The incessant telephone calls make my blood boil. The ringing and ringing and ringing—calls revealed by caller ID not to be from friends, or from legitimate callers like my doctor’s office. No, these are phone calls from businesses I have never contacted, and from people – or most likely these days, robots -- I don’t care to know.
I thought I had protected myself from this by signing up for the National Do Not Call Registry. The government program is supposed to stop unwanted telephone telemarketing with the threat of significant fines. At first it seemed to do the trick, but slowly, the sleazy solicitors have come back full force.
So imagine my annoyance when I learned — after the fact -- there was a hearing to get the public’s take on the do not call program. Why wasn’t this information widely shared? As reported by WGBH’s Statehouse Reporter Mike Deehan, the afternoon hearing was, “part of Governor Bakers’ push to review all of the state’s business regulations.” By the way, I didn’t know until Mike’s report that Massachusetts also has a Do Not Call Registry, separate from the federal one. I signed up hoping that the combined federal and state programs will give me relief from the 617 calls in the middle of day.
As it turned out, I’m not the only one who didn’t know about the public hearing -- no doubt why nobody showed up. Not one single person attended. Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, which enforces the registry regulations, was left to assume there were few documented violations. But, there is plenty of widespread anger shared in online complaints. Complaints like the one from Charley Mac who writes, “I’m fuming mad. These people just won’t stop calling.”
I feel you Charley Mac. Especially now that the crass callers have invaded both my cell phone and my landline. I think I speak for all of us when I say this is the one time when we consumers would love a little more of that infamous Massachusetts regulation.
But, if there is not going to be another scheduled hearing for us to vent our collective frustration, please, Governor Baker and Attorney General Healey, I hope you are listening. Do something to toughen up the state’s do not call registry.
Right now, I have to wait a month to see if the phone numbers I registered will indeed go away – the telemarketers behind them having gotten the notice. I will gleefully turn them in if they persist, but hopefully they’ll give up on me. I can’t wait to enjoy the comfortable silence from no more ringing.