When The Do Not Call Registry Just Isn’t Good Enough

If you have signed up for the governments “leave me alone telemarketers” list and 30 days later you are still getting hassled, well let’s take some action. There are only three absolutely perfect ways to stop the incident from ever happening. 1) You could call your provider right now and cancel your service. 2) You could unhook all the cords from their respective jacks in your home. 3) You could move to Antarctica to live among the penguins. Otherwise, we are going to attack this head on.

The absolute best thing you can do is to not just hang up once they enter into their spiel. Your number is just going to end back up on their auto-dialer at some point (You know the dead air before the call starts?-Auto dialer).  Every company has a do not call list as well.  Ask to be put on it. In doing so you are going to be gaining some ground. If the same company calls after this, and you have never done business with them before, you can probably take small claims legal action at that point. But that’s up to you. Also, most states have their own Do Not Call programs or lists. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) says that states are allowed to employ their own protections on top of the government’s registry.  As a side note, you can also enter your wireless number into the registry. Thirty-one days later, if they call, file a complaint.

So if you want to really Kill the Calls, file a complaint by e-mail (fccinfo@fcc.gov), telephone 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322), by fax to 1-866-418-0232, via our electronic complaint form at http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm, or mail*. When you follow the procedure through The FCC to report your complaint, you must either fill in the electronic form completely or otherwise indicate the following:

• your name and address;
• the home phone number where you received the solicitation;
• identification of the individual or company whose products or services were being advertised or sold, and any phone numbers included in the call;
• a description of the call;
• any phone number provided to allow you to “opt-out” of future calls;
• whether you or anyone else in your household gave the caller express prior permission to call;
• whether you have an EBR with the caller (specifically, whether you or anyone else in your household made any purchases of property, goods, or services from the company that called, or made any inquiry or filed an application with the company prior to receiving the call).

*Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554