Do Not Call List - R.I.P.?

[39520]

Anyone remember a few years ago when a Do Not Call list was created for people to opt out of telemarketing calls? It worked fine for my household, but I wonder if that has expired. I must get five calls a day from people selling me crap, not to mention the robo political calls from both teams. Thank goodness for caller id - if I am not expecting an out of town call, I just don't answer the house phone if I don't recognize the number.

So, is the Do Not Call List extinct?

[83014]

I've been getting the same thing, on my home phone and, more annoyingly, on my mobile. I google the numbers and usually find a long list of people with the same experience. I don't answer the calls and they never leave a message. Try google on the next call you get and see what pops up. I don't think these callers really care about the do-not-call list, for land or cell lines. They appear to be untraceable.

[queretaro]

We were on the do not call list but continued to receive unwanted calls. So we cancelled our land line about 2 years ago. Never missed it at all and save about $300/yr. Just use our cell phones and have no problem - yet - with solicitors and other PITAs.

[39520]

We were on the do not call list but continued to receive unwanted calls. So we cancelled our land line about 2 years ago. Never missed it at all and save about $300/yr. Just use our cell phones and have no problem - yet - with solicitors and other PITAs.

I've been wanting to cancel my landline for years, but we get good DSL service from the phone company and they make us have a phone number.

[tommcgee]

The Do Not Call list is still working in Massachusetts.

[GILLY]

IIRC yes you DO need to renew that, I think every few years? It is NOT a forever-thing.

[GILLY]

Just looked it up, on the NATIONAL do-not-call list you are good for life, I think there are also state no-call lists, possibly here in WI you need to renew from time to time.

What can happen is if you question that they shouldn't be calling you, they will say there was some past business they have done with you, which gives them the right to call. Especially true with those looking for donations, if you donated before they say they can call you.

[GILLY]

From their website:

If I register my number on the National Do Not Call Registry, will it stop all telemarketing calls?

No. Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most telemarketing calls, but not all. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would still be permitted, as would calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom youÔÇÖve provided express agreement in writing to receive their calls. However, if you ask a company with which you have an existing business relationship to place your number on its own do-not-call list, it must honor your request. You should keep a record of the date you make the request.

[markaz]

I think it's still alive but there's no enforcement so it's pretty useless. Political calls are always allowed, tho. And anyone you've ever had a 'business relationship' with. The FCC has a web page where you can submit a complaint about a number that is bothering you. I submitted one for the morons who kept offering me credit card relief. I got a nice thank-you response and I think the calls actually stopped...from that particular number. But then they just use another number. Verizon has a service where you can block certain numbers but you can only block a few, like 5 or 6, and then they're only blocked for a while...90 days IIRC, so it doesn't help a lot when they switch numbers or use several. We cancelled our land line a while back but we still get plenty of crap calls on our cells. Best idea is just to not answer it if you don't recognize the calling number...if it's important they'll leave a message. Problem is, every time it goes to voice mail you get charged at least a minute whether they leave a message or not. A while back I saw a black box that you connect to your land line and then program it with the number you'd accept calls from. If it wasn't on the list, the phone wouldn't even ring. You could set it to just ignore the unwanted calls or route them directly to voice mail.

Anyway, they sure are aggravating...

[David13]

I knew from the start that it would be useless with those telemarketer creeps.
Why would they go by the list? They always go by their own rules, haven't you noticed?
And probably the very vast majority of them are total scams.
The others just partial scams.
I always joked that those creeps would get the do not call list, and then call:
"Hello, we're calling you because you are a very smart person and are on the do not call list. We have a special offer only for smart (suckers) like you ..."
I had a friend, may he rest in peace, who always used to say the telephone is a weapon. Used to harass people.
I know what he meant.
dc

[Bmandiego]

Yeah, I think you have to go back in and renew it every 4 years or so. Plus, with all the "privacy notices" that you get from credit card and etc companies, they are able to share your information with almost anyone whom they consider to be connected to their business for marketing junk.
Has anyone ever bought anything from a telemarketer?

[sibud]

Hello, there is nothing wrong with your current credit card. Press one now to talk to a representative.

Card Services.


Get lots of calls every week from them. Everyone I have coffee with also gets the same calls.

I press one now hoping for some free phone sex but they just laugh at me.

Oh well, that's life.

[AKBEEMER]

No land line just mobile phones. No silly calls so far. My 92 year old aunt has a land line at her place in a retirement home and it is in my name. She gets crack pot calls for me sometimes.

[PGlaves]

We simply have made it a practice to never, ever, purchase anything or contribute anything as the result of being called on the telephone. If everybody took the same approach they would all be out of business within 30 days. No buyers, no business. This is acutely true of charitable solicitations because typically the telemarketers keep most of the money and the charities get the crumbs. While not 100% the case it is more the norm than otherwise. We simply choose to refuse to play.

[GILLY]

My mother in law gives money to these creeps and is constantly getting calls. We can't be with her all the time, we have gotten a handle on it somewhat. Especially the "fake" ones for cops and firemen. We can always tell she has given when she gets the decals for her car window, now she has lost her license (and sold her car) so will be harder for us to tell. She was, get this, putting them on the window of her garage.....hello??? Instead of her car. Have also found stuff in her mail (which she asks my wife to look through because sometimes she doesn't know if she is looking at a real bill she has to pay or not), and will find thank-you notes from some of these fake organizations like "The American Cancer Institute" (as opposed to the American Cancer Society) or some other easy to spot things like that. She will go on vacation for a few weeks and we check up on her apartment and there can be up to 10 calls a day on her machine, all hang-ups, we know they are all solicitors. Kind of an endless cycle, we put her on the no-call list, but since she has given in the past, they can call her. One of the cop ones we TOLD her to tell them to put her on the companies no-call list and that seems to have stopped that one. We think she got the message that she can't afford to do this. We told her if she wants to give money, give it to the things here in town, the church, the local pantry, things like that, not these people who keep begging for money.