Archive for telemarketing

Telemarketers To Foot The Bill For Do Not Call Registry

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on May 1, 2012 by itnerd

Frequent readers will recall that a Do Not Call Registry was set up in Canada back in 2008 and Canadians signed up in droves to ensure that their dinners are not interrupted by telemarketers. Yesterday it was announced that the Federal Government is going to make the telemarketers pay for the registry:

The government wants telemarketers, not the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, to shoulder the full cost of the Do Not Call List, explained Alberta MP Mike Lake, parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister Christian Paradis.

“The program is working,” Mr. Lake said in an interview. “We want to make sure that system is sustainable in the long term.”

Mr. Lake would not say what options are on the table for recouping the cost of enforcement and investigating violators, adding that the funding mechanism would be determined in consultation with the industry.

Mr. Lake is right. It is working as the government has slapped those who ignore the registry very hard. Plus I have had little if no contact from telemarketers since I signed up for the service. With this move, it makes sure that this registry has stable funding and maybe give them another incentive to act responsibly.

We’ll see how telemarketers push back on this as I would imagine that they’re not happy campers right now.

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Bell Fined Big Time For Telemarketing Violations…. You Have To Love It!

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on December 20, 2010 by itnerd

You have to appreciate the irony in this situation. Bell who is in charge of that “Do Not Call” list that I told you about a while ago, got fined by the CRTC to the tune of $1.3 million for telemarketing to people on that list:

The CRTC said Bell hired independent telemarketers to pitch the telecom provider’s TV, wireless, Internet and home phone services to numbers registered with the Do Not Call List, where Canadians sick of telemarketing calls can register their numbers.

That’s pretty dumb. What did Bell have to say about this? Here’s what a statement from the telco said:

In a release, Bell said the telemarketers, working under contract, had not only violated the CRTC’s list, but had also violated Bell’s own internal list of people who did not want to receive calls. The company said it had “terminated its relationships with two telemarketers and suspended several others” after the investigation.

Sure. Right. Here’s what the CRTC had to say:

“All telemarketers must respect the wishes of Canadians who have registered their telephone number on the National [Do Not Call List] or requested that a telemarketer include their number on its internal do not call list,” Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s chief telecommunications enforcement officer said in a release. “Even though the calls in this instance were made by third parties, Bell Canada must ultimately ensure that the rules are followed.”

Hopefully this has a ripple effect, I’ve registered my number with the do not call but still get telemarketers calling me. Hopefully now when I threaten to report them, they`ll realize the severity of it and take me off their list. That would include Bell.

 

 

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Calls from 000-000-0000…. WTF?

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 29, 2008 by itnerd

Lately, I’ve been getting calls from 000-000-0000. I never answer and they never leave a message, but they keep calling back. Clearly this is a telemarketer who is trying to get a hold of me and won’t give up until a live person answers the phone. It’s also likely it’s a telemarker who is not part of the “do not call” list here in Canada because the phone number is clearly spoofed.

So here’s my questions:

  1. Has anybody else received calls from this number. If so, who is doing this?
  2. Any suggestions as to how to stop this?

Please leave a comment if you’ve got any words of wisdom.

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Canada Launches “Do Not Call” List To Stop Telemarketers…. Sign Up If You Can

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on September 30, 2008 by itnerd

If you’re Canadian and you’re sick of scum telemarketers calling you (usually around dinner time), you now have a way to reduce those annoying calls. The CRTC has started a “do not call” list that Canadians can sign up to stop unwanted calls, faxes, and recorded messages from a variety of telemarketers. You can register your landline, cell phone and fax via this service and the annoying calls should be reduced within a month (or so they say). More on that later.

You can register in one of two ways:

  • Call one of these toll-free numbers: 1-866-580-3625 or 1-888-362-5889. You’ll need to call from the phone you’re registering. Please note that as I write this, these numbers are next to impossible to get through on.
  • Surf to https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/ and register your numbers there. Please note that as I write this, the site is being Slashdotted.

It’s free, and the service runs 24/7. If you need to talk to an operator to file a complaint, you should call between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Now back to something I mentioned earlier. By signing up to this service, calls will be reduced but not eliminated. Why’s that? It’s simple. Charities, newspapers, political parties, pollsters and companies with whom you’ve done business in the past 18 months are all exempt from the do-not-call list. But in theory, you should be able to ask them not to call anymore and they’re required by law to stop calling within a month. Also, American companies can still call because they’re not covered under our laws. Good luck trying to get them to stop calling. But with the exception of the Americans, if a someone doesn’t stop calling, they can be fined of up to $1,500 for a person and $15,000 for a corporation.

I should mention that Bell Canada is managing this list. I have to admit that this bothers me as I think that private industry shouldn’t be managing this list. Not to mention that Bell isn’t at the top of my Christmas card list for a variety of reasons (*cough* Throttling *cough*).

I guess we’ll see how this plays out.

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