Peggy Revell
Residents across the district have high hopes that the government’s newly-launched “Do Not Call” list will give them some peace and quiet from telemarketers.
Launched back on Sept. 30, the list let’s people register their phone numbers, thus making them off-limits to telemarketers. Almost 2.7 million Canadians registered in the first week alone, with the system even crashing at one point from the overwhelming numbers.
“I hope it works,” said Hazel Strain, who already has signed up for the list.
“[The calls] are a pain in the neck!” she added, especially since many telemarketing companies have started phoning her as early as 7:30 a.m., late in the evenings, and on weekends.
Residential, wireless, faxes, and VoIP telephone numbers all can be registered, but it can take up to a month before telemarketers stop calling. While these companies are required by law to subscribe to the list, they only have to update it every 31 days.
The sheer number of calls is one of the reasons Peter Finlayson already has signed up for the list. In the past day alone, he said he’s had calls from a credit card company and insurance company.
“And I’ve only been home a couple days! I’ve been out of town working and as soon as I get home, bang! They’re on the phone,” he remarked, likening it to the unwanted spam that fills up an e-mail inbox.
“There’s one of those credit card companies, and it seems like every other day you’re getting a call!” echoed Strain. “I’ve won so many ‘trips.’”
“I just find that no matter how many times you tell them, they just don’t stop,” agreed Jack Booth, who hasn’t signed up for the “Do Not Call” list yet.
“You can’t blame the people who call because they just have a job,” he added, but many won’t even let him get a word in edgewise to say “no” to whatever they’re offering.
“I’ve won the same trip three times I’ve answered the phone, and I don’t even want to hear that because nobody gives something like that away,” he stressed.
“There’s too many scams, that’s the trouble,” said Gary Thesenvitz, who thinks the list is a good idea but also hasn’t signed up for it yet.
“If somebody wants something, there’s so many places you can go and get it locally,” noted Booth. “Why would you talk to people you don’t even know?”
One person who doesn’t plan to sign up for the list is Jim Veitch.
“I don’t see any need for me to sign up . . . we have call display and I screen all the calls, so it only takes five rings and I don’t bother with it,” he explained.
If he does accidently pick up the phone and it’s a telemarketer, he just says “no thanks” and hangs up.
“We answer all the local calls, the 274 calls,” he noted. “Anything that’s Toronto or 750 like that, we just don’t bother answering. There’s never a message, so you know it’s telemarketing.”
Keith McCready has signed up for the list, not just with his home phone but also his cellphone since a call from telemarketers on it means his cellphone minutes are wasted.
He thinks the “Do Not Call” list is needed, but as an owner of an RV shop in Dryden, he wishes the list also would let businesses sign up to be excluded from these calls.
“It’s cutting into my time. If I’m not working, I’m not making money,” he argued. “If I’m answering phones and listening to them go on and on about something that I don’t give a darn about, it’s costing me money.”
Kevin Anderson also signed up for the list a few weeks ago in hopes to stop the tide of telemarketing calls.
“I hope it will work,” he remarked, but also said it probably would make sense to expand the list so that people can choose to also not receive calls from the organizations that already are exempt from the list.
Currently, the “Do Not Call” list exempts Canadian registered charities, political parties, riding associations, newspapers, and businesses you have an existing relationship with (such as your bank or credit card company).
Since they are not selling anything, organizations that do market research, surveys, and public opinion polls also are exempt.
Registration on the list also needs to be renewed every three years, although the CRTC announced Monday plans to possibly change this.
For more information about the “Do Not Call” list, including registering a phone number, visit www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca or call 1-866-580-3625.
