Thursday, September 29, 2005
Latest (206) telemarketer numbers. (206 415 8482) teamtec (231 224 2018) GCI (206 278 9031) Reservation Co (269 537 2029) (269 537 2028) (269 537 2027) (231 224 2000) last four all (customer service).
Anti206 got a mention in the Wall Street Journal. Just a matter of time until someone in the mainstream media does a story on this problem.
Do-Not-Call Lists Under Fire
After Two Years and One Million Complaints,Only Six Federal Fines Have Been Issued
By CHRISTOPHER CONKEY Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNALSeptember 28, 2005; Page D1
Two years after the National Do Not Call Registry took effect -- and with more than 100 million numbers enrolled -- dinner-time conversations are still being interrupted by telemarketing calls.
Regulators say the system is working, but a recent random survey (by telephone) by the Customer Care Alliance, a Virginia-based consortium of three customer-relations consultants, found that 51% of registered consumers say they're still getting calls they think the list is supposed to block. Lois Greisman, the Federal Trade Commission official in charge of the registry, says the agency receives a "steady flow" of between 1,000 and 2,000 complaints about telemarketers every day.
Yet to date, there have been remarkably few fines issued by federal regulators. Despite one million reports of violations, the FTC has filed only 14 lawsuits and levied only four fines. The Federal Communications Commission, which jointly administers the program with the FTC, has issued warnings but only two fines, one to AT&T Corp., the company with the contract for administering the program.
Ms. Greisman defends the FTC's enforcement record and says that only a small minority of telemarketers break the rules. Her counterpart at the FCC, Monica Desai, says, "Consumers who have registered are getting fewer calls and, in cases where there are violations, the FCC and FTC have been enforcing the rules."
Now, a fresh fight is brewing over which calls are restricted and which ones aren't. Twenty-five states maintain their own do-not-call lists, and many of them impose tougher restrictions on the kinds of calls that telemarketers can make.
As a result, a number of states view the national registry as a weaker tool that undercuts their more stringent protections, and some have been more eager to impose penalties for violations. Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, for example, has filed more than 110 lawsuits against companies that have run afoul of its registry, which, unlike the national list, doesn't permit prerecorded messages.
But telemarketers are taking aim at states that have maintained or created tougher restrictions, petitioning the federal government to override them.
In July, 10 U.S. senators urged FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to reject efforts to weaken state laws, saying "consumers will continue to be served best by a dual regulation system that allows state responses to telemarketing practices." The FCC is currently debating the petition and is expected to rule later this year.
While the Do Not Call registry was celebrated initially as a way to eliminate all bothersome calls, the national program has some significant limitations. For one thing, it doesn't apply to nonprofit groups, pollsters or political organizations. And under the "existing business relationship" exemption, a company can call a customer for 18 months following a purchase. Businesses also can call those who have "inquired" about a product or service within three months.
DO-NOT-CALL TIPS
Some ways to shield yourself from telemarketers:
• Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov, or call 888-382-1222. • Tell callers to put you on their company's do-not-call list, which they must maintain by law. • Sign up for your state's do-not-call list. (Many have one, but some charge a fee.) • Get on the industry's list at www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offtelephone.
The telemarketing industry is also finding ways to adapt to the restrictions. Consumers who notice fewer cold calls at home may be getting more solicitations at work or through the mail or from companies with which they do business.
Jack Smith, a student from Silver Creek, Minn., says he still gets prerecorded messages and automated "sniffers" trying to detect whether he is home. And technology consultant Phil Smedile of Boston still suffers through a regular barrage. "I still get mortgage-refinance calls almost daily," Mr. Smedile says, ticking off the list of intrusions he gets from financial firms and other, more mysterious outfits. "Once a week, I get a call telling me I've won a cruise!"
Telemarketers were challenging state do-not-call lists in court well before the national registry began, and many hoped the adoption of the federal list in October 2003 would set a single standard that states would follow. Many states fell into line, either adopting the national registry as their own or merging their lists, but a handful clung to their more restrictive laws. Telemarketers then issued a rash of petitions and lawsuits seeking to nullify various aspects of state laws.
This all led up to a petition filed in April by 33 different organizations seeking to invalidate the "morass of existing and proposed state laws" and clarify, once and for all, that the FCC alone has jurisdiction over interstate telemarketing. If granted in full, the petition would prevent Indiana, New Jersey and others from restricting the activities of national telemarketers, leaving them with the reduced option of regulating intrastate calls.
In Indiana, where the state registry doesn't have the broad "existing business relationship" loophole, Attorney General Steve Carter set up a Web site, www.savedonotcall.org, after telemarketers petitioned the FCC to pre-empt key aspects of state laws. "Your privacy is threatened, but our fight against these threats has just begun," the site declares. "Together, we can stop the FCC from overriding Indiana's strong Do Not Call law."
The FTC is currently considering a request from the Direct Marketing Association, a trade group, to loosen restrictions on so-called abandoned calls, in which consumers are greeted with silence when they answer the phone. Abandoned calls are a byproduct of "predictive" dialing, which occurs when computerized systems place prerecorded calls to more numbers than they can handle at one time. Granting the petition would bring the FTC's rules in line with more-lenient FCC regulations on abandoned calls.
Some consumers are taking it upon themselves to fight back. Tips for how to frustrate telemarketers circulate online, and sites like www.antitelemarketer.com play host to heated debates between angry consumers and telemarketers. One regular on the site started his own blog -- anti206.blogspot.com -- to publicize his feud with interstate telemarketers that call from area code 206 in Seattle.
Lynn Willner, a research scientist at George Washington University, says she signs up for do-not-call lists, shreds her bills, opts out of mail solicitations, has added antispyware software to her computer and checks her credit report yearly, but still feels like she's falling behind. "At this point, I feel like I'm fighting a losing war," she says. "Is there really any positive news out there about the protection of consumer privacy?"
Maybe this: For $1, the Direct Marketing Association will put the recently deceased on a special beyond-the-grave do-not-call list, so telemarketers don't direct calls to a departed loved one.
Anti206 got a mention in the Wall Street Journal. Just a matter of time until someone in the mainstream media does a story on this problem.
Do-Not-Call Lists Under Fire
After Two Years and One Million Complaints,Only Six Federal Fines Have Been Issued
By CHRISTOPHER CONKEY Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNALSeptember 28, 2005; Page D1
Two years after the National Do Not Call Registry took effect -- and with more than 100 million numbers enrolled -- dinner-time conversations are still being interrupted by telemarketing calls.
Regulators say the system is working, but a recent random survey (by telephone) by the Customer Care Alliance, a Virginia-based consortium of three customer-relations consultants, found that 51% of registered consumers say they're still getting calls they think the list is supposed to block. Lois Greisman, the Federal Trade Commission official in charge of the registry, says the agency receives a "steady flow" of between 1,000 and 2,000 complaints about telemarketers every day.
Yet to date, there have been remarkably few fines issued by federal regulators. Despite one million reports of violations, the FTC has filed only 14 lawsuits and levied only four fines. The Federal Communications Commission, which jointly administers the program with the FTC, has issued warnings but only two fines, one to AT&T Corp., the company with the contract for administering the program.
Ms. Greisman defends the FTC's enforcement record and says that only a small minority of telemarketers break the rules. Her counterpart at the FCC, Monica Desai, says, "Consumers who have registered are getting fewer calls and, in cases where there are violations, the FCC and FTC have been enforcing the rules."
Now, a fresh fight is brewing over which calls are restricted and which ones aren't. Twenty-five states maintain their own do-not-call lists, and many of them impose tougher restrictions on the kinds of calls that telemarketers can make.
As a result, a number of states view the national registry as a weaker tool that undercuts their more stringent protections, and some have been more eager to impose penalties for violations. Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, for example, has filed more than 110 lawsuits against companies that have run afoul of its registry, which, unlike the national list, doesn't permit prerecorded messages.
But telemarketers are taking aim at states that have maintained or created tougher restrictions, petitioning the federal government to override them.
In July, 10 U.S. senators urged FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to reject efforts to weaken state laws, saying "consumers will continue to be served best by a dual regulation system that allows state responses to telemarketing practices." The FCC is currently debating the petition and is expected to rule later this year.
While the Do Not Call registry was celebrated initially as a way to eliminate all bothersome calls, the national program has some significant limitations. For one thing, it doesn't apply to nonprofit groups, pollsters or political organizations. And under the "existing business relationship" exemption, a company can call a customer for 18 months following a purchase. Businesses also can call those who have "inquired" about a product or service within three months.
DO-NOT-CALL TIPS
Some ways to shield yourself from telemarketers:
• Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov, or call 888-382-1222. • Tell callers to put you on their company's do-not-call list, which they must maintain by law. • Sign up for your state's do-not-call list. (Many have one, but some charge a fee.) • Get on the industry's list at www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offtelephone.
The telemarketing industry is also finding ways to adapt to the restrictions. Consumers who notice fewer cold calls at home may be getting more solicitations at work or through the mail or from companies with which they do business.
Jack Smith, a student from Silver Creek, Minn., says he still gets prerecorded messages and automated "sniffers" trying to detect whether he is home. And technology consultant Phil Smedile of Boston still suffers through a regular barrage. "I still get mortgage-refinance calls almost daily," Mr. Smedile says, ticking off the list of intrusions he gets from financial firms and other, more mysterious outfits. "Once a week, I get a call telling me I've won a cruise!"
Telemarketers were challenging state do-not-call lists in court well before the national registry began, and many hoped the adoption of the federal list in October 2003 would set a single standard that states would follow. Many states fell into line, either adopting the national registry as their own or merging their lists, but a handful clung to their more restrictive laws. Telemarketers then issued a rash of petitions and lawsuits seeking to nullify various aspects of state laws.
This all led up to a petition filed in April by 33 different organizations seeking to invalidate the "morass of existing and proposed state laws" and clarify, once and for all, that the FCC alone has jurisdiction over interstate telemarketing. If granted in full, the petition would prevent Indiana, New Jersey and others from restricting the activities of national telemarketers, leaving them with the reduced option of regulating intrastate calls.
In Indiana, where the state registry doesn't have the broad "existing business relationship" loophole, Attorney General Steve Carter set up a Web site, www.savedonotcall.org, after telemarketers petitioned the FCC to pre-empt key aspects of state laws. "Your privacy is threatened, but our fight against these threats has just begun," the site declares. "Together, we can stop the FCC from overriding Indiana's strong Do Not Call law."
The FTC is currently considering a request from the Direct Marketing Association, a trade group, to loosen restrictions on so-called abandoned calls, in which consumers are greeted with silence when they answer the phone. Abandoned calls are a byproduct of "predictive" dialing, which occurs when computerized systems place prerecorded calls to more numbers than they can handle at one time. Granting the petition would bring the FTC's rules in line with more-lenient FCC regulations on abandoned calls.
Some consumers are taking it upon themselves to fight back. Tips for how to frustrate telemarketers circulate online, and sites like www.antitelemarketer.com play host to heated debates between angry consumers and telemarketers. One regular on the site started his own blog -- anti206.blogspot.com -- to publicize his feud with interstate telemarketers that call from area code 206 in Seattle.
Lynn Willner, a research scientist at George Washington University, says she signs up for do-not-call lists, shreds her bills, opts out of mail solicitations, has added antispyware software to her computer and checks her credit report yearly, but still feels like she's falling behind. "At this point, I feel like I'm fighting a losing war," she says. "Is there really any positive news out there about the protection of consumer privacy?"
Maybe this: For $1, the Direct Marketing Association will put the recently deceased on a special beyond-the-grave do-not-call list, so telemarketers don't direct calls to a departed loved one.
# posted by steve @ 11:42 PM 
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I am so damn furious at the moment. I got a call from 269-537-2020. The woman came on the line and I said I'd like to discuss my account, since the recording said they needed to talk to me about said account. I do not have a single credit card. Not one. So, I was a bit alarmed. Her response was "Do you have over 3000 dollars in credit card debt?" and I said "I have NO credit card debt" she cut me off midsentance and said "Well you just have a nice day then" while I frantically tried to demand to be removed from their call list, she hung up on me after I had asked her twice.
nikki,hanging up is very common with this telemarketer. My last call was (231 224 2018)GCI.When I asked who she worked for she said "Dish Network". I said, "no who do you work for" and she said "I don't know". I said, "you don't know who you work for" and she hung up. It is illegal for a telemarketer to hang up on you. They must give you their name,phone number,and name of business when you ask.They also must honor your DNC request.
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