# What can I do about a telemarketing recording that won't stop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-about-a-telemarketing-recording-that-wont-stop/546833 "2010-07-15T20:58:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-about-a-telemarketing-recording-that-wont-stop/546833/1 "2010-07-15T20:58:49Z")
The story: I keep getting this call that is a recording. It talks about if I’m a homeowner…blah blah blah blah…etc. But I’m not a homeowner. **The call doesn’t apply to me**. So I hang up. But I keep getting the call! Five, six, seven times a month… Someone finally tells me “If you listen to it all, there should be an option at the end of the spiel to ‘opt out’ of getting calls again”. Wow, I didn’t know that! I’ll have to give it a try. 🙂 So next time, I do…and sure enough, it’s there. “To opt out and stop receiving these calls press 2.” So I press 2. It doesn’t work. About a month later, the same calls start again. Pissed off, I start just hanging up again, although I eventually listen to the whole message _again_, and press the button to stop the freaking calls _again_. This time it’s been only a week. One week and I just got ANOTHER FREAKING call from this recording! I finally pressed one to talk to a rep and told the live person who answered about the problem. Turns out…there’s not much they can do about it because the recording doesn’t originate from there, it comes from a separate company. Now, I don’t want to have to change my number. I like my number and have had it for a long time. But there’s not much I can do against a recording, because, well…it’s a recording! And the opt out/stop this bullshit button doesn’t seem to be working! So what can I do? How can I get this damn telemarketing recording call to stop? I’ll try any suggestions that I haven’t tried yet. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-about-a-telemarketing-recording-that-wont-stop/546833/2 "2010-07-15T21:12:55Z")
[The Do Not Call Registry](https://www.donotcall.gov/) is the place to start. if you are not on it, get on it. They have a way to file a complaint. Then, the next time they call, get a person again, tell them that you are on the registry, and that he or she had better take you off. I don’t quite believe that there is nothing that the person can do. Be sure to get information about the company, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![hende](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/aca169/32.png) [@hende](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hende)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-about-a-telemarketing-recording-that-wont-stop/546833/3 "2010-07-15T21:15:27Z")
Is your phone number in the do not call registry? If not, try adding it and hope the calls stop. Even if you aren’t in the registry, it looks like you can still file a complaint if you are receiving recorded messages. > **[National Do Not Call Registry](https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html)** > > Register your phone number to report stop or block unwanted, annoying,telemarketing, spam calls, robocalls to the FTC ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-about-a-telemarketing-recording-that-wont-stop/546833/4 "2010-07-15T21:30:59Z")
No, it wasn’t, but it is now…thank you! ---
**Author:** ![John\_H\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@John\_H\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_H_1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-about-a-telemarketing-recording-that-wont-stop/546833/5 "2010-07-15T22:04:40Z")
In addition to the national registry, your state may also have its own don’t call list that you should also sign up to if possible.