ABUSE OF TELEMARKETING

Fellow hubbers and other readers I have recently received numerous telephone calls from many agencies. These are both political and non-profit entities. I’m as generous as the next man but I have my limits and my limit has been reached!!!!!!!!

In the last few months I have received at least half-a –dozen telephone calls per day, incessantly. I need to get my peace and quiet. That is the reason for the title, Abuse of Telemarketing.

The national Do-Not-Call-Implementation list was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2003. The purpose of this legislation was to provide peace and quiet for citizens of the United States who had wearied from incessant telemarketing calls. In their usual self-serving wisdom Congress exempted themselves from the law as well as other organizations that were supposed to be collecting for non-profit entities. The national Do-Not-Call-Registry, AKA, The Do-Not Call List must be expanded to include all those political and non-profit entities that are abusing their privileged place on this list. I gave a generous donation to a non-profit political entity early this past summer and I still receive numerous telephone calls from this organization. There are too many charities that are using telemarketing firms to collect donations 90% of which go to the telemarketing firms and never get to the needy that the charitable organizations are supposed to be serving in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of these offenders are so aggressive that it’s not unusual to receive monthly calls. This can be worse during political campaigns when personal calls, robocalls and political organizations conducting polls are in high gear and calling from dawn to dusk and beyond.

My most recent history with these telemarketing pests was only yesterday, October 25, 2010, when my telephone never ceased ringing off the hook from these vermin intent on disturbing my peace and quiet. I received a call from repeat offender Citizens United. This is a group that I support in their endeavors but they just won’t leave me alone. Just last week I received another call and I told them that my earlier generous donation was all I could afford this year and I asked them to remove my name from their call list for at least a year before calling again!!!!!!

Another repeat offender is the West Virginia FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) and as you may know fellow Hubbers my dear late brother Kimmie was a law enforcement officer most of his adult life and even President of the Marshall County FOP. Well Kimmie told me no legitimate FOP organization would ever make telephone solicitations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if this isn’t insidious enough then I’ll tell you about the DAV (Disabled American Veterans). I first donated to the DAV about 1970 and they’ve made my life a living hell since that fateful time. First came repeat mailings and then started the telemarketing that never ceases!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those of you who have read my Hub know I’m conservative and a registered Republican. Well then why do Republican candidate persist in calling my number? In West Virginia Republicans are such a rarity who else do they think I’ll vote for? Why would a Democrat waste their time tingling my bell? Do they think they have a chance for my vote?

I’m here to tell you I’m fed up to my gills with these telemarketing behemoths!!!!!

What is a poor old man to do to obtain any peace and uninterrupted time to myself?

I can’t even take my afternoon nap without hearing that incessant ringing in my ears awakening me!!!!!!!!!!

I try to play Space Cadet Pinball on my computer and the next thing I know I’m being interrupted again and I end up loosing to my nemesis, the computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want legislation to redesign this law and remove all exemptions for all these abusive organizations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please support my call to try to help maintain my sanity, which is very frail to begin with, and stop these insane, insidious calls from occurring in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They should never have been exempted in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To quote my friend Susie, ”They should never have been exempted in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Junk mail and Internet spam are bad enough but they don’t upset my household or nap or leisure with noise or constant ringing. Junk mail and Internet spam give all the control to me regarding when to read it or IF to read it. But telemarketers are allowed to invade the privacy of my home by ringing my phone whenever they want, interrupting my private life whenever they want; nobody will do anything about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “.

Folks let’s band together and ban this lunacy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!