How to give telemarketers a taste of their own medicine.... | In his decision on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham blocked the list based on telemarketers' free speech rights. The do-not-call list applies to telemarketers but not to nonprofit organizations, politicians and pollsters. Nottingham found that the registry "does not materially advance its interest in protecting privacy or curbing abusive telemarketing practices." "The registry creates a burden on one type of speech based solely on its content, without a logical, coherent privacy-based or prevention-of-abuse-based reason supporting the disparate treatment of different categories of speech," Nottingham ruled. |
![[Feedback]](http://www.junkbusters.com/images/fb.gif) What to say when they call if you don't want junk calls
Every time you get a call you consider junk, just ask the questions in this script. If they answer no, you may be able to sue them. You can print copies of it to keep by every phone at home. If everyone follows it, the junk calls will slowly but surely drop off.
- ``Are you calling to sell something?'' (or ``is this a telemarketing call?'')
- ``Could you tell me your full name please?'' $
- ``And a phone number, area code first?'' $
- ``What's the name of the organization you're calling for?'' $
- ``Does that organization keep a list of numbers it's been asked not to call?'' $
- ``I would like my number(s) put on that list. Can you take care of that now?'' $
- ``And does the company you work for also make telemarketing calls for any other organizations?'' (If they answer no, skip the next question.)
- (If yes) ``Can you make sure your company won't call me for any other organization?'' $
You may need to ask to speak with a supervisor if they sound lost. When you're ready to let them off, you might close with ``Is it clear that I never want telemarketing calls from anyone?'' and just say goodbye. If you feel like making them pay, keep going:
- ``Will your company keep my number on its do-not-call list for at least ten years?'' $
- ``And does your company have a written policy that says that on paper?'' $
- ``Can you send me a copy of it?'' $
- ``What's your supervisor's first and last name?''
- ``What's your employer's business name, address and main telephone number?''
- ``Are you calling for a tax-exempt nonprofit organization?''
- ``Is this call based on a previously established business relationship?''
Before hanging up, check you have all their answers written down, then say goodbye. Add the date and time to your record. (Is it between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.? $) Disclaimer: nothing here should be taken as legal advice. If they answer no to any question ending in ``$'' you may be able to sue them for $500-$1500 under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. But if the answer to either of the last two questions is yes, then the Act doesn't consider the call to be a solicitation, so it's not covered by many of its regulations. Also excluded are calls to business numbers. For more details, see our pages on federal laws and on how to reduce telemarketing calls and junk mail. JUNKBUSTERS DECLARE makes it easy to tell companies not sell your phone number to telemarketers, and to request the Direct Marketing Association's Telephone Preference Service.
Home · Next · Site Map · Legal · Privacy · Cookies · Banner Ads · Telemarketing · Mail · Spam · Action Copyright © 1996-2001 Junkbusters ® Corporation. Copying and distribution permitted under the GNU General Public License. 2001/01/26 http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/script.html See Galway Communications for the best site I've seen about how to avoid telemarketers, and how to avoid phone fraud. | |
