I've been on the National Do-Not-Call List for several years. It's worked very well.

I understand that charities can still call you. Fine.

But lately, I have been hit with a wave of 'surveys'. They are obviously for-profit business, even if they aren't trying to sell anything... right now.

Is this survey s**t legit?

Sue

The only two exemptions that I'm aware of are political and charity. However, I too get those sort of calls and I'm on the call list too. There must be some way for them to work around it as I get some we will be in your neighborhood and would like to give you a free estimate for whatever.

We gat some odd calls too even though we're signed up. I did see more comming through to my cell phone than I used to get. I also think you've done businees with company they can still call you(not really sure thought I heard that once).

File a complaint. Even if your complaint is not sustained it will cost them money to respond to the FTC. If your complaint is sustained, it will cost them big money. Eventually you will train them to leave you alone.

What they do is contract a company that a registered charity or political to do the survey. The other way to get in it for a company that you have done business with to sub contract to another company so you have legally done business with them.
Several years ago, before the do not call list, The small mortgage company we were with was bought by Wells Fargo. After a few months the sales calls started coming and I'd tell them to put me on the do not market list. Then in a few months they would start again and I'd repeat put me on the do not call list. In a few months the calls would start again. I finally worked my way up the manager chain from the caller and found out that if you tell a subcontractor such as "ABC marketing" to not call you that only applies to "ABC Marketing" and not to Wells Fargo even though they were calling on bahalf of wells fargo. So wells would change the subcontractor ever 6 months so you had to get on a different sub contrator's do not call list. So I then called up wells and told them I wanted to be on their list which stopped it for a while until they started calling from their collections department which was legal then since it was initated as a collections call and not a marketing call but since we have you on the line would you liek to buy x. Now before you tell me I shouldn't have let me account go to collectios, I didn't, their system could call me and when I finally got a person the person would see my payment posted days before, what they would do is recive the paymentm, then sit on it for several days and then finally apply it. Back in the days of checks its reasonable to accept a check and hold it for a couple days to make sure it clears then post to your account but I paid electronically and thay delay started stretching pact 10 days from the tme they recieved my payment to the time they paid it. So i could make a payment on the 20th that was due on the 1st and by the 30th their collections department would be calling me. Making a payment ahead didn't help anything either because they would just apply it to excrow and balance instead of counting it as an extra payment.
It was satisfying though when we sold the house and moved to be able to call them up as if I was going to apply for a mortgage on my new house and instead tell them I would never do any busines with them again due to the way they treated me.

Yes, if you've "done business" with a company, they or their "authorized representative" can call you. And the definition of "doing business" can be pretty lenient. But if you tell them not to call you, that negates the "permission".

So when you get one of these that you don't want, tell them specifically not to call you again. If they do, you have grounds for a complaint.

Bear in mind that if you do business with the originating company again, you renew the "permission", and will have to withdraw it again.

Be polite, but be firm. "No thank you" isn't good enough. "Do not call me again" is.

I work in financial services, so I've done my share of cold calling. I try to be polite to cold callers. 'cause I've been in their shoes, but I still put myself on the Do Not Call List.

From what I understand, the original Do Not Call Registry expired. This means you need to sign up again.

Not sure if this is true or not, but it can't hurt to sign up again, in case it's right!

Ok, my favorite thing to do is mess with solicition calls.

"Hold on a sec, gotta put my hearing aid in" I don't have a hearing aid "OK... (let him/her start spiel, wait 15 secs) "Oh hell, I gotta turn it on, wait a minute (mumble to self while doing nothing). "Ok, start over please" wait 20 secs "Dammit, hold on again, I'm sorry, I guess the battery died...can you speak up??"

Guaranteed the person on the other end either A) hangs up in frustration B) makes a butthead of himself by screaming into the phone.

If they do continue, doesn't matter what they are selling, keep asking silly questions to the caller - What time is it there? Was it hot there today? Do you guys get chairs or are you the operators standing by? Eventually they will hang up on you.

I cut down on about 90% of the calls I get by doing this.

I worked with a person who received a call for mother. She said she was deaf(she was) the person said they'd call back later.
Yes you can have fun with them sometimes. It might help break up there day.

Sometimes I answer the phone and hand it to my 15mo old daughter. She babbles and jabbers into the handset and it makes her (and me) happy.