So next July 13th I'm gonna wake up and suddenly want to be harassed again?

When I (joyfully!) signed onto the national Do NOT Call Registry I was thinking that I was guarding my phone number against telemarketers.

Forever.

I come to find out today that the sign-up was only good for five years. (Swear I remember being told otherwise...CNN reporters don't remember being told this either.)

To me, opt out means opt OUT...until I want to opt back IN. Be that time one year, five years or, in this case, infinity x that many years.

Not sure who thought that I'd want calls again in 60 months. And I bet I don't even get an email reminding me in June that expiration is quickly approaching.

Yes folks, even though we're not pesky marketers the word "marketer" is quite evident in the word "telemarketer." So it's no small wonder that many innocent consumers associate us with them.

If anybody sees any petitions on getting Do Not Call to get its act together, please inform me. They do have a "file a complaint" feature but that's about all I've found.

Perhaps it's only me and this 5-year hiatus from being harassed makes sense. But I really want them to lose my number.

For how long? For as long as forever takes.

PS: Is there a way for me to opt OUT of pop-up ads, banners on my screen that say "to keep viewing this ad click here," and all those incredibly annoying magazine "blow-ins" asking me to sign-up when I've been a darn subscriber for over a decade? I'll happily take a break from any/all of these for five years.

Comments

[Lori Magno]

Amen Sister! I would also like to opt out of the tea room psychic flyers passed out on the street!

[Roger Anderson]

CK - I once had a Director of Sales & Marketing take down the "No Soliciting" sign on our office. He felt is was hypocritical of us, since we cold called on customers by phone, to refuse to allow someone else to cold call on us.

So, why should marketers get to be on the "Do Not Call" or "Do Not Market To" lists?

[CK]

Roger: I hear you. But I don't cold call :-). The only time I call a prospect is if another client has referred me and cleared that I'll call. And, honestly, it's usually them calling (or emailing) me to say "John Doe pointed me to you..". I wrote on this way back
right here:

http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2006/11/may_all_rivers_flow_to_you_and.html

[Katie Konrath]

I agree with you that the 5 year limit on the Do Not Call list is a little ridiculous. If someone goes to the trouble to opt-out, they are definitely convinced that they do not want to be contacted.

This isn't the sort of thing that people regret later: "Oh, I really miss the dinner-interrupting sales calls!"

I don't know much about the Do Not Call list's origins, but the 5 year limit might simply be a compromise with the telemarketing companies to get them to agree.

Or perhaps it's a sneaky way for them to make people complacent. I've heard a lot of stories about telemarketers preying on lonely older people who are happy that someone wants to talk to them. This could be part of that strategy.