Toll Free On Billboard Gets Major Attention

Posted on September 3, 2010 by smsgov

Industry big-wigs are getting more and more creative with the use of toll free telephone numbers. Motorists in metropolitan areas are noticing billboards featuring a toll free number that is in fact a hidden movie advertisement for “The Virginity Hit,” a mockumentary about a teenager trying to lose his virginity. Callers to the toll free number are greeted by an automated message from Zack Pearlman, one of the film’s stars. The movie producers appear to be using a temporary toll free phone number to create a media storm and some controversy which will then bring attention to the movie, made by and featuring unknowns. There are always creative ways to use toll free to boost any type of business.

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Hertz Gets Toll Free Number To Help Gulf Coast

Posted on July 27, 2010 by smsgov

Hertz Corporation has announced the Gulf Coast Customer Care Center to assist retail customers, businesspeople, and government employees traveling to the Gulf Coast area who need rental cars and equipment for clean-up related activities. The Care Center can be reached by calling toll free at 1-888-932-7259. Trained customer care representatives are available to rent cars and SUVs, as well as a wide range of equipment, and to provide overall assistance to customers traveling to the Gulf Coast.

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Toll Free Number To Get On Do Not Call List

Posted on July 22, 2010 by smsgov

From the Better Business Bureau website:

Have you gotten an email forwarded to you by one of your friends lately saying that one day very soon the list of all cell phone numbers is going to go public and you will be spammed by unwanted sales calls?  Actually, it’s not going to happen.

There are some rumors that just will not die, and this is one of them.  Since at least 2004 there’s been an email making the rounds that says that all cell phone numbers are about to go public and be released to telemarketers.  According to the email, you will be spammed by sales calls (and they will go on your cell phone bill) unless you call a special number at the national Do Not Call (DNC) Registry to get your cell phone number blocked for the next 5 years.

So, what’s the real deal?  Well, there is a national DNC Registry, and there’s no harm in registering your cell phone number on it, but there is NO national release of cell phone numbers scheduled or planned.  According to the Web site snopes.com, this rumor started several years ago when some of the major wireless companies planned to create a 411 national directory.  In the end, the directory never happened – but the rumor that it’s out there and telemarketers will soon have access to it just won’t go away.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a special Web pagehttp://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/02/dnccellphones.shtm about this story-that-will-not-die.  On it they say that:

  • Cell phone numbers are NOT being released to telemarketers, and you will NOT soon be getting telemarketing calls on your cell phone.
  • There is NO deadline to register your cell phone number with the DNC Registry.
  • Telemarketers are not allowed to use automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Since that’s what most of them use, they wouldn’t be calling your cell phone number even if they had it.
  • There is only one DNC Registry. There is no separate one for cell phones.  The DNC Registry registers both cell phones and land lines. You must call from the phone number that you want to register. If you register online, you must respond to a confirmation e-mail.
  • And, by the way, in 2007 the FTC got rid of the 5-year expiration date on DNC registries.  So once your number’s registered, you won’t have to renew it.

To put your phone number in the DNC Registry, go to www.donotcall.gov or call toll-free, 1-888-382-1222.  But there’s no need to panic if you don’t get around to it today.

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Consumers Use Toll Free To Get Rebates

Posted on May 26, 2010 by smsgov

Consumers rejected for appliance rebates are still trying to understand why their Energy Star model numbers were listed as invalid. Officials say that some of the people who got those error messages shouldn’t have. Officials estimate that about 20 percent of the thousands who have applied for rebates since the program began on March 26 have received postcards saying their paperwork was invalid or incomplete. Others were returned for not sending in an original receipt or a proof-of-recycling form. For valid rebate info, call the toll free rebate hotline: 1-888-686-8896.

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Celebs Promote Charity Through Toll Free

Posted on April 29, 2010 by smsgov

We have written here about celebrities getting their own toll free phone numbers for personal use and to promote their “brand” meaning themselves and their image. Celebs are also promoting toll free charity toll free numbers. For instance, on Monday, April 26th, actor John Stamos hosted a Project Cuddle® event to raise awareness for the 24-hour, toll free crisis phone line to stop baby abandonment. Also on hand was Miss Teen USA Stormi Henley.Project Cuddle®, a non-profit charity, is the result of one woman’s crusade to help prevent infants from being abandoned.

Reported statistics suggest that an average of 57 children are abandoned each day. Project Cuddle’s® mission is to inform community members that frightened girls and women, some of whom may be hiding their pregnancy, can call anytime for confidential, safe and legal help by calling 1-88 TO CUDDLE or 1-888-628-3353.

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