Gryphon Networks
Client Login Contact Gryphon Networks
Marketing Calls Give Us a Hang-Up

Marketing Calls Give Us a Hang-Up

1/2/2007

Herald Sun (Australia)

Most Victorians want telemarketing banned from their phones.

They believe a ''do
not call'' register would not go far enough.

Almost 95 per cent of people who responded to the Herald Sun Issues of 2006 survey said they want the marketing cold calls at home outlawed.

Many of the calls are made during the evening, interrupting meal times and irritating families.

The Federal Government will launch the $33 million national
no-calls register in May.

Householders can sign up free to a national database that will prohibit unsolicited
telemarketing calls.

The penalty for
telemarketers who breach the rules will be fines of up to $200,000.

Recent research showed that households across the nation fielded up to 1.5 billion
telemarketing calls a year -- about 75 calls for every Australian.

Many of the calls come from overseas call centres, usually in India. And an increasing number of Australian companies are shifting their call-centre services overseas.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman recorded 1738 complaints about
telemarketing calls last year.

Survey respondent and mother of four Sally Klinge, 48, said
telemarketers always called at the most inconvenient time for families.

''They alway ring when you are preparing dinner,'' said Ms Klinge, of Arkona, north of Dimboola. ''It's such a poor way to market a product.''

Retired nurse Trish Francese, 64, of Mordialloc, described the
telemarketing calls made to her home as a constant nuisance.

''When you answer there is a long delay and then a voice you can hardly understand,'' Ms Francese said.

''It's a pest.''

»2007 Gryphon Networks Corp. All Rights Reserved«