....then why don't they require telemarketers to give you THEIR home phone number, so you can exercise your right to call THEM?

Waht I found hilarious was when I read that someone posted the home and office telephone #'s of the judge who made that ruling.

... he he....

Want to bet that he wishes his phone would quit ringing?? Wonder if he is starting to feel like his privacy is a bit invaded?

That's funny! That's payback!

The courts are correct. If you look closely at the constitution, and jumble up all the words and letters, it clearly states that low-life a$$holes have the right to use the telephone to annoy the $hit out of us. THAT is why telemarketing is protected by the constitution. The writers of the constitution had enough foresight to predict the need solicit over the telephone that was invented over 100 years later.

Anyone have that phone number for the judge? I would love to call and harass the heck out of him.

I don't know why this is here unless you're making fun of judges...

They may have the right to speak but I have the right to ignore them. They also don't have the right to use my property (my phone) for their business.

I agree...
They have the right to do business. I have the right to safety, peace and privacy in my home. My right as an individual citizen supersedes their right as a business entity. I would be well within my rights to order a troupe of entertainers hired by a car dealership off my property were they to knock on my door at 1900 hours on a Sunday and launch into the ad spiel given them by the dealershp. Telemarketing is no different. I am just an over-educated trucker; why can I figure this out and some judge cannot?

[ 09-27-2003, 19:35: Message edited by: rootbeer ]

Those people are just trying to make a living and i always talk to em. One wanted to clean three rooms of carpet for only 99.00, but i couldn't help them and told them i don't have any carpet but i'm hoping to get some new linoleum the first of the month when my check somes in.

The credit card people was wanting to extend me a line of credit and i was kind of disappointed in them. They had my hopes up big time. They was going to let me have 5,000 and no interest for three months. I told them it was the answer to prayer because everything had been going from bad to worse for me. My food stamps had just run out and the rent was three months overdue and my husband is in jail and my dog had just died. I wasn't finished yet and i was just feeling good to be able to have someone listen and care about my problems when they hung up on ME.

Then that young fella called wanting to sell me some cemetery lots. That stuff kind of bores me and so i asked him what he was wearing. Then he asked me what i was wearing and i told him i had on an old sweat suit and some hunting boots and he hung up, too. I can't keep them on the line.

Plinker603

Plinker603,

When I answer the phone and find one of them telemarkers on the other end I engage the Fax portion of my phone and they generally don't call back! derf

Plinker603:
You are precious! Reminds me of an ol' boy back in Louisiana that was always telling folks, "Don't go stomping mud on my dirt floors!"
And he meant it too!

If anyone wants to check him out, the judge is named Edward Nottingham and he lives in Denver, CO. If you were to do a search on anywho.com you can find a phone number listed for a federal judge. I won't post it up but it is there.

Actually, things could get much worse than this "simple" decision indicates.

After all, entering your number on the "don't call" list is simply blocking their access to you.

Which you could do with a caller ID system, paid for in excess of your normal phone bill, and an answering machine, if the local telco doesn't offer similiar services, both at extra cost, of course.

Thus, it may be illegal to do caller ID, since you can then screen your calls, thus avoiding their pitch.

Don't you just love PC reasoning?

Can't you just see the phone police SWAT squad breaking their way in?

"You're under arrest for failing to answer at least a hundred telemarketing/poll/political/charity calls, and so must be in posession of an illegal phone screening device!"

Next question:

How long does it take them to make the law that legally forces you to listen?

INResponse

Unfortunately you used the correct word . . .
If we call the judge at home or his office suddenly it will NOT be free speech, but rather harassment of a JUDGE . . . a dumb-ass judge, but a judge nonetheless.

LouisB

Just an opinion of course!

The Charleston Gazzette is one bunch that calls me regularly, wanting me to subscribe. I had been telling them I don't need to subscribe, because somebody brings the paper to work, and everyone there reads it for free. Finally, one guy caught on and asked "but you don't work on Sundays do you?" I told him sincerely that was a nice try, but I still didn't want to subscribe.

Any more, I just say "hello" a couple of times and pretend I'm telling my wife "I don't know who's calling, I can't hear anything". People who know me don't ask for me by my last name, ask how I am doing today, or ask for the man of the house.

H. C.

In my local paper today, it was noted that Judge Nottigham's name was ON THE DO NOT CALL LIST. Bloody hypocrite!
Paul B.

Is this going to be appealed?

FTC definitely plans to appeal, and are asking for a stay of the order taking effect until the appeal is completed. Let us hope that reason prevails.

I usually just start speaking a little German or french to them & it annoys the hell out of them.
Too Bad!

The ruling is plain, ole bunkum.

The call list is absolutely indifferent from a sign at my front door that says "no soliciting". I have the right to refuse to listen to anyone, most particularly on my property.

The call list is my "no soliciting" sign. If they had one for charities and politicians, I'd hang that sign up, too.

Whether in person or on the phone, NO ONE has a right to free speech, ON MY PROPERTY.

BTW, the quickest way to stop telemarketing calls is to tell the telemarketer: "put me on your company's do-not-call list". The law does not allow them to call you after that. I get surprisingly few calls anymore. Maybe one or two a week. FWIW, Dutch.

When those telemarketers pay *MY* phone bill, then they will have the "right" to call whenever and as often as they like!!!

[ 09-30-2003, 08:22: Message edited by: waldog ]

I just witness to them about Christianity. I've had them hang up on ME, too!

My favorite manner of dealing with them is as follows:

Chipper Telemarketer : " Good evening Mr. X, this is Cindy / Mark etc., and I'm calling to..."

Even-More-Chipper Me : " Hey Cindy / Mark, etc., what a coincidence, I was just getting ready to call you !"

-- stunned silence --

and then proceed with a pitch for them to buy my kid's girl scout cookies, or a plan to get them out of debt in thirty days, dental insurance, etc., ..... followed by a "click" on their end.

Lotsa fun.

We used have a ball with telemarketers. When my nephew was two we taught him to talk to these guys. When the phone rang and Chris was visiting (most of the time) we'd ask the gomers who they were calling for, usually man of the house or Mr Nelson and we'd hand it to Chris and he'd take the hammer to them. "Well, I'm Mister Nelson, wait a second" and he'd ask us if he was still a Mr Nelson and we'd say, yes you are. Then he'd be back on the phone, "Mr Nelson speaking, can I help you sir..." It would go round and round. It was so much fun we'd get the telemarketers to call back and ask for Chris.

A women's personal alarm works well as does "can you hold for a minute while I take dinner off the stove?". Some time later having eaten dinner just hang the phone up.

You know what pisses me off is the way that they launch into talking without pausing for you to interrupt. Fortunately I get very few. I used to have a wistle by the phone, I will have to get one again. until then I am going to answer and when they launch into their speech I am going to yell into the phone at the top of my lungs. (which is a great stress reliever anyways).

I believe that telemarketing is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, it infringes on my right to the pursuit of happiness. :-)

I do think that the law should be changed though, because the way it is you have to put your name on a do not call list, what a pain to maintain that list and distribute it to all the companies that want to do telemarketing. Better to pass a law that every telemarketer MUST give their personal home number out at the beginning of every call. So- hello mr. x, my name is annoyance and my number is xxxxxxxxx, then launch into the pitch.

That right there would keep people from even taking jobs in telemarketing. I understand that there are thousands of people employed in that industry. I think rather than making that a better reason to keep it I think it should send a warning flag on the pitifal state of our country.

Red

I am a member of the "Do Not Answer List". No Judge can take that listing away. The answering machine just seems to get to the phone before I do, and if the caller seems worth speaking to, I pick up the phone and do so. If not, well the erase button works real easy on that answering machine and it is kind of amusing, is a strange sort of way, listening to the Hellooo, Hellooo on the other end before the 'delete'.

Way back when, we used to get calls at work, factory reps, usually, and it got really painful after not too long.

So, we'd simply tell them that "so and so" was on the computer.

Then transfer them to the dial up modem line.

After a month or so, things calmed down.

Wonder why.

If you want some real ammo, check out a guy named Tom Mabe. He is an absolute Artist! He has an album called, "Revenge on The Telemarketers" He is hilarious!

DGK

I'm a little more cruel to the telemarketers. I ask them about their last date, sex habits, etc . They usually hang up immediately. I checked with one of the district attorneys. He said, as long as they called me, and I'm not too obscene (i.e. nothing that isn't on TV or on the cover of a newstand magazine), there is nothing wrong with it.