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.
telemarketing
Find Out Who Keeps Calling
By 11.19.07
Here’s three sites you can use when you want to find out more information about a number that’s calling you. Maybe it’s a telemarketer, recording, or a harassing caller, chances are, they’re targeting others. At these sites, you can enter the phone number from your caller ID and see if other citizens are sharing intel about the number. People find their way to the sites either directly, or by Googling the number and stumbling across the site.
Verizon Charges You For Telemarketing To You
By 10.18.07
When Verizon calls you to upsell you on a higher text message plan, it costs you minutes. Reader Alex got a little ring-a-ling from Verizon this morning:
After he identified himself (“Mike”), I immediately asked the salesperson if this call would count towards my daytime minutes. The representative informed me that, yes, it surely would. Needless to say I wasn’t exactly pleased with this revelation.
"VersaDebt" Telemarketers Behind Rate-Lowering Robot Calls?
By 10.10.07
The company behind “Possible Credit Card Scam Alert: We’ll Lower Your Rates, Purrs Robot Message…” is called VersaDebt, according to one reader who was able to string them along long enough to find out.
By 10.10.07
../../../..//2007/10/10/our-readers-scuffle-with-directv/
Our reader’s scuffle with DirecTV over their “informational” robots calling her, despite being on their do-not-call list, got a mention in the New York Times this weekend. [NYT]
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"
By 9.29.07
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:
DirecTV Calls Customer On Do-Not-Call List To Ask If They Want To Hear A Sales Pitch Anyway
By 9.21.07
It was an automated DirecTv call. “You have asked us not to call you. Because you are on our Do Not Call List, we can’t call you with all of our super-awesome special promotions…” The recording goes on to ask me to hit a button to opt-out of their Do Not Call List.
Mark Your Calendars: Do Not Call List Numbers Start Expiring In June 2008
By 9.21.07
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.
6 Signs Of Telemarketing Fraud
By 9.11.07
Besides being annoying and disruptive, some telemarketers are outright crooks, trying to swindle the unaware out of their hard-earned money. Via Fraud.org, here are six tell-tale conversation flags that indicate you’re dealing with a telephonic scam artist:
Liveblogging the Senate Commerce Committee Oversight Hearing On Telemarketing Fraud
By 7.31.07
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.)
infoUSA Calls "Unfair" NYT Article About How It Marketed Lists Of "Gullible" Seniors To Known Scammers,
By 5.22.07
Instead of atoning for their sins and begging for forgiveness, infoUSA, the firm that knowingly marketed lists of “gullible” seniors to known scammers, opted for a path of childish and defensive rebuttals:
infoUSA Marketed Lists Of "Gullible" Seniors To Known Scammers, Wachvoia Processed The Unsigned Checks
By 5.21.07
Global rings of crooks are stealing the bank accounts of thousands of the elderly, using lists of names and phone numbers sold to them by corporate America, NYT reports.
BellSouth’s Site Tracks Your IP And Then They Telemarket You
By 1.17.07
Is a company allowed to call you up after you go to their website, even if you haven’t even given them your phone number?
Your Rights: Telemarketing
By 10.9.06
You might be distracted by their pointed horns and forked tail, but don’t forget you have rights when telemarketers call. If those rights are trampled by their cloven feet, you have recourse.
Comcast Doesn’t Like Lying To Vonage Customers Either
By 10.4.06
Comcast says it’s looking into the allegations of a man who claimed a rep called up and lied to get him to switch from Vonage. At issue was whether Comcast made false claims about the inferiority of Vonage’s VoIp service. In a statement released to The Consumerist, Comcast said:
Comcast Lies (Badly) To Snag Vonage Customer
By 10.3.06
Comcast is dissembling like a mother smucker, telling fabulous lies about Vonage in order to get customers to switch. Comcast telemarketed one man and told him that Vonage:
