MSNBC Bringing Down The House
11
In case you have not heard, CallerComplaints.com was featured on the homepage of MSNBC.com this morning! The article written by consumer advocate Bob Sullivan, entitled Site Outs Do Not Call Violators, takes a detailed look at what CallerComplaints.com has done to expose sleazy telemarketing practices and Do Not Call Registry violators.
We are proud to be recognized for our efforts, and ecstatic to see such an outpouring of support from the community. Here are just a few of the comments the article received:
"I am impressed. Thank you for telling us about this website. Using it, I have already managed to track down and complain about several thoroughly irritating telemarketers. A valuable service, indeed. This one will become one of my lead bookmarks." - Shannon, Del Valle, TX
"Excellent article, Mr. Bob. Thanks for the heads up to a very helpful website." - Anonymous
"I simply can't stand telephone spam. This is an uplifting story, and I am glad someone has taken it a step further to report these offending numbers." - Bill W, Cleveland, OH
Unfortunately, this notable press mention caused a dramatic spike in traffic to our site resulting in unforeseen technical difficulties. Thankfully our amazing staff was on the ball, able to resolve the issue within just a few hours. If you experienced problems visiting the site or posting a complaint before, we apologize for the inconvenience.
CallerComplaints.com is now fully functional, ready to continue the fight against telemarketers! We appreciate your participation and hope you come back often to post complaints, read new blog posts, or download the Caller Complaints widget.
If you enjoyed the MSNBC article make sure to DIGG IT and spread the word!
7 Comments 
To the author: You should back check the comments on the MSNBC article - a substantial portion of people are commenting that they can't access your site because their IP addresses have been blocked.
Nice hearing from you Meg. As we indicated in this post, though CallerComplaints.com was experiencing issues this morning resulting from high traffic volume, we are back in the saddle and fully functional. You should no longer receive the blocked IP address message.
If you have any other problems please let us know!
Thanks.
HOW TO STOP AUTO DIALERS (forgive the caps, please):
Ok, here's (in very lay terms, and based on how it was years ago) how the auto dialers work.
The system dials up to 500 numbers a minute, depending on how many agents are signed in, number of lines, etc..
When they detect you have picked up the call, they pause for about 2 seconds then send the call to an agent, normally available (or, based on its predictors about to come available). You waste time out of your day not to mention get your blood pressure up.
Instead, here's what I do:
As soon as I see that
1) it's a number I don't recognize and
2) there's that pause, I IMMEDIATELY start hitting, in rapid succession, my "STAR" (*) key on my phone. This tells the auto dialer "You've got a bad number" and it will hang up. It will typically try again 3 times however after it has had that same issue three times it will mark that number as "unusable" and not call again.
So, here's the scenario:
(ring) (ring)
Check caller-id... Out of area, Unknown Caller, etc. Be prepared.
(answer phone) "Hi, this is Jim, how may I help you?".
(Count to three)
No response
(STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY)
(STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY)
(STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY) (STAR-KEY)
until it hangs up.
OPTION NUMBER TWO:
They call, there's a person, I answer "Hi, this is Jim, how may I help you?". They start their spiel, and I say, "I'm sorry, you've reached a business and I'd really appreciate you never calling my business back unless you have a signed P.O. against which my firm may charge our consulting fees."... Of course, I really DO have a business (high end Oracle Database Consulting in Omaha, NE) so it's true, however it works no matter.
Have a NICE DAY!!!... lol
Jim "Der Scoman"
BHY, BHA
I applaud the States for their no call system; however, now the annoying companies ie reducing yr credit card interest etc are calling Canadian numbers!
I get calls from three different states on a daily basis- by the way -I have no credit cards from the states!!
For years I battled so called "remote hackers and attacker" and after 5 years of constant invasion I finally won a 3 day battle Jan. 9-11, 2005 and was able to record the invasion on home video camera. Imagine my surprise, to find the digital property sheet
TFTP3828 Spybot 5:15 PM Microsoft Corporation, Redmond Washington
Further Incredible coincidence, after our 3 day battle ending 1/11/05 that my ISP Homepage Posted this warning on 1/12/05,
URGENT, WORLD WIDE ALERT - ALL WINDOWS USERS IMMEDIATELY DOWNLOAD A PATCH. Apparently, they needed to remove Spybot which was installed when we took our mandatory SP updates. Remote Hackers and Attackers my ass!
Great blog, You make reasonable points in a concise and pertinent fashion, I will read more of your blogs, thank you for your time.
It would be helpful if I could list a company without a phone number. I don't watch the actual numbers come in, but Hollywood Video and Payless Shoes both ignore my complaints to quit calling and that I'm on the Do Not Call List. They leave 2 minute messages and their corp headquarters just don't care.