Canada
Websites yield company info; certain phone providers offer call-blocking features.
It seems the most effective way to curb unwanted telemarketing calls isn't by reporting violators of the National Do Not Call List to federal regulators.
About 20,000 Canadians have tried that approach each month since the list was established in September, but the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission has yet to levy a penny's worth of fines against Do Not Call violators, instead opting to take the more indirect route of writing letters threatening punitive action.
And given the recent trend involving U.S. telemarketing agencies autodialling into Canadian homes several times a day and, ultimately out of the reach of the CRTC's disciplinary arm, many Canadians are beginning to feel powerless in their own homes.
But Lower Coverdale resident Lynne Nason found that a little Internet savvy and a calm demeanour can equate to blissful tranquility in a matter of just five business days.
Nason shows that if you attack rogue telemarketers as if they were vampires -- that is, aiming directly for the heart -- success will more than likely follow.
For months, Nason's landline, cell phone, and even her fax machine were inundated with automated phone calls from a number listed at 1-804-518-2490 -- a fraudulent number that, through an Internet search, Nason quickly found was associated with JPM Accelerated Financial Services in Melbourne, Fla.
An online forum yielded a slew of similar stories, and a corresponding website for JPM's company offices was uncovered, complete with toll-free contact information.
Nason took advantage, asking for a supervisor, explaining calmly but firmly that she wasn't interested in their product and demanded politely to be placed on their internal do-not-call list.
"She said that it would take five business days before they stopped calling -- we have not had another call from them," said Nason.
"I told them that I wanted to register a complaint so they could be fined, and they seemed (to co-operate) after that -- maybe there's something they're afraid of."
The Office of the Attorney General in Florida is conducting a public consumer-related investigation into the company.
Nason has since been getting similar calls, though less frequent, via a new phony number listed at 702-520-1114.
Phone subscribers with caller identification may want to consider running the phony number through the free-to-use reverse lookup website www.800notes.com.
The website is specifically tailored to uncover information about aggressive telemarketers, with online posters sharing information and connecting the dots together.
When the Times & Transcript ran Nason's new '702' number through the website, the number was traced back to American Debt Negotiators, based out of Coral Springs, Fla. The poster also provided toll-free contact information.
If Internet sleuthing isn't your thing, depending on your phone provider, there are some little-known options available to Rogers customers looking to block specific incoming numbers.
A customer service representative with Rogers told the Times & Transcript yesterday that the utility provider offers call-blocking for both cell phone and home phone subscribers.
The representative said that home phone users could purchase a call-screen feature, which allows a customer to enter up to 12 phone numbers that will subsequently be restricted on all incoming calls. The feature costs either $4 or $8 a month, depending on your service.
Cell phone users have the option of signing up for Rogers Call Manager, which offers a little more flexibility as users can enter an unlimited amount of restricted numbers, and even an entire area code if need be. This feature costs $5 per month, said the representative.
Bell-Aliant customers, however, have markedly fewer options to help in the fight against unwanted phone calls.
"Unfortunately, there isn't anything in knowing, 'there's one particular number that's calling me and I'd like to block that number,'" said Bell-Aliant spokeswoman Isabelle Robinson.
"There's the National Do Not Call List, and it's really that group that is responsible for overseeing the complaints process and all of the nuances for deciding what is telemarketing and what isn't."
Bell Canada was the company contracted by the CRTC to manage all complaints related to the Do Not Call List and its six million registrants.
The National Do Not Call List allows exemptions for political organizations, charities, survey companies, subscription seekers and businesses with whom you've had a prior relationship.
For a one-stop way to opt out of the directories of a number of such Canadian organizations, consumers can register for free at www.ioptout.ca, a website authored by University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist.
Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe Liberal MP Brian Murphy last week labelled the Do Not Call List a failure, and added he'd be crusading for an effective national registry on Parliament Hill.
By comparison, where the Canadian registry has yet to levy a single fine, the American Do Not Call registry has imposed nearly $20 million in fines since 2004, including successful multi-million-dollar lawsuits against communications giants Comcast and Direct TV.
KRIS MCDAVID
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com