No, you 
That surprises me. I thought companies couldn’t share your info with unrelated companies unless you ticked the little box saying they could.
Only in California. In all other states, they can share your information until you ask them to stop.
You know those privacy notices that they send you every year? The ones that nobody ever reads and just throws right into the garbage? They explain this. They will usually have a phone number to call, an address to write, or a web site to use if you want to “opt out” of information sharing.
When I get those calls I just go
“Dave ?” “Dave ?”
“Dave’s not here.”
I thought only I did that. The other day I rattled off a phone number only to be told that I’d given too many digits. “Well, leave one off”. “OK, which one?” “Doesn’t matter”.
Thanks kayaker I must remember that one.
Frankly, I don’t really mind a marketing call IF there’s a reasonable chance I might be interested in the product or service. The problem is, with so much nonsense, I very rarely pick up unless I’m expecting a call from a number I don’t recognize or it otherwise looks like it might be familiar or relevant.
And yes, I know it’s not the fault of the people taking the calls, so I won’t be rude to them, but the entire industry as a whole is just shady. For example, there shouldn’t need to be “special rules” to get on the DNC list; if it’s clear the person doesn’t want to be called anymore, making you say some spiel in order to complete it is just a waste of EVERYONE’s time, they’re likely to be less forgiving if you call back after they asked to be put on the DNC list.
I also think more effort should be put into compiling these lists. Yes, I know that various transactions result in my information being compiled and sold, but I’d at least expect some amount of effort being put into cleaning the data rather than cold calling. Really, you think that because I got a new credit card I want carpet cleaning service? Again, a little bit more attention to the detail means you get better return on the calls made and less annoyed people on the other end of the line.
And, again, I don’t mind so much if there’s a reasonable chance I might be interested. For instance, I could see someone recently taking out a mortgage possibly being interested in services and products related to buying/selling a house or moving. I can see how if I filled out a warranty card for a product, that I might be interested in related products or services. The problem is, there is almost never any relation, and picking it up means I’m using my minutes, so it’s just a waste of my time and money.
But the worst part is, even if it IS a call I’m interested in, which it almost never is, I’m not giving any personal information, much less payment information, to someone calling from a number I don’t recognize. You claim to be from business X or charity Y, but how sure can I be? Even if the pitch is interesting, I’m still going to insist on something in the mail or an email or website I can verify. So, why not just skip the steps of caling me and just send me email or mail?
So why the hell did you add all that shit to my thread when it was NOT about the sin of telemarketing calls? Is it that the word ‘telemarketer’ sends off signals like the word PEDOPHILE or something? Is it such a knee-jerk response to ANYTHING that contains the word???
Really? Is it that hard? FFS :smack:
They’re so innocent when they’re young.
Regards,
Shodan
For some reason, the OP reminds me of the legendary* “Should telemarketing be outlawed?” thread, wherein Claudia the Telemarketer stated “You do have a phone wich implies you WANT to be called.”
*Actually it was this thread that was legendary.
When asked for my phone number or email address, I normally just say, I’m not giving you that.
Okay, all that is explained. Currently I’m calling medical billing offices to encourage them to take advantage of something their insurance payers are offering to speed payment and other good things. I understand that companies are conglomerating, so what would be something they would’ve gone for a year ago is no longer needed. Fine, many calls are “unsuccessful.” But why does 10% of this list go straight to RADIOLOGY departments? And another 5% to Physical Therapy? Departments where few of the people have a clue how to transfer to Billing or what the main hospital phone number is because they don’t need to? Huh? Answer me THAT, Mr Smartypants!
We have three million leads, but mergers and buy-outs will have reduced that to maybe three hundred in the next three years. And so far I’m sanitizing most of them while others do followup.
I appreciate the OP showing us where you get our number. Could you or other telemarketers tell me if Lowes, and other major outlets who say they need a phone number if you ever need to do a return and you don’t have your receipt is legitimate? They claim it will never be used to contact us or be given out for any other reason. Is that true? And I often get lots of fake numbers now from telemarketers, showing to be local numbers, when I find out they are not. I guess this is legal too?
With that said, I really hate you guys. I’ve been on the DNC (do not call) list for years, although I’m a small business owner, and I realize that technically we are not supposed to be on it, but it actually slowed down the calls some. But still I’m the one that pays quite a bit for my land-line, and it’s frustrating for you guys to interrupt me through the day as much as you do. It’s like I’m paying for a line for you guys to do your commercials on.
You’d think that word would have got out now with the hundreds of times, I’ve said to take me off of their list, but it doesn’t make a bit of difference. We are wasting each others time if you call me. I’ve never once bought anything from a telemarketer, never gave to a charity through a telemarketer, and I never will. When I have given to a charity, and they have put me on their call list, that is the end of that, no more. Seems like with all of the data you guys collect, and the technology being used, you’d learn to avoid those that are not going to buy or give to you.
I’d say three-fourths of the telemarketer calls I get are from robocops. After two seconds of nothing but dead air space, and out of state numbers, I generally know they are telemarketers, so are easy enough to hang up on, and often don’t even answer. Stay on long enough, and the computer kicks in.
Sometimes on the live voices, are the charities, tugging at your heart strings, generally asking me if I can help. Then there are the law enforcement folks that have decided to get it on this too. For me, it’s generally the sheriff’s department wanting to help stop crime more, asking me for support by buying their calendar. I’ve lost track of how many times someone has called me supposedly representing google and telling me I need to update my information. The way I currently understand it, the real google people doesn’t do that.
I’d say on a typical month, I get between 100-200 telemarketing calls. On a really slow month, maybe 50. On a really bad day, I think I’ve gotten almost as much as 20. I’m a small business owner who often is multitasking, trying to keep expenses to a minimum, and it’s very frustrating to be interrupted when you were already with a customer, or doing something else, but to have yet another unwelcome telemarketer call. Recently this year, I finally had to hire some help, and it was to deal with the phone issues, screening out the telemarketers to where we can get to my customers.
I wish you guys would find another line of work. Do you actually enjoy it? Do some of you actually enjoy annoying people? Do you have any other skills or possible means of employment or are you stuck there?
Perhaps a lawyer could chime in here - is the bolded part illegal?
Perhaps I am blinded by my burning hatred for the telemarketing calls I get on a daily basis.
Not in the Pit, are we? I better stop here.
Regards,
Shodan
And since it is MPSIMS your target audience really can’t provide the response you deserve.
MPSIMS is a safe haven to make a one sided argument.
In strict MPSIMS terms All I can say is that I suspect within all of the data mining that goes into pilfering people’s phone numbers there isn’t one shred of evidence that states that they want you to give them a call.
I guess it’s going to take an act of Congress to get them to stop. Oh, wait, we already tried that, didn’t we?
And up above on my post, make that robocalls, not robocops. 
I have no idea. Each client we call for has different policies for how someone gets on their do not call lists. Most are more lenient now. Not so much as they were five years ago.
BubbaDog, this thread was intended to give people information about the source of their phone numbers for telemarketers to call. It was not meant to be an argument to support telemarketing.
There’s been plenty of other threads over the years calling for telemarketers to be burned at the stake. Go do a search in the Pit and resurrect one of those if you feel you must.
Knock yer’self out. 
I remember back in the early/mid 80s, I had stopped at a nearby Radio Shack to get something. Batteries, I think. I paid for it in cash and the cashier asked me for my current address. I asked him what the hell did he need that for? Okay, they wanted to mail me catalogs and crap, but we already got those with inserts from the daily and Sunday papers anyway. He muttered something about company policy and I muttered more loudly something about still waiting for my change.
That’s nice and all, but not useful in any regard. The bottom line is that it’s now effectively impossible not to get unsolicited, unwanted, and harassing calls if you have a phone number. It’s just a question of how often and how one deals with it. Like many, I long ago stopped answering my phone for any number I don’t recognize, because I get anywhere from two to a dozen telemarketer/robocall/scammer calls every day. You’re a voluntary cog in a machine that makes life miserable for millions of people, so if you don’t like criticism of your industry, suck it up and don’t make any more glib “informative” OPs like this one.