The Savvy Boomer

Beware of long distance telemarketers who "phone slam" seniors

Phone slamming is a new term to me that I discovered on the CBC website about a telemarketer doing this to a 95 year old woman.  Be sure to read the article and if you are friends or children of seniors who may get confused from time to time, ask to look at their telephone bills to make sure some ratbag organization isn't ripping them off.

What pisses me off most about the article is that the telemarketer must have known that he was dealing with an older person who was confused about what was going on and took full advantage of the situation.  If there's a hell, these kind of people should get VIP passes.

Who to complain to in Canada

 

If you live in Canada, there are various agencies that you can complain to if you are having problems with various types of services.   Some of these are national and some only for B.C. but if you are in another province you could contact them to see who to contact in your province.

• Local phone, long distance including calling cards, wireless phone service and internet access-Commissioner for complaints for telecommunications online complaint form or call 1-888-221-1687.
• Telemarketers, home inspectors, metro Vancouver taxi, travel assurance fund-Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority online complaint form or call (604)-320-1667.  They have a very comprehensive list of agencies you can contact.
• Cable companies-Cable Television Standards Council-www.ctsc.ca (not working when I wrote this) or call 1-800-426-4170
• Door to Door Selling-Direct sellers Association complaint form or call 416-679-8555
• Restaurant and food service inspection-each province has its own agency you can contact from the information on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website.
• Measurement-Any type of product you buy by measurement such as food and fuel.  Each province has its own agency you can contact from this list on the Measurement Canada website.
• Scams-A list of scams to watch out for and you can also report a scam at Phonebusters, the Canadian anti-fraud call centre, a service supported by Canadian government and law enforcement.

Before you start complaining, you may want to check out CBC's advice on how to complain effectively.