Dislike of Telemarketing

* Cheyenne Wilbur wrote a very convincing essay, “In Defense of Telemarketing” (Voices, Oct. 9). I challenge Cheyenne to stay home for a month and count the telemarketing calls that come in each day. My retirement is wonderful, except for the constant sales calls I receive. I enjoy the theater a great deal. If Cheyenne wants to sell me, put it in the mail. I will never talk to a telemarketer.

JIM MORROW

Culver City

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* We wouldn’t need government involvement if the telemarketers and telephone survey firms would respect people’s wishes for privacy when they ask repeatedly to be taken off phone lists and then are ignored. In the past month, my family has received at least six phone calls from a research firm, requesting us to participate in a study they are conducting. Our phone number is unlisted and they refuse to tell us how they got our number, other than that it was “computer-generated.”

Each time they call, we have asked nicely to be taken off the list, but they call back again and again. They call at night while we are having dinner, or at 9 p.m. as we are putting our child to bed. How much of “no” don’t these firms understand? We have spoken to supervisor after supervisor and have gotten nowhere. It has now been about one week since the last call, and maybe this means they have finally gotten the message.

SUSAN PASTERNAK

North Hollywood