Anti-Telemarketing Action Kit
The Federal Do Not Call List is the best way to avoid telemarketing calls. But it is not the only way. And even when you sign up for the list, it may be a few months until companies are required to remove your number. Finally, the Do Not Call List does not protect you from companies that have an "existing business relationship" with you. So, you still need to know all your rights. Here are four powerful tools to reduce the number of junk calls to your home and to force telemarketers to pay every time they call you.
1: Hurt them financially
Whenever you receive an unwelcome phone call, ALWAYS ask to be placed on the company's internal Do Not Call list and ask that the company send you a copy of their "Do Not Call" policy. By law, they are required to provide this "on demand" and your request forces them to spend time, money, and postage. It also sets them up for possible legal action (read on).
2: Make them spend time with you 3: Document the violations
If the offending company does not send you a copy of their Do Not Call policy in writing within 30 days of your request, we want to know. Your complaints help us develop profiles of the worst companies. The information you provide allows us to take action against the worst violators, and is often used as evidence in legal proceedings.
If a company contacts you more than once in a 12-month period after you have asked to be placed on their Do Not Call list, you can take them to Small Claims Court for at least $500 in damages. For more information, use our do-it-yourself guide to taking telemarketers to Small Claims Court.
In addition, if you are harassed by pre-recorded phone messages on your answering machine, you can participate in our pre-recorded phone message project.
Telemarketers also have been falsely posing as non-profit organizations, which are exempt from most do-not call rules. If a company claims they are exempt, but you are suspicious, we want to know. The Federal Trade Commission has already taken action against at least one telemarketer that misrepresented itself as a non-profit.
4: Visit the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
UCAN's nationally recognized affiliate, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, has just updated FACT SHEET #5 How to Have a Quiet Evening at Home - a powerful tool for helping you protect yourself from obnoxious, unsolicited phone calls.
Like what you see? Go ahead and show your support! UCAN is a truly independent non-profit watchdog organization, dependent on grassroots donations like yours!
Utility Consumers' Action Network
(619) 696-6966 or file a complaint about a company online.
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WASTE THEIR TIME! They're
WASTE THEIR TIME!
They're now using spoofed caller ID with a pre-recorded message telling you that your car warranty is about to expire or your credit card rates are too high. They get you to press "1" to get more information. They somehow feel that if you pressed "1", you're interested in the call, and it indemnifies them from the Do Not Call law, which of course it does not.
I go ahead and press "1" and act like a bumbling old man. If it's about consolidating my credit cards, I tell them I have about three cards, all run up to the max, and you can hear them salivating over this. I'm the perfect target: I have a lot of run-up credit, I'm old, and stupid. I bumble around for as long as I can, calling out to my wife to get my wallet so I can read off my credit card number. I ask a bunch of stupid questions like, is this going to cost me a bunch of money to combine all these balances, or can I get more credit, and stuff like that. Another thing to do is to talk in circles or ask them to keep repeating themselves.
If it's a car warranty, I always start with, "Now is this about the Cadillac or the Ford?" (I don't own either) I go off asking about if this is part of the extended warranty I have with the dealership, and they always make up stuff like, "We work with the dealership (lie)." I go off into some side story about how I was never happy with that car because the valve cam timing was never right from the beginning, and I could never get that no good dealer to listen to me. I ask her if she knows the dealer. They start getting impatient. You have to talk fast.
If it's a credit card offer, I make up a number and rattle it off to her. She says that's not a valid credit card, and I say, oh, that's my library card. Then I say, well now, let me ask you a question. And I finally break character and say in a very clear voice, "What does DO NOT CALL" mean to you? What does the Federal Do Not Call Registry mean to you, and why does your company use a spoofed caller ID? I'm just curious? Does it bother you morally that your company does that? It would bother me. But that's the way I was raised. I'm in the Midwest, and my mother raised me to not lie to people. Does it bother you morally that the company you work for uses a misleading message to get people to press "1" ? It would me, but that's just the way I am. You know with the way people have been hit with the flooding and price of gas and the economy and all, I guess I just couldn't bring myself to do that to people like that..."
I actually had one guy answering, yes, it did bother him. Most of them get furious with me that I wasted their time. And I say, "Oh, was I MISLEADING you??!! Was I MISREPRESENTING myself? Kinda like spoofing a caller ID, isn't it?" It rarely goes on very long, but some of them do go on a bit longer, because they've been duped, and they want to yell at me, and I want them to know that I just wanted to waste some of their time because what they're doing is wrong. That's about the time they hang up on me. It can be quite entertaining.
There was a funny video
There was a funny video online about a telemarketer calling a guy to ask him about a product. Little did he knew that the guy was a show host and he was in for a surprise. The TV man answered the phone and then pretended he's a detective and that the man who the telemarketer called was dead. Thus the telemarketer became a prime suspect. You should search it and hear the fear in his voice.
telemarketers
What a wonderful Kit! Anti-Telemarketing Action Kit. I will indeed use this probably tomorrow.
The most annoying, and persistent call I keep getting these days is, a prerecorded message that tells me my car warranty is about to expire, please hold the line for a live operator and after waiting 5minutes or so I hang up. They usually call about 4 to 7 times a day.
The next in line after that one is: my mortgage company is charging me too much, and looking at my credit file they are able to offer me a substantial reduction in my monthly payments with the new funding award they have received from the government.
Or how about this one: Nothing is wrong with your credit card, and is currently up to date, but you have qualified for a consolidated loan to put an end to credit card debt. For this one I waited on the line, when the lady came on the line, I said how did you get my number? Which card qualifies me for this new consolidated loan? Naturally she didn't have an answer, so then I asked her name, and she hung upon me. I do not own a credit card.
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Prerecorded phone messages
It would be great if there was a way to deal with pre-recorded phone messages on your answering machine. For example, if you offered participation in a pre-recorded phone message project. That would be awesome.
reply
read this guys account. it has the tool he used to find the telephone numbers, not thats not to say the telemarketers wont simply spoof the phone number but you can try.
http://www.panix.com/~eck/telemarket.html
What should I do if a
What should I do if a telemarketer (faxer!!) hangs up on me without answering who they are? Does anybody know how I can find the name of the company behind the phone number?
Use Call Trace if CallerID is blocked.
It is illegal for telemarketers to block CallerID, but they still do it. Most telephone companies provide a Call Trace feature. For example on AT&T lines, it is activated using *57 and there is a per use charge if you do not have all the options on your line. If they are able to trace the call, you will here a 1-800 number for your area 'Annoyance Call Office'. Call that office to get the traced number. Good Luck, I'm fed up too.
What should I do if a...........
Go to whocalledus-dot-com and type in the phone number. Or, you can go to Google-dot-com and do the same thing. You will get results.
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