Telemarketers see devastating effect with national 'do-not-call' list

AP ^ | June 28, 2003 | Hilary Roxe

[sarcasm]

BOSTON (AP) To many consumers, calls from telemarketers are unwanted intrusions. But for the industry, those calls are their lifeblood and many of them were predicting that a new national do-not-call list would have a devastating effect on business.

Keith A. Fotta, president and CEO of Norwood, Mass.-based Gryphon Networks, which developed a technology to help telemarketing companies avoid calling homes that have registered, said the Federal Trade Commission's new rules which impose penalties on companies that call people on the list could be ''absolutely devastating.''

[ambrose]

It has gotten to the point where I no longer answer my home telephone. I screen via voice mail first, then return the call.

[backhoe]

Link-- ( signed up already... they brought it on themselves...)--

http://www.donotcall.gov/
THE
NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY

[demkicker]

IMO, this is a bogus complaint. People who have signed up for the do not call list never buy from telemarketers in the first place. In a way, this law is doing the telemarketers a favor. Those who don't sign up are the folks who don't mind getting the calls, which will result in more sales for the telemarketer.

[boxerblues]

can you imagine the people who dont register, how many calls they will now receive to make up for those who did

[non-anonymous]

Same here. I gotta laugh when all I hear on the machine is the last half of a pre-recorded sales pitch, devoid of phone number and company name.

There's all this whining from telemarketing companies, but I'll bet their clients would be happy. You'd think a company in a competitive market would want more information about its potential customer base (like who they are in the first place), not less.

[SamAdams76]

The American Teleservices Association said about 2 million of the 6.5 million people working at telemarketing call centers across the nation will lose their jobs because of the rules that established the nationwide list.

You mean these people might have to find honest work instead of sitting in a cubicle trying to scam people in their private homes? The horror of it all.

[drlevy88]

Fotta predicts ''upwards of 50 percent'' of consumers will sign up, leaving their phone numbers off-limits when the FTC begins enforcing the list on Oct. 1. In just the first 14 hours, consumers registered about 635,000 telephone numbers.

Consider this, telemarketers: the people who put themselves on this list are more likely to refuse or screen out a telephone solicitation in the first place, than the people who DON'T put themselves on this list. Don't you want to target people who want to hear you, not just every phone number in the book?

[tdadams]

No more telemarketing calls, no more telemarketing companies? Yeah, real disaster.

[Patangeles]

The American Teleservices Association said about 2 million of the 6.5 million people working at telemarketing call centers across the nation will lose their jobs because of the rules that established the nationwide list.

I'm sorry for the folks who are going to lose their jobs, but extatic about not receiving their unsolicited phone calls!

[defeat_the_dem_igods]

But, from what I've been reading, the registry doesn't apply to non-profit and political organizations, which account for the majority of my unwanted, dinner-time interruptions.

[tdadams]

It has gotten to the point where I no longer answer my home telephone.

It has gotten to the point where I no longer have a home telephone.

[tdadams]

The American Teleservices Association said about 2 million of the 6.5 million people working at telemarketing call centers across the nation will lose their jobs... ''Approximately 30 percent of our industry literally evaporates overnight,''

Good riddance, scum! Just don't go on the dole or get a government job.

[sarcasm]

Have your registered? I did yesterday but, as yet, I haven't received the e-mail message confirming the registration.

[demkicker]

I registered for the do not call list by phone. Now I'm thinking I ought to get online to register our cell phones. Me thinks its just a matter of time before the telemarketers find a way to access cell phone numbers.

[maryz]

You mean these people might have to find honest work instead of sitting in a cubicle trying to scam people in their private homes?

They would anyway -- there was an article about them in the WSJ a year or so ago: apparently they usually burn out in about six months (the tough ones might last a year). All those insults and hang-ups.

[RIdee]

the reality is that many of these jobs are not American jobs. There is a growing trend to 'outsource' source them to India where they can pay the telemarketers pennies. Some companies go so far as to coach foreign workers a 'fake American' accent.

[tdadams]

I'm not doing that. I now keep my cell phone number and email address out of circulation and out of databases as much as I possibly can.

[defeat_the_dem_igods]

No more telemarketing calls

think not....

Exemptions from the list include calls from charities and pollsters, and on behalf of politicians. Registered consumers can also give written permission to receive calls from certain companies. A company may also call someone on the no-call list if that person has bought, leased or rented from the company within the past 18 months. Telemarketers may also call people if they have inquired about or applied for something from the company during the past three months.

[Hugin]

I get called at least once a day, most often from SBC and ATT asking me to sign up for their long distance, despite my repeated requests for them to stop calling. Oh sure, I could document it and take them to small claims court, but it's just too much trouble and they know it. If this puts them out of business, that's what they get for harrassing people. No sympathy here.