Do Not Call Registry

One of the things I was happy to leave behind in my previous work in Manila was the huge amount of cold calls for advertisements and promos that I received.  Even with a receptionist filtering the calls, a fair number still manages to go through.  Here in New Zealand, I am happy to note that I have not received such calls at work.  The unsolicited ones I receive are related to my work (software, web design) so those are ok.  And these are too far between that I do not mind these at all.

We learned fast, though, that the scenario changes here.  Instead of receiving calls at work, you receive it at home.  We've had calls for offers on cheaper long distance phone calls, vacations through a discount card, solicitations/donations.  It became so bad that there came a time when we no longer wanted to answer the phone and had thought about purchasing a caller ID / voicemail thingamajig.  Honestly, we really do not have that much money to go around and while we do donate to organisations of interest, we are not exactly happy about receiving calls asking for donations.  We try our best to politely decline but some of them can be so persistent.

Then I remembered that the US had this list where you can opt yourself in and you will no longer receive such calls.  I Googled for a similar service and found myself at the Marketing Association website's Do Not Call List.

Registering is done online and is very easy.  The list is distributed to their members to ensure that they are aware that you do not want to receive unsolicited calls.  They do not guarantee, however, that they can stop all calls.  Not all companies are members of the association, and they also cannot stop calls from overseas.  That said, it's been a month and it's been quiet so far.  Just the way we like it.

If you want to register, visit the Marketing Association website.