Telemarketing Insiders On Do-Not-Call List - Chicago Tribune
By JACK DOLAN
The Hartford Courant
Published September 30, 2003, 3:51 PM CDT
The home telephone numbers of 11 top executives of the Direct Marketing Association - which has waged a bitter court battle to kill a proposed federal no-call list - are on the new federal registry, making them off-limits to those annoying early evening sales calls.
The Hartford Courant found the numbers of the DMA employees, and chief executives from two large telemarketing companies, among the 50 million numbers on the Federal Trade Commission's anti-telemarketing Do Not Call list.
The DMA executives who have apparently signed up to protect their own privacy did so even as their organization waged a legal campaign to prevent federal regulators from protecting the privacy of millions of other Americans.
Included on the list are two senior vice presidents, three vice presidents, and four directors. Two people on the Do Not Call registry were listed as DMA executives in the company's 2002 annual report, but have retired from the organization within the last year.
Jerry Cerasale, the DMA's chief spokesman during the recent court battles, confirmed that a number found on the FTC's list is his home number. But he insisted that he did not register to prevent his organization's own clients from calling him at home, and he does not believe that his wife signed up, either.
"Somebody is obviously trying to embarrass me," Cerasale said. "This is one of the reasons we've been against the Internet sign-up. Anybody could put your number on the list. I don't know if the FTC has controls on this."
Also on the list is the home number of a DMA executive who works closely with the company president.
"I registered there myself personally," she said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. "For the same reason that other consumers have. I don't want to be bothered by telemarketing calls." The woman asked that her name not be printed because she said she was afraid it would get her fired.
Cerasale said there is no DMA policy that prohibits it's own employees from signing on to the list.
The DMA went to federal court on behalf of its 5,000 member organizations last week trying to block new rules that would force telemarketers to make sure a number is not on the registry before dialing with their pitches for new credit cards or cheaper long-distance rates.
The DMA's legal arguments won at least a temporary postponement from judges in Oklahoma and Colorado. But following a storm of bad publicity and a subsequent act of Congress empowering federal regulators to impose the Do Not Call list over those legal objections, the DMA announced that it will stop fighting and ask its members to honor the list.
The list could go into effect as early as Wednesday.
Also among those telemarketing industry insiders whose own home numbers are in the FTC's no-call database, which began accepting numbers this summer, are Thomas B. Barker, president and CEO of West Corp. A phone call to his home in Omaha, Neb., was not returned Monday evening, but a family member confirmed that it was the Barker residence. He also did not return a call to his office Tuesday morning.
Steven G. Rolls, Chief Financial Officer for Convergys in Cincinnati, OH, also did not return a call to his home - made around the dinner hour -requesting comment. Again, a family member confirmed that it was the right number.
Convergys spokesman John Pratt said there is nothing odd about Rolls being on the Do Not Call list, since the company's business has evolved to emphasize handling "inbound" customer service calls for corporations like American Express. The 50,000 "outbound" sales calls that Convergys makes each day are done out of a sense of obligation to their customers, according to Pratt.
"Take Direct TV, for example. If every now and then they ask us to make [sales] calls, we can't tell them no, because they are such a large client," Pratt said.
Pratt, too, has signed up for the Do Not Call registry.
The Courant searched public records, mostly telephone directories, for the home phone numbers of telemarketing industry insiders, then entered the numbers into a page on the FTC's website that allows visitors to verify whether the number has been registered. The FTC does not collect the names of the people who sign up.
Jasvant D. Mahadevia, who retired from the DMA as a senior vice president earlier this year, signed up last month. He said he sees no irony in the move, and will be relieved when the phone stops ringing.
"There are so many calls I don't want," Mahadevia said. "They are disturbing my routine."
By JACK DOLAN
The Hartford Courant
Published September 30, 2003, 3:51 PM CDT
The home telephone numbers of 11 top executives of the Direct Marketing Association - which has waged a bitter court battle to kill a proposed federal no-call list - are on the new federal registry, making them off-limits to those annoying early evening sales calls.
The Hartford Courant found the numbers of the DMA employees, and chief executives from two large telemarketing companies, among the 50 million numbers on the Federal Trade Commission's anti-telemarketing Do Not Call list.
The DMA executives who have apparently signed up to protect their own privacy did so even as their organization waged a legal campaign to prevent federal regulators from protecting the privacy of millions of other Americans.
Included on the list are two senior vice presidents, three vice presidents, and four directors. Two people on the Do Not Call registry were listed as DMA executives in the company's 2002 annual report, but have retired from the organization within the last year.
Jerry Cerasale, the DMA's chief spokesman during the recent court battles, confirmed that a number found on the FTC's list is his home number. But he insisted that he did not register to prevent his organization's own clients from calling him at home, and he does not believe that his wife signed up, either.
"Somebody is obviously trying to embarrass me," Cerasale said. "This is one of the reasons we've been against the Internet sign-up. Anybody could put your number on the list. I don't know if the FTC has controls on this."
Also on the list is the home number of a DMA executive who works closely with the company president.
"I registered there myself personally," she said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. "For the same reason that other consumers have. I don't want to be bothered by telemarketing calls." The woman asked that her name not be printed because she said she was afraid it would get her fired.
Cerasale said there is no DMA policy that prohibits it's own employees from signing on to the list.
The DMA went to federal court on behalf of its 5,000 member organizations last week trying to block new rules that would force telemarketers to make sure a number is not on the registry before dialing with their pitches for new credit cards or cheaper long-distance rates.
The DMA's legal arguments won at least a temporary postponement from judges in Oklahoma and Colorado. But following a storm of bad publicity and a subsequent act of Congress empowering federal regulators to impose the Do Not Call list over those legal objections, the DMA announced that it will stop fighting and ask its members to honor the list.
The list could go into effect as early as Wednesday.
Also among those telemarketing industry insiders whose own home numbers are in the FTC's no-call database, which began accepting numbers this summer, are Thomas B. Barker, president and CEO of West Corp. A phone call to his home in Omaha, Neb., was not returned Monday evening, but a family member confirmed that it was the Barker residence. He also did not return a call to his office Tuesday morning.
Steven G. Rolls, Chief Financial Officer for Convergys in Cincinnati, OH, also did not return a call to his home - made around the dinner hour -requesting comment. Again, a family member confirmed that it was the right number.
Convergys spokesman John Pratt said there is nothing odd about Rolls being on the Do Not Call list, since the company's business has evolved to emphasize handling "inbound" customer service calls for corporations like American Express. The 50,000 "outbound" sales calls that Convergys makes each day are done out of a sense of obligation to their customers, according to Pratt.
"Take Direct TV, for example. If every now and then they ask us to make [sales] calls, we can't tell them no, because they are such a large client," Pratt said.
Pratt, too, has signed up for the Do Not Call registry.
The Courant searched public records, mostly telephone directories, for the home phone numbers of telemarketing industry insiders, then entered the numbers into a page on the FTC's website that allows visitors to verify whether the number has been registered. The FTC does not collect the names of the people who sign up.
Jasvant D. Mahadevia, who retired from the DMA as a senior vice president earlier this year, signed up last month. He said he sees no irony in the move, and will be relieved when the phone stops ringing.
"There are so many calls I don't want," Mahadevia said. "They are disturbing my routine."
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