Post by "Pop" Stran on Jan 13, 2005 13:21:35 GMT -5
The first step in making a telemarketer go away is to figure out how they got your number in the first place.
*Yes; even after they are already using it to annoy you, there are ways to Take Your Phone numbers BACK from them and make the calls stop...more on that later.
From a listing in the local phonebook to a placement on your webpage, there are a lot of ways that your phone numbers will end up in the hands of a telemarketer.
Here's some you may not be aware of:
Auto-Searches
How many times have you picked up a ringing phone only to hear dead silence, or after a few seconds a computer-voice?
Many marketers use automated sales machines (or software) that searches possible phone number combinations and dials each one.
These "random dialing" machines can test-dial thousands of numbers per hour looking for real telephones...even un-listed numbers.
For telemarketers, any "guessed" number that connects to a ringing phone is transferred to a salesman, or a pre-recorded message that delivers the pitch.
Occasionally, once the software has guessed your number and you answer, the call was transferred to a sales rep's phone...but because he was busy with another call, all you heard was silence.
Another feature of the auto-dialers is that each true phone number is placed on a list of prospects to be called later by the reps...If you answered the first call, then the next will be pitching another product.
Quite a few answering machines pickup the first tester call, but the real purpose was to compile the list of numbers for the sales reps to call at a later date with the better offers (those with higher profit margins).
800, 888, 877, 866, and 900 numbers.
When you use a toll-free number to call a business with which you have an account or to inquire about a product or service, your phone number may be captured by a system called Automatic Number Identification
(ANI).
This technology automatically identifies and stores the number from which you are dialing.
By matching your phone number with other lists and street address directories, your name and address can often be discovered and added to the company's calling and mailing list.
Not only will the company that captured your number be able to use it, they can sell or share it with their affiliates.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Go Away part 1:
National DoNotCall list
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) maintains, along with most of the federal regulations that keep marketers in line, a new service called the National DoNotCall Registry.
You can place your phone numbers (cellular too) on the DNC list for Free* by going to the FTC's new site for this purpose:
www.donotcall.gov
*There was a scam running a short time ago wherein consumers were being offered the chance to get their phones on the DonotCall list for a fee.
This is illegal, and if you see an offer like it, you should report it to the FTC.
The DNC list has been active since mid-'03, and today it will take from 2-3 months for your number(s) to be actively listed, and blocked from inclusion on a telemarketers lists.
There are exceptions to every rule, and the DNC is no different.
Companies that are exempt from the DNC's regulations are:
Non-profit organizations,
Companies with whom you have had prior dealings,
Companies to whom your expressed consent to be called has been given,
Survey takers/political campaigns.
When a marketing firm is using an auto-dialer and building their list of phone numbers to be used later by live salemen, this list is first cross-referenced with the DNC list for removals...in theory, anyway.*
* A few marketers do not see rules and regulations as a protective device...rather they see law as a speedbump that they must get around in order to keep running...and still others just roll right over it without a thought.
Their collective personal motto is the Law of the Jungle
and annoyed consumers with a complaint are not much more than a candle in the wind.
Sux, I know...but as stated on one of the "SAM I Am" boards; The most valuable gift afforded to every US citizen is personal freedom, and...When given this much freedom, some people have a hard time choosing right over wrong.
We as consumers must count on, among other agencies, the FTC to remind those unscrupulous few that the Flip Side of Freedom is Accountability.
Final note:
Because millions of Americans have subscribed to the National Do Not Call Registry, marketers are expected to seek other strategies to contact consumers, perhaps "junk" mail and unsolicited email ("spam").
However, these marketing strategies are not regulated by law, and they do not have government-mandated opt-out lists associated with them.
So, beware. If you reply to mail or spam solicitations with a signature and your phone number, you may inadvertently consent to be telemarketed.
Here are some scenarios:
...To enroll in a sweepstake or to receive a free product, you are instructed to reply with at least a signature and a phone number.
The fine print indicates that by completing the form, you agree that you may be telephoned even if your number is found on a do not call registry or inhouse list.
...You learn about a great product or deal through an email solicitation.
You are instructed to reply with your name and phone number so a sales representative can call you.
You've just inadvertantly offered your number to telemarketers, and created an "existing relationship" that makes this company exempt from the DNC's rules when they call you in the furure.
*Yes; even after they are already using it to annoy you, there are ways to Take Your Phone numbers BACK from them and make the calls stop...more on that later.
From a listing in the local phonebook to a placement on your webpage, there are a lot of ways that your phone numbers will end up in the hands of a telemarketer.
Here's some you may not be aware of:
Auto-Searches
How many times have you picked up a ringing phone only to hear dead silence, or after a few seconds a computer-voice?
Many marketers use automated sales machines (or software) that searches possible phone number combinations and dials each one.
These "random dialing" machines can test-dial thousands of numbers per hour looking for real telephones...even un-listed numbers.
For telemarketers, any "guessed" number that connects to a ringing phone is transferred to a salesman, or a pre-recorded message that delivers the pitch.
Occasionally, once the software has guessed your number and you answer, the call was transferred to a sales rep's phone...but because he was busy with another call, all you heard was silence.
Another feature of the auto-dialers is that each true phone number is placed on a list of prospects to be called later by the reps...If you answered the first call, then the next will be pitching another product.
Quite a few answering machines pickup the first tester call, but the real purpose was to compile the list of numbers for the sales reps to call at a later date with the better offers (those with higher profit margins).
800, 888, 877, 866, and 900 numbers.
When you use a toll-free number to call a business with which you have an account or to inquire about a product or service, your phone number may be captured by a system called Automatic Number Identification
(ANI).
This technology automatically identifies and stores the number from which you are dialing.
By matching your phone number with other lists and street address directories, your name and address can often be discovered and added to the company's calling and mailing list.
Not only will the company that captured your number be able to use it, they can sell or share it with their affiliates.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Go Away part 1:
National DoNotCall list
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) maintains, along with most of the federal regulations that keep marketers in line, a new service called the National DoNotCall Registry.
You can place your phone numbers (cellular too) on the DNC list for Free* by going to the FTC's new site for this purpose:
www.donotcall.gov
*There was a scam running a short time ago wherein consumers were being offered the chance to get their phones on the DonotCall list for a fee.
This is illegal, and if you see an offer like it, you should report it to the FTC.
The DNC list has been active since mid-'03, and today it will take from 2-3 months for your number(s) to be actively listed, and blocked from inclusion on a telemarketers lists.
There are exceptions to every rule, and the DNC is no different.
Companies that are exempt from the DNC's regulations are:
Non-profit organizations,
Companies with whom you have had prior dealings,
Companies to whom your expressed consent to be called has been given,
Survey takers/political campaigns.
When a marketing firm is using an auto-dialer and building their list of phone numbers to be used later by live salemen, this list is first cross-referenced with the DNC list for removals...in theory, anyway.*
* A few marketers do not see rules and regulations as a protective device...rather they see law as a speedbump that they must get around in order to keep running...and still others just roll right over it without a thought.
Their collective personal motto is the Law of the Jungle
and annoyed consumers with a complaint are not much more than a candle in the wind.
Sux, I know...but as stated on one of the "SAM I Am" boards; The most valuable gift afforded to every US citizen is personal freedom, and...When given this much freedom, some people have a hard time choosing right over wrong.
We as consumers must count on, among other agencies, the FTC to remind those unscrupulous few that the Flip Side of Freedom is Accountability.
Final note:
Because millions of Americans have subscribed to the National Do Not Call Registry, marketers are expected to seek other strategies to contact consumers, perhaps "junk" mail and unsolicited email ("spam").
However, these marketing strategies are not regulated by law, and they do not have government-mandated opt-out lists associated with them.
So, beware. If you reply to mail or spam solicitations with a signature and your phone number, you may inadvertently consent to be telemarketed.
Here are some scenarios:
...To enroll in a sweepstake or to receive a free product, you are instructed to reply with at least a signature and a phone number.
The fine print indicates that by completing the form, you agree that you may be telephoned even if your number is found on a do not call registry or inhouse list.
...You learn about a great product or deal through an email solicitation.
You are instructed to reply with your name and phone number so a sales representative can call you.
You've just inadvertantly offered your number to telemarketers, and created an "existing relationship" that makes this company exempt from the DNC's rules when they call you in the furure.