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The Menace of Telemarketers

When did we become a nation of sheep so willing
to accept invasion of privacy as a natural part
of life that we are forced to cower in the corner
when our telephone caller ID shows an 800 or
restricted number (not available)?

Is it not enough that we are inundated day after
day with junk mail (even though it keeps the
postal workers gainfully employed) and junk e-
mail, that now our last viable means of
communication has become as cluttered as our mail
boxes?

Is there no recourse?

Sure, you can register with "Do Not Call"
registries, but unscrupulous marketing companies
see this as yet another opportunity to latch on
to a list of potential consumers who feel they
can not say no.

Confused? Allow me to edify. After you register
with the "Do Not Call" Registry, telemarketers
have 31 days from the date you register to stop
calling you. How do they know to stop calling
you? They receive your phone number as part of
the "Do Not Call" Registry Program: INCLUDING THE
DATES YOU ARE OPEN GAME.

Am I the only one who sees the flaw in this logic?


Then, of course, is the even more hideous
Automated Telemarketer. This is a practice where
a prerecorded sales message is left on your
answering machine. Apparently, even a
telemarketers time is more valuable than that of
a private citizen's.

Is this practice illegal? Why yes, yes it is.

Which is why, if you pick up the phone as opposed
to the answering machine, you will get hung up on.
Boy, nothing gets me in the mood for "impluse
buying" more than prank phone calls.

Of course you can file a complaint with the FTC;
however, per their site:

"To file a complaint, you must know either the
name or telephone number of the company that
called you, and the date the company called you.
Do not call complaints will be entered into the
FTC's Consumer Sentinel system, a secure, online
database available to more than 1,000 civil and
criminal law enforcement agencies. While the FTC
does not resolve individual consumer problems,
your complaint will help us investigate the
company and could lead to law enforcement action."


The operative phrase being "could lead to law
enforcement action". Oddly enough, I'm not
feeling all that encouraged.

Realistically, the legal verbage on what you can
do would make a professor cry.

BE NOT DISCOURAGED!

During my many wanderings through the internet in
search of answers, I have found a truly awesome
site published, interestingly enough, by a Lawyer.
:
http://www.panix.com/~eck/telemarket.html; How To
Make A Telemarketer Cry, is well written,
interesting, and humorous, but more importantly,
fun to read, and easy to understand.

Like many people, my main source of relief from
annoying telemarketing calls is verbalizing my
complaints; i.e. complaining. Now I'm beginning
to believe it's time to take a more proactive
stance. Telemarketers beware! Perhaps if
companies utilizing these annoying services where
sued each time they broke the law, telemarketers
might well join the Gray Wolf on the list of
Endangered Species.

I don't know about you, but from now on, I'm
keeping pen and paper next to my phone.

About the Author: Alice Hart is a mother of 2 living in Michigan.
She is currently working her way through a 12
step program to regain control of her finances.