Telesales is a legal business, but many telesales firms make illegal calls and are able to get away with it simply because the average telephone consumer does not know their phone privacy rights. What you need to understand is that there are rules telesellers must abide by. However, you also must understand that though you may find all telesales calls annoying, the fact remains that many of the calls you receive are within the rights of the telesales firm.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was created in the early 1990's to provide telesales companies with legal guidelines that were created to protect a telephone consumer's right to privacy. The following is a basic outline of legal and illegal telesales practices:

It is legal...

For a telesales company to call between the hours of 8 am and 9 pm.

For a company with whom you have an established business relationship to call you. This is a company with whom you have made a purchase.

For the affiliates of the company you have a business relationship with to call you as long as the affiliate is in some way associated with the product or service you purchased.

For telesellers to call your cellular phone if you have given them permission to do so.

For telesellers to send you unsolicited faxes if they have been given your express permission
It is illegal

For a teleseller to call you before 8 am and after 9 pm

For a teleseller to not have an internal do not call list.

For a teleseller to not remove your number from their call list when you request it.

For a teleseller to call you once you have made the request to no longer be contacted by them.

For a teleseller not to have a clear and defined policy, and to not make this policy available to a consumer upon request.

For a company with whom you have an established business relationship to call you after you have made the request to be added to their do not call list.

For telesellers who use autodialing devices to call cell phones

For telesellers to send unsolicited faxes without permission

For telesellers to use automated messages

For a telemarketer to not provide their name and the name of the company they work for when asked.

As you can see, telesales companies must abide by strict rules or else face the penalty of the law. Therefore, know your rights and stop telesales calls by making complaints.

Source: Dwayne Eisen link