New Rule Closes the Loophole with the "Do Not Call List"by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 04 Sep 2008 01:33 PM
The calls are even more annoying when they come prerecorded. They are also known as "robocalls." As anyone who has heard it knows, I have been cursed or blessed with a naturally very soft-spoken voice that doesn't usually get picked up clearly by answering machines or voice recognition systems unless I remember to actively project it. (I have this same problem talking on the phone or talking in a large group.) While projecting has become almost second nature, when I am tired or stressed (such as at the end of the day or while preparing dinner and monitoring my kids and their friends), I can forget or not have enough energy to project. This leaves me shouting "hello" several times before I get that little prerecorded message telling me how I can save money on my car insurance or get a great new roof before winter sets in. Why is it that I still get these calls when I registered our phone number with the "Do Not Call" list? It seems that there has always been a slight loophole in the law. Prerecorded sale pitches are allowed if we ever had a business relationship with a company. Sub or sister companies of that original company are also allowed to call. It is hard not to do some sort of business with multiple companies over the course of the year. We have to shop for groceries, we often need plumbing or other home repair work done, we go to the dentist or chiropractor, we get our hair cut, we buy appliances or other purchases from major department stores, etc. This is potentially hundreds of sales pitches to our home phone in a year, especially when you consider that past business relationships count as well. Well, next year that will change when the Federal Trade Commission puts a stop to that with a new rule that requires that these businesses give consumers the option to opt out of the messages. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog and caring for little ones in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Got Rotten Neighbors? Check on Rottenneighbor.com Do You Have a Room of Your Own? Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevanthome tags baby | parenting | ideas | holidays | Kids | family | relationships | children | christmas | weight loss User Comments  Dale Harcombe (10327) 04 Sep 2008 03:30 PMI'm on a no call list but we were told it only applies to calls from with Australia and that they can't do anthing about overseas call centres which many are in India and places. That said, we certainly don't get near as many these days as we used to. Tashi (1013) 04 Sep 2008 04:02 PMI detest those pre-recorded ones! Thank goodness for caller id; if it is an unknown number, we don't even pick up. Hope the new upcoming rule helps even more. I bet some will find a way around it, though. Wish I could be more optimistic. Tashi (1013) 05 Sep 2008 05:03 PMOne thing I forgot.... While robo calls are annoying (to say the least), I don't like them also because they put a real live human out of a job. At least, that's what I'm assuming. Maybe the calls still require a human in some way. Still, I fervently hope laws continue to come up, be enforced, and help us all enjoy a better life.  deedee1231 (4030) 05 Sep 2008 05:46 PMAs far as I am concerned any human who would work for a telemarketing firm has no scruples and deserves to be put out of a job. Honestly, I have more respect for the fry boy at Mickey D's and they earn about the same amount.  Valorie Delp (49340) 05 Sep 2008 06:53 PMThat was a harsh and a pretty rude comment. My husband took a telemarketing job once. What is your suggestion that he should've done? He was too qualified to work at McDonald's seeing as how he had an actual degree and he doesn't speak Spanish. Should he have sat on his keester? Or just kept looking while our debt and bills piled up? God forbid he step up to the plate and take any job that he could find instead of taking public assistance. As crummy as a job as it might be, it pays and yes, actually it does pay better than McD's but that's not really the point. You should know better than to judge a man before you've walked a mile in his moccasins. ;-( May you never find yourself in a position to have to take a job you'd rather not have in order to make it. deedee1231 (4030) 05 Sep 2008 07:26 PMWell I certainly did not mean to be harsh or rude so I will apologize for offending you and anyone else who did not like my comment. I suppose I was just being sort of flippant? Anyway, I have in fact worked telemarketing, way way back when I only had one child. It is the worst job I ever had, and I didn't last long, but few do in that field which is why I thought the flippant attitude was justified. (Perhaps I should have nixed the sarcasm and simply stated that I don't think robocalls take jobs away from real live humans because no humans can last long in those lousey jobs). While I was working for the telemarketing firm, a friend of mine who actually did work at McDonalds got a raise and was making about the same money as me, and she didn't have to bear the expense of wearing business clothing to work. Perhaps that has changed in the 14 or so years since I did it, but for me it really was a deal breaker. Also, you don't need to know fluent Spanish to work fast food in the midwest, didn't realize that was the case in NY. And as for the comment about taking jobs you would rather not, I certainly did not want to have to move to Texas this past June to make it, but I didn't have much of a choice in the matter if I wanted to avoid public assistance. Like you and your husband I did not want that for my family. I myself have a degree, am pursuing another one now, and have worked as a legal secretary off and on over the years. My family doesn't understand why I won't just put my children in school and work to help my dh make the bills, but I won't. That is my personal choice and I really do not like to be judged for it so point taken. Anyway, I have the utmost respect for your husband because he is married to one sassy and smart lady, and I really didn't mean to offend anyone. I am sorry. : ) Valorie Delp (49340) 06 Sep 2008 03:44 AMNo worries then. It stinks to have a job you loathe. And he didn't last long in his job either. I do want to clarify and say in NYC or at least in our neighborhood there were no jobs unless you spoke Spanish but they didn't want him because of his degree anyways. I have never been to a mcdonald's in or around where we lived that wasn't almost exclusively Spanish speaking. . .but I'm sure it's not like that everywhere in NY. And I wasn't being entirely sarcastic. . .I really truly hope you never find yourself in a position where you have to take something you don't want. I suppose we all do at some point. . .but I know it stinks.  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 06 Sep 2008 04:21 AMAt the end of high school and during college I worked both in fast food and in telemarketing in NYC. Neither required me to speak anything other than English. I also worked retail and as a secretary dispatcher, again, English was fine. Mary Ann Romans (26876) 06 Sep 2008 04:23 AMOh, and I think the telemarketers who are successful and last for years are the ones who don't take no for an answer in a way that borders on rude and sometimes abusive. Tashi (1013) 06 Sep 2008 11:13 AMNot all telemarketers are rude. Many are, indeed. But I recently had a political pollster call me. She couldn't have been nicer. I answered her few quick questions, and she was very grateful and pleasant. I've had much worse an experience from some customer service people. Tashi (1013) 06 Sep 2008 11:19 AMBy the way, I've done much customer service in many environments over the years (not now). I know how hard it can be. So I don't intend to offend anyone by my comment above. Wanted to clarify my perspective. Mary Ann Romans (26876) 07 Sep 2008 03:37 AMWhat was your rudest experience? Mine was dealing with Comcast customer service. Ugh! Tashi (1013) 07 Sep 2008 02:24 PMMy rudest experience? That's hard to choose -- there have been a handful of doozies. I'd say, back in college, when a telemarketer called selling magazines. I was -- surprise -- a struggling student, with not lots of cash, and little to spare. I thanked the woman for calling, and agreeing the offers were good. But I was a cash-strapped student and couldn't afford the magazines. In response, she proceeded to quickly hang up on me, with not so much as another word. Oh well! I *was* nice to her. Mary Ann Romans (26876) 08 Sep 2008 10:12 AMIt is a shame how negativity has such a big impact on us. Community Tags do not call list, do not call, election, home, mccain, Obama, robocalls, robo call, telemarketers Discuss this article
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