I am currently looking for a job and has been for months now. I finally got a call back from Optima. i have an interview set up. So i decided to look the company up and i found this thread... well guess what! Think i am gonna call them back tomorrow and tell them i am not interested. I am wayyy too soft hearted for that job. I get these stupid calls too and i hate them. i actually told a few of them off once or twice. I wouldn't want to be on the other end bugging other people. I guess i should continue looking..

If you don't want to be called, asked to be put on the DNC list with Optima, Or the company they are calling on behalf of. Problem solved.

Personally I love being called by telemarketers so that I can screw with their minds. I will keep them on the phone for as long as i can, ask pointless hypothetical questions, make them think im interested then say no once transferred to the sales verification end, and request a callback so you can repeat the process.

I say all of this as an employee of Optima, so relax guys its just direct marketing, and my guess is that it will be around for a while, so have fun with it, and plus you never know maybe if you take the time to listen they might offer you something you can use

Cheers!

Doesn't matter what business agreement you sign as a customer, according to the terms of the DNC legislation, once you call that 3rd party (or the original business with whom you have contracted some agreement) and request that your number be removed from their telemarketing efforts, they are OBLIGED BY LAW to cease contacting you (unless it is to do with the specifics of your agreement with them). Period.

BTW - I doubt very much that drawing a line through any financial contract that says that a bank or other financial institution is authorized to contact you for purposes other than those stipulated in the agreement would EVER stop such institutions from passing along phone numbers to a telemarketing firm anyway.

We are not "pretending". Scotia Bank has asked us to call you, and you gave Scotia permission to when you signed with them. READ WHAT YOU SIGN!! We are calling "on behalf" of Scotia Bank from Optima Communications International. This is why your bank has no record of calling you. Also, the call is never private, the number is displayed!!!!

The calls are never anonymous. The person calling must identify themselves and there purpose for calling right away. Though there can be connection issues when calling all over the country, and human error can come into play of course...  I would be interested to know what the police say though!

You allowed Scotia to sell your info. You gave to Scotia for free with permission to call! READ WHAT YOU SIGN!!!

WOW good story thank you for sharing!!!

These people have made an effort to go out and gain employment. Students, Seniors, people with families etc. Would you rather that these few hundred people be on EI or welfare? I think that would be pathetic.... We make more than minimum wage. We are bothering you because you asked Scotia Bank to ask us to. Read what you sign! PS Deanna Natale works with collection agencies!

This is how it works.
A customer creates business with company (ie. Scotia Bank). This could be directly opening an account, getting a loan, credit etc; or Co-signing, being named on a joint account. ANY business you do with SB will cause SB to consider you a customer. The relationship with SB starts when you sign paper work with them. I cannot stress this enough: ALWAYS READ WHAT YOU SIGN!! On the customer agreement with SB, after you sign you have given SB permission to give the phone number, your name and address to a 3rd party (Optima Communications International). OCI does have guidelines to follow about how late they can call, call recording, privacy etc. KNOW THIS: SB has employed OCI to do a job for them, In turn Optima employs people to convey SB's product offers to it's customers. This is all law abiding, and it does employ people which is positive. I understand that many customers of SB do not agree with this business practice, but remember you authorized it....... once again READ WHAT YOU SIGN! ASK QUESTIONS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SIGN!

Also, This business practice would not exist if it was not profitable for both OCI and SB. So know that there are plenty of people out there that have bought products this way. I have personally seen over $100 000 in revenue made for SB by OCI in one night.

Ok, so I know most people do not want to receive these calls. Your best bet would be to go to your SB branch and complain, but once again you signed off on it.....
You can request to be put on the Do Not Call List (DNC) when called. It takes 31 days for your info to be removed from the calling list, during that time i am sure you will receive another call.

The ultimate solution would be to change Canadian Law on Privacy. The way the law is now it can be manipulated because there are allowances for manipulation. To know what i mean you must read the Privacy Act. I don`t think there will ever be enough citizens voicing their concerns to the right people (politicians) to change anything. The Government knows that business` like OCI creates revenue for banks and Governments so once that exists OCI will exist. The DNC list was not created to hurt business it was created to streamline or improve business.

While writing this I received a call from my financial institution (TD) with a product offer. Every bank does business this way. So you know....

So yea. Also keep in mind that just because you're on the DNC it does not exempt you from the CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT. Which in the post above states because you have PREVIOUS business with the company we are calling you on behalf of WE CAN CALL YOU. So please. Keep telling us how you are going to call our head office and complain cause they will tell you the same thing.

 Also, we are not f****ng stupid. We do understand that you're not interested but yes we do have to rebuttal you twice.

  We agree that it's annoying I mean who wouldn't be. Just simply say put me on *insert company name* DNC list and we do. Also. If you hang up on us we do have to set a call back cause you haven't heard anything so either shut up and listen or say DNC. It takes 30 days to go through after that we won't be bothering you anymore.

  Do keep in mind though. Optima does have many clients such as Scotia, Sears, CAA, CTFS. So if you have more than one card or services with these clients then you will be called most likely by us.

Wow. You're clearly retarded

Sorry to break it too you hun, but no one is selling anything of yours it would be a call on behalf of Scotia Bank.. So could you explain to me, why would they pay for something that they already have? Does that not seem EXTREMELY STUPID to you. So maybe next time why don't we put a little bit of thought into our words. There are laws against it it's true. Now stop bitching on here like a do***e bag, hop on the do not call registry, but if you have a pre-exsisting relationship with the company trying to reach you they can still call lol. ;) So you might wanna answer the phone and tell them to add you to there do not call list.

Wow, you are naive. If you ask to be put on a DNC list they have to and will. If you ask to be put on a DNC list and hang up they can't. They need to read you the disclaimer and then your DNC is processed. It can take up to 7 days for there system to process it. But the calls do stop from them.

It takes 7 days to get taken off of there call list.

If your supervisors are monitoring you, why would you constantly hang up in the person's ear.
Its obvious that somenoe has sold my info since ONCE, the caller asked for me by my (maiden) name - which i havet had for more than 3 years. and then hung up when i said speaking.
what a bunch of crap - companies like this one should be charged with harrassment - but since no one ever speaks, i can't speak my mind. If it was a legitimate call and not a hang up i woldnt have a problem - but 8 days ina row, 2 calls a day to get hung up on is unreal.

Obviously people the public doesnt have rights anynmore .Do not call doesnt work,they now call cell phones.
We make it a POINT ,NOT TO YAKE CALLS FROM ANYTHING WE DONT KNOW.
We have read that hitting the pound key very quickly over and over till it runs itself out sometimes works,,,,,  be smart dont answer...

How is it that all the above messages relate to Scotia bank insurance - I don't even deal with Scotiabank.  Go figure.

So for all of the annoyed people, i actually work at optima communications, and we have many different campaigns running, we get your information from buisnesses that you directly deal with, for example, scotia bank, banks are not aloud to sell insurance they need an underwriter and direct marketing, so you can either go online and get it, or recieve the call, were not telemarketing, we are not cold calling, we contact current customers of the client (scotia) and offer them a product that they cannot get directly from the buissness, and its a 2 way street, i know its annoying when we keep calling and calling, but we sign contracts saying 2 objection responses on each call, and we have a daily quota to fill.

Repeated calls from this number; but never leave a voice message.
MHR

I definitely agree with CW (above). You can be stern in your complaint but no need to act like a child by swearing. Hey, everyone is tring to make a living in this crazy world! So, write you letter or call the supervisor/manager and tell them you want to be taken off their list. If that doesn't work call Bell and make a complaint about this number.

Calls everyday and doesnt leave a message. I have never answered their calls as I didnt recognize the area code. I just reported them to the government

Optima communication scums... i got phone call from them and called them and left message on their voicemail asking them to remove my number. Lets see what happens.

They are getting the phone numbers from the clients who hire them.   So for example if you are getting calls from someone saying they are from scotia bank then the client is scotia bank.    The client would also have told them what to say and do on the call.  

To a call center its a numbers game.   an agent will call 300-400 numbers and maybe get 1-3 sales in a day.   Its the 1-3 sales that count and not the people who hang up or say they aren't interested.   The clients dont care they know people will be ticked off.   The agents just usually laugh and move on to the next number, unless its someone who has morals and quits.   And the reason they are so pushy is because its all hard selling.  They are told if they dont get any sales they lose their job.  So they do everything they can to get a sale.

I keep getting phone calls from this number but they do not leave messages. I would like to be removed from their calling list.

I was also getting the calls from 416-581-1076 at our business number. I came accross this website and decided to call Optima Communications. I dialed "0" for the operator, and kindly requested to be removed from their marketing list. The receptionist was very kind and said she would have our number removed from their database.

There are many people on this website voicing their frustration. But really it is wasted energy. Call Optima and ask to be removed from their list....

Of course let's see if I keep getting the calls, and how much longer.....

Have a great day,

Angie

This is annoying. Like someone said in here that this looks like a test call... they call and never answer back... what a bunch of retards and f***ed up a**holes!

Daily calls from this number. My household don't answer it. Previous times before you answer and no one replies. All i know its a landline from Toronto, Ontario

The president of the company -- if you want to call it a company -- is Don Macleod.  Should you wish to leave him a message, simply call 416 581 1236 and when prompted, push 1 for the company directory.  You will be asked to spell his name — last name first followed by hs first name.  6-2-2-5-3-6-3-3-6-6 at which point his voice will greet you.  Leave him the nastiest message you can.  Let him know how much his company and his phone calls irritate you.  When this number is disconnected, find another extension and do it to them too.  If everyone does this eveyday starting today, I am certain it will have some kind of an impact on their company policy with respect to bothering the public.  Tell everyone about this and make sure people are aware that Optima is a nuisance company located in Toronto.

Number on Caller ID in March, 2008.

Mary (Newfoundland & Labrador, CA)

Why I hate having a cell, reason #1. People who I dont want to talk to calling me, or numbers I dont recognize. Like, dammit, Im not PAYING to talk to someone I dont know. Im not PAYING to be bitched at or whatever they are calling for. Damn, and they call me like twice a day. Can we kill someone, is it legal, if they keep annoying us like this? If this was like Survivor, theyd be voted off the island by now.