Anything else besides Do Not Call List to stop telemarketers? [View all]

[AndyA]

For the first time in my life, I have a land line number that's listed. I got it because the alarm system required a land line. I probably should have made the number an unlisted, non-published one, but am tired of all the little $2-3 monthly fees for extras, so decided not to.

After the number was connected, I added it to the Do Not Call Registry immediately.

After a couple of weeks, the telemarketing calls began. I also got calls from collection agencies looking for some female who apparently used to have that number. After a month or two, the collection calls stopped, but the telemarketing calls didn't.

I checked to make sure the number was listed as a "do not call" number, and it is. On some days, I was getting as many as 10 calls, which became very annoying as I have to stop what I'm doing to answer the phone. I called my phone company, and they put a block on my number to prevent anonymous and private numbers from ringing through. That helped reduce the calls by about half.

The calls I still receive are not charities, political, or companies that I have a relationship with or have requested information from. They're of the "lower your credit card interest rates" or "we recently sent you a package, press 1 if you've received it, press 2 if you haven't" variety.

I used to get spam faxes at the office, and spent a year filling out FCC complaints on them, sending a copy of the fax to the FCC and they never slowed down, despite getting letters back from the FCC that they were investigating.

I think asking to have your number added to a company's do not call list is a scam. They remove your number from their list, then sell it to another company, and this is repeated over and over.

Is there some secret I don't know about? I'm really getting sick of the calls, and some of the callers--once you get past the automated recording--are downright nasty when they realize you aren't interested and don't want to be bothered.

If we had a governmental body that represented the people in this country, instead of opt out we'd have opt in, with stiff penalties for companies that call when they shouldn't, but of course we don't, since our representatives are owned by corporations.

Would appreciate advice if anyone knows of something else that can be done to eliminate or reduce the calls, other than changing to an unlisted phone number--and even then I'm not sure it would make much difference.

Thanks in advance.