Do Not Call List Doesn't Stop All Telemarketing Calls

But list will screen the most annoying calls

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 27, 2009

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The whole purpose of the national Do Not Call list is to prevent unwanted telemarketing calls. If you're still receiving these calls, you may be wondering why.

For starters, make sure you are actually signed up on the official list. You can visit www.donotcall.gov and verify that your number is actually registered. Registration for the service is free, and consumers should notice fewer unwanted calls within the first month of signing up.

Unfortunately, being on the Do Not Call list isn't going to stop all telemarketing call, although it will block most of them. However, charity organizations can still call you. So can political organizations.

Also, if you have had previous contact with a company, the Do Not Call list will not stop them from calling you.

For example, if you sign up to win a free car at the mall, in many cases you’re also giving the business permission to contact you. Sometimes, even answering questions in a survey gives a business to follow up with a sales pitch.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray says consumers can ask a business to place them on their internal do not call list to prevent unwanted calls. If an individual continues to receive the calls, that person can file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office and the Federal Trade Commission, the agency in charge of the Do Not Call registry.

You may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry too, even though cell phones don't usually get that many telemarketing calls. However, that could change as more consumers only use cell phones in place of land lines. The registry has accepted cell phone numbers since it opened for registrations in June 2003. There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the registry, according to the FTC.

You may have received an email telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database; however, that's just an Internet rumor. Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers.

The Do Not Call list is an important tool to prevent fraud, because it limits the number of telephone pitches directed at consumers. Older consumers are especially vulnerable to high-pressure telemarketers.

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