Californians Against
Telephone Solicitation

 

"C.A.T.S."

C.A.T.S. Motto: No law, statute, rule, or ordinance will stop telemarketers as effectively as the law of economics. When they don't make any profit, the calls will stop.

Visit our Message Board, click here.

The National Do Not Call registry is now in service. To register your phone numbers at no cost to you, click here.

If you prefer to register by phone call 1-888-382-1222. It is available 24 hours a day, and is toll free.
NOTE: You must call from the phone number that you wish to register. The system should work with most phone lines, however if you live in a place (such as a dormitory) that puts your phone behind a PBX or similar device, the number will not work. Use the Internet link instead to register your phone.

Fight Back!
Dealing with Telemarketers. What to do when they call and here's a Sample Script.

What about "junk faxes"?
See our junk fax page.

Federal Laws regulating Telemarketers
47 U.S.C. 227
CFR 64.1200

Read all about it!
Newspaper and magazine articles.

C.A.T.S. sting operations. We test the industry for compliance.
Circuit City
Wells Fargo Bank

Lying to Legislators.
The Great Telemarketing Lie

The judge's three-page decision.
Arkow vs. Bank of America

People who fight back.
The Private Citizen Heroes.

Telemarketing humor

Contact us

Links

Quote of the Week

"Cell phone spam may not be the biggest problem we have to deal with, but we got the FTC to shut down the car-warranty robocalls and now it’s time they shut down the other robocallers as well.  These calls cost consumers hundreds in wasted cell phone minutes or much, much more if they get caught in the trap being laid by these unscrupulous companies. The perpetrators behind the credit card interest rate calls have also found a way around the Do Not Call List.  The FTC has to track them down and then shut them down to put an end to this nuisance once and for all."

Senator Charles "Chuck" Schumer (D-New York) commenting about about automated telemarketing calls promising to lower interest rates on their credit cards.  Not only are the calls a nuisance and violate U.S. and Canadian Do-Not-Call laws, but some companies behind the calls are ripping off consumers by charging large up-front fees to negotiate lower interest rates with credit card companies—something consumers can do on their own for free.

According to figures cited by the White House in January, credit-card debt increased 25 percent in the past 10 years, totaling $963 billion – with per household credit card debt at nearly $9,000 now. Knowing that so many families are drowning in debt, telemarketers offering suspect financial assistance are taking full advantage of the situation. Consumers have reported receiving calls as early as three in the morning and on both their cell and home phones even when they have registered the numbers with federal Do-Not-Call lists. Consumers also tell the BBB that, despite their requests to the telemarketers to stop calling, the calls continue to come. 

From the Better Business Bureau (BBB) web site, BBB, Schumer Warn Consumers of Robocalls Promising to Lower Their Credit Card Interest Rate, June 10, 2009.  Senator Schumer can be reached, via his office, at: (202) 224-6542.

CATS Comment:  You talk a tough line, Senator, but the reality is that the FTC will do what it always does, settle these cases for pennies on the dollar.  The FTC has NEVER assessed the statutory $11,000.00 per call fine that the law allows.

The FTC will settle these cases for pennies a call, sorry to say, in a New York minute!

For past quotes of the week click here.
Got an interesting quote? E-mail us.

 

 

 

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Send your e-mail to: bob@stopjunkcalls.com
Click on the e-mail symbol to the left.

All requests for privacy will be honored. We will not use your real name unless you say it is ok. We only post with your permission, and then we usually use an incomplete name (i.e., John D.). We avoid full names at all cost. We want your candor and passion. Give it to us!!!

Letters to the CATS BOX.

Featuring "Junker", the world famous anti-telemarketing cat.
(He doesn't pussyfoot around!)
Read latest "scoop" from our viewers who show off their litter-ary talents.

Click here or on "Junker" in the box on the left.

You are visitor number who is fed up with telemarketers!

Note: The counter above is not an accurate measurement of traffic on this site. But we'll bet that on any evening across America, that is the number of people annoyed by the telenuisance industry!

Disclaimer #1: This web site may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We believe that this not-for-profit use on the Web constitutes a `"fair use" of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Disclaimer #2: Nothing on this site should be considered legal advice. We can only tell you about the experiences of ourselves and others. Ya win some and ya lose some! In one case, we lost in court; yet when the FCC reviewed the case, they decided we were right and the court was wrong. We then filed a new claim when the telemarketer again failed to provide a copy of their "Do-Not-Call" policy "upon demand", as required by law. The telemarketer later (wisely) settled out of court.

Sadly, many California small claims court judges are ill-equipped to handle a TCPA case. Your chance of winning depends on your evidence, how you present it in court, and whether the judge is "brain dead" when it comes to a complex law like the TCPA.

Privacy Policy: We do not collect information of the visitors to this site. We do note the number of visitors to the site, but do not use the information other than to display the visitor number at the bottom of our home page. Our bulletin board uses cookies but only to track what posts are "new" to you, the user. We do not use the information for any other purpose. The one exception to this is that if someone posts something highly offensive we would use their IP number to 'block" then from the board. Since we are non-profit and are not selling anything, we have no other use for the information anyway.

We do, on occasion, print e-mails that we receive, but we do not disclose the the real name of the sender. (example: Joe R.) Exceptions: If you are the subject of our "Quote Of The Week" and respond to our quote to comment, we will post your response. We normally contact the subject(s) of our "Quote Of The Week" (via phone or e-mail) when we post it, and advise them that if they choose to respond via e-mail, their comments will be posted. After all, this is only fair, and we here at C.A.T.S. want you, the viewer, to consider all sides of any issue that we discuss. We will also reveal any information we receive upon receipt of a lawfully issued subpoena or other similar court document.

In summary, we don't care who you are! We want your comments! We respect your privacy and comply with all laws. We wish that the telemarketing industry would do the same!

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Our mailing Address:
C.A.T.S.
P.O. Box 800753
Valencia, CA 91380

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 bob@stopjunkcalls.com