There have been a lot of complaints concerning Canada's Do-Not-Call list. It's an ill-conceived concept where the government collects phone numbers from people who do not wish to receive calls from telemarketers. Telemarketers then go to the Do-Not-Call website and download the list containing all these numbers. (The idea is that telemarketers need to have to list so they know who NOT to call.) Let's think about this for a second... Why can't a shake the feeling that this could go horribly wrong?
Oh yes... there could be the REMOTE chance that telemarketers download the Do-Not-Call list numbers and START CALLING THEM!!! People have been reporting that once they have signed up on the Do-Not-Call list, they have been receiving more frequent calls from telemarketers... and some of these numbers never got telemarketer calls before.
Well, if that's not enough irony for you, our government is about to release the results of a survey conducted to determine if the Do-Not-Call list is working:
"The poll, to be released Monday, finds 80 per cent of those on the list said they received fewer calls after putting their numbers on the list, which was implemented Sept. 30. On the other hand, 13 per cent said the number of telemarketers contacting them had risen to unprecedented levels despite registering, according to the Harris-Decima survey."
Sounds great, eh? Further down, the article states:
"The association, which regulates Canada's opinion-research industry, commissioned the telephone survey as part of a series in its VoxPop campaign."
A telephone survey... So they CALLED the numbers on the Do-Not-Call list to determine if they were receiving more calls from being on the Do-Not-Call list??? Boy, I wish the department in charge of collecting taxes was this stupid.
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6 comments:
I consider the last part in your blog to be ironic, but not necessarily stupid. If they wanted to take a survey from the people on the do-not-call list, there's really no better way to do it then to call them.
There's a problem with the survey though. If people have been getting annoying calls from telemarketers, they will likely not answer the phone when this survey calls. Or they will likely refuse to take the survey if asked to participate. I wonder how they recorded that data on their survey... most likely dropped it out of their data set.
I have to say that since I opted into the Do Not Call list, I have not received any telemarketing calls. And it appears that I am in the majority, since "80% of those on the list said they received fewer calls".
You can't just rail against the government as a reflexive motion. Next thing, you'll be shouting at kids about their loud music.
I'm sure it's worked for many. But not so well for others. Most of my skepticism of the Do-Not-Call list is a result of news articles like this:
16:9 - List Loophole
On a personal note, my cell phone (which is on the list) received a surge of telemarketer calls from spoof numbers like "000-000-0000" when I first signed up. I still get them, but less frequently now.
More fuel to the fire. 5 pages of comments on a Toronto Star article on the same subject:
Do-not call list appears to be working: Poll
(Biased towards it not working because those people are more likely to leave comments.)
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