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G4EBT > PHONE 21.11.05 11:50l 157 Lines 5781 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : FA1334G4EBT
Read: GUEST DL3MHT DK5RAS
Subj: Re: Telemarketing (spam) calls
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0BEL<TU5EX<F6BVP<F6CDD<CE8FGC<
ZS0MEE<GB7FCR
Sent: 051121/0920Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:13260 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:FA1334G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : PHONE@WW
With regard to telemarketing it seems that VK-Land is just as plagued by
nuisance telephone calls as is the UK.
Back in August when this was being debated on packet I had a poke around
on the net to see if there are any proposals to legislate against this in
VK, but all I've found was a report on the "Direct Marketing Model Code
of Practice Review Report, 2003". Compliance with the code is voluntary.
It runs to 48 pages and is Australian Gov't copyright, but can be found
at:
http://www.consumer.gov.au/html/direct_marketing/download/Review_Report.pdf
It makes interesting reading, covers self-regulatory aspects of Direct
Marketing and Distance Selling, as well as legislation. (A "Distance
Seller" may make the approach directly, or via another firm).
Apart from the nuisance of unwelcome and unwarranted intrusion by nuisance
calls, internet spam and "junk mail", there are particular risks for
consumers who buy products and service by these means. Consumers don't
have an opportunity to inspect or compare the quality of goods and
services against similar products.
Several developments have arisen since the voluntary code was last
amended in 1997, notably the introduction of the Privacy Amendment
(Private Sector) Act 2000 (Privacy Act), and various international
regulatory developments in direct marketing.
To comply with the code, they can't make calls outside certain hours,
nor on Sundays or public holidays, which are deemed to be:
New Year's Day
Australia Day
Good Friday
Easter Monday
Anzac Day
Christmas Day
Boxing Day.
The report makes 14 recommendations, perhaps the most important of which
is the requirement to remove a number from the list within 30 days if
requested to do so. I'm not sure if that means the list of each individual
direct marketer, or an all embracing list such as the UK TPS database.
It's obviously as topical in Austrlia as it is in the UK. There was an
article in the Sydney Morning Herald on 26 August 2005, which can be
viewed at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rage-rises-at-phone-sales-pests/2005/08
/25/1124562981214.html
Here's a short clip:
Quote:
8-<
"Rage rises at phone sales pests"
By Kirsty Needham, Consumer Reporter
August 26, 2005
A rise in complaints about nuisance phone calls has prompted the NSW
Government to consider toughening the rules governing telephone marketing
and door-to-door salespeople.
The complaints follow a wave of telephone spruikers operating from call
centres in India and other countries.
A year after new laws on telephone marketing took effect in NSW, the Fair
Trading Minister, Diane Beamer, says they may have to be brought into line
with Victoria's legislation, which says door-to-door sellers cannot visit
on Sundays and telemarketers cannot ring after 8pm on weekdays, after 5pm
at the weekend and not at all on public holidays.
In NSW the only ban is between 8pm and 9am seven days a week.
Cooling off periods for deals agreed to over the phone are five days in
NSW and 10 in Victoria.
In Victoria, to stop energy retailers falsely asserting that people have
agreed to switch suppliers, written copies of contracts must be sent to
anyone who accepts a deal over the telephone.
8-< clip.
End quote.
I'd never heard the word "spruiker" and had to look it up, where I found
the following definition:
Australia & NZ)
spruiked, spruiking:
1. slang
Said especially of showmen, salesmen, etc: To speak in public,
especially at length and using ornate language.
Derivative: spruiker - noun
Etymology: Early 20c.
Seems to me that there are two main strategies that those who consider
this a pestilence, namely:
1) Never buy from these organisations including calls from charities,
as those calls are often made by a direct selling organisation on the
charity's behalf, with the charity only receive 4 - 5% of whatever you
donate.
The reason we get these calls is that they're commercially successful.
If the firms who call us get 5% positive response rate, they consider that
to be 100% success, because 5% is all they expect. Nil positive response =
nil success = not a viable marketing operation. (Try to get that message
across to the greedy mugs who still fall for the Nigerian Scams).
2) Keep up the pressure on elected representatives and government officers
to change to an opt-in rather than opt-out system. Hence, the only
firms who could legally call you would be the ones to whom you'd given
your permission. The Americans seem to be getting on top of this.
The same menace arises on internet, where cookies are placed on one's
computer without the knowledge or permission of the user, ensuring a
steady trickle of spam, which can turn into a deluge. Sure, those
who are internet savvy can counter this, but many aren't so astute.
I used to be on dial-up with Wanadoo and splashed my e-mail address all
over the place. As a consequence, it reached the point at which I was
getting 100 spam messages a day. Sure they can be filtered out, but it's
like having a constant stream of people ringing your doorbell day and
night and having to tell them to clear off.
I had to change my e-mail address to at least get some respite if only for
a while. At the same time, I went onto broadband with a different ISP, and
am much more careful about not bandying my e-mail address about. The ISP
also seems to have a more effective filtering system to stop spam getting
as far as my PC.
As a result, thankfully, most weeks I get no spam at all, just the
occasional "phishing" attempts from spoof banking sites and e-bay.
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
QTH: Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 09:15 on 2005-Nov-21
Message sent using WinPack-Telnet V6.70
(Registered).
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