I signed up for that Do Not Call list a few years back, supposedly notifying marketers that I do not want cold sales calls interrupting my life at home. But lately those calls are starting to reappear. I just got a call from a Salmon Creek company asking how old my roof is — and whether I had time today for a sales visit. That makes three or four marketing calls recently.
I’m really sympathetic to local businesses trying to stay afloat, but I still get frustrated when they bug me at home. What’s the deal with that Do Not Call law? Do you have to re-up periodically? Are there loopholes?
I also get regular calls from nonprofits I do contribute to, pleading for just a little more. I guess the Do Not Call list doesn’t apply to groups you’ve joined?
— Frustrated in Felida
The National Do Not Call Registry was launched in 2003 — but actually implemented in 2004, after a legal challenge from the telemarketing industry was dismissed. That should underline what’s already obvious: telemarketers hate being banned from calling you at home.
The registry is maintained by the Federal Trade Commission, and enforced by the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission and local law enforcement. You’d think all that legal muscle would be tough to evade, and it is — but not impossible. According to the government, putting your number on the list should stop most, but not all, unsolicited calls. Here are legal exceptions:
• The registry only applies to residential lines and cell phones — not business lines.
• You may still receive calls from political organizations. A movement to give a National Political Do Not Call Registry the force of law has gone nowhere. Individual states have different laws governing political “robocalls”; Washington state has no such law.
• You may still receive calls from nonprofit organizations.
• You may still receive opinion survey calls.
• You may still receive calls from companies with which you’ve done business for up to 18 months after your last purchase, payment, or delivery — unless you specifically ask not to be contacted. And you may still receive calls from a company up to 31 days after contacting the company yourself.
The law doesn’t apply to creditors, bill collectors and collection agencies — although these are regulated by other laws, like the one limiting their calls to “reasonable hours.”
It’s reported that some telemarketers have tried skirting the Do Not Call Registry rules by getting their foot in the door with a bogus “survey” — and then asking for permission to make a follow-up call. Such tactics have run into legal troubles.
The most widespread evasion of the Do Not Call list was a massive telephone robocalling operation that systematically dialled every number in a given ZIP code and made a recorded pitch to extend auto warranties “before it is too late” — whether or not the residents had any vehicle or warranty at all. (Misleading postcards were also mailed). Hundreds of millions of calls were made and 30,000 consumer complaints were generated as a result. The FCC appealed to the federal courts, and defendants Transcontinental Warranty Inc. and Voice Touch Inc. were fined and permanently banned from telemarketing.
You can sign up, or verify that your number is on the registry, at http://www.donotcall.gov, or by calling the registry’s toll-free number (1-888-382-1222). When the registry was new, you had to renew every five years, but the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 made every registration permanent.
The law applies to both interstate and intrastate (local) commerce — so, as near as this reporter can tell, you’d be within your rights to file a complaint about that overeager roofer.
As far as nonprofit groups you’ve joined but don’t want to take cold calls from — why not politely and sympathetically ask them to please stop calling?
— Scott Hewitt
