Calls From "The Jobline" Actually $9/Minute Scam
By 5.16.08
Consumers report receiving automated message calls from a service calling itself “The Jobline” where you’re told they have jobs for you if you call back, but it turns out it’s just a scam. If you call the number back, you will get charged $9 per minute, according to messages left in online forums where people share information on telemarketing numbers. They seem to be using the number 976-4477 in different area codes. A scam targeting people already hard up for work and money, that’s pretty high on the Richter scale of sleaziness.
Company Sued For Waterboarding Salesman
By 4.15.08
“We’re not the mean waterboarding company that people think we are,” says the general counsel for Prosper Inc., a company that sells “coaching packages” over the telephone. They’re being sued by a former employee who says he was held down as his boss emptied a gallon jug of water into his mouth and nose as part of a team-building exercise. Our tipster Rachael writes that it’s like “an episode of The Office gone horribly wrong.”
Cablevision Tries To Sell You Phone Service During Funeral
By 3.28.08
Cablevision tried to telemarket Greg Scoblete phone service during a funeral:
Two days ago I attended a wake. During the wake my cellphone rang…I couldn’t answer the first call, but shortly thereafter it rang again. “Must be important,” I thought, ducking out of the room.
It turned out to be a Cablevision telemarketer trying to rope me into the triple play. Fair enough. I told the rep that I wasn’t interested in the triple play and in any event, I was at a wake.
“I understand that,” he said, “but I’ll have you off the phone in five minutes saving money on your long-distance bills.”
Congratulations, Cablevision, you’ve taken the definition of shameless marketing to a whole new level.
Telemarketers Weep As President Signs Do Not Call Improvement Act
By 2.20.08
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.
Dish Network Telemarketer Tells You To Shut Up
By 2.19.08
Here’s a new sales tactic from Dish Network. When they interrupt your dinner to sell you satellite TV, and you politely decline, they will win you over by telling you to shut up.
Direct Marketing Association Lies About Telemarketers' Contribution To Economy
By 2.8.08
In order to make itself look a respectable and unfairly maligned industry, The Direct Marketing Association (the same people behind OptOutprescreen.com) likes to tout how greatly telemarketing contributes to the American economy. The Denialism blog scoured the DMA press releases and website found the profit they say telemarketing generates varies wildly from year to year, and sometimes within the same year.
Internal Docs Prove Wachovia Knew About Telemarketer Rip-Offs All Along
By 2.6.08
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.
Consumerist In The Congressional Record
By 12.27.07
In a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) thanked The Consumerist for supporting H.R. 3541, The Do Not Call Improvement Act.
