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429,000 Do-Not-Call Complaints
The Ghetto Imp writes "Is the do-not-call list working for you? According to CNN Money, there have been over 429,000 complaints filed with the FTC over do-not-call violations. The list is incredibly popular, with apparently some 62 million numbers registered. Apparently the worst offenders are the Credit Foundation of America, and our friends at AT&T. In an era where companies use computers to spam pre-recorded messages through our phone lines, does the FTC have the teeth to make unsolicited calls a thing of the past? At $11,000 per violation, let's hope so!"
If they call me... can I get in on some of that... Please!
- Your stupidity got you into this mess, why can't it get you out? -Will Rogers
Because then all telemarketers will move to India, where the law would have no bearing. So every time I get pulled from the dinner table, I will pretend it is Apu from the Simpsons. No offense to Indians meant.
I stole this sig.
"That is a huge number of complaints to be filed for anything," said Jean Ann Fox, Director of Consumer Protection of the Consumer Protection of Federation, told CNN/Money.
I wasn't aware the Federation had a Director for the Consumer Protection, or even that the Federation existed!
Shallow, quickly posted comment made only to generate positive karma before any decent posts are made.
Moderators, please mod the parent down. Thank you.
Shallow, quickly posted comment made only to generate positive karma before any decent posts are made.
OR.....
generic slashdot comment, good for almost any story or circumstance. Never have to wrack your brain again!
You decide! Operators are standing by.
#!/usr/bin/english
A few years ago I got a call from one of their marketers trying to switch my long distance service and I interupted him by saying
..."
Me: "You know, I'm not interested
Him: "Well fuck you then"
Me: "What? fuck me?"
Him: *Loudly* "Yeah, fuck you!"
Me: "You got to be kidding me, you called me from AT&T"
Him: "Fuck you" *Hangs up*
At first I thought it was a prank call, but then I remembered that it had all the right initial sounds that a telemarketer call would have like the initial pause and sounds made while the computer connects me with the marketer.
429,000 x $11,000 per violation = roughly $4.7 billion in potential fines. Now if only there were do-not-spam fine like this. The government could collect enough money to solve that $8 trillion deficit.
Do what I do. When they call, speak very faintly until they turn their volume up. Then turn the speakerphone on at the base unit and touch the antennas together for some high pitched feedback. Works for me. And yes I'm happy with my long distance.
Yeah, I was all amped to be able to threaten callers with that $11,000 fine but I rarely get the chance.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Is there a -1, Karmawhore moderation option? If not, it is a massive oversight and should be corrected immediately.
There are too many ways around this to see anyone take a fall.
#!/usr/bin/english
yeah but I'm broke!
I think the unspoken hope for a lot of us is that eventually the entire telemarketing industry will be marginalized or
outright shut down by this law. Sounds like it's working quite nicely.
No personal offense intended, by the way, I know you're just trying to put food on your family.
25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
It's getting so annoying I'm thinking of leaving tech support altogether.
They're exempt from FTC enforcement because they come under the FCC's jurisdiction. The FCC issued a ruling that requires companies under their jurisdiction follow the Do Not Call list too with the same penalties.
As that stupid two minute thing has kicked in, here's another joke shamelessly copied from Guardian Talk's Haven's Any Good Jokes thread:
An American tourist in London found himself needing to take a leak something terrible.
After a long search he just couldn't find any public bathroom to relieve himself.
So he went down one of the side streets to take care of business.
Just as he was unzipping, a London police officer showed up. "Look here, old chap, what are you doing?" the officer asked.
"I'm sorry," the American replied, but I really gotta take a leak." "You can't do that here," the officer told him. "Look, follow me."
The police officer led him to a beautiful garden with lots of grass, pretty flowers, and manicured hedges. "Here," said the policeman, "whiz away."
The American tourist shrugged, turned, unzipped, and started pissing on the flowers.
"Ahhh," he said in relief. Then turning toward the officer, he said, "This is very nice of you. Is this British courtesy?"
"No," retorted the policeman. "It's the French Embassy."
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Please, it would probably take about $10B in overhead to actually collect that $5B.
Why are you letting these clowns ruin our country?
You know the worst kind of charity call? Door to door collectors for the Police Benevolency Association.
I got one the other day -- cop in full blues and badge walks up to my door, rings the bell. Meanwhile, I'm upstairs clearing my browser cache, closing my FTP and KaZaa windows, dismounting my AES drives and trying like hell to get a Wipe Free Space pass started. I get down there and whip out my best "wossaproblemofficer," and he's like "Oh nothing, I was wondering if you wanted to give to the PBA. I got these sweet window stickers."
Needless to say, I was pissed. But he got my $20. I'm a sucker for a window sticker.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
I had a window company that kept calling me, and wanting to make an appointment to inspect my windows. I repeatedly asked them to remove me from their list, to no avail. So, I scheduled an appointment the next day at noon, when I wasn't home. So they sent out a truck. I got a call the next evening saying that they had showed up and I wasn't there. I apologized very humbly, and said I would be there tomorrow at noon, which I wasn't. They called back again, and I again apologized, and said for them to come back the next day at noon. That evening was the last I'd ever heard from them, when I asked if they wanted to try again tomorrow at noon, hehe.
-Jesse
Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
"Hi! Every week, one of our representatives calls you, and every week, you tell him to fuck off, and then you hang up on him. We would like to show you how much we enjoy our continuing business relationship by offering you a great deal on some vinyl siding!"
The easy solution to this is to start asking tough questions, like "what's your sample size," and "how do you plan to plan to overcome CMOS errors in a sample this small?" Ok, so it's not a solution, but at least you'll get a laugh when the dumbass on the other end of the line asks what a sample size is.
It's actually illegal for them to call back after being told this.
Like they care.
I had some jerk call me from some company, no idea who it was. He was faking retardation, trying to play on my emotions to sell me something. Talking real slow, stuttering, etc. The conversation went like this:
Me: "No thank you, please take me off your list."
Him: "Ohhhhhhkkayyy sirr... I call back tomorrow."
Me: "No, please take me off your list."
Him: "Ohhhkayy, I call back tomorrow."
Me: "No no, please don't call me back tomorrow. I want you to take me off your list. Please don't call me again."
Him, this time in a perfect normal voice: "OK. I'll talk to you tomorrow! Hahahahaha! (click)."
Bastard.
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
In order to even access the list, we must go through several hours of online paperwork that is highly redundant and of no real use in the end.
Yes, it's just awful when people's time is wasted.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
Oh I get out of those by being stupid/weird. Sometimes my answer is perfectly legitimate - "We're doing a survey. Can you tell me how much radio and television you watch in a week?" "Um, a normal week? Well, none. Yep, none at all."
Other times I have to act stupid: "Oh, we elect presidents now? Wait until the king hears about this." or "Yeah, I always write-in 'Chef Boy-ar-dee' when I vote."
If you still get telemarketing calls, at least you can have fun with them...
[SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
A good friend of mine (who may read this) got a call from a marketer that went something like this:
TM: Hello, I'm from $phonecompany, and I'm calling to see if you want to switch your service FR: I don't have a phone here. TM: Oh, I'm sorry *hangs up*
I still laugh very hard about that one.
-Jesse
Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.