OT: Couldn't find a place to post this....
For Canadians who want to take a shot at curbing some of the more abusive practices by telemarketers, read on. Others, just ignore and go on to the next post.
Personally, I think that telemarketers should be subjected to a 50¢ a call charge, answered or unanswered, which the telcos would then use to reduce local rates for the communities being harrassed by telemarketers.
Ian
++++++++++
thestar.com
Nov. 17, 02:00 EDT
Fighting against unwanted faxes
Ellen Roseman
BUSINESS COLUMNIST
On Your Side
IS THERE ANYTHING more annoying than unsolicited faxes?
They force you to spend money on paper and toner, while tying up your fax machine and blocking access to more important documents you're waiting for.
There's also the cost of your time if you try to track down the senders and ask them to take you off their list.
Eamon Hoey, a telecommunications consultant in Toronto, works in a three-person office that receives far too many unwanted faxes.
He counted 407 between Feb. 10 and June 20 of this year, about 100 a month — or 1,200 to 1,500 a year.
Despite efforts to remove his number from senders' lists, Hoey finds he's getting even more unwanted faxes now than before.
Unsolicited faxes are "a growing and costly nuisance," he wrote to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in August.
Along with his letter, he sent a 500-sheet box of fax paper to each of the dozen CRTC commissioners, a tangible sign of his wasted resources.
The CRTC has been swamped with complaints about telemarketing abuses by fax and telephone.
"It's a high volume, close to 1,000," says spokesperson Denis Carmel.
As a result, the CRTC is seeking public comments about revising the rules. The deadline for comments has been extended until Dec. 21.
If you want to put a tighter rein on telemarketers, write to Ursula Menke, secretary general, Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0N2. You can also call 1-877-249-2782, or send an email toprocedure@crtc.gc.ca.
The CRTC wants to know if it should require telemarketers to set up a "do not call" list, similar to one that exists in the United States.
With a "do not call" list, telemarketers cannot phone or fax you without your permission.
In Canada, the reverse applies. You, the recipient, have to chase down telemarketers to stop the unwanted calls or faxes.
Most people don't bother attacking the problem at the source. And when they do, they rarely get anywhere.
Hoey discovered that many of his unsolicited faxes did not display an originating number, contrary to the CRTC rules.
Even when the originating number was identified, the sender did not answer the phone.
"In our experience, the number to be called is generally equipped with voice mail," he said. "In many instances, the voice mail system returned a message that the box could not accommodate further messages."
Moreover, the telemarketer does not have to confirm in writing that your number was deleted.
Why is it so hard to get your name off a list? Hoey blames the business model.
Fax marketers are paid about 3 cents a page to transmit advertisements. The more pages they transmit, the greater the return.
They have no incentive to remove a fax number from a list, since that results in less revenue.
If you get nowhere with a telemarketer, you have to lodge a complaint with the company's telephone provider.
If enough people complain, the telephone provider can take enforcement action by cutting off the telemarketer's phone or fax lines.
But the telemarketer can simply move to another carrier or reseller, forcing you to go through the whole rigmarole again.
Hoey counted up the time and money spent in chasing down nuisance telemarketers.
It took his staff an average of 90 minutes to be removed from each unsolicited fax list. Based on current clerical rates, the cost to his company was $60 apiece.
His solution: Make telemarketers get signed permission from each person they call or fax. |
