Stop Calling Us

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One silver lining in the current economic slump is that it has forced some firms to cut back on telemarketing, just as they have on advertising. Jack Keenan, CEO of Tele Resources in Duluth, Minn., has seen a 40% drop in clients' call-volume requests and has had to cut his staff from 225 to 150 since the end of 2002. Unfortunately, though, fewer cold calls may not mean a reduction in sales pitches. Some firms offer more goods and services when you call them, be it for plane tickets, banking or Internet service.

Lawsuits filed in Colorado and Oklahoma by telemarketing firms are challenging the FTC's jurisdiction in maintaining a do-not-call registry. But telemarketers might not find much luck in court. In 1986, before the days of antitelemarketing laws and TeleZappers, Bulmash of Private Citizen won a suit he filed against a persistent telemarketer, which was forced to pay court fees and the 97¢ it would cost Bulmash to have his number unlisted for a month. "The judge pointed at the defendant," Bulmash recalls, "and said, 'I was called twice last night during the football game by guys like you. Mr. Bulmash, you win.'"