Okay gang, it's time to put "Primerica" and "Ron Adams" out of business. Here's the address where you can file a complaint for those who violate the "National Do Not Call Registry." https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.aspx Rand (RandMan) ----- Original Message ----- From: David Thompsen Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 11:51 PM To: listserv@azgeocaching.com Subject: Re: ?Re: [Az-Geocaching] Use of Geocaching.com for commercial solicitation If the company that the caller in question is Primerica, the scenario is much clearer to me. Primerica is a "multi-level marketing" company in the mold of Amway/Quixtar or Mary Kay, except they sell insurance and financial services. As many people out there, likely including some that subscribe to this list, participate in companies like this, I'm going to try really hard to be even-handed so as not to offend. MLMs rely upon recruiting other people below you to profit on a portion of their sales in addition to the income generated by your own sales. Unfortunately, MLMs usually offer products and services at substantially higher prices than can be gotten by shopping around, be it insurance or cosmetics. A harsher view would say that MLMs are a shade away from pyramid schemes, which are illegal. The caller in question, regardless of his initial reason for calling, sounded like yet another familiar predatory telemarketer at best, and more likely looking for additional recruits and sales than to get a reference. Regardless, it is certainly foolish for someone to use members of the Arizona Geocaching community without their consent, for references or for direct marketing ---particularly if you may not have been on your best behavior lately. "You better THINK!" -- A. Franklin George Harris wrote: I'm a little confused at this scenario. Was this a genuine character reference call, or was the caller using the "character reference" comment to get his foot in the door, with the only purpose to see insurance? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian - Team A.I." To: Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 8:35 PM Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] Use of Geocaching.com for commercial solicitation I have a feeling I was one of the first on that list of people he's given them to call as a character reference. They've called several times, leaving messages on both my home and cellphones. The home phone I don't know if I ever gave Ken, but it is a listed number. As far as my cellphone is concerned, I'm not sure where that number came into play, but they have been annoying in their frequency of calls, none of which I've answered (after hearing a voice mail they left on my home phone). In my experience, it's always customary to ASK a person you are using as a character reference, and to perhaps give them a call when the hiring process is in full swing so the call from the employer for this type of information isn't unexpected and doesn't catch you off guard. I was never asked to be a character reference, and in all honesty I would refuse for the simple fact that I don't know him well enough to be any kind of character reference, and my contact with him has been very limited. I am very disappointed on his actions for doing this to more than one person, and it does indeed appear that he neglected to ask permission to use anyone as a character reference, and for the fact that Primerica is so aggressive in their tactics that as a secondary portion of the conversation they try to sell you something like an insurance policy. Give me a freaking break already. Knowing now that he's done this, I don't see it being a bad idea at all to report this to Geocaching.com. It's no better than trying to harvest e-mail addresses from the main site in an effort to sell penis enlargement pills. Brian Team A.I. ----- Original Message ----- From: "SquishyGecko" To: Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 3:18 PM Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Use of Geocaching.com for commercial solicitation This morning I received a telephone call from someone named Ron Adams, stating that he was doing a "character reference" for Highpointer. After returning the call and informing Mr. Adams that I had never met Highpointer, he proceeded to state that Highpointer had told Mr. Adams that I was married with two children, then attempted to sell me an insurance policy. Not only do I consider this a gross misrepresentation on the part of Mr. Adams, but a gross violation of my privacy by Highpointer. I will be contacting Geocaching.com to determine what violations of Geocaching.com regulations may have been committed by Highpointer. I strongly encourage anyone else who receives such a call to ask Mr. Adams to add you to his "Do Not Call" list, and then report the incident to Geocaching.com.