On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 04:34:01 GMT, (Tom Miller)
wrote:




Wish this were so, but the FTC only requires that they have a toll
free number that can be called to remove your fax number from their
list.

Of the faxes I get, about 2/3rds have a working number. The rest
either have no number, a smartass answer on the other end -- "You have
reached our fax removal number. Good bye" -- or are busy for days on
end, or are out of service.

And calling the toll-free number and entering your fax number gets you
off only THAT company's list. You are still on the for-sale commercial
list.

Sometimes I get taken off a fax list for one type of fax from company
"A" but then get the same fax from company "B". Then the other day I
got one from a company with a UK return address and a US 800 number
for removal that didn't work.

And I have NEVER gotten a junk fax with a return fax number or
originating fax number on it. None of the ads I get want a response.

I did get one last week with a 900 number offering to take me off the
fax list for a $3.25 a minute telephone call that would take 3-5
minutes. This was the sole purpose of the fax -- petty extortion.

And I agree with another poster to this thread that sending back a
black page or 4 sounds fun, but the faxes are almost certainly sent by
computer, not by paper-driven office fax machines. Even if a junk
faxer was so stupid as to use a regular office fax to send their junk
fax, their machine would be running all the time sending faxes around
the country so you would never get through. So I doubt the stories of
sending back faxes. It sounds good but I doubt it works or even
happened.

One thing that has given me a bit of satisfaction with the recorded
messages that give their spiel and then ask you to press the one
button now. Please, press the one button now. This only works if you
get the number on caller ID.

The consecutive numbers are dialed by a computer. If you press one,
you are transferred to a salesperson. If you continually dial the
number, eventually, you will ring in just as the computer makes a
connection. Now you have them. Lay the receiver down and go to bed. It
will stay connected until a live person checks to see why there is no
one pressing the one button.