How To Stop Telemarketers

This is the stuff that inspired me to start this website. The incessant annoying phone calls all day long. There are many ways to fight these vermin, ranging from a simple speech that lets them know you're aware of your legal rights, to all-out guerilla warfare... sue the bejeezus out of them! And now you have the legal weapons. You can register now with the Federal Trade Commission's Do-Not-Call registry at http://www.donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222. Since September, 2003, telemarketers are required to check the registry list every three months to determine if your telephone number is on the Do-Not-Call list. If they call you despite being listed, they are subject to fines up to $11,000 for each violation.

The Do-Not-Call registry has taken hold. I can't remember the last time we got a telemarketing call. But the time may soon come when the phones start ringing again. The telemarketing industry is suing the Federal government over the Do-Not-Call registry on free speech grounds, asserting that singling out commercial speech for regulation while allowing politicians, charities, and pollsters to thrive, is a violation of their free speech and equal protection rights. Sadly, they might easily prevail and have their switchboards and autodialers singing away again. Only time will tell.

If the telemarketers start calling again, there is only one thing I know of that you can easily do every day to reduce the amount of telemarketing calls you receive. When you pick up the phone and are greeted by that familiar dead silence while their auto-dialer routes your call, be patient. When the poor clod they've hired does finally speak to you, ask who is calling. Ignore the response. You don't really care. Immediately recite the following: "I'm sorry, but we don't take tele-marketing calls. Please put us on your Do-Not-Call List," and then hang up immediately. The phrase "Do-Not-Call List" lets them know that you are aware of your rights under state and Federal laws and are possibly just waiting to sue them. Legitimate contacts do not use auto-dialers, so don't be concerned that you are missing anything important. You cannot be held liable for failure to answer a telephone call. It is true that many groups are exempt from the new Federal Do-Not-Call laws - charities, political groups, and pollsters, for example - but even they may actually stop calling you if they know you aren't going to speak to them anyway or might be annoyed enough to never contribute to their cause or candidate. It is not a perfect defense to telemarketers, but it has been very effective in our household.

If you have the time and inclination, there are situations in which you can actually sue companies that make unsolicited calls and receive compensation. The process is tedious, convoluted, and time-consuming, but it has been done. Most of the stories you will hear of people that have successfully sued under state anti-telemarketing laws will have been directed against companies that have a presence in the home state of the plaintif. You can obtain judgements against out-of-state companies, but there is seldom any mechanism that will allow you to collect enough to be worth the time and effort. This is one reason why telemarketers hated the idea of a Federal law. A judgement in a Federal court can be enforced across state lines much more easily. Not painlessly, but at least within the realm of possibility. For more information, see our Stop SPAM and Telemarketing Links Page. There are websites shown there that will have information on how to keep the proper records you will need to file suit and other details.