Special offer

How A 3:30 AM Auto Dialer Inspired Digital Mutiny (Do Not Call Registry Update)

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Tann Starr & Associates, Inc.

How A 3:30 AM Auto Dialer Inspired Digital Mutiny (Do Not Call Registry Update)

It's been 32 days... I am giving you a sporting chance to erase me from your data-banks. I guess the community guidelines about not soliciting members and scraping information off the network to badger us has gone unheeded by some of you. I understand that you believe joining a social network implies that everyone here has a business relationship with you but that really isn't the case. We are just blogging here on the same platform.

You are not my client and I am not your client unless we go into contract to enter into such a relationship. We just comment back and forth on a few posts or lurk on each other's blogs. I do not have a problem with real people calling me because we can chat and make a decision on the spot if I am or am not interested in something you may or may not want to do. 

What i do have a problem with are auto dialers spewing messages about how they can give me leads, get me on page one of Google, do my marketing and advertising, be my virtual assistant and shine my shoes if I desire to pay for them to do so. Pssst... I wear sneakers and hiking boots (LOL).

I have blogged a few times that my voice mail is constantly getting full to the point where on several occasions I couldn't even access my mailbox. It was too full to enter the access codes. If not for auto dialers repeatedly leaving leaving me unwanted messages I might be able to go back to my regularly scheduled program of client and friend socialization.

Here's the deal...

Since my info was swiped from ActiveRain I am posting public notice on Activerain: AUTO DIALERS: DO NOT CALL ME EVER AGAIN.

If you want to know if I plan to start filing complaints to get you off of my cell and office phones the answer is YES. My home phone is in there too because people tend to share numbers with other people if they are trying to reach you.

Time to quote the government. Ready? Read:

Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm. Click Here to Register Now

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

Under the Act, the Federal Trade Commission will continue to remove telephone numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned to other customers. Consumers can delete their telephone numbers from the registry at any time by calling 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236) – the call must be made from the telephone number they wish to delete.

That's a nifty little safeguard, eh? Only the person in possession of the phone can whack the number from the database.

HOW TO FILE A DO NOT CALL REGISTRY COMPLAINT

1. You may file a complaint if you received an unwanted call after your number was on the National Registry for 31 days.

2. You may also file a complaint if you received a call that used a recorded message instead of a live person (whether or not your number was on the Registry).

*Reminder: Even if your number is registered, charities, political organizations, and telephone surveyors may continue to call you. Companies with which you do business may also continue to call, unless you have asked them to stop calling you. If you have asked them to stop calling, please keep a record of the date you made the request and include that information in the comment section of any complaint you submit against that company. 

Hmm... about the digital mutiny part. I got some other Rainers to register all of their phone numbers too. That means if you auto dial us on the same day there is a distinct possibility that your company may be facing fines from the FTC.

It's time for you to start scrubbing your files against the national database to make sure you are not calling people with auto dialers who do not want to be called.

Very Important Note: A company may call you for 18 months after you make a purchase or three months after you submit an inquiry or application. However, if you request that the company place your number on its own do-not-call list, it must honor your request. You should keep a record of the date you make the request.

Did I mention today is request day? While I sort my receipts trying to figure out my taxes I shall be asking people not to call me today. Being anal retentive, I'm writing them down on the back of a hard copy of this post and filing it away so I can remember who I did and did not speak to.

 

Comments(13)

Robert Rauf
CMG Home Loans - Toms River, NJ

I promise, it wasnt me that called at 3am!!! 

I have an ongoing battle with dish network, they call me so often that I dont even want to answer my phone.. they dont seem to understand "do not call" and try speaking to me in some arabic language. Even if I wanted their service I wouldnt get it because of their calls just out of principal!

Mar 24, 2010 03:04 AM
Geoff ONeill
John L. Scott Medford - Medford, OR

I'm saving this post.  You might want to re-think the "request day" thing, sometimes clients want to speak to you during business hours. ;-)  Anyway, best of luck getting those bozos to stop calling you.

Mar 24, 2010 03:04 AM
C Tann-Starr
Tann Starr & Associates, Inc. - Palm Bay, FL

LOL @ Robert. I just got off the phone with Melodious and I told her all about how crazy the auto dialers are starting to make me. We're thinking the firm must have subcontracted it out to another country because 3:30 AM does not inspire goodwill to listen to a marketing message (LOL).

Geoff, glad you found it useful. I have been getting strange we can help your business calls from all over he country. I am old fashion. I want a real person I can ask questions of not a computerized message eating away at my cell phone minutes. I have 23 messages I have to go listen to and it isn't even lunch time. Today is going to be a fun day. :-)

Mar 24, 2010 03:24 AM
Alan May
Jameson Sotheby's International Realty - Evanston, IL
Home is where the hearth is.

huzzah!

Mar 24, 2010 03:37 AM
JL Boney, III
Coldwell Banker - Columbia, SC
Columbia, SC Real Estate

I have never put my cell phone on the do not call list, but I think I am close to the point that I will soon.

Mar 24, 2010 07:24 AM
Todd Clark - Retired
eXp Realty LLC - Tigard, OR
Principle Broker Oregon

I almost hope they call you again, just so we can watch you go after them!

Mar 24, 2010 08:04 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

It's not just autodialers that send out spam because they found our presence on ActiveRain. ActiveRain members send out spam, too. Don't know how many times I've been approached by "members" of ActiveRain wanting to shine my shoes, make me breakfast and give my cat a bath. I report them.

Mar 24, 2010 09:43 AM
Jane Peters
Home Jane Realty - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles real estate concierge services

Hi, is this Ms. C?  How are you today?  SLAM!!!

Mar 24, 2010 01:18 PM
C Tann-Starr
Tann Starr & Associates, Inc. - Palm Bay, FL

LOL @ Jane. My voice mail kicked in at 3:41 AM. I was staring at the missed alert going HMMMM... (LOL).

LMAO @ Elizabeth. Some of them certainly know how to make your day interesting, eh? I have one in mind who was such a sweet fellow. He kept calling reducing his price to be my virtual assistant. I love the concept but do everything myself because I have to work around my kids schedule. There is no way a virtual assistant would be able to help me with that. It changes weekly and sometimes I get a notice from the school the day before to let me know. Me as a client would make him lose his virtual mind (LOL). Especially if i decided to play hookie with the kids. I do that (LOL).

Todd, one did (LOL). I'll let it slide since I slept through it and it didn't disturb me and my shorties. ;-)

JL, it wont hurt. :-)

LOL @ Alan.

 

Mar 25, 2010 12:01 AM
Robert Rauf
CMG Home Loans - Toms River, NJ

I went in to your links and RE-DID all of my phone lines... I wonder if it will get dish network off my back?? :)

Mar 25, 2010 02:29 AM
Kay Van Kampen
RE/MAX Broker, RE/MAX - Springfield, MO
Realtor®, Springfield Mo Real Estate

Thanks for the links.  I've used some of them.  I'd love to stop some of the auto dialers.

Mar 25, 2010 01:36 PM
C Tann-Starr
Tann Starr & Associates, Inc. - Palm Bay, FL

Hi guys. Glad you found this useful. It always amazes me that I still get play on my previous conversations (LOL). ;-)

Mar 02, 2011 04:58 AM