Really, do NOT call...
06/09/06 21:15 |
Rants
This is another rant.
Apologies in advance....
When I signed up for the ‘Do not call’ registry, I was (mistakenly, it turns out) under the impression that it might prevent nuisance cold-callers from calling me. Oh if it were only that easy...
It seems that there are a few loopholes in the whole thing...
The politicians (obviously) have to still be able to call. I’m guessing the FTC wouldn’t have got this bill passed if the politicians couldn’t hassle “their” voters come election-time. These guys are easy meat though, no matter who calls, you just say you’re voting for the other guy because of all the sleazy things the caller’s party has done recently. The call is quickly over.
Charities still get to call you - now lest you get the wrong idea, I give ~$200/month to charity, a not-insignificant fraction of my income for the month. However, I want to *choose* who to give it to, and not be hassled by people wanting my money. The sad fact is that once you give to a few charities, a lot more of them start phoning through as well - it sometimes does feel as though you’re on a “sucker” list [sigh].
Telephone surveyors. Aaarrrgh. *Why* would I want these people to phone me ? Apart from the philosophical problem with having someone make a profit selling an aggregate of my (and others) opinions, and wasting my time to do it as well, why can’t I decide these people ought not be able to call me ?
Companies who do business with you (including any subscription-based companies) can call you up to 18-months after you last did business with them. This seems to have been , um, enlarged... because I’m getting calls from subsidiary and/or parent companies as well. This sounds like it’s reasonable, but then you realise that AT&T will call you every week. Every week. Trying to sell you something you already have. By FAR the worst offenders though are Dish Network - these guys called me every day (late in the evening and at weekends) for 3 solid weeks. It’s Dish “we’re so stupid we want to really p*ss off any potential customer” Network that you have to thank for this rant.
So, since I *pay* for this service, I ought to have control over how it’s used. I’m wondering if I could send a notice to any company that cold-calls, explaining that any further calls will be billed as consultancy at my standard rates of $1000/hour, minimum charge of 2 hours. Then send them an invoice the next time they call, and take it to court when they fail to pay. Hmmm... interesting...
Rant over.