Several times a week, I get a phone call from a number I don’t recognize. The caller never leaves a voicemail message, so I always perform a quick Google search to see if I can find any information about the caller before answering or returning the call. In almost all cases, the unknown number has attracted numerous complaints online.
According to the complaints listed for each phone number that has called me unexpectedly during the day, if I were to answer the phone, I would be talking to a pre-recorded telemarketer whose job is to sell me an “extended warranty” for my car.
Even individuals who have placed phone numbers on the Do Not Call registry (more information on Do Not Call) are being bombarded by this telemarketing agency. The Federal Trade Commission is suing the companies behind these “robo-calls,” Voice Touch Inc. and Transcontinental Warranty Inc.
After September 1, telemarketers may only use “robocalls” when a customer has opted in to this particular “service.” Have you received any calls from these companies?
I was speaking with a co-worker who used to be a telemarketer, and she told me that if I’m ever again harassed by any strangers on the phone trying to sell me things I don’t need, I should just say, “Mark me down as deceased.” You don’t even have to pretend to be a different person.
Apparently, they have a check box on their form for “Deceased” that will prevent them from calling you ever again. What’s more, this misinformation gets passed downstream to the other telemarketers that they sell their lists of “customers” to, so those people won’t be calling you, either.
This is just a quick and dirty alternative to the more official process that Flexo has previously talked about.
Without a landline phone, I don’t receive many calls from telemarketers. André-Tascha Lammé from Sacramento was having a problem with mortgage lenders, and decided to take care of the problem through the courts.
So far, Lammé has won $6,000 in judgments against telemarketers in three cases. He’s not a lawyer, but by filing in small claims court, he’s spent no more than $100 in court fees and scarcely more than an hour of his time on any case. Now he wants you to do it, too.
Each violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, such as a call from a telemarketer after you’ve told the company not to call you, can fetch a penalty of $500, payable to the unlucky phone call recipient. And it turns out it’s not difficult to file these claims, although it might take a long time before one sees the payments.
The details are found on a website founded by Lammé: KillTheCalls.com. He provides detailed instructions for suing telemarketers as well as a call sheet which tells you exactly what to do when a telemarketer calls to fully take advantage of the law on the consumer’s side. Once you’re ready, this list of small claims courts across the country is a good starting point.
You could try adding your phone numbers to the National Do Not Call List to stop the calls before they occur. I’m not completely convinced that willingly providing your phone number to the government doesn’t put that information on an other list of valid phone numbers for political calls, which are exempt from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
