Yarra Junction resident Hazel Lee says the number of unwanted telephone marketing phone calls she received has been reduced after registering with a free nocontact service.By Dion Teasdale
A YARRA Junction woman is urging people bothered by unwanted telephone marketing phone calls to register with a free ‘no contact’ service.
Hazel Lee said up until eight weeks ago she was receiving three unsolicited phone calls a day from marketing companies.
She said most of the calls were coming from overseas, in particular India, and were offering free holidays and prizes if she stayed on the line.
“The calls were coming in every day and had been increasing over a six month period. They were a real nuisance,” Mrs Lee said.
“My husband and I didn’t want to stop answering the phone in case someone was calling with important information but at the same time the frequency of these unwanted calls was getting to be annoying.”
Mrs Lee said she had discussed unsolicited phone interruptions with family and friends who had experienced similar problems but felt powerless to do anything about them.
“About two months ago, though, my daughter told me about a website you can register your details on and have your phone number taken off marketing company databases,” she said.
“I was quite sceptical at first, especially when my daughter said it was a free service but we gave it a go and we haven’t had any unwanted calls for eight weeks.”
Mrs Lee said her daughter registered her details on the Australian Direct Marketing Association’s (ADMA) free No Contact Service.
“All you have to do is put in your details and request that ADMA remove you from their databases,” she said.
“It’s been a great relief and nice not to have unwanted phone calls coming in at all hours of the day.”
ADMA chief executive officer Rob Edwards told the Mail last week that he was delighted to hear the service had helped reduce the number of unwanted phone calls Mrs Lee had been receiving.
“In a world where consumers are bombarded with messages and marketing information we recognise that consumers have a right to not be contacted,” he said.
“People should be given a choice about whether they want to be contacted by organisations and we provide a free service which allows consumers not to receive unsolicited calls.”
Mr Edwards said the ADMA no contact service allows people to remove their details from a database which is used by 550 marketing companies.
“The service benefits marketing companies, too, because at the end of the day these organisations don’t want to be contacting people who don’t want to hear from them,” he said. It is very pleasing to hear that our free service can have an impact on people’s lives in such a short time.”
To have details removed from the ADMA telephone marketing databases go to the website www.adma.com.au and click on the ‘no contact service’ link.
