NOTE: I drafted this blog in the middle of November with plans to publish after the new year. But then a friend published this link on her Facebook page that the US House has now passed legislation to deal with this issue. I sure hope it has some teeth and calls for quick action. And I hope the Senate passes it and President Trump signs it.
Spread this around – help this blog go viral – maybe someone will do something. Share it with your Congressional Representative, State Senators and your phone carrier.
OK – I am going to be bipartisan here and blame all Republicans and all Democrats in our do-nothing Congress that cannot seem to do anything that will benefit every single American. Democrats blame Republicans, Republican blame Democrats, but I will blame everyone.
Congress! Want to do something bipartisan that will make 99% of Americans happy? Make all telemarketing robocalls illegal! They are one of the most disruptive and disrespectful aspects of our modern society. They impact our productivity: try working from home, playing with your children, taking a nap or cooking dinner when the phone rings every 10 minutes. You pick it up, say Hello and after 2 seconds of silence some person who barely speaks English mispronounces your name. Or a recording comes on “Hello Senior, Do you need a walker to get around,” or “Attention, this call is about your credit card account.”
Now that I am approaching 65, I get at least 10 calls a day from agencies trying to set me up with Medicare supplement insurance. Where did they get the info that I am close to 65? From our US Government Social Security administration? One of my friends around the same age told me she now gets 100 calls per day! This is destroying our lives!
I would say that 50% of my robocalls come when I am trying to take a 45 minute mid-afternoon nap, when I am about to walk out of the house already late for an appointment, or trying to cook or eat dinner.
I contacted my land-line provider AT&T to ask them to block all robo-generated calls. With all their advanced technology, they have nothing to do this! I guess they are happy that 90% of the calls going over their lines are telemarketing and they don’t give a damn about what their customers want. Their customer service levels are on par with Time Warner Cable and most states’ departments of motor vehicles.
So another thing our government can do is make it mandatory for all phone service providers to provide robocall blocking capabilities at no charge.
And the US Government’s “Do Not Call” list is a complete joke! My home, business and cell lines are all registered and I still get over 50 telemarketing calls per day.
My suggestions to Congress … put some real teeth into new legislation!
1) Outlaw all robocalls. Pass a law that all phone calls must be dialed by humans. Violators of this law and of calling people on the “do not call” list will have a mandatory 10 year prison sentence without parole for all company managers and owners. Maybe after publicizing the first several prison sentences, violators will be deterred.
2) For all robocalls coming from outside the US; withdraw all US foreign aid to those countries until they put technology in place to stop telemarketing calls to the US.
3) Require all telephone carriers to provide robocall blocking technology free of charge.
Bottom line – this explosion of robocalls and telemarketing calls is destroying our way of life and well as becoming a huge productivity drain. It has to stop!
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When not writing caustic blogs … Stan Kimer is a nationally recognized diversity and career development consultant. Plus I love to speak and lead workshops. Please explore the rest of my website and get in touch.