Tired of telemarketers? You're not alone.
The phone calls that pushed Diana Mey too far came four years ago from telemarketers selling Sears house siding. Repeatedly ignoring her requests that they stop calling, they brazenly broke federal laws and even claimed the laws didn't apply to them.... The Erin Brockovich of the do-not-call laws, Mey also has created a Web site (dianamey.com) to guide laymen on how to take telemarketers to court.
For those days when I'm working out of my home office, a good telemarketer call can actually make my day. The more time of theirs I waste, the better I feel, since volume is their life blood. Does that mean I'm wasting my time? Oh, no, because I'm busy getting name, company name, address, and so on, laying my foundation for them to break the federal laws governing telemarketers, which then entitles me to demand $500.00 per violation - and if they don't pay up, take them to court. Right now, I've got one demand pending against a company that committed twelve violations over a course of two months - despite my polite request that they never call me again, the first time they called. Twelve violations, $500 each. Do the math.
At worst, I'm making it very expensive for telemarketers to call me. At best, they pay for my next car. Or maybe just the middle ground - they lose their jobs because they were rude to me. Satisfaction, guaranteed.
Eventually, they'll get the message and stop calling.
Posted by wasylik at February 20, 2002 12:14 PM | TrackBack