I have ranted here before about telephone solicitors, but now I have two that I specifically want to "call out" for constant, ongoing violations of the Do Not Call regulations.
First and foremost: "Lower Your Interest" I don't know who these people are, but I receive calls from them (sometimes two or three) on a near-daily basis. (I know it's them because they show up as "LOWER INTEREST" in the Caller ID display and it's always the same chirpy, artificially happy female voice on the recording.) Most of the time, I find their messages on my answering machine when I get home from work, but occasionally during the week (and always on weekends) I am home when they call.
Usually I will either let the answering machine pick up the call or hit the "talk" button and immediately hang up to prevent their recording from wasting more of the available recording time on my answering machine. However, every once in a while, I will actually pick up one of their calls and dutifully press "1" when instructed to speak with one of their operators.
Most of the time, I will end up holding a telephone handset that is connected to... nothing. No one hangs up on me, no one cuts me off, but there is just dead silence on the other end of the line and no one ever picks up (at least, no one picks up during the several minutes I will wait sometimes). Every once in a great while, I will actually find myself speaking with an actual person, and every time that lucky event comes to pass I immediately ask to be removed from their list -- with the same negative result.
Today, for the third time in approximately five weeks, I hit "1" before the end of the recording and found myself speaking with one of their operators within 2-3 minutes of doing so. The gentleman politely thanked me for waiting and politely asked me if I would like to lower my credit card interest today. I politely -- yes, I was actually quiet and polite, sprinkling pleases liberally throughout my speech -- politely asked to be removed from their list. The gentleman politely asked why, and I quietly and politely responded that I did not need their services, was doing alright financially, and was getting a lot of calls from them that I did not want.
The gentleman politely hung up on me. No "sorry," no "alright," no "I understand," no vocal response at all -- he just hung up on me. Just like his two colleagues had done the last two times I spoke with one of them.
Based on prior experience, I am quite sure that I will be receiving more unwanted phone calls from these borderline criminals. However, I am going to contact Verizon and have them block the number:
(1-616-613-2220)... and I will urge everyone else to do the same. The more of this outfit's numbers we block, the sooner their questionable "business" will lose its ability to function easily.
Second problem operation: Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) This is a legitimate company established by Mr. Bruce Marks, a former official of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Its primary purpose is to help individuals victimized by predatory mortgages, but it apparently also is in the business of helping individuals receive bank approval for mortgages for the purchase of a home. Unfortunately, NACA does not take "no" for an answer when "offering" to "help" me with my nonexistent mortgage problems. (Note: There are several organizations using the "NACA" acronym; I am specifically and solely referring to the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America in this post.)
I no longer have an actual mortgage; it was paid off last year (it hurt but was worth the cost). I have never contacted NACA in any way. I have never asked or authorized anyone to contact NACA on my behalf. I have never had any need for the services NACA is supposed to provide. I have never had any kind of dealings with NACA in the past, and my answering machine's outgoing message clearly states that my phone number is on the Do Not Call list -- so there is no reason for them to be calling me.
And yet... they do. Roughly every three to five weeks, I will come home from work to find a message from the founder of the company telling me all about his latest upcoming seminar in my area. Compared to unwanted callers like "Lower Your Interest" this may not seem like much, but NACA's phone calls are not a quick sound byte ending in "...press 1 to speak with one of our operators now." Oh, no. NACA recordings are full-blown commercials, with Mr. Marks telling me aaaalllll about his latest upcoming seminar, often with a second mini-commercial at the end concentrating on one or another of the services NACA offers to consumers. The problem is that Mr. Marks' soliloquies can last over four minutes; a single call from them can wipe out my answering machine's entire available recording time, causing me to miss calls from companies I am doing business with. (This last statement is not conjecture; I have been told by individuals whose messages I was waiting for that they could not leave me a message because my answering machine was full... and each time it was because of Mr. Marks' verbal infomercials.)
I have tried to call NACA to be removed from their list; no luck. I have tried to contact NACA through their website to be removed from their list; no luck. I have tried to contact NACA via email to be removed from their list; no luck. The only response of any kind I have ever received from Mr. Marks or any of his employees is a small number of nonsensical posts in a complaint thread I posted about them on a public "gripe" forum in which one of their employees essentially keeps saying either they are not calling me, or they are calling me because I have an established relationship with them as a client. (Obviously, both statements are outright lies.)
So there you have them: "Lower Your Interest" and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), two companies who in effect refuse any request from non-clients to be removed from their call lists in violation of federal law.
The BBB has been no help with either company (although that process may require more time), and the number of complaints about both companies viewable online seems to be steadily growing.
I will leave you to draw your own conclusions... but my personal experience is that they are both scofflaws and should thus be avoided at any cost.
