In this photo taken Aug. 20, 2012, Robert Madison talks about receiving automated marketing calls, outside his office in Overland Park, Kan. Complaints to the government are up sharply about unwanted phone solicitations, raising questions about how well the federal “do-not-call” registry is working. The biggest category of complaint: those annoying pre-recorded pitches called robocalls that hawk everything from lower credit card interest rates to new windows for your home. “I am completely fed up,” Madison said. “I’ve repeatedly asked them to take me off their call list.” When he challenges their right to call, the solicitors become combative, he said. “There’s just nothing that they won’t do.” (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)JENNIFER C. KERR
WASHINGTON (AP) – So much for silence from telemarketers at the cherished dinner hour, or any other hour of the day.
Complaints to the government are up sharply about unwanted phone solicitations, raising questions about how well the federal “do-not-call” registry is working. The biggest category of complaint: those annoying prerecorded pitches called robocalls that hawk everything from lower credit card interest rates to new windows for your home.
Robert Madison, 43, of Shawnee, Kan., says he gets automated calls almost daily from “Ann, with credit services,” offering to lower his interest rates.
“I am completely fed up,” Madison said in an interview. “I’ve repeatedly asked them to take me off their call list.” When he challenges their right to call, the solicitors become combative, he said. “There’s just nothing that they won’t do.”