Today's invisible line separates sales calls from harrassing calls. Also, you will see evidence that Canadians aren't always polite. Or at least their business practices are every bit as annoying as those in the U.S.
Yesterday I received a telemarketing call. I have previously supported this organization, so it isn't unreasonable that I receive a call.
Except.
Except that in December, I wrote to the telemarketing company, asking that my name be removed from their list and explaining why. In short, here's why: They tell you they call you "every year" when they call you every six months minimum. They lie to you when you ask when they last called. They also have a very smarmy script that I find offensive, and I'm not even part of the group they're marketing for, but I didn't go into that. Anyway. I asked, in writing, to be taken off their call list.
Except that I received another telemarketing call in about March. I explained that I had asked, in writing, to be taken off this list and explained again why. The man who called said I would be.
Except that last week, I received yet another call from the telemarketing company on behalf of this same organization. I said again that I have asked to be removed from the list and, after hearing a petulant voice from the caller, simply hung up.
As you can see, I have been patient. Except for yesterday. I said that I had asked in writing to be taken off their list and had been called three times since, and that if I were called again I would sue them for harrassment.
Then I decided to check to see if I can do anything else about stopping these calls. According to the website for the Canada Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada established a Do Not Call list as of 2004. However, also according to the CRTC, only in July 2007 did the process begin to select a vendor to manage the Do Not Call list. Meanwhile, each telemarketing company has been "required" to uphold certain guidelines. The guidelines include giving people the phone number and address of a person who can take the callee off their list.
I can see that next time I will have to be more patient. I will have to ask the person calling me for the name of that person and how to contact that person. Perhaps the person I have already written to is not the correct person.
And then I will patiently explain that although I live in Canada and am generally a kind and gentle American, I am still an American and therefore litigious by nature. I can only hope that Canadian telemarketing companies will return the favo(u)r and live up to their national reputation of being polite and accommodating.
