In a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) thanked The Consumerist for supporting H.R. 3541, The Do Not Call Improvement Act.

The common-sense measure will make Do Not Call List registrations permanent, preventing them from expiring after five years. Without Congressman Doyle's bill, 50 million numbers could fall from the list in 2008. The House has already passed the measure, and Senators are expected to give their assent when they return from a holiday recess free from the interruptions of telemarketers.

Consumerist is the first Gawker blog to appear in the Congressional Record.Neato Freato!

Recently I canceled my service with Dish Network. It was nothing personal, I had just moved in with a friend that already has TV service and doesn't want to change providers (they talked their way into some kind of deal with Comcast; it's pretty cheap, but knowing Comcast it probably involves the naming rights to their first born). In any case, he owns the house so he decides who provides us TV service.

Now Dish Network calls me LITERALLY every day trying to get me to sign up again. I explain my situation every time and they treat me with disgust, as if I am making up some elaborate story because I don't have the guts to tell them I hate their service.

The irony is, I loved Dish Network service. Everything about the customer experience has been positive except this part. I probably would sign up again next time I'm renting my own place, but not if these calls keep coming in. I have told them two or three times to stop calling me but I keep getting the calls. I usually ignore them now since I can see the number on my cell phone when they call and I know the number they call from by heart now, but it's still annoying.

Thanks for a great website,

Will Will, if you've already registered your cellphone with the Do Not Call Registry, you can report Dish Network for violating the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rules. According to the DoNotCall.gov, Dish Network has the right to call you for 18 months after you've made your last purchase, delivery, or payment - even if the your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry. However, if you tell them to stop calling and they don't—it's a violation.
If a consumer asks a company not to call, the company may not call, even if there is an established business relationship. Indeed, a company may not call a consumer - regardless of whether the consumer's number is on the registry - if the consumer has asked to be put on the company's own do not call list. The next time Dish Network call you, tell them to put your number on their Do Not Call list, and tell them you're reporting them. If you've already asked to be on their Do Not Call list, or you're already registered on the federal list, feel free to Here's three sites you can use when you want to find out more information about a number that's calling you. Maybe it's a telemarketer, recording, or a harassing caller, chances are, they're targeting others. At these sites, you can enter the phone number from your caller ID and see if other citizens are sharing intel about the number. People find their way to the sites either directly, or by Googling the number and stumbling across the site.

The company behind "Possible Credit Card Scam Alert: We'll Lower Your Rates, Purrs Robot Message..." is called VersaDebt, according to one reader who was able to string them along long enough to find out.

Consumer reports on various scam-watch sites allege that what VersaDebt does is charge you $900 to call up your credit card company and negotiate a lower interest rate, but never even delivers on this specious-sounding promise.

A poster on Rip-Off Report said the company never responded to any calls and kept disputing her credit card chargeback. Some internet users say VersaDebt is behind a telemarketing phone number (954-689-7681) complained about on 800 Notes. This number is also mentioned on whocalled.us as using auto-dialers to pitch extended car warranty coverage. They also say VersaDebt has gone through several location and name changes, being alternately known as "Debt First."

VersaDebt's website looks thrown together, and one of its pages is broken. Doing a