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From: mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Telephone mailing lists
Message-ID: <14226@styx.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Oct-85 18:29:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: styx.14226
Posted: Mon Oct 14 18:29:51 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 18-Oct-85 20:16:09 EDT
References: <488@scirtp.UUCP>
Reply-To: mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch)
Distribution: net
Organization: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Lines: 25

In article <488@scirtp.UUCP> maureen@scirtp.UUCP (Maureen Chew) writes:
> I often get calls between 7:30-8:30 in the evening from people
> trying to sell something.  They try to sell everything from
> funeral plots to light bulbs.  I find that these interruptions
> are very irritating and annoying.  Even before the new
> phone books came out and my name was not listed, I was
> receiving these kinds of calls.
> Does anyone know how one gets on these lists, or possibly how
> to get off them short of having an unlisted number? 

Unfortunately, many of these solicitors are not working from mailing
lists, but are just given a prefix or set of prefixes, and call every
number consecutively, returning to those numbers that are busy or
don't answer. Some of these people are working at home using local 
flat-rate residential phone lines. (Presumably this is a violation of
a phone tariff; complaints to your phone company could conceivably
get results.) If they aren't working from home but are in
"boiler-room" locations, there isn't much that you can do, except try
to get the name/home phone number of a principal in the firm. Then call
THEM at 7:00 in the morning to complain. (I've done this a couple of
times.)

Michael C. Berch
mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA
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