# So to hell with the No Call List? (Solar telemarketing) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 11, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888 "2015-07-11T21:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/41 "2015-07-14T14:18:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > dropdad was a lawyer for Greyhound, the largest US bus company and highly successful in the days before cheap airfares. They were constantly being sued for supposed monopolistic practices, so dinners were filled with talk of anti-trust cases and how much he hated Stevie Nicks’ father. In one case a fellow described The Dog that way. In court. It went down in family history. That’s fantastic. I wish I had seen the judge’s face. Also, I’m totally stealing the line. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/42 "2015-07-14T15:25:02Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Not necessarily illegal. > > There is an exception in the Do-Not-Call registry for ‘companies with whom you have an existing financial relationship’. So your bank, your mortgage company, your car lender, etc. can call you. Reasonable. Then the FTC was foolish enough (or corrupt enough) to extend their definition of “existing financial relationship” to subsidiaries or contractors of such companies. > > So if your electric company sells their customer list to a solar panel marketer, and the electric company gets a percentage or an extra fee for each person who buys, that solar company is considered a ‘part’ of your electric company, so they can legally call you. > > A loophole big enough to send thousands of sales calls thru! I have found nomorobo to be much more effective than the do not call list. It screens out virtually all robocalls. You still get human telemarketers for charities because they get free telemarketing labor in the form of volunteers but if you ask them not to call, they will stop. I am only rude to telemarketers that telemarket for police charities, these charities are frequently formed by a couple of retired cops that form a charity and then form a telemarketing company to raise money for the charity for 95% of the proceeds. Its a horrible scam that preys on people who idolize police. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/43 "2015-07-14T18:37:42Z")
My preferred (and previous) solution: Get a cell phone. Don’t set up voice mail. Set it to silent. Return missed calls from people you want to talk to. Unfortunately, there are just too many places won’t keep their communications to texting and email, so I had to set up voice mail. Also, I don’t have kids. I realize that this necessitates doing things differently. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/44 "2015-07-14T19:37:29Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > They are breaking the law. Take their number and report them. You may need to play along with a real human if you need to get their real company name and number. Complain on Yelp. Make them hurt. There’s no point. The DNC list was a great idea 20 years ago. Nowadays, with caller ID spoofing and cheap IP telephony, it simply means that you never get calls from reputable marketers; you only get calls from scammers. Look at [800notes.com](http://800notes.com) and similar sites - any number you get called from will show up as a known scammer. The closest to a “real” number I’ve ever gotten was a recent “Department of Treasury, you’re gonna go to jail” call. I called the number back just for giggles and got an Indian voice saying “Internal Revenue Service, how may I help you?”. That one deserves kudos (or something) for actually having a more elaborate setup. I actually _did_ report that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/45 "2015-07-14T19:39:17Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > I finally went with NoMoreRobo . Com which is free. The phone rings once and the number is then cut off. We just avoid answering our phone on the first ring. > … > Unfortunately, cell phone companies do not support NoMoreRobo. Correction: it’s [nomorobo.com](http://nomorobo.com). And yeah - I thought some cell companies could work with Nomorobo but Verizon certainly doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/46 "2015-07-15T18:00:42Z")
T mobile doesn’t support it either. ☹ Too bad, it looks like a great idea. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/47 "2015-07-15T19:05:37Z")
Not to sound like a shill, but: **[Get an Ooma!](http://www.ooma.com)** For the $10/mo “premium” service, I get a personal blacklist, a community blacklist, and Nomorobo. I was away for two weeks, and when I got home there was exactly 1 message waiting. I used to get 5-6 spam calls/day, now I get fewer than that in a month. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/48 "2015-07-15T19:13:39Z")
My main strategy these days is to just not answer if I don’t know the number. I push the END button on the home phone if it’s nearby, and no more ringing. I check the voicemail occasionally. The only thing that can get through would be a local number or a number local to a loved one, but, so far, those haven’t happened. They’ve only gotten the same general area. Sometimes living in smaller towns is a benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/49 "2015-07-15T19:28:34Z")
We only have a dozen numbers on our block list so I guess hardly any telemarketers know about us. First telemarketer number I put on there was those “Windows” people in case they tried calling again after I practically got them to admit they had no clue about our computers. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/50 "2015-07-15T20:23:27Z")
We’ve been getting a lot of calls from solar companies, and a couple of weeks ago one of them made the mistake of calling about 9:30 on a Saturday morning. I answered (too far from caller ID to screen), and as soon as the guy started his pitch I started whining: "Hey! It’s Saturday bleeping morning here! Why would you call someone on a Saturday morning? Thanks a big fat heap for waking me up. I don’t want to talk about solar power, I want to sleep. You guys just suck donkey - " [CLICK - he hung up]. I don’t think they’ve called back since the whine fest. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/51 "2015-07-16T15:08:35Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Correction: it’s [nomorobo.com](http://nomorobo.com). > > And yeah - I thought some cell companies could work with Nomorobo but Verizon certainly doesn’t. “Unfortunately, Nomorobo is not available on traditional analog landlines or wireless phones at this time.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/52 "2015-07-16T18:12:14Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > T mobile doesn’t support it either. ☹ > Too bad, it looks like a great idea. Not to T-mobile, Verizon, or any of them – remember that they make money from SPAM calls, robocalls, telemarketer calls, any calls. Then they make money from selling you services to block these calls. Then they make money from allowing telemarketers to spoof incoming numbers, to get around your blocks. Are we seeing a pattern here? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/53 "2015-07-21T16:47:14Z")
Four calls and counting today alone from these pricks. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888/54 "2015-07-24T18:29:02Z")
Maybe it’s better to just switch numbers every year or two, especially if you’re already not too keen on keeping up with more distant family members. I’m real lucky. I get a new phone about a month ago and haven’t had a spammer yet. I’ve just added myself to the no-call list, and we’ll se how long the peace and quiet will last. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-to-hell-with-the-no-call-list-solar-telemarketing/724888.md?page=2)