Telemarketing

It used to be that when the high school football team needed new uniforms, a few weekends of marathon car washes did the trick. Or possibly a bake sale. That was before "high-tech" took over. Now, telemarketers have entered into the lucrative realm of school fund-raising, offering schools cash quick, with little or no effort.The telemarketing trend began taking hold in Howard County several years ago, but already officials seem poised to put an end to the practice. At the beginning of the current school year, officials clamped down on the number of schools that could hire telemarketers -- only the system's eight high schools -- and imposed strict rules on fund-raising campaigns.

Pop quiz: 1.         Telemarketers using robocalls with pre-recorded sales pitches can only call your home phone or cell phone if they get your permission in writing. True or False 2.         Putting your name on the Do-Not-Call list means no telemarketer is allowed to call you. True or False 3.         If you don't put your number on the Do-Not-Call, a telemarketer can continue to call you unless you submit a written request for calls to stop.  True or False.

Telemarketing is the newest technique that schools have undertaken to raise money for the PTA and other programs, a special fund-raising committee told school board members yesterday.2 * Approved its meeting schedule for next year.

The Federal Trade Commission said a federal judge has stopped a Florida-based telemarketing enterprise that allegedly conned older Americans into buying precious metals on credit without disclosing the high risks and high costs to them. The operation, American Precious Metals LLC, collected more than $37 million from gold investors. According to the FTC: “Using high-pressure sales tactics, telemarketers led consumers to believe that they were offering low-risk investments that would double or triple in value in a short time.

Today's cause is so unpopular even I don't feel sorry for the guy.Would you believe a businessman seeking $500,000 in damages because he wasn't allowed to use an automatic dialing machine to call thousands of potential customers at home?You're all tears, right?Would you believe this fellow has suffered "irreparable personal and pecuniary harm, business interruption, great economic loss" and even "emotional anguish"?Those are just some of the claims made in a case filed in federal court in Baltimore by Dan J. Edwards through his attorneys, H. Thomas Howell, Una M. Perez and Barry S. Brown.

As MUCH AS WE all hate to receive unsolicited calls that market products or services, telemarketing is a principal way to "get the word out" and products sold. If your sales can benefit from telemarketing, there are a number of challenges to consider before you start your own program.Start with a determination as to the most effective methodology to sell your product or service. Think the entire sales process through with a couple of typical examples. For instance, there have been telemarketing firms that have attempted and miserably failed to market professional services provided by engineers, management consultants and accountants.

The telemarketing industry takes a bashing, earned largely by a minority of "scam artists" and zealous sales hustlers who populate the business, admits Columbia entrepreneur Malynda Hawes Madzel."

A bill aimed at giving Marylanders relief from unwanted telephone sales pitches died in a Senate committee yesterday after one of the measure's co-sponsors switched sides. The legislation, which would have let residents put their names on a state-maintained "do-not-call" list, enjoyed broad support from consumer groups and from the public, but it was vehemently opposed by some businesses that rely heavily on telemarketing. Two -- Bally Total Fitness Corp., the health club chain, and MCI-WorldCom, the long-distance phone firm -- threatened to move their operations out of state.

WASHINGTON - The callers said they were seeking donations for VietNow, a charity that provided for Vietnam veterans who were hungry, homeless, disabled or unemployed. That much was true. What the donors were not told was that only 3 percent of the money collected went to support these veterans. Yesterday, the Supreme Court took a hard look at this practice to decide whether such fund-raising pitches can be prosecuted as frauds. Until now, telephone soliciting has been deemed to be free speech and protected from laws that force fund-raisers to tell donors what share of contributions goes to true charitable work.

A 62-year-old businessman who lived in a $1.3 million Ruxton house, bought his girlfriend a $340,000 car and ran a telemarketing operation targeted by the FBI was convicted of bankruptcy fraud yesterday by a federal jury in Baltimore. Joel Katz was found guilty by a jury of six men and six women that deliberated two hours yesterday in U.S. District Court after a trial that focused on his opulent lifestyle, his six-figure income and the bankruptcy petition he filed claiming only $5,280 in assets.

Verizon Wireless announced yesterday that it had filed separate civil suits against two telemarketers, alleging they violated federal and state laws by making more than 1.4 million unsolicited calls to its cell-phone subscribers this summer. Citing invasions of privacy and violations of consumer-protection laws, Verizon Wireless sued Intelligent Alternatives LLC of San Diego and Resort Marketing Trends LLC of Coral Springs, Fla. With more than 47 million subscribers, Verizon Wireless is the nation's No. 2 wireless carrier.

MCI Inc. confirmed yesterday that it's shutting down its Hunt Valley telemarketing center, a move that will result in 300 lost jobs by the end of September and bring down the curtain on a facility that just five years ago employed 1,200 people. Employees were informed Friday about the job cuts, which take effect Sept. 30, MCI spokeswoman Brittany Feinson said. Some executive-level employees will be transferred to MCI operations in Towson, where the company employs about 100 people, but other employees will be terminated, the nation's No. 2 long-distance provider confirmed.

Dwindling public dollars and charitable contributions have led to the demise of the Center for Poverty Solutions and the Maryland Center for Community Development, according to officials of both groups. Trudy P. McFall, former board chairwoman of the Maryland Center for Community Development, said the organization is working with local foundations to try to cover some of its outstanding debt. Officials of the Maryland Food Bank and Health Care for the Homeless said those groups will take on some of the services that the Center for Poverty Solutions performed, including feeding the poor and doing advocacy work.

A telemarketer will open two call centers in Maryland, the state said yesterday, bringing 200 jobs to Baltimore and another 200 to Prince George's County. Civic Development Group, based in Edison, N.J., has leased 10,000 square feet of space at 1100 Wicomico St. in the city and nearly as much office space in Largo. It expects to create the 400 full-time jobs over the next two years, according to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. Company officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Middle River resident John Knueppel considers the $189 he lost last year in a telemarketing scheme the cost of learning an important lesson, one that he shared yesterday with seniors at a Catonsville retirement community. "The most powerful tool you have with telemarketers is hanging up the receiver," Knueppel, 69, advised about a dozen seniors at Park View Communities. "The faster you do it, the better." Knueppel spoke as part of a Postal Inspection Service awareness campaign to prevent telemarketing fraud.

Do-not-call appears to be doing its job. A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive found that 92 percent of people who signed up for the national registry to curb telemarketing calls reported receiving fewer calls. In fact, 25 percent of respondents reported getting no telemarketer calls since the do-not-call list took effect in October. The Federal Communications Commission also said yesterday that the number of complaints from consumers has dropped each month since the agency's enforcement of the list began in the fall.

Mildred Rosado is fed up with telephone sales callers. They call her during dinner, when she's trying to spend time with her family and even when she's getting ready for work. "Telemarketers are driving me crazy," said Rosado, a health information specialist at Mercy Medical Center. So, when she heard about a new federal registry that promises to spare her from most pesky sales calls, she went right to the computer to sign up. But an army of other frustrated Americans had the same idea and, after three attempts yesterday, Rosado still hadn't made it to the Web site.

WHEN ADVANCES in technology collide with the Constitution, the fireworks are always interesting. For example, Congress has tried three times to regulate porn on the Internet. The Bush administration wants to use the Patriot Act to sniff through our e-mail, listen to our phone calls and browse our library records. The Transportation Department wants to create a massive computer database with information on every place we've traveled, everything we've bought, everybody we've called - maybe everything we've eaten.

While the national do-not-call program has become the do-not-start policy to limit telemarketing, most states will offer protection to their residents with their own lists - but not Maryland. Maryland is one of about a dozen states that did not enact their own do-not-call registries for consumers to log their home phone numbers to reduce calls from telemarketers. Some contend that puts Maryland consumers annoyed by the calls at a disadvantage compared with states whose lists can substitute for the stalled federal program.