Sound Off: What’s the number to call to stop telemarketers from calling ... / LJWorld.com

Sound Off

To register for the no-call list, call 888-382-1222, or go online to ag.ks.gov/consumer-protection/no-call-act. However, the list does not exempt consumers from being called for political or charitable donations, according to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.

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none2 1 year ago

"No call" isn't worth squat. I've gotten so many calls from "___ from your credit card company needs to talk to you..." It's a scam, but no one seems to have the power to stop it.

vertigo 1 year ago

Much like the "You'll receive a free cruise for participating in our political survey".

Did_I_say_that 1 year ago

The AG also has online registration: https://www.donotcall.gov/

pace 1 year ago

That was a useful link. It gave directions and a place to file a complaint. I am sure I will have opportunity to follow the directions and I will file a complaint.

pace 1 year ago

The credit card services calls me about every other day. Sometimes I connect to their punch 1, and take up their time. Always saying they must take me off their calling number. They just hang up, and call again. I know the AG is busy defending goofy law and fighting the federal law, but it would be nice if he did his job on consumer fraud and internet fraud. It doesn't bother Koch that I get these calls, it just bothers me. The AG has no plans to do squat for the ordinary rights of Kansans.

LadyJ 1 year ago

Your lucky, they tell me off before they hang up on me.

riverdrifter 1 year ago

www.donotcall.gov works very well for me.

chocolateplease 1 year ago

Really? We're on it, but we still get at least a dozen calls per week.

Ribs61 1 year ago

You can opt out of direct mailings and many other things. Here is a link;

http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/toptenoptout.html

jonas_opines 1 year ago

I've found that the most effective button to push when talking to telemarketers is that one that, ya'know, ends the call.

That's when I'm in a bad mood. When I'm in a good mood I like playing with them a little bit.

That college kid on the other end, who's trying to make ends meet with a parasitic job that at least 70% of them hate like fire, would prefer you to just hang up on them, too.

deec 1 year ago

Exactly. I've worked in call centers, both inbound and outbound. The jobs are horrible, and most people just work there for because they are desperate for a paycheck. Please be civil. If you speak to them, in many cases you must distinctly state that you are not interested and to please remove your name. Just saying no or being rude will not usually get your number removed. The calls are computer dialed, so the agent usually has no control over whether you are called multiple times.

none2 1 year ago

I'm sorry, but some of these agents deserved to be screamed at. When you get calls over and over again at all times of the day when you are trying to work or nap, and they REFUSE to see that your name gets removed from their dialer list. While outbound agents don't directly modify the dialer input file/database, they are suppsed to pass on that information to their supervisor or the call center IT staff that you want your number removed. On one particular annoying call (one that has you press a number to talk to an agent), I pressed the number so that I could tell a human to take me of their list. The agent was rather flippant and said if I didn't want to be bothered I shouldn't have pressed a number. The jerk must think that I'm obligated to purchase caller-id, and that I shouldn't be bothered when these kinds of calls ringing and interrupting my sleep or work.

While having your name removed from them isn't usually instanteanous, it should not take DAYS and WEEKS to remove your name. These agents/advocates know when they are working for sleezy call centers who do not abide by the do-not-call registery laws unless they are brand new hires. It doesn't take even brand new hires long to know what kind of firm they are working for. At that point, just "doing my job" isn't sufficient.

(FYI: The outbound systems are known specifically as Predictive Dialers. You can have all sorts of compaigns setup to dial out. For instance there are blaster campaigns where the gloal is to target answering machine/voicemail systems. In such campaigns, answers are not routed to the outbound agent queue, rather the system just leaves a pre-recorded message to have you call some number if interested. It is just too bad that there isn't away to dial out without actually causing the ringer to ring.)

(One thing the seedy companies do is remove (or modify) the information about the originating number in the call record -- which is used by caller-id to identify the inbound caller's phone number/info. Thus sometimes even those who do have caller-id, cannot report them to the authorities.)

verity 1 year ago

My guess would be that approaching 100% of the telemarketers hate their job and are just trying to survive. They will be out of there as soon as they can find something else. I agree with deec that if one chooses to answer, then be civil and don't make their life any more miserable than it already is.

Now, political calls are a completely different matter.

none2 1 year ago

Choose to answer??? What is your choice? Let it keep ringing? Turn off your ringer? What is the purpose for having a do-not-call list, if nobody does anything when it is violated?

Lets make an analogy. Imagine that several traveling sales companies send someone knocking to your door.at various times of the day. You tell them no thank you, and tell them that they don't need to come back. Still they send other reps continually to your door. To try to stop it, you put a sign in your door that you want no solicitations. Yet they still continue to send reps to knock on your door. Are you supposed to just let them pound on the door, or if you answer be cheery to them? Surely those reps need a paycheck too.

FYI, there is nothing different about political calls. At least they aren't after my money, so for me they are a tiny bit less obnoxious. Besides, maybe I would like to go to the Bahamas.

tir 1 year ago

I get the cruise scam and the "lower your rates" scam calls all the time and report them to the do not call website, but the calls never stop--they just keep changing their phone numbers.There's also a so-called "charity" that has been calling me multiple times per day, including on SUNDAY (may they rot). There should be a law forbidding charities, non-profits, survey takers and political action groups and parties from calling any phone number more than ONCE per day. And furthermore, NO ONE should be allowed to pester people on weekends with unwanted calls.

verity 1 year ago

Since I got rid of my land line and only have a cell phone, I don't get many telemarketers.

However, if the call is from an area code starting with an eight, I just don't answer. They can leave a message if it is legitimate. I'll sometimes get a number of calls from the same number, but eventually they give up.

Surely most of you have caller ID and can screen calls. You don't have to answer just because the phone rings.

none2 1 year ago

Why would you assume most have caller ID? Yes, if you have a mobile phone it is a given. I don't think any wireless phone manufacturer has ever created a phone without caller ID capability. Plus I don't know of any wireless provider that has plans that excludes caller ID.

However, with land lines, caller ID is not a given. You have to have a phone that has caller ID capability. Plus you have to pay your phone company extra to turn this feature on.

People have land lines for various reasons. If you need a medical alert system, you need a land line. I believe security systems require land lines. You can get a discount on satellite TV if you use a land line for nightly updates. Land lines are also more reliable if the electricity goes out as they to not require battery chargers. Sometimes wireless coverage isn't wonderful in a neighborhood or inside a house. Some people also don't have Broadband (or if they do it is slow) so a VoIP alternative isn't an option either.

I won't go into all my reasons, but I simply have a cheap land line. I shouldn't have to buy a more expensive package with caller-id just to screen out telemarketing calls. What was whole the purpose of creating the do-not-call list, if we still have to screen calls?

naturalist 1 year ago

How does one get Lynn Jenkins to leave people alone? I get more phone calls from her association at home on the landline--no, I don't answer but they leave messages--than from any other political or charitable organization.

Ragingbear 1 year ago

+10. I think Lynn needs a Federal Probe as to how tax money is being used to further a political agenda and re-election campaign. I get 3-5 calls a month from her office. The caller ID claims that it comes from a government office. Either she is lying, or using tax money. Either way, it's illegal.

none2 1 year ago

I've gotten calls to join her district chat lines. I do like listening in just to know what kind of people are in her district. Actually it is kind of scary what kind of nuts are voters and not institutionalized. People worried about commies and socialists taking over, but lets make sure social security and medicare continue. Some are worried about the Mexican invasion. I'm surprised that someone didn't bring up UFO's and cloning.

It makes you wonder if perhaps we need to require a sanity ID more than a residency ID before someone is allowed to vote. Where do these nuts come from? Are they teaching this stuff in the pews of some fundy churches?

nomorebobsplease 1 year ago

Too true about Jenkins. Do y'all also get the mailings? I've wondered a couple of times how much of our tax money she spends trying to convince us she's doing a great job representing our interests (that's a discussion for another day) I do have fun with the "political survey" calls, tho. From the get-go you can figure out which party they're from and what their agenda is. I actually enjoy giving them my answers.....