topic Do not call in Community Chat

Do not call

hyacinth003 — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:28:41 GMT

I was getting really tired of all the unwanted phone calls.

I finally went to that "do not call" website and signed up for it.

It has actually been working!

Over the last few weeks, I have been getting fewer and fewer calls.

So, anyone that wants to try it, know that it probably DOES work.

Hyacinth

Re: Do not call

chickenbutt — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:30:46 GMT

It does make a difference. The only problem is that there are a lot of exemptions so there are still calls you eventually end up getting. During political campaign times I end up turning off all my ringers after a while. Then I miss calls I want. There is no easy answer. I wish the do not call list was tighter. The exemptions are b.s., IMO.

Re: Do not call

colliegirls — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:32:06 GMT

I have been on the DoNotCall list for ages but still get plenty of calls. I am really fed up with it.

Re: Do not call

lulu2 — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:35:14 GMT

It makes a difference but if you give to a charity and they share their lists, you will still be inundated with calls.

Also, solicitations from cell phones get through.

Re: Do not call

kittymomNC — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:44:21 GMT

Telemarketers don't care if you're on the Do Not Call list. They don't check before calling, the calls are made by electronic calling machines of some sort, and the companies responsible just take the chance that nothing will ever happen to them for making the calls. And it won't.

I've been on the Do Not Call List for years, and at first it really cut down on the calls, then they started picking up again. I re-registered, even though they say you don't need to, and that didn't help. Then I started reporting unsolicited calls to the Do Not Call Registry... they can't enforce it, so why bother? That didn't work. I've tried blocking a few numbers that I keep getting calls from. But they just change the number they're calling from, and you get the same message.

I check my caller I.D. (I have digital phone and if I'm watching TV, it shows up on the screen as well as on the phone), and ignore the calls. Once in a while they'll leave a message, most of the time they hang up.

But it gets irritating as all get-out, because you really can't do a thing to stop it.

Re: Do not call

KathyPet — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:55:50 GMT

Law abiding telemarketing firms do abide by the law and will not call if you are registered. Unfortunately most of these telemarketers Are not following the law and since the Federal,Government seems to either be incapable or uninterested in catching and prosecuting these violators there is no reason for them to,stop these calls. gotta love our Federal Govt. they pass a lot of laws but then don't enforce them.

Re: Do not call

chickenbutt — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:57:11 GMT

I've heard that they are supposed to at least fine the offenders and have had a couple of good results reporting them over the years.

The problem, however, became that these telemarketers LIE and tell the list that you have done business with them which, as we all know, makes them exempt.

I got an email back from the list on one that I reported. It said that the response they got was that I had done business with one of the telemarketer's companies and even listed those companies - NONE of which I had ever even heard of.

I just HATE stuff that affects me, yet it's out of my control so you can imagine my anger, but we pay for our phone numbers and we should be able to have more control over who uses them. It's like none of us have ANY right to privacy in our homes, on the land and structure for which we pay the taxes and mortgage so anybody can use our phone number or lay on the doorbell and bang on the door to try and sell us stuff, even with no soliciting signs and even with paying more for private and unlisted phone numbers. For me, that is just fundamentally wrong on such a profound level.

Yikes, sorry - I guess I got started. This stuff agitates me beyond belief. It's just wrong wrong wrong. I don't do this stuff to others and I feel that they have no right to do it to me.

Re: Do not call

kittymomNC — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:03:45 GMT

If you multiplied the number of unsolicited calls I get in an average week, by the number of households in America with phones, and we all reported all these callers, they would have to hire thousands of Government employees to enforce the Do Not Call rules. I think when they first instituted this, they had no idea just how much the telemarketing business was going to grow, or that most of them would wind up being unscrupulous and not adhere to the law -- and a lot of these calls may not look like it from the phone numbers, but they also come from off-shore.

Re: Do not call

chickenbutt — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:09:48 GMT

Good point, Kittymom! This is something that has truly exploded over the years. No one could be prepared for that, I guess. They meant well - to a point - it just didn't come off. The exemptions are one area that really irk me. There should not have been exemptions, or at least not as many as there are.

Re: Do not call

hyacinth003 — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:11:53 GMT

On 3/3/2015 chickenbutt said:
Good point, Kittymom! This is something that has truly exploded over the years. No one could be prepared for that, I guess. They meant well - to a point - it just didn't come off. The exemptions are one area that really irk me. There should not have been exemptions, or at least not as many as there are.

Always exemptions, huh?

Makes me think if you put money in the right places, you can get your exemptions.

Hyacinth

Re: Do not call

ID2 — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:28:41 GMT

The ONLY way to get rid of unwanted calls is not to sign up for the Do Not Call list, its to get rid of your landline phone!!!! That's THE only way! I've had my cell phone only for about 6 years now and haven't received not one unwanted phone call. NONE!! It works!

Re: Do not call

chickenbutt — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:34:04 GMT

On 3/3/2015 ID2 said:
The ONLY way to get rid of unwanted calls is not to sign up for the Do Not Call list, its to get rid of your landline phone!!!! That's THE only way! I've had my cell phone only for about 6 years now and haven't received not one unwanted phone call. NONE!! It works!

Unfortunately, a lot of people can't get rid of the landline but I sure would if I could! We have one line that we use for telephoning and the internet, and the other line is used by our security system. Both lines unlisted and private, but that doesn't make a difference anymore.

On my cell phone I was starting to get spam texts a while back and, since I don't text anyway, I had to block texting to get rid of that. My cell phone number has also been on the dnc list since it started. Hope you don't start getting those! It was irritating, to say the least. I don't give my cell phone number out a lot and, even though I've had the same number for 20 years, somehow the spam texts came.

Re: Do not call

lulu2 — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:41:25 GMT

On 3/3/2015 ID2 said:
The ONLY way to get rid of unwanted calls is not to sign up for the Do Not Call list, its to get rid of your landline phone!!!! That's THE only way! I've had my cell phone only for about 6 years now and haven't received not one unwanted phone call. NONE!! It works!

At least half the solicitations we get are from cell phone numbers. (probably throw-a-ways) They are not registered to any organization or telemarketing firm. Registering for Do Not Call would do no good.

Re: Do not call

Krimpette — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:59:09 GMT

One thing I've noticed (although I might be jumping the gun), but it seems like filing a complaint with donotcall.gov really does something. I was getting three calls a day from one number and almost daily calls from another thing. Since filing the complaints, I haven't had the calls. (Not to say they might not start up again, since my complaint is very recent). One other thing I did was to answer both calls. Before anyone could say anything, I blurted out: "This number had been reported to the FTC" and then I immediately hung up. Maybe someone was on the other end of the line. Don't know.

Re: Do not call

ROMARY — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:31:41 GMT

I'm on that list, and instead of probably 40 calls a day, it's down to about ten. Mostly from lots of solicitors pushing solar, and various 'charities' (which some of them are tweeked names. Similar, but not the exact names/ones we know of and trust). I can't even mention what a couple of these solicitors said to me. Twisted thoughts, for sure. Also, I don't think that the true 'scammers' care at all about the laws and regulations and do- not -call list, anyway.

Re: Do not call

gloriajean — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:35:13 GMT

I'm on that too. Almost every day I get a call from New York. I don't answer. All other states I don't answer, only if it's local.

Re: Do not call

Snowpuppy — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:36:12 GMT

I only have a cell with no personalized greeting. I never answer a # I don't know.

They quit calling if you don't answer. Once you answer you're doomed.

I don't feel compelled to pick it up. It's my phone and my $ I'm spending.

Re: Do not call

dooBdoo — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 09:54:51 GMT

On 3/3/2015 chickenbutt said:
On 3/3/2015 ID2 said:
The ONLY way to get rid of unwanted calls is not to sign up for the Do Not Call list, its to get rid of your landline phone!!!! That's THE only way! I've had my cell phone only for about 6 years now and haven't received not one unwanted phone call. NONE!! It works!

Unfortunately, a lot of people can't get rid of the landline but I sure would if I could! We have one line that we use for telephoning and the internet, and the other line is used by our security system. Both lines unlisted and private, but that doesn't make a difference anymore.

On my cell phone I was starting to get spam texts a while back and, since I don't text anyway, I had to block texting to get rid of that. My cell phone number has also been on the dnc list since it started. Hope you don't start getting those! It was irritating, to say the least. I don't give my cell phone number out a lot and, even though I've had the same number for 20 years, somehow the spam texts came.

Hi, chickie! On some cell phones you can block the senders when spam texts come in, and with some of the providers there's a reporting mechanism. I use AT&T, and an iPad and iPhone. I've only received maybe 10 or 15 spammy texts in the 5 1/2 years I've used iPhones, just blocked them and reported them to AT&T (forward them to 7726). And there's an email address to report iMessages to Apple.

They manage to get through to cell numbers, usually, because they're just scrolling through random numbers and hoping to get a response.

Re: Do not call

betteb — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 11:28:55 GMT

You can also register at nomorerobo.com to stop those automated calls.

Re: Do not call

Stella Dallas — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:17:29 GMT

Finally--something you're NOT complaining about!