When I bought a new RV last year I got a free Coachnet Membership. Ok, fine. Well, my membership is about to expire. Ok, I know some of you LOVE Coachnet and swear by it, but I don't like their "harassment" techniques.

My caller ID started showing daily calls from a number I didn't recognize. I ignored them. But when it got up to two weeks of these calls, I decided to to find out who it was. I called, discovered it was Coachnet. Since I had an "existing business relationship" (free membership), this means that they were allowed to "harass" me. I informed them that I was not planning to renew, would they please stop calling? I told them if I received one more call, "see you in court and you owe me $500 for that call." They insisted that it can take up to 30 days to remove a number. (THIS IS TOTAL BS! THEY HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO REMOVE INSTANTLY! THE 30 DAYS IS JUST AN EXCUSE TO KEEP HARASSING YOU IN THE HOPE YOU WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND!)

Well, I got called again, after my "do not call" request. Under the Do Not Call law, one "oops" is allowed. I contacted Coachnet again and said that today's call would be considered the "oops" call. Any more calls, and it's "See you in court, you owe me $500 per call." A supervisor assured me that I would be added to the "Do Not Call" list. We'll see. They used up their "get out of jail" card.

Have you considered simply blocking Coach Nets number from your phone? In so doing, if your called, your phone will not ring and annoy you.

If you attempt to sue them, what jurisdiction would you sue them in?

If you to find a court, and can prove that your claim has merit, how will you prove monetary damages? How will you prove that you were damaged to the amount of $500.00 per call?

Good luck in your endeavors, but before you begin, determine which jurisdictions are not already overburdened with frivolous law suits. If Coachnet should decide to challenge your allegations, there counter claims may exceed any amounts that you may seek.

I don't have "blocking" service on my phone.



I sued a telemarketer before. I can sue in my state and county, regardless of where they are. Of course, the court clerk will try to tell you that you can't, and then add that they cannot provide "legal advice." The response to that is: "By telling me that I cannot file in my state/county, you are, IPSO FACTO, giving me 'legal advice'." That shuts them up, and allows you to file.



That's the limits allowed under the Do Not Call law. $500 per call. From my experience, and from what I have read from others who have sued, the tele sleezes usually don't want to go to court, and they will settle. That's what happened when I sued in 2007. I got $500 per call, with a printout of my caller ID. If your phone doesn't print out caller ID, just keeping a record of date and times is sufficient.



Nope, it will never go to court. Telesleezes like to settle. They won't counter claim.

JJ

WOW. Best to you. I cannot remember getting that worked up over anything, especially a few unanswered phone calls.

Hi JJ,

Does the telemarketer thang apply to cell phones?

Don,

Yes, if you have it blocked. All blocked phone numbers work under the same plan.

I wish it was so simple as to block the phone number. I have had a few U.S. telemarketers phone me using a variety of numbers including the single number 9 to 0123456789 and various combinations in between. How they do this is beyond me, but it is virtually impossible to block every one of their "phone numbers". So all I do is answer on the first ring and click off. Also the do not call list in Canada is absolutely useless. Due to all the loopholes in the law, even my ex mother in law can call me!

Usually, the marketer opens with "this is not a sales call" to get around the DNC list. They then proceed to "qualify you" by asking survey questions.

Hmmmm. I let my Coachnet membership cancel a few months ago, and I did get a call from them. I answered and explained I couldn't renew at that time due to finances. They were perfectly fine with that and I never got another call.

Only slightly related to this thread, I guess with Coach-Net, you now get a 50% discount on the "ready camp go" card, which gives you access to Thousand Trails sites and Encore Resorts. I don't think I'd use it, so no intrest here.

Hi John,

In Canada cell phones can not do blocking. A sad fact of life. Especially when it is a fax machine call at 2 a.m.

I've noticed a trend in doing that. "We are exempt because we are conducting a SUR-VEY......" yeah, right.

Update. In my case, since I had a "Free" membership of Coachnet, they had an "existing" business relationship. But, once I had informed them I wasn't renewing, and to remove my number, they had a duty to remove.

Also, the law, specifically says that they must remove it within a "reasonable" period of time. Then, there is a "parenthetical" thing of "such as 30 days." A lot of attorneys use this as gospel to say that telesleezes have 30 days to remove. WRONG! The "30 days" is just a parenthetical suggestion, and is not gospel. I believe that technology exists to remove within 24 hours, and I consider that, "reasonable."

Also, telemarketers are allowed one "oops" call after your request for removal. After my initial request, they did do an "oops" call. I called back and said, "you just used your get out of jail free card, the next call will cost you $500." They called again the next day. I called back and said, "that call just cost your company $500, I will be suing to force you to pay." I was put through to a supervisor who said that he will personally guarantee removal of my number, and send me a confirmation letter (to include not using my address for marketing....) if I would not sue. It's been two days and I haven't gotten another call.

Pianotuna, it also applies to cell phones. Telemarketers cannot, by US law, call cell phones (wireless). Any call to a cell phone by telemarketers is against the law. However, if you ported a number from a land line to a cell phone, they have no way of knowing it's a cell phone. Technically, my "Home Phone Connect" service now falls under the "can't call wireless phones" law.