2torial #0805:
Learn2 Avoid Telemarketers

Just say no

It never fails--you're about to sit down to a meal, step into the shower, or step out the door, and Ringgg! Suddenly a stranger is asking you to subscribe to a service you'd never need or buy a product you have absolutely no desire to own. Ahh, telemarketers. If those incredibly annoying sales calls are making you fantasize about ripping the phone cord out of the wall, read on for various ways to turn the tide.

This 2torial details a two-pronged campaign for curbing telemarketing calls in the U.S.: First, how to contact the businesses and agencies that use your personal information for telemarketing purposes and make them stop this practice. Second, how to deal with telemarketers one-on-one as they call you. Using both methods together is the most effective long-range solution.

Also, remember to keep a cool head when dealing with telemarketing problems. Sure, the phone call is annoying, but responding with rudeness doesn't solve anything. Whether speaking with a representative on the phone or writing a letter to a company, be civil and to the point. You'll get better results.

Understand how they get your name

Knowing how telemarketers obtain your personal information is a big step toward freeing yourself from their clutches. The first thing to check is how you might inadvertently be giving out information about yourself.

When a business or association gets information about you (for example, when you order a product or use your credit card), it can put you on its mailing or phone list, as well as sell or donate your name to other businesses' and associations' lists. Here's a rundown of places where this transaction might happen:

• Credit card companies

• Banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies

• Magazines and newspapers

• Mail order catalogs

• Universities and schools

• Airlines (particularly frequent flyer programs)

• Cable television and long distance phone carriers

• Product warranty cards

While some companies and associations make a point not to give out this information (and advertise as such), the majority will. To stop them, you usually have to tell them in writing: Simply type or print on a piece of paper, "Do not sell, rent, or in any way distribute my name and personal information." Sign and print your full name, include your address and phone number, and send it off. By law, they're required to honor your request.

Your personal information can also get on mailing and phone lists from a phone book listing or a post office change of address form. You can't tell these services not to give out that information, since once you give it to them, it's public. However, for a fee you can make your phone number unlisted (call your local phone company to see how). And instead of using a change of address form, you can directly contact everyone whom you want to have your new address.

If the task of contacting all the associations and companies whose lists you're on seems daunting, you can hire a service to do it for you. For a fee, the service will contact thousands of businesses, marketing agencies, and credit bureaus to have your name removed from (or make sure it's never added to) their mailing or telemarketing lists (although this doesn't guarantee all telemarketing calls will stop). To find these services, try typing "stop telemarketing" into an Internet search engine.

Contact the list makers

Many of those phone and mailing lists mentioned in Step 1 feed into much larger lists under the auspices of large-scale marketing agencies. Again, you can get off these lists by sending a letter. In it, you should include your full name, address, and phone number, and clearly state that you want your name removed from their marketing lists and added to their "do not contact" list.

Direct Marketing Association. This is one of the largest of the marketing agencies. Sometimes known as the DMA, it's a type of international club that businesses can join to get marketing assistance. By sending a letter to the DMA (or registering at its online site), you can wipe your name off its extensive list with one stroke. To contact them, check your phone book for a local chapter or type "Direct Marketing Association" into an Internet search engine. Note: The DMA performs this function in countries other than the U.S., as well.

Selling and renting agencies. Certain agencies deal primarily with selling or renting your name to other marketers. The major players in the U.S. are Metromail, RL Polk, Database America, and Donnelly Marketing Inc. Try looking them up with a phone book or search engine to find out how to contact them.

Credit bureaus. If you're getting a lot of calls concerning a "once in a lifetime" credit card or loan offer, your name is probably on the marketing lists of the national credit bureaus--three U.S. companies that together form one of the biggest sources of names and numbers for financial telemarketers. Again, to stop them, you need to send a letter requesting that you be removed from their lists. You may also need to give your date of birth and Social Security number. Check with each bureau's website to be sure. The three bureaus are Equifax, Experian (formerly TRW), and Trans Union Corp.

Note: These agencies and bureaus also have a mail preference service that will remove your name from junk mail lists. Just add this request to your letters.

But remember, not all businesses use these agencies, so while your effort will decrease the amount of calls, it won't stop them entirely.

Know your rights

The final way to stop telemarketers is the one-on-one method. Here's how it works:

When you receive a call from a telemarketer, simply say "Please put my name on your 'do not call' list." By U.S. federal law, a telemarketing company must maintain such a list, and if you want to be on it, the company must comply. Once your name is on this list, the company can't contact you for 10 years. Sweet victory. (Note: Charitable and nonprofit organizations are exempt from this rule.)

Some telemarketing companies, however, don't quite operate on the up and up. If you believe you're dealing with such a company (if, for example, you're receiving more calls after you've asked to be on the "do not call" list), you can take action:

Start documenting each call. Write down the date and time of the call, and the full name of the representative you talked to, as well as the company's name. (In particular, you need to document the person you asked to put your name on the "do not call" list.)

Ask for a copy of the company's privacy policy. This document should contain the "do not call" requirements, and it's U.S. law that every telemarketing company have one. If it's not sent to you, this is further ammunition for your case. If it is, you have proof that the company violated its own policies.

Contact a lawyer. Every call a telemarketing company makes to you after you've asked to be put on its "do not call" list is a violation of U.S. Federal Trade Commission laws, and each violation entitles you to sue for a civil penalty of $500 (U.S.). For a complete rundown of potential telemarketing violations, as well as telemarketing laws, check out the Federal Trade Commission's website.

Hopefully, though, you won't have to go this far. Your efforts to remove your name from marketing lists will be successful--giving you the peace and quiet you deserve, and restoring your healthy relationship with your once-feared phone.

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