Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with telemarketing

How to stop (or make life miserable for) anonymous robocallers?

Creosote — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:23:45 -0800

What can be done about a persistent anonymous robocaller who is not easily identifiable and who does not abide by the U.S. Do Not Call registry? I'm guessing that I'm not the only MeFite who has recently received a robocall masquerading as a political survey. From a particular nasty robocaller, as their modus operandi is to leave voicemail if you don't answer saying something like "This was a political survey. We may call back later." And then they call the next day. And the next. And the next... Being on the "Do Not Call" list makes no difference. Calling the originating number results in an Eternal Busy Signal.

Based on googling "202-461-3459 robocall", a lot of people are getting these calls. The surveys appear to be sponsored by different groups, with the common denominator being right-wing politics. Presumably they are all contracting with the robocall company.

My landline phone carrier says they have a service to block calls from selected local numbers, but not from long-distance numbers. Do Not Call registry doesn't apply to political calls. And the originating company seems well enough hidden that one can't complain directly to them. They're as bad as a porn spammer from Uzbekistan. And if this company is getting away with it, others are going to follow.

Long-term, the only solution is to tighten Federal law on telemarketing. Short-term... is there anything to be done?

Help us stop this!

St. Alia of the Bunnies — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:12:30 -0800

Business-to-business annoying telemarketing-and making it stop-help us, hive mind! Leaving out the gorey details, what legal recourse does a business have if another company keeps calling them -telemarketing calls-and we want them to stop? I know as a consumer at home all I have to do is get on a no call list or ask to be taken off their list and legally they must do so. Are businesses exempt from this rule or not-and if this other business keeps calling us what recourse do we have? They are very persistent, very annoying, and my boss would like these calls to be terminated with extreme prejudice. We are in NC if it matters.

Where can I find a telemarketer?

bindasj — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:16:06 -0800

Where can I find someone to do outbound telemarketing sales on a part or full time basis? These are cold calls.

How can I make the telemarketing calls to my cell phone stop?

agent99 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:52:15 -0800

Anyone know where or how can I get a grancentral.com invite? My cell phone is being besieged by telemarketing calls and I'm going insane. Anyone know how I can get a grandcentral invite, or know how I can make the calls stop? I'm on the Do Not Call List, but it doesn't seem to be making much of a difference.

Telemarketing?

jaronson — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:33:33 -0800

Why would my company get a phone call from (caller said) "customer service" and ask for the model number on our copy machine? That was all the caller asked for. I asked who she was customer service for and she replied customer service for "Global Distribution". I told the caller we didn't have a copy machine.

How can I safely shop for auto insurance?

amfea — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:19:22 -0800

How can I shop for auto insurance without compromising my privacy? I HATE telemarketing and junk mail, so I avoid giving my name, address and phone number to anyone that might possibly sell it. I am also very protective of my SSN. I'm ready to change auto insurance providers and would like to shop around for a decent rate, but the few companies I have called ask a lot of information that I'd rather not give unless I'm sure I'll actually be doing business with them.

Does anyone have advice of how I could get a general idea of who will have the best rate by giving only basic info? Like, maybe I provide my ZIP but not the exact street address or give them an approximate FICO score but not my SSN? Of course, once I have narrowed it down to a few companies, I won't mind giving them the details so they can give me a precise quote.

How can I take down these telemarketers?

anodyne- — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:53:18 -0800

Please help me take action against an unidentified automated telemarketer! Over the last three weeks I have received three identical automated calls on my home phone number soliciting a "free carpet cleaning" service. The company and phone number are never identified, and the only options on the phone tree are:
1) Make an "appointment"
2) unsubscribe from list.

*69 only gives me "000-000-0000," so I can't call them back and ask for information.

I would love to send a complaint to the FCC/FTC/whoever, but I don't know if this will do any good without as much as a phone number.

I'm sure this is illegal (I believe I can take them to small-claims court for $500 for the automated solicitations), but I don't know to what degree or to whom I should complain. Any ideas on what, if any, action I can take? Thanks.

813-840-3045. Who owns this number?

Otis — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:55:18 -0800

813-840-3045. Who owns this number and how can I get them to stop calling me and hanging up. It happens 2-3 times a day and it's not just me they are bothering (see here and here). Calling the number just returns a rapid busy signal. No one ever leaves a message and no one ever speaks and it's driving...me.....crazy.

All out invasion from overseas telemarketers...

soulbarn — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:38:09 -0800

I made the unfortunate mistake of ordering medication from an overseas pharmacy; it was for a drug that I'd originally been prescribed in Europe, which was not available in the US (then.)... My mistake wasn't that the meds weren't genuine. The error is the aftermath: a half-dozen calls a day from telemarketers offering to "refill my prescription." It appears my phone number has been sold, over and over again, and now there's a feeding frenzy. I'm already on the national and California do not call lists, and asking the folks who call me to take me off this list does nothing. Here's a twist, though: in the past few weeks, my calls have been coming from overseas; I'm guessing they're from India or Pakistan, by the accent, but obviously I can't tell for sure. And I bet, being from overseas, the "do not call" laws don't even apply. I find this kind of interesting, since telemarketing jobs are already insanely low-paid in the US. In any case, the weirdest thing of all is the Caller IDs from these international calls: 0110404224113 (the latest three calls.) I can't even figure out what country code this is - and I thought I'd throw open the question: who's calling me - and from where?

Time-share Scam?

jacquilynne — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 05:11:01 -0800

Scam? I've been contacted and told I was selected to win a prize as a thank you for filling out a survey a few months ago. I have to go to a lunch and draw for which prize I'll receive out of 5. Presumably this is a scam, and I imagine it's a Time Share sales thing. So my question is this, if I go, and withstand the stupid timeshare marketing thing, will I actually get a prize? Or will I be scammed out of that, too? The company in question is 'The Vacation Store' and this is local to Toronto, since there are a lot of Vacation Stores out there on the net.

Reporting recorded solicitation calls

SpecialK — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 15:12:45 -0800

If I've started to receive recorded solicitation calls on my cell phone, whom do I call to report this to?