Farewell, Telemarketers; parting is so sweet!

think we Pennsylvanians will all want to do this. Today's article from the Post-gazette.

State debuts its 'do-not-call' list

The aim is to provide protection from those pesky
telemarketers

Wednesday, August 07, 2002

By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent

HARRISBURG -- Linda Och of Knoxville was thrilled
yesterday to put her
name on the new statewide "do not call" list.

It means that she no longer has to screen her telephone
calls to avoid those
annoying telemarketers.

She had been getting as many as 30 calls a day. One came
on Christmas Eve.
She said a phone salesman lured her into a credit card
scam that cost her
$400.

Never again.

"We're all victims of telemarketers, I think," she said as
she registered her
phone number on the do-not-call list. "This is the best
thing since sliced bread.
I'm thrilled."

The list was authorized by the Pennsylvania Legislature in
the spring and
signed into law by Gov. Mark Schweiker. Registration began
during a news
conference held by state Attorney General Mike Fisher, the
Republican
candidate for governor, whose office will administer the
list.

You can register at the Web site www.nocallsplease.com or
by calling
toll-free 1-888-777-3406.

The process is easy. For Och, it took 30 seconds yesterday
as the news
media looked on.

To register, a caller is asked to give his name, address,
ZIP code and phone
number. The hot line is fully automated, and is open
around the clock. A
phone number will remain on the do-not-call list for five
years.

The hot line, however, may be busy for a while, as a large
volume of callers is
expected. Try back later, Fisher suggested, noting that
Colorado registered
100,000 people on the first day of registration for its
do-not-call list.

The state's registration hot line is set up to handle
1,000 calls per hour. The
Web site can handle 12,000 per hour.

Pennsylvania's list will be compiled by Sept. 15 and given
to Direct Marketing
Association of New York for distribution to all
telemarketers in the country.
Each company will pay $465 a year for the list, which will
be updated
quarterly. Direct Marketing Association is a nonprofit
firm that is not charging
the state to compile the list.

Telemarketers will be expected to abide by the do-not-call
list as of Nov. 1.

After that, if a telemarketer calls someone whose phone
number is on the list,
Fisher said he will prosecute. Fines could range from
$1,000 per illegal call to
$3,000 if the recipient is 60 or older.

Repeat violators can be banned from doing business at all
in Pennsylvania.

The law prohibits telemarketers from intentionally
blocking consumers' caller
identification. Fisher said anyone who receives an illegal
call should notify his
Bureau of Consumer Protection with the identification of
the telemarketing
firm. If that is unknown, Fisher said, the attorney
general's staff can obtain that
information through investigation.

"Today, Pennsylvanians have the power to hang a
'do-not-disturb' sign on
their telephones and reclaim a piece of their privacy that
has been relentlessly
invaded by telemarketers," he said. "My job as attorney
general will be to
enforce this law and to prosecute any telemarketing
company that fails to
comply with your newly obtained right not to be bothered
at home."

Fisher has been working on legislation to create a
do-not-call list since 1996,
when he was a state senator.

He, too, has been bothered by telemarketers. One call, six
to eight years ago,
stuck in Fisher's memory, he said. It came at 9:30 a.m. on
a Christmas Day.

"You can imagine what I told him," Fisher said.

His wife, Carol, said she put their home number on the
do-not-call list
yesterday.

But politicians in search of votes, such as gubernatorial
candidate Fisher,
remain free to dial people at home.

Fisher said the do-not-call list will not apply to
political parties or candidates.
He said he would not promise that his campaign will forego
the use of
telemarketing firms.

Politics also plays a part in the registration process.

Callers who register by phone may notice that the
automated greeting
announces that they have reached "Attorney General Mike
Fisher's
do-not-call list."

I just registered on line. It took less than two minutes.

Kentucky implemented its no-call list in July. It is so nice to eat dinner without being interrupted by these irritating calls!

However, the state has already filed suit against three companies who have repeatedly called people on the no-call list. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Colorado has one, too, like it said in the article. It went into effect on July 1, and it has been so nice. I think we received 1 actual telemarketer (for a credit card), and 2 calls that don't officially classify themselves as telemarketing. I know here, politicians, charities, and companies you have done business with in the past 6 months can still call. Of course, they are finding a way around it. They aren't calling to sell us something, but the old "You have been selected for this wonderful prize" scheme. Somehow I think those slipped through the cracks of our law, and I expect to get more as time goes by.

I hope every state passes a law like this. It's time we all are allowed to take back our privacy!

I registered, too ........ It said Arizona was on the list. Within the last 2 days, I've been bombarded with telemarketers.

How did you find out about Arizona Tig?
I was wondering if Iowa was on it too. It let me register so I think it is or soon will be. But I want to make sure.

There's a pulldown list for the different states.

ok. call me stupid but I dont' see it...

Jugen, click on the enrollment form, and it asks you for your information. There you will see the states listed, and you can register.

Hope it helps.

It looks like We are on the list too. How do you find out if your state is registered with this no call thingy? It has Iowa on there and so I registered, but I am not sure if this is in our state or not. Sorry to be a pain in the butt....

I've always been polite to telemarkers also. I know they are under pressure from their companies, and it must be difficult to make hundreds of phone calls a day and constantly face rejection. But we've all hurried to the phone, expecting an important call, only to be asked to change our phone service by someone who makes no attempt to pronounce our names correctly.

But we've all hurried to the phone, expecting an important call, only to be asked to change our phone service by someone who makes no attempt to pronounce our names correctly.

Click to expand...

Or they don't even try to use our names. At which point, I usually say, "You don't even know who I am, so I am not interested. Thanks." Click.

I am going to register right now. Thanks for the info.

First of all, Jeanie...Thank you so very much for this very useful information!!! I really hope it works!!

And Barb...I too am not sure if Iowa has passed this law or not, but since it was on the dropdown list, I went ahead and registered...it can't hurt. Hopefully if Iowa hasn't passed this law yet, it soon will!! If you hear anything let me know, and vice versa.

Since we are on the subject, this is one of my biggest complaints for telemarketers lately....the ones who call you and can barely even speak English. Besides completely butchering our names (which aren't that complicated), I can't understand what they are selling, and they can't understand me when I either ask questions or ask to be removed from their list. The fault doesn't necessarily lie with the caller. If you are going to hire someone to make outbound calls, perhaps it should be someone who fluently speaks the majority language and not just memorize the little schpeel.

Ok, gripe session over (on my part anyway. Feel free to chime in! )

I am just so sick of these people! It used to be that if the caller ID said unavailable, we pretty much knew it was a telemarketer, and didn't answer it, which worked out well, but now that hubby's kids have cell phones, when they call it also says unavailable on the caller ID, so now we have to answer it, and I am getting so tired of saying "I'm not interested" or "She's not home".

This one guy called a few days ago and wanted to sell me windows. I said my windows were just fine, and he says, Oh, have you recently put in new ones then? and I said no, but there is nothing wrong with the old ones....he then kept at it, so I finally said, in a very stern voice...Look!! I am expecting a baby anyday now, and we have much more important things on our minds than new windows!!!
He said, Oh no problem, and hung up!

We have Privacy + on our phone line, but turned it off. I need to turn it back on. It basically prevents telemarketers from getting through to you. It worked great when we had it on. I've been to lazy to get the card out to push the button, lol. The last 2 nights Ive gotten the same telemarketing company calling. They dont' ask you who it is. It's some kind of survey on how issues affect us all, like abortion and such. As soon as they get to the 1st question, I hang up.

I was surprised to hear that there was a drop-down list of states. I thought this was for our members in PA only. However, as Debby says, it can't hurt.