Do not call registration

jjenisis · Post by **jjenisis** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 9:01 am

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE
NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY

Most telemarketers cannot call your telephone number if it is in the National Do Not Call Registry. You can register your home and mobile phone numbers for free. Your registration will be effective for five years.

http://donotcall.gov/

The Liberal Vampyre · Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:17 pm

The link didn't work for me.

And, I think the next thing we need is a do not spam list.

junkie christ · Post by **junkie christ** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 2:40 pm

The Liberal Vampyre wrote:The link didn't work for me.

And, I think the next thing we need is a do not spam list.

amen

iblis · Post by **iblis** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 2:44 pm

They need to come up with a method for applying a blacklist for telemarketers, in much the same way as we have for spammers.

That would make me happy.

Oh, and we need the constitutional right to kill religious salesmen. (I.E., door to door salesmen of god, missionaries, etc.)

Mercurygriffin · Post by **Mercurygriffin** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:02 pm

as a former telemarketer I have information for you. all you need to really do if you get a telemarketing call is tell the caller that you want to be put on the do not call list. By federal law they have to comply. You are not the only one listening to the call either. Their supervisors are listening and under most companies 3-6 can be listening to the call. If they don't do as you say then they can be fired. that is why it sometimes takes more than a few calls to stop it, people who just want a paycheck will get let go most of the time because they don't do their job. If you are taken off of the list then it is effective for 10 years. And always remeber that a telemarketer is 20 min. worth of fun if you know how to pull it off.

Nexxus23 · Post by **Nexxus23** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:36 pm

Mercurygriffin wrote:...And always remeber that a telemarketer is 20 min. worth of fun if you know how to pull it off.

Gods yes! Here's an idea for all those people lacking imagination:

.::phone rings::.

You: "Hello?"

Telemarketer (TM): "Hi! I'd like to tell you about blah blah blah donkey nuts blah blah blah."

You: (speaking away from mouthpiece) "Here Puppy! Here boy! Good doggie..."

TM: "Blah blah blah horsecock blah blah sperm recycling blah..."

You: "...oh... yeah Puppy... good puppy... *moan*... yeah lick it there..."

TM: "Are you OK ma'am/sir?"

You: "...mmmm, very ok... ooh doggy!... go on, I'm listening..."

...drag scenario on as long as you like, or until you can't hold the laughter anymore or the TM gets too freaked and hangs up.

Other good ones are "Black-Tar-Smack attack" (a.k.a. "Fun with junkies) and "Phone Sex" (pretending to be a phone sex service for fetishists- my favorite being "Nunhumpers Anonymous".)

Have fun...

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 12:18 am

Yes, it's fun to play torture the telemarketer.
But, as a manager of call center, we can also simply end a call if it goes south and use a status code that will only prevent further calls for 6 months to 1 year.
Also, all these Do Not Call lists won't do you any good if you have a preestablished relationship with the company they're calling on behalf of. Thus, the more credit cards you have, the more you will get calls. (Try the Capital One no hassle card... it sucked when we lost that contract.)
My best advice, is to NEVER give out your phone #. The word PRIVATE fits nicely into the space where they request it. If they need to contact you, they can do it by mail.
Also, don't give out your Email info. We can solicit you much more freely and for longer periods of time with that info. Privacy Manager or Phone Butler work well too, but it's cheaper to just put a message on your answering machine or voice mail saying, "If this is a sales call, please take this number off of your list." Like Mercury said, though, it's going to depend on the individual ethics of the person on the other end as to whether your requests will be honored. Merc was an honest telemarketer. All my employees comply with the laws, or else they've got a pissed off Mo on their ass, showing them the door!

Mercurygriffin · Post by **Mercurygriffin** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 1:07 am

Mother Mo wrote:Yes, it's fun to play torture the telemarketer.
But, as a manager of call center, we can also simply end a call if it goes south and use a status code that will only prevent further calls for 6 months to 1 year.
Also, all these Do Not Call lists won't do you any good if you have a preestablished relationship with the company they're calling on behalf of. Thus, the more credit cards you have, the more you will get calls. (Try the Capital One no hassle card... it sucked when we lost that contract.)
My best advice, is to NEVER give out your phone #. The word PRIVATE fits nicely into the space where they request it. If they need to contact you, they can do it by mail.
Also, don't give out your Email info. We can solicit you much more freely and for longer periods of time with that info. Privacy Manager or Phone Butler work well too, but it's cheaper to just put a message on your answering machine or voice mail saying, "If this is a sales call, please take this number off of your list." Like Mercury said, though, it's going to depend on the individual ethics of the person on the other end as to whether your requests will be honored. Merc was an honest telemarketer. All my employees comply with the laws, or else they've got a pissed off Mo on their ass, showing them the door!

When it comes to telemaketing MO is like Master Yoda to me.

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 1:17 am

Aggressive, assertive, and assumptive, baby!

Hardcoregirl · Post by **Hardcoregirl** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 10:05 am

http://www2.state.tn.us/tra/nocallform.htm

The TN do not call list...

lupa · Post by **lupa** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 5:06 pm

I realise that many Americans view telemarketers as scum of the earth, and I will say I have had a few rude calls into my household as well. But also realise that we are in an economical tailspin. RECESSION. Marketing companies employ thousands of people across the country, people with families....mothers with children that are putting food on the table. Every single one of them need their jobs, and if we take that away from them, we'll just make it up in taxes paying their welfare checks. Most of them are very pleasant in person, I should know, I have worked as a supervisor for many.

If you find the calls annoying, we have policies in place to make them stop if that is what you require. Just try to remember, telemarketers are not machines....and they are not evil....they are simply doing a job.....paying bills just like anyone else.

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 12:10 am

Always read the fine print!

However, there are some exemptions: First, telephone solicitors may still call in response to an express invitation or permission by the person being called. Secondly, solicitors may call on behalf of a not-for-profit organization if the call is made by a member of the specific not-for-profit organization. Thirdly, soliciting is allowed if the person or entity making the telephone call has had a business relationship with the person being called within the previous twelve (12) months. And lastly, solicitation is permitted if the business calling does not sell or engage in telephone solicitation and does not make more than three (3) calls in any one calendar week.

Don't give out your phone number if you don't want telephone solicitation! And if you get the calls, politely ask for a supervisor, and then ask to be taken off the calling list. An ethical telemarketer will then leave you with a phone number as part of the delisting process. If you get any more calls from THAT PARTICULAR entity, you may entitled to sue or raise hell or whatever.
Please note that delisting may take up to 3 months as the information is shared with all parties envolved.

And yes, telemarketers are peolpe too. Many of our employees are working their way through college, raising families alone, or are elderly and not fit for more physically taxing work. I myself am the sole support for a family of 5. The company Lupa & myself work for ( and formerly Mercury Griffin) has always complied with all state and federal laws, and we don't want to call you if you don't want to be contacted.

If you cuss or berate one of my employees, however, you'll quickly have me on the line to deal with. We don't pay our people to be verbally abused.

Besides, every now and then, the offer we're pitching may prove to be more valuable than you would have guessed. We've been offering free CDs lately. We've also given away $50 Walmart gift cards or $50 savings bonds, and 2 free round trip airline tickets.

Civility in all things.

Derk Jyslexic · Post by **Derk Jyslexic** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 3:20 am

nexxus- youre nasty.

...i KNEW there was a reason i liked you.

question- how do you deal with answering machines..?
if i wanna have a conversation w/ a computer i'll talk to alice

i have a unique situation..
i have no home line- tho my office line forwards to my cell nearly 24/7.. this way i keep the same land line office number on Biz cards for my office, but if the phone company screws me on my phone bill- i can tell them where to shove it, and not be offline for 30 seconds, let alone 30 days.. <i learned the hard way, thank you.>

good side-
if the cell company decides to get nasty- i get nasty back, and as soon as i care to, get new service, roll the landline to the new number <which is always ID blocked> and keep going without missing a beat.

bad side.
the office is a land line, and therefore subject to telemarketers-
while i tell them this is a private cell line, i still get more than i should.

derk
DON'T make me to bring up the Connie Chung restraining order...

Post by **DarkVader** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:20 am

lupa wrote:Just try to remember, telemarketers are not machines....

You know, the only telemarketers to have called me in the last 6 months have been machines - quite literally.

With humans, I generally simply ask to be put on the do not call list - it's virtually guaranteed to terminate a call instantly, and I don't get called again by that group.

With machines, I don't want to listen long enough to get to a human, so I just hang up.

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 12:31 am

We get those automated calls alot at work... don't solicit the solicitors!
I've found hanging up on them doesn't stop the calls right away, you have to keep doing it repeatedly before they actually give up. If you've got the patience to listen and wait for either a human or more info, you can respond appropriately at that point, but I know I rarely have time or patience for that.
We don't pitch when it's a business or cell phone. We apologize and code the call as a wrong number which is just as good if not better than delisting. That's just our policy, though.
You can use the wrong number line on sales calls if you don't have the balls to say "no" and "take me off the list," or you can say they've died. We have a code for that too. (But it really sucks when they actually have, and you've just made some old woman cry! Oh well, occupational hazard.)