🚀 go-pugleaf

I have many residential telephone lines, so I probably have a larger than
normal exposure to that company's annoying telemarketing calls. But over
the years, I have repeatedly and painstakingly attempted to make sure that
my numbers appeared on that firm's "do not call" list. It appears that
this has been wasted effort. First, to bring you up to speed, here is a
letter sent last week to the SJMN's subscription marketing department:

   ****

To Whom It May Concern:

I have seventeen phone lines in my home. Several years ago, your 
telemarketing contractor nearly drove me out of my mind with 
subscription calls week after week after week. After months of 
complaining, I was able to get the calls stopped.

About a year after that, the calls began again. Once again it took 
considerable effort, but finally the calls ceased once more.

Last night, they began again. "Hi! I'm ______ from the San Jose Mercury 
News [blah blah blah]." And this happens on line after line after line.

But I am going to tell you something. If it continues, you, your 
telemarketing contractor, and everyone associated with the project are 
going to wish you had never heard of subscription solicitation calls. 
What I am going to do, since I have previously repeatedly asked you and 
your contractors to stop bothering me on my home phones, is to record 
each and every occurance on each and every line. I have Station Message 
Detail Recording enabled on every line in the house. All I have to do is 
dial a code to flag that call as being from "the San Jose Mercury News" 
and then after a period of time I can have the details collated 
automatically.

At that time, I will present my data to Pacific Bell, my attorney, and 
to other agencies as may be appropriate. I will extract every ounce of 
compensation, pursue every redress, and seek all possible relief for 
your refusal to comply with my wishes to not be called by you or your 
contractors at my residence. I intend to benefit handsomely from your 
lack of compliance with laws that entitle me to remain undisturbed after 
duly notifying you of my demands in this matter.

Consider this my final demand that you refrain from bothering me on any 
of my seventeen residential telephone lines, and also consider it fair 
warning for the consequences that will follow if you choose to ignore 
the demand.

Thank you for your time.


   ****

In response to that letter, I received a call on Monday, March 4 from a
Mr. Tim Fullerton who assured me that my numbers were indeed on file (he
even read them back to me) and that he would investigate into the matter.

But this evening (March 7), I received two more solicitation calls. The
first SJMN caller had a not-so-polite expletive as a response to my polite
assertion that I did not want to be called by them. The second caller
informed me that the calls "come from Pennsylvania and it is impossible to
guarantee that you won't be called just because your number is on 'some
list'".

Now that we have set the stage, here is what I would like to do:

There are new, very tough, Federal laws about being called by any person
or business after you have duly notified them of your wish not to be
called. I would like to hear from anyone who has been called by the San
Jose Mercury News AFTER they have asked to be put on the "do not call
list". I want to document as many hits as I can, not only from myself, but
from others in the same situation. I have complete records of all incoming
calls so my case is in the bag--but the more the merrier.

These people have had years to get the act together. They have blown it.
It is time to set them straight. I am going to make it a point to do just
that.

-- 
John Higdon  |    P.O. Box 7648   | +1 408 264 4115  |      FAX:
john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | +1 500 FOR-A-MOO |+1 408 264 4407
             |       http://www.ati.com/ati          |