| Discussion--We have all received telemarketing calls- and we all hate them. Telemarketing is the active pursuit of consumers via the telephone from people who have a product or service to sell. As annoyed as I get when I receive a call from a telemarketer, I am always polite. I mean, come on, that person can't enjoy their job very much in the first place, so why make their day even worse? It is frustrating, however, to receive cold call after cold call. I mean, who actually receives a telemarketing call and says, "Why, yes, I would love a vacuum-powered tricycle!" The percentage of cold calls that are successful is around 1%. More often than not a cold call will result in a slamming telephone headset.
There are different levels and types of telemarketing. I do not have nearly as big of an issue with people calling places of business in the hopes of selling something. This is a legitimate practice- if you are a place of business, you expect, and occasionally even appreciate, such calls. However, I believe that it should be illegal to phone people's private residences without some form of solicitation from the customer. They do have new laws on the books that make it illegal for a telemarketer to phone you again. All you have to say is, "Please put me on your do not call list" and they are not supposed to call you again. If they do, you can call and report this violation. If it actually results in any penalties, I do not know, but at least there is some form of retaliation available against this invasion into our homes.
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