Comments on: FTC goes after warranty robocallers

FTC is suing two telemarketing companies and a company peddling car warranty extensions--which the agency says are unnecessary and false--to put a stop to the calls.

[Renegade Knight]

They need to ban telemarketing.
Failing that they need to ban robots.

Failing that, they really fail what the vast majority of the public pays for the privildge of having a phone wants to use it for.

[Perry_Clease]

"They need to ban telemarketing. "

Or prosecute violators of the Do Not Call List. Filing a complaint at http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm doesn't seem to to much good. Next time you get a telemarketing call do a web search on the calling number, if you have Caller ID, and see how many complaints there are about that number. Some of these people have been violating Do Not Call for years.

"Failing that they need to ban robots."

They are illegal here in California, but going after a robocall from out of state is tough.

What I find interesting is that these robocallers were not a problem until some Congressman started receiving them. So I recommend contacting your elected representatives and let them know how you feel about telemarketing.

I have PhoneValet from Parlient Software, www.parliant.com which lets me set up some rules/scripts for incoming calls. One of things I do is blacklist certain callers based upon the number, the area code and prefix, or text in the caller ID. For those blacklisted I hear one ring and that it is it, but the call is logged. This is Mac software, but there is probably something similar for you Windows users.

[basraw]

What about the Spanish spammer?

Automated recording , and they spoof #s also and tell you to press 1 to claim your prize. 90% of the time you can never get through!

[jture]

My ex-brother-in-law had the best response to telemarketers ever (this was before the days of automated calls that you can't interrupt): "I'm sorry, I'm just sitting down to dinner with my family, but if you'll give me your home phone I'll be glad to call you back when you're having dinner."

They stopped calling.

[sdf0013]

This is one time I'm more than happy to see my tax dollars at work. Go FTC, GO!
Hopefully they make an example of these two companies.

Then, for an encore, maybe the FTC will make an example of one or more companies that try to cram your phone bill. That one really pissed me off. First time I've never filed a complaint with the FTC.

[ReasonableGuy]

ABOUT TIME. These slime-balls should have any earnings confiscated, and the owners and managers should be imprisoned. It is a FRAUD, pure and simple. They are abusing interstate communications, preying on the elderly and the less-than-swift. Throw the book at them. Big fines and some time to rot in prison. I suspect 99% of those who signed on had no idea what they were getting for the outrageous cost.

They have called my home at least 5 times. My cellphone more than once, and even twice at work - on a temp job - in an office that only opened 3 months ago.

[Perry_Clease]

They just call consecutive numbers much like dictionary spamming. Last week I read that a fellow said he was in an elevator when the emergency phone rang. He picked it up thinking that it was a real emergency, but it was a robocall. Now that may be an urban legend, but the point is these telemarketers have no regard for the law and certainly no consideration for people who do not want to receive such calls.

[biffhenerson]

I agree that they need to go after the owners. If they go after the corporation, it will just go bankrupt and open up under a new name.

[ittesi259]

@biffhenerson,

Thats the advantage/disadvantage of a corporation, the worst you can do is go after the company, there is no owner only shareholders and shutting them down does no good as you said, no corporation under a new name.

[inachu1]

I got 5 calls from these fake car insurance robo callers.

So I hit #1 to speak to a representative and small talk them until she hangs up.
The voice belongs to some middle aged woman.

[Michichael]

GOOD! ABOUT FREAKING TIME!

Our company loses 10-20 minutes a month per cell phone (50 cells) because these folks call 10-20 times a month on every cell in our company. Then I get it on my personal phone. Then on my work phone. Then at home. It's bs! Telemarketers that call CELL PHONES need to be dragged out into a street and shot, especially when their response to "This is a cell phone on the DNC" is "Well what are you going to do about it?"

[teh_chrizzle]

<i>"This is a cell phone on the DNC" is "Well what are you going to do about it?"</i>

don't get mad, get even. if you waste time you will get purged from that company's list, so act interested and waste time before hanging up.

[aj37viggen]

Clever responses don't help get these guys prosecuted.

Last time I got one, I pressed the key during the recorded pitch to get through to the "representative." I told him I was really worried about my warranty expiring, but I had another call coming in any minute so I needed a number where I could call him back if we got interrupted. He hesitated, but eventually gave me his business name and incoming number. Then I said "Oops, there's my other call," hung up, and forwarded the info I had collected to the FTC.

May not accomplish much, but I feel that at least I did something.

[elleneyegreen]

I've reported these bastards on numerous occasions and am glad that others have done the same. Whenever I pushed the key to speak to a human, asking for their phone #, they hang up. Minutes later, another disguised call came in, so I did the same, asking them to take me off their list. They hung up. So, I bought a whistle. Blow that whistle into their ears and they will stop calling. They deserve much more torment than that, but at least it worked. And now, I'm relieved to see, the FCC is finally working too. I was harassed by these companies almost on a daily basis until I bought that whistle.

[gertruded]

The laws do not apply to the rich and politically connected. This stuff went on for two years during the Bush administration. Why is that not a surprise?

[hassan_bin_sober]

Now that George Bush is the new Crawford, Texas dogcatcher, we won't have that problem any longer!

[nishikat]

If everyone did the following there would not be a problem:

Just play along. Say, Yeah, I really want that. Waste as much time with them as you can. If they ask for your phone number (seems they sometimes don't know who they are calling maybe do to the robocalls) just give them a number of someone or an organization you don't like. I like to give them the number for the local church of $cientology. Or sometimes they do know who they are calling. Then tell them you are moving tomorrow and give them the "new" contact and to call you tomorrow...

Maybe I'm twisted but it does help me with stress.

[ralfthedog]

Be nice to them. I have yet to get a robo call however this is what I did before I put myself on the DNC list.

[scum] BLA BLA BLA BLA.....

[Me] Is this a marketing call?

[scum] Yes this is.

[Me] Telemarketing is a rough job.

[Scum] You have no idea.

[Me] Have you ever considered a career in medical transcription? At the {School Name} We teach both medical transcription as well as insurance coding....

[Scum] Um..... Have a nice day {click.}

[mpitogo]

Its about time they got these guys. I can't tell you how many calls I received about this over the last 2 years. This is serious harassment on my cell phone. And I had AT&T lock my phone down too. Put me down for the class action lawsuit.

[RighteousSoutherner]

Someone needs to invent a device that puts out a super high pitch squeal for these mother f**kers. When you hear them answer push the device and it deafens them for good. Then they can't take anymore calls, lol.

[elleneyegreen]

A whistle works wonders...or I leave their call unattended for hours, occupying their line, depends how evil I feel that day.

[teh_chrizzle]

just waste their time. they are spamming you, so just spam them back.

wasted time kills profits in a call center. these calls happen because the business is profitable. raising costs with wasted time negatively affects those profits.

all call centers (tech support, customer service, collections, and otherwise) measure costs and profits in minutes per call and calls per operator. shorter phone calls mean that operators can take more calls in a shift; operators that handle more calls in a shift are more profitable than operators that handle fewer calls. wait time (sitting in queue waiting for an operator) and hold time (connected to an operator but not doing anything) are things all call centers want to avoid because it kills their metrics. if you don't want these calls, you have to kill their metrics.

if they call you at work, hit 1 to speak to an operator, then hit hold and hang up your phone. your call will sit in queue and connect to an operator who will have to disconnect the call. most calls only hang around for 30-60 seconds so you won't miss much. dead calls sit in queue and take slots that could be filled by real calls.

if you are a troublemaker, they will purge your number from their lists. after doing this at my office, these calls have dropped from several per day to only a few couple per week.

if they call your cell/home hit one and then just set the phone aside. most operators can only sit on hold for a short while before they are authorized to terminate the call, so your phone will only be tied up for a minute or so.

if you want to be especially disruptive, hit 1 and talk to the operator but don't let the conversation go anywhere. act interested and then ask stupid questions. tell them to hold on for short but frequent intervals. act like you are not sure and want to know more. get the operator to go through the spiel a few times and then say you are not interested. pretend to be scared or worried that the proposal is illegal.

the longer you get them to talk, the more expensive your call becomes.

the more of us that agree to waste time, the less profitable these operations become. these outfits do not respect the law or the value of people's time, so we need to make sure that disrespect is as expensive as possible.

my friend used to hit the receiver with an air horn. call center workers wear head sets and therefore can't pull the receiver away from their ears that fast. i think that's pretty mean, so you should probably reserve that treatment for only the most tenacious of offenders.

[ElmoKajaky]

Yes! Go FTC!!!

[Scenario1]

I simply hand the phone to my 3-year-old and tell him it's Grandma calling.

[elleneyegreen]

Aaaahahahahaha!!! Touche and bravo on a job well done!!!