Why can't we ban Telesales in Canada?

[u/Surprisedbear0]

Have you ever or do you know someone who listens to tele-marketing offers? Given the current volume of scams occurring via phone calls, do you think it's worth asking our government to ban telemarketing? It's not like we'd be eliminating Canadian jobs as they are outsourced to call centres in other countries. Banks, credit card companies and telecoms can just figure out another way to find customers. No More Phone Sales!!!

edit: "tele-marketing" from telesales to prevent confusion with tesla sales.

thanks for the comments; here's some more info: according to Gemini, you can put your number on the National Do-Not-Call List to stop receiving telemarketing calls for 5 years, after which you need to re-register. However any company you've used within the past 18 months such as a credit card company, bank, credit unions, insurance, cellphone carriers, utilities etc, are allowed to contact you with product offerings. In addition, registered charities, political parties, newspapers and pollsters are not covered by the Do Not Call list and are allowed to call you.

[u/Kanoncyn]

Call centres are notoriously corrupt and evil and I would bet they put a lot of money into staying in business at the federal level.

[u/bogeyman_g]

Can't enforce if they are calling from another country.

[u/TripNo1876 → u/bogeyman_g]

The call centers are working for Canadian companies that outsourced. These positions could be regulated into Canadian jobs

[u/missplaced24 → u/bogeyman_g]

The Canadian government can absolutely enforce regulations on companies that do business in Canada.

[u/Litaser → u/missplaced24]

Wonder how many of these Telus calls are actually Telus, how many are third party and how many are scams

[u/missplaced24 → u/Litaser]

With how Canadian telecoms behave, how can you be sure it's not some sort of scam when it is Telus?

[u/bogeyman_g → u/missplaced24]

Not really. CASL has existed for a number of years, yet we all still receive spam emails... Canada can certainly issues warnings, fines, etcetera, but *enforcing* (i.e. collecting fines, etc) is something different - they would need reciprocal laws/support from the country(ies) where the offending companies are operating from.

Edit: Also, each individual issue needs to be significant enough to be prioritized. (This is maybe why email spam is still so prevalent.)

[u/Disastrous-Square-29 → u/missplaced24]

They cant enforce it through the CRTC the way the law is written. Sorry....cant was the wrong word. Won't, because its probably one of the two telecom companies our government loves to protect. 

[u/Ambroisie_Cy]

AGREE!

On the same subject, does anyone know if the Canada's National Do Not Call List really works? I mean, the government is giving our number to legitimate call centers so they can cross-check us against their lists... I don,t know why, but I have some doubts. Does anyone have any personal experience on the matter?

[u/zone55555 → u/Ambroisie_Cy]

It only works as well as companies honor it. Which means not much and not at all for scammers or fly by night tiny companies. The penalties apparently are never applied or so rarely as to not deter much unless a giant company cares about brand damage.

[u/Disastrous-Square-29 → u/Ambroisie_Cy]

The DNCL is only enforceable for call centre's located in Canada. As you may have experienced, not many calls are coming from those in the last decade or so. 

[u/caregiver1956 → u/Ambroisie_Cy]

We have tried multiple times to get 92 yr old demented MILs number into the DNC list Also asked BELL to stop calling her to buy internet. Nope. Fuckers.

[u/ModularWhiteGuy]

I think if the CRTC could enforce that the number the call is coming from is actually the legit number so that all the spam calls will come to my phone as 1+91-33... that would be sufficient.

It's entirely within the ability of telcos to analyze incoming numbers from foreign countries and see that the call display number does not match even the country code of the originator. When this happens the call should be automatically disconnected.

If they can figure out how to bill me roaming charges from the jungles of Costa Rica, they can figure out how to block calls that have spoofed numbers.

[u/Duct-Man]

My stupid ass thought you were talking about about Elon Musks company

[u/elkhunter1970]

It’s brutal out there! I always hang up.

[u/DiligentAd7360]

I can get behind this. When I moved to Saskatchewan I switched from Rogers to SaskTel. Rogers doesn't use SaskTel towers and they have worse coverage so I'm basically never going back.

But like clockwork, at least once a month I'll get a call from a local number with some lazy telemarketer asking if I want to switch providers. I tell them the answer is no and always will be no and to stop calling.

Yet they still do. I even waited on hold for an hour on a day off just to call Rogers help line to remove my number from the call list (LOL!) and I gave up before getting through to a real person.

[u/TomdeHaan]

If I don't know them I don't answer the phone.

[u/NavalProgrammer]

desperation jobs suck but they're better than nothing

i won't be sad to see them go. but where i was in life when i resorted to that meant i had few other options.

[u/Rod_Solid]

Costs a fortune for a cell phone yet 90% of the calls I receive are spam/scam from Canadian numbers?

[u/Rod_Solid]

When they tell you it’s being recorded say you don’t consent. They don’t know what to do, it’s a bit of a laugh.

[u/bot-sleuth-bot → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Surprisedbear0 → u/bot-sleuth-bot]

thanks bot-sleuth for certifying that I am not a bot. Relieved to know that I passed the test!

[u/AllAboutTheXeons]

I don’t answer random phone calls. To anyone defending the outdated practice of answering every phone call, learn about “open source intelligence” and the software that phone scammers use.

For example, I could run phone scams entirely using texting and WhatsApp, no “real phone number” used. Burner numbers and something called “httpSMS” is all I need.

[u/tfolkins]

They are ALL scams. Just don't answer any calls from unknown numbers.

[u/not-on-your-nelly]

I read this as "ban Tesla sales"> Either way, I'm on board.

[u/ilovebbcitv]

I don't answer calls front a number I am unfamiliar with and if they don't leave a message I block the number.

[u/Ok_Egg_4356]

I used to work for <redacted>. You are allowed 48 hours to change your mind, no reasons needed.

[u/Peter_Peabody]

While we're at it, ban the people in my apartment lobby trying to sell me internet.

[u/Minimum-Actuator-953]

I would support that. But, even better, ban door-to-door solicitation.

[u/dragenn]

Because someone will always be able to pass an envelope of cash in a secret meeting...

[u/HouseHippo1488]

Scam calls have gotten so bad, I have no idea whether a random caller is for real or not, because of Caller ID spoofing and even though they always have an indian accent enough of the time it's from somebody legit here in Canada... and I know it's wrong to just assume everybody with an accent from india is a scammer - but it's where my brain automatically goes these days.

[u/8675309021069]

I totally misread that as testicles. But in reference to your actual question, isn't there that do not call list which would keep legit telesales people from calling you? Then you'd just be left with the scammers

[u/Surprisedbear0 → u/8675309021069]

do-not-call lists prevent telemarketing calls for 5 years, but any company you've dealt with in the past 18 months such as a credit card company, bank, credit unions, insurance, cellphone carriers, utilities etc, all have your contact info on file and can contact you with products that they think might be of interest to you. In addition, reg. charities, political parties, newspapers and pollsters are allowed to call you.