Hey guys,
I just registered my number on this website https://www.donotcall.gov.au/ cause i get a ridiculous amount of calls. End up just not picking up the phone to anyone these days. Has anyone used that website and does it work at all? or is there anything else i can do to stop telemarketers? making phone number private? does that cost money?
Cheers.
Yes, making your number silent costs money on an ongoing basis
i thought you could have an unlisted number which was left out of the phone directories but was not silent. it didn't cost anything a while back. i don't know what the situation is nowdays
I'm not sure, I have never done it and have not had an issue with them since I went a couple of years without a phone plugged in to my line (before naked DSL) then when I got a few of them I signed up to the register and that put an end to the odd one every now and again
lol likewise. only had a phone line for the adsl. phone always unplugged
the do not call register will help, but it's not going to stop the indian call centers if they have your number. it also won't stop certain caller groups (listed on the website).
when i had a land line many years back i had the number unlisted in the phone directories and didn't get many telemarketers.
and don't give out your number willy-nilly, don't give out your number for competitions etc.
on a side note, you can also register on the adma website to stop receiving junk mail in your letterbox. i also vigilantly followed up any junk mail i got and now i get zippo.
Sadly the indians have my number, atleast it'll stop the ones locally then.
The overseas call centres (whether in India, Philippines, Russia, or elsewhere) are not the problem. The problem is the shonky telemarketing companies and/or scammers who hire them to cold call people in Australia (and other target countries).
When you get one of the 'this is not a marketing call' calls, give them a noticeable false name - eg "yes, I'm Mr Dunderhead".
When they integrate the number with their records and sell it on, they will associate the name with the number.
If you then get a call for "Mr Dunderhead" feel free to vent all those pent up aggressive diatribes onto the dick at the other end of the phone. In this way they are providing a worthwhile service, rather than just being annoying. They are the "shout at me, let it all out" service - unpaid.
We've been on the DNC register since its introduction, and get no calls whatsoever, other than the odd charity. On the first call we tell them we don't give over the phone, so that's usually the end of it.
mrhorseham with you having only just registered, it can take a number of weeks for it to kick in completely, but I suspect you'll probably notice a decline in the number of calls straight away.
Agree, also to add to this as many have already listed themselves here, the call centres will call more and more those not on the list, as they have less numbers to choose from.
Same here. Since putting my number on the register I only get charity phone calls.
Are these charities exempt from the law?
Yes.
"Exemptions exist so these organisations and individuals can continue to provide valuable services to the community."
"The Telemarketing and Research Calls Industry Standard 2007 applies to…calls made by public interest entities (such as charities, registered political parties, and religious organisations) who are exempt from the general prohibition on calling numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register when making specific types of telemarketing calls."
Thanks for the link, guess I'll just need to keep hanging up on them.
If only this would stop the "Microsoft" cold calls. The last two times they hung up on me. Must've been something I said :p
Hopefully things have improved with the Do Not Call register. Last time I looked, it was powerless to do anything about calls that originated outside Australia, and it still allowed people taking surveys and asking for donations to continue to pester you. And it was powerless to do anything about fax calls. I used to get a lot of faxes on a private voice line waking me up in the morning, I traced it back to a telemarketer in Sydney but couldn't stop them. I didn't have a fax machine but left it to the answering machine to pick up, otherwise it would ring out and then retry, ringing back immediately. Impossible to sleep through either way. And finally, the DNC register defaults to cancelling your authorisation to block your number after (I think) 3 years, without notifying you. It is up to you to re-submit your block request at this time. The system makes it difficult and puts the onus on the 'victim', while being only moderately effective.
And finally, the DNC register defaults to cancelling your authorisation to block your number after (I think) 3 years, without notifying you.
Yes, your registration on the DNC register lasts for only 3 years and needs to be renewed at that time, but they DO notify you via email that it will be expiring - in plenty of time before the expiry so as for the new registration to kick in before the old one expires.
Been updated to 6 Years now.
Our number is on the Do Not Call register, but we still gets lots of calls from 'charity' or 'gov/local council surveys' The rule is, if the person can't address you by your name or family members' name in the first 3 seconds (e.g can I speak to such and such) then we'll just say 'Sorry, please don't call this number again' and hang up. Anyone NEED to call you or have the real authority (eg your bank) would know your name and should address you by your name … and call during business hour, not during dinner or on the weekend!
1) get on the do not call register.
2) call Telstra to get yourself removed from white pages, its free and stops overseas callers who mine white pages for leads.
My personal theory is that some of these $0.01 etc deals posted on OzBargain that a lot of people jump on, the sites then go on an sell your infomation. I have a silent number yet the coincidence of a Indian call centre hounding me after jumping aboard such a deal is too much to ignore.
My "Thanks but not interested" response were ignored as I got more calls from different people who each started off asking me if they were speaking to (insert your name here). They only stopped when I told them I wasn't this person and they had teh wrong number - guess they didn't have a script for that scenerio.
i dont give my real number
Yep, the standard number i use for freebies and stuff is 0404040404
Yes it works.
If you get any more calls just kindly let them know you are on the do not call register and ask for their employee id, problem solved.
http://www.news.com.au/business/telstra-fined-for-phoning-do… (Telstra fined $101,200)
edit: Yes, making your number silent costs money on an ongoing basis