Does the Do Not Call List Work?
Unsolicited phone calls can be aggravating and annoying, but can they be stopped?
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As far back as 1991, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has tried to stop unsolicited phone calls. Original rules included provisions that anyone who calls has to provide his or her name, the company from which they are calling, and a number at which to be called back. Calls could also not be made after 9 p.m. or before 8 a.m.
Now, with many people having caller ID, ignoring solicitation calls has been made easier than before. You can also request your number be put on a national do not call list by visiting the Do Not Call Web site. Each state also has it's own do not call list that can be found at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Web site.
But with all the ways to identify and stop unwanted callers, many companies still find a way to make the calls, even with a FCC fine as a threat.
Are you getting more and more unsolicited calls even though you are on the Do Not Call List? Tell us in the comments box.
Kristi Reed
11:58 am on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Anyone else get the annoying calls from "Rachel at Card Services" with the offer to lower your interest rate? I bet I get five or six of those a week. I have reported them numerous times, but they just keep calling from different numbers.
R++ - One of the famous "Dacula Crew"
3:31 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
And I thought Rachel was an old high school flame...
Ed Varn
12:43 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Card Services is a scam based out of Washington, DC. You can expect more calls from them. They jump around from state to state staying ahead of any enforcement of DNC efforts, if there are any. Placing your number on the Do Not Call list prolly does eliminate a great number of calls you would have gotten. It may actually be a Federal program that works. But they don't have the manpower to investigate every scammer out there, and the problem isn't of such magnitude that any further expenditures would be warranted. The scammers will always be living on the edges.
Kristi Reed
12:54 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
It is so frustrating to deal with them. They give you the option to select "3" to be placed on their do not call list. I've tried - that doesn't work. I've also held on to speak with a representative. The minute I start to either ask questions about who they are or where they are located, they hang up. I've filed online complaints through the do not call list too. So frustrating!
Ed Varn
7:14 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
@ Kristi--see, that's where you made your mistake--you picked up! These scammers get paid on number of contacts as well as actual sales, so by picking up you made them money and were marked as a guaranteed constant call-back. I've heard even answering machines trigger some profit for these weasels. @Carol--Complaints to the DNC are fruitless: see my post above.
carol Atkinson
6:12 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Ditto, Kristi..........I am so sick and tired of getting calls telling me that the FBI thinks my neighborhood is subject to lots of crime, and I'd better have them come out and install a "FREE" security system, I could scream. Sometimes the calls come several times in the same day. So far, the DNC list is not effective against a number of companies that insist on repeat calls. And do they think that after being inundated with their annoying calls, I would actually want to abuse myself with their services?
Kristi Reed
6:35 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
@R - LOL! Sorry to disappoint you. @Carol - That's what I don't understand. Why on earth would they think annoying me with call after call after call would possibly earn my business?
R++ - One of the famous "Dacula Crew"
11:29 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
They checked our zip codes, heard of and watched some of the TSPLOST campaign and collectively reasoned;
"Hey if they would believe THAT crock - They'll believe anything!"
If they hear it enough times ...
Kristi Reed
7:10 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
@R - I think you have hit upon the answer.