Do Not Call List, That's What You Think

When the DNC was created several years ago I was in the middle of completing my marketing degree. I personally felt that it was the answer to everyone's near harassment level of telemarketing spam. Prior to the list, I would receive anywhere from 3-5 "unavailable" calls per night. It was annoying to say the least and led to my telephone aversion. In fact, now when my phone rings I overlook it as if some sort of background noise.

I am here to tell you that this Do Not Call List is barely adequate at preventing solicitation. There are many loop-holes (go figure) that allow telemarketers to call you even if you are on the DNC. I learned while working at a market research firm that random dialing machines are exempt from the DNC. This means that if your number is on the DNC and bought by a third party as part of thousands of telephone numbers, inserted into a database, and dialed randomly, that you can be called.

Also, if you sign up for something like a magazine subscription or have service done to your A/C unit then an affiliate of that organization can distibute your number to a sales lead department to call and sell you more magazines or A/C filters or warranty services.

So, today I stumbled on a link reminding people of the Do Not Call List. I felt that it may be important to remind readers that the list is more like a Mostly Do Not Call List.