[mcmama]

I have received two phone calls today, with blocked numbers from sales people identifying themselves reluctantly as representing Sprint. I am on the Do Not Call list, and have been so for quite a few years now. Yes, I am really on it. I checked.

I am not a Sprint customer. What Sprint is doing is illegal. They are blocking their number, not identifying themselves within the first sentence (and not speaking clearly anyway).

The first call was at 9:30 this morning. I answered, because it said "private number" and I have a friend who is in crisis from a violent crime and blocks her number. When I answered, an automated voice told me to please hold for this call to be connected. Uh oh. That is how bill collectors get you. Well, I'm current on my bills, so I stayed on the line to see what was up.

It took a few sentences for me to find out who thehell I was talking to, what he wanted, and what company he represented. I told him I was on the Do Not....(click) He hung up.

They called again at 2:30 this afternoon. A delay in picking up, and then a young lady was on the phone. I again had to ask WHO she was. After a few tries, I got her to spell the company name. S-P-R-I-N-T. That's T, ma'am, not G. Again, I informed her that I was not a sprint customer, she was blocking her number, and that I was on the Do Not call List and this was illegal. She hung up. (Waited that long to do so!!!)

I called the real Sprint. After being bounced to several know nothings, I was connected to a lady who informed me that she would take my name and phone number off in 30 days. She acknowledged that Sprint uses a third party sales call vendor. I told her that since Sprint is in violation of US law by blocking their number and calling people on the Do Not Call list, she needs to get me off that list NOW, not 30 days from now. She told me that Sprint is a big company with lawyers and they know the law so they don't do anything illegal

Before she hung up on me I told her I hope that todays interruptions of my time cost Sprint $22,000 in fines.

I followed through in writing to their website:
You called me twice today, blocking your number so that I did not have the option to refuse the call or identify. Your third party sales people identified that they were sales callers from Sprint. I am on the do not call list. This is ILLEGAL. I have reported you twice (Hope you get slammed with a $22,000 fine) I called your people and got jerked around about a third party sales team and an argument that this is legal. I requested removal, and reminded your irate customer service rep that this IS ILLEGAL.Kindly confirm the removal of my name IMMEDIATELY- NOT 30 DAYS - in accordance with United States law. Phone is ***-***-**** We do NOT have an existing customer relationship.
BTW, your third party people cannot speak understandable american english. And they make me wait for the connection, as if it is important.

I then put my full name and phone number.

We'll see what happens. I reported this on the Do Not Call website https://www.donotcall.gov/ Apparently these companies think they are above the law if they hire someone in India to make the calls. Unfortunately, there are so many companies doing this and using third party vendors outside the country that the FTC picks and chooses who they go after, since the litigation is expensive.

I hope they "choose Sprint".

In this section of the forum, we have posted about spam in email and forum posts. There are distinct laws to protect american consumers from telephone spam. If you receive calls like this from ANYONE, find out the company, report it to DoNotCall.gov, and then post your experience here.

I am interested to see if there is a pattern with Sprint and other companies of its size.

[pattiewrites]

We are on the do not call list and get blocked calls all the time. I either don't answer unknowns and if I do, I always hang up on any recording. It is really annoying!

[mcmama]

I just PAID verizon to block the private calls. I am going to have to instruct my friend how to get around it.

SPRINT breaks the law - and I have to pay. Grr. They have no right. I will NEVER be their customer now.

I hope the FTC goes after them.

[MissyChrissy]

It sucks...I've heard that if they come out of certain countries there isn't much the US can do about it right now. I don't know if that's true, Sprint is certainly a US company and if they're having a 3rd party make calls on their behalf, it seems like they could be held liable.

I think ALL spam should be illegal. The email, the unwanted perverted threads in our clean forums, the telemarketing, all of it. If any of us want a service, we certainly know how to go out and find what we're looking for ourselves.

[mcmama]

The law is very clear - whether or not you hire a third party to make your calls, you are liable for the fines if your third party caller makes a call to the do not call list. You are supposed to subscribe to the "scrubbed" list - that is the phone number combinations that don't turn up on the Do not call list - and you are supposed to pay for that subscription. And rightly so - it costs the government money to maintain this.

You are also supposed to display your number. And not be a recording - those things jam places like hospital switchboards, sometimes with disasterous consequences.

We SETTLED this in the USA. Now American companies look to arrogantly thumb their noses at the law by using "third party providers" who block their number overseas. It's still illegal, but the sheer volume of this practice makes prosecution unlikely, and they know it.

When you receive a sales call like this and are on the Do Not Call list, post the name of the company here.

[ruthann8]

Isn't there somewhere you can go to put your address on a no mailing list for most credit card companies, etc. so you don't get junk mail?