Annoying Phone Calls and "Do Not Call" Register

Registration is supposed to last 3 years. But this is run by a Govt department, so nothing's certain.

My numbers are on the list - it's quite funny when you get a call from one of the marketers who don't bother to check the list - I ask them if they know they are liable for prosecution, and they hang up so fast it's funny.

as you probably know there are quite a few exempt from the list such as charities, companies you have dealt with before, political stuff, researchers you have participated with etc etc.

The "do not call register" has only been open to registering since 3 May 2007......

Considering the register came into play 1 July 2007 and you will be listed for 3 years IIRC, then they are telling you b/s.

I've had two or three calls recently from companies ignoring the register. The trick is to take their focus off their prepared speech and ask them questions...lots of them. What's your name again, who do you work for, where are you calling from, what's the weather like in ______ at the moment, do you know Jim Dawes (fake name) who also works in _______, i hear his wife is having another baby, you must know him, is it a good company you work for, do they pay well, how much, you could do so much better if you went to machete marketing (fake name), do you want their number, how about you give me your number and i'll get the boss to personally call to arrange a better paying job, etc

Oh, how i miss telemarketers ;-)

Andrew

Hi Phil,
Before the Govt DNC register launched in May this year, there was a voluntary register run by the direct marketing association. I registered on that some years ago, but it made no difference.
The current one has some teeth, and if I get a call, I take as much info as they are able to give me (some hang up as soon as I ask questions) and forward it to the DNC website.
A recent example was Lifestyle Dynamics, who were one of the worst offenders, and were recently taken to task by the Govt over defying the DNC register.
The Govt can only act if you forward the info to the DNC register.
Gerry

Do not call has helped but will not stop unqualified TM companies from doing random calling I suppose. There is a lack of ethics in that industry, riddled with scumbags and call at all costs mentality. Silent number is the only way to go..

Yea but- the Do Not Call Register does NOT exclude charities and political marketing !!! So just leave the phone off the hook til Sunday. Coz those bloody pollies are gonna be flooding the phone lines - especially in those close areas....

Interesting discussion and for what it is worth here are some of my comments.

As a market research company we are entitled to call anybody for research purposes. What happens is that some companies call on the premise that they are doing research eg we are researching what kind of roof ... and then go into a sales pitch. This is quite unethical and my advice would be to question them as to who they are - name etc and tell them you are going to report them.
The shame is it is just some young person trying to make a buck and the guys in the backroom don't care.

Other callers call from overseas where there are no controls. Forget about the no call number because they start at 1 and just keep going. If there is a delay when you answer then you know - they use voip which results in a delay. Solution - slam - no put - the phone down.

Registering on the DNC is a good idea to stop telemarketing or at least minimise it. Phone numbers they are just circulated and we often contact people who have silent numbers. They are not impressed but we might be using a list 3 or 4 years old and they have only just picked up that number.

Remember, everytime you fill in a competition like those run frequently at shopping centres with a beaut (non 4X4) car as a prize, they ask for you phone number. Read the fine print which says that you authorise them to to contact you and to pass your number onto to others for the same reason.

Cheers
Fred

Hi everyone

Well I learnt something.

It looks like I'm in the voluntary "Do Not Call" register as it was definitely very early 2007 or maybe even late 2006, well before the "proper" one.

I will now have to register again in the one with some legal teeth.

Thanks for your replies

Cheers
Phil

Bugger the phone calls , don't get that many . What i'd like to know is how to stop the rubbish e-mail's ? We get 20 to 30 and some times more a day. Now , that is starting to get me pee'd off . Errol

Do what i did Phil ,, just keep insisting you don't want to buy sex over the phone from them ,, done this to an Asian girl one arvo ,, she eventually hung up on me ,, mark on the wall for Neil ,, was a bit of fun at their expence too ..

Neil ..

Try answering every phone call with : "Market research International , please hold while I transfer you to our New Dehli office"
Confuses the hell out of my old mum but telemarketers don't know what to do with you and hang up straight away.

Don't have much of a problem with phone calls since placing ourselves on the DNC register.

But Telstra are now trying other avenues and other TC companies are doing similar. My wife has a mobile phone with Optus and for a while, was greeted with an SMS alert early on Saturday mornings for a few weeks until we presented ourselves at an Optus Retailer and threatened withdrawl of her account if they didn't cease the practise. She needed the phone near her due to business requirements.

I had been receiving SMS messages on both the GSM and NextG phones from Telstra. There was a 1800 number to ring to "opt out" of their SMS marketing, which I have done for both phones, but the fact that you had to physically do something to stop it, was bad enough.

What was even more annoying was the unsolicited manner in which the SMS's started appearing in the first place.

Bloody Mongrels!