The one gramma and scammers call. The one you can’t get rid of because gramma isn’t willing to learn a new number for your house. Not after 40 years of the same number, at least.
I’ve only been called by a legit telemarketer maybe once. Ever.
All the “Legit” telemarketers who call me are doing so illegally. I’m on the Do Not Call list. The only exemption they’re allowed is if I have previously done business with them. I’ve never done business with InContact, but I’ve gotten marketing calls from them.
They are a legit business calling me illegally in an attempt to sell me something. They are breaking the law whether or not they cop to it. I’ve informed many such businesses that they’re calling me illegally. I tell them explicitly “put me on your do not call list, and take me off of any calling or mailing list.” They still call anyway.
As for the scammers: The first thing I do is tell them they’re breaking the law when they call me. I then tell them that they should work a job that’s legal. There’s better opportunities out there. Don’t work for scum who prey on the vulnerable and who take advantage of the gullible.
They usually just hang up when I say “I haven’t done business with you in the past. You obviously know it’s illegal to call me.”
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Not quite true.
While I agree with the general tenor of your post, and agree that the enormous majority of calls I (and, no doubt, you) get are illegal, some calls could be legal if you have an agreement with company A which allows them to give/sell/lend/rent your contact info to “affiliates.” Company B then pays A for their marketing lists, and away we go.
It’s well worth reading very carefully any agreement for anything that you sign, to be sure that you’re not agreeing to have your contact info legally shared.
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Wait… all one of them?
According to the law, if you report them, or him, to the FTC, not only do they pay $10,000 fine, but they pay it to you. Of course there’s a catch. The FTC is desperately understaffed, so Jesus will probably return before you get your money.
Also, I think there are a few other exceptions, such as non-profits.
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The “Legit” ones are illegally calling me under a different company’s name, and when I ask for a callback number they hang up. Legit one was legal, but unwanted.
I know polls, non-profits and political campaigns are allowed to call anyone as often as they like with no limitations even if you tell them to stop. I just wish I had a single line of communication that doesn’t get spammed, but that’s not to be.
The political campaigns I’ve worked on have software with a “do not call” or similar flag that they can click. No reason to be mean; the ones I’ve worked on are just trying to save the world.
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Sounds like your campaign is a lot more ethical than “Free Americans for the Extra Free Freedom of Liberty PAC” or whatever campaigning for Mitt Romney a few years ago. Who refused to put me on their do not call list even when I lied and said I was a registered Democrat (There’s no point in registering for any party in my state. I don’t register with either party.)
That’s not very efficient. Campaign calls are often made by volunteers, so the campaign would prefer they have a good experience. And there’s no point spending the time to call someone who isn’t going to vote for you. Maybe PACs have enough money to pay call staff, but not enough sense to ensure that they don’t call people who are known not to be sympathetic to the cause.
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The very reason for PACs and SuperPACs existing is specifically to circumvent ethics. I don’t care that there are PACs working on issues I care about. The whole point is to anonymize monied interests’ influence in politics.
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They can do it without calling me on the phone. If you call me unsolicited, you get “Take me off your list. Never call me again” followed by the sound of me hanging up.
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I placed 32 numbers on the do not call list, and I continually receive calls on those numbers. I answer the lines, tell them I’m on the list, report the number on caller ID and wait for a response. If they ever get around to paying, I’ll retire, comfortably. I don’t care about the person stuck with the shitty job of being the telemarketer. I care about the company that’s figured out ways of breaking the law without getting caught, or doing so in a way that the repercussion are an affordable cost of doing business.
I don’t have a home phone, but I am strongly considering supporting this Kickstarter and getting a line or two installed.
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I think Lennie did it better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5IKbFATKLo
Apparently only 15 lines of code (VoIp phone).
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Oh god, I love Lenny. He’s amazing. That’s a great little script.
I usually just don’t answer if it’s an unknown number. A human will leave a message and a robot won’t. Also, since a robot waits for you to say hello, not saying hello quickly susses out if there’s a human at the other end.
Can’t I just be happy to see you?
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That’s it! Lenny is the ‘old geezer’ built to waste telemarketer’s time!
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