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Jan. 5, 2001: Telemarketers
This question about nagging telemarketers came to us by e-mail: "Bill, how can I get the many phone calls from telemarketers stopped at my home? I cannot afford the $6.95 a month the phone company charges to try to stop them."
The simple answer is that no one, not you, not the phone company, not even Uncle Sam himself can stop the telemarketing nuisance. These callers are persistent. They live with rejection. Even though there's a federal law that says they shouldn't call if you tell them not to, they still do! The feds don't seem to care much about enforcing that law.
So here's an alternative to that seven bucks a month. Get a simple telephone answering machine, one that allows you to screen calls as they come in. Leave a message that says if the caller is selling something, to please hang up and never call back again.
Don't answer the phone until the caller has had a chance to identify him or herself. I lose more nuisance callers every week that way. It's not foolproof. It's more like shoveling sand against the incoming tide, but it's worth a try.
Copyright 2001 by TheDenverChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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