Unwanted Fax Ads

January 15, 2003

After receiving fax advertising from the same fax company after having thought I registered my fax number to be removed from their database I decided to take further action.

Have you received unsolicited advertising by fax? Using up your precious paper and ink/toner? Fed up with it?

Well, most of these fax companies have no contact information on the fax itself except for a number for you to call to remove your fax number from their database. This usually isn't possible or a few months later you will again receive fax ads from hell.

Here's what you should do to stop it:

use the contact information in the ad to contact the company that is promoting their products. Let them know how pleased you are to receive such information by fax and that you will never purchase product from their company plus you will tell your friends to never purchase their products and that they should seriously consider other methods to promote their product. If enough people do that and tie up these company's phone lines they will think twice about using fax advertising in the future.
call your local telephone company and complain. This usually doesn't work and the offending fax ad company will have a telephone number registered with some other telephone company like Sprint, etc so you have no recourse here.
Get onto the CRTC website and file a formal complaint here: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/contactus.htm . This usually results in some sort of investigation of the fax ad company in question.
Need to know the rules for fax advertising? Click here: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/NEWS/RELEASES/1996/r961107.htm

Here's a quote from the last mentioned link above:

"...As a result of today's decision, uninvited fax advertising in the areas served by Bell and BC TEL will be permitted only during the following hours: between 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday; and between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. These hours refer to the time zone of the called party.

In addition, telemarketers must remove names and numbers from their faxing lists within seven days-instead of the current 30 -- after a consumer asks. A subscriber's 'do not call' request remains in effect for three years.

In accordance with previously established conditions for unsolicited facsimile calls, telemarketers must provide sufficient information to allow the subscriber to follow up on the call. They are also required to display the originating calling number, or an alternate number where they can be reached, unless number display is unavailable for technical reasons. Sequential dialing is prohibited, and callers using random dialing must ensure that no calls are made to emergency lines and healthcare facilities. Callers who violate any of the above conditions may have their service terminated by Bell or BC TEL after two business days' notice. ..."

So... there you have it. Go get'em!!

Perhaps one day if we all complain enough about this problem it will go away or at least hide under a rock someplace.