How to STOP Telemarketers and Annoying Phone Calls
The Phone Call Volley Ball Are You a Victim?
A lot of information is swimming through the media right now about do not call lists. They claim that once you enter your name on the list telemarketers are not allowed to call you. Some go as far as to tell you that you have the right to sue if a telemarketer calls you. Many claim that the telemarketer will be arrested. This is all untrue! You can put your name on all the do not call lists you want it's not going to make much difference.
Let me explain the problem. You have given the telemarketing companies the right to call you. You have given your permission and sometimes you have given it in writing. That's right folks! You put yourself ON the calling list when you signed the application for your credit card, bank card, loan, and many many other forms you haven't thought about. Some websites that offer free memberships have clauses that allow your name to be sold to telemarketing companies. All of this is done legally and with your permission.
You are in effect yelling at an innocent person that you yourself gave permission to call. Everyone must learn to read the fine print on everything before you sign it. You and only you can be responsible for you own actions. People are suffering the curse of telemarketing because they have failed to read the fine print and just don't realize it.
So how do you get off the calling lists? Well first let me explain how the Calling List works. Do not bother with the Federal or State do not call lists they will never work. Mainly because no state or federal governments bother to turn the lists over to the telemarketing companies or the clients they call for. Plus, least we forget, you have given your permission to each individual company that is calling you.
Every single telemarketing firm has its very own do not call list, actually they have TWO do not call lists. One by client, meaning that Tuesday they can call you for one company, put you on the do not call list and Friday the same telemarketing firm will call you for a different company. Very frustrating I know.
To fix the problem you have to:
1) call ALL your credit card companies and tell them to put you on their do not call list. You will be amazed at how many calls this will stop.
2) When a telemarketer calls you ask them to put you on their do not call list and ask for a copy of their do not call policy. Most telemarketers will be happy to do this. Some might give you a hassle, if they do demand to speak to their manager. These are poorly trained and usually very young people.
3) You must then Opt-Out. What is opting out? That is where you go online or in some cases send a letter to each and every company you can think of that might have you on a calling list or that might sell their customers name. Ahhh the punishments for not reading the fine print. That's right you must now do work to dig yourself out of your own hole. Since I am a nice and wonderful person I will give you a website that has made the letter writing process easier with standard form letters and has even supplied lists of companies to mail and contact. Opting out will even cut down on your junk mail.
http://www.opt-out.cdt.org/
Now here are some other secrets:
There are certain states that have enacted laws forcing telemarketers to say their closing and exit the call if you say the word No or I'm not interested. This is where it gets interesting because this will ONLY work if your state supports this law and it doesn't hold for every single telemarketing call. Such states are called no rebuttal states. This means that the telemarketer is not allowed to say anything except their closing (scripted exit statement sometimes contains a phone number) then they must exit the call. Pennsylvania, Utah, Kentucky, Oregon, South Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, Idaho are states that are almost always on the no rebuttal states list. If you are lucky enough to live in Pennsylvania then your state is ALWAYS on the list. Remember though that these states are sometimes NOT on the list and so the telemarketer will be allowed to try to convince you.
There are other states that are permission to continue states and then the telemarketer is required to ask you your permission to continue if you say no then they are required to give their closing and exit the call.
The best way to protect yourself is to know your States laws on telemarketing.
The next time you get a call remember the person on the other end of the phone is just doing their job. Be polite, after all you did invite them to call.
Published by Dawn Barler
Words should have power. They should make your heart pound, your soul cry and your stomach turn. Words should be as formidable as a sharpened blade pressed against your neck. If not they are nothing but scri... View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentHere's another way to put a stop to these phone calls. Have your phone number changed to an unpublished number, or better yet, have it disconnected.
The author needs to understand that if a person doesn't want you to call their home as a common courtesy you should black out their number with an X in it, not call the following week hoping that person has changed their mind. If you continue to call them it IS harassment and you deserve what you get. I used to work as a telemarketer many years ago, and I had many people ask me to take me off the call list, which I did. No excuses!!!
How to check who is calling me? Whenever someone receives a call from a strange number, this question arises. If someone has been abusing its number to disturb you then it is your right to discover the identity of that person. Some governments provide the online resources in order to help the people to discover about the people who have been making their life hard. If you need to know how to check who is calling me then you may research on the Internet for finding any resource offered by the government.
When you would research on the Internet to know how to check who is calling me then you would find two types of resources, public and private. The public resources would be offered by the government or law enforcing authorities of a country. Using the public resources is the best way to check the details of unknown caller. It is observed that the public resources are updated often which makes it probable to obtain accurate and latest information about a telephone number. That is why w
a num. 123-456-5432 called me!! what kind of number is this???
LoLoLoLoL @ dandelion moron!
Dawn Barler...you do not give ANY advice on stopping annoying telemarketing phone calls, hummm maybe you are one of them!
Here is the actual company info..
Portfolio Recovery Associates
120 Corporate Boulevard
Norfolk, VA 23502
We are located at the intersection of Military Hwy. and I-264.
Phone number: 1-888-772-7326 (local) 757-519-9300
DO not call them on the 888 number if you do not want them to have your call back number. Instead hit *677575199300 to block your caller ID from them.
Let them have it 24/7 on that phone number just like when they call you..
Also here is all there website info:
Portfolio Recovery Services
120 Corporate Blvd, Suite 100
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: PORTFOLIORECOVERY.COM
Created on: 17-Jun-98
Expires on: 16-Jun-10
Last Updated on: 17-Apr-08
Administrative Contact:
Pavlak, Mark dnsadmin@portfoliorecovery.com
Portfolio Recovery Associates
120 Corporate Blvd
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
United States
757-519-9300 Fax -- 757-321-2518
Technical Contact:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/12/donotcall.shtm
Telemarketers can contact you no matter what list you put your name on if you have a previous business relationship with them. This includes your credit card. There is no do not call list that currently exists to stop all telemarketing calls. This link should help you educate yourself. The author is correct. To stop all telemarketing calls you have to call your credit card companies and tell them you do not wish to be called.
This person is clearly not in touch with reality.
The Georgia do not call registry allows the following.
The Georgia Do Not Call Law is enforced by the Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA). Telemarketers that violate the Georgia Do Not Call Law can be subjected to an administrative penalty of up to $2,000 per violation. Should you wish to report a violation of the Georgia Do Not Call Law to OCA, go to "Reporting a Violation" (below).
Q. Can I bring a private action to enforce the Georgia Do Not Call Law myself?
A. Yes. O.C.G.A. § 46-5-27(i) gives consumers the right to bring a private action. To view the entire text of the Georgia Do Not Call Law, go to: http://www2.state.ga.us/GaOCA/nocall.htm
The National Do Not Call list allows for the following.
The Federal Do Not Call Law is enforced by both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). To report a violation of the Federal Do Not
The author of this article is kidding himself if he thinks that people will buy the "I gave them permission" argument to support telemarketers. 99 times out of 100 these names have been shared without knowledge of the customer becuase of the way the relationship agreements are written, it's in very vague text in the middle of a 4-page document.
By thinking this equates to explicit permission and knowledge of the relationship is a FARCE. It's a legal loophole that they take advantage of, and the author of this article should be ashamed to promote it.
I make it a point to make the telemarketer's call to me difficult and uncomfortable, because in my opinion, it will discourage them and hopefully they will quit and find a job someplace else. With fewer people to make the call, I'll hopefully have to answer fewer annoying calls.