The issue here is that when you go to a business, let's say Runnings, Tractor Supply, Lowes, or Mac's Hardware...to name just a few. They all ask you for your phone number and/or zipcode. I am not saying every company then turns around and passes your phone number on to "partners", but enough of them do. And once you have a "business relationship" with a company, it is now legal for them to call you and offer you a deal on something you have no interest in.
I rarely give out my phone number (yes, I still have a land-line and will for another 3-4 years), much less my cellphone number. But if you do it JUST ONCE, you are now on somebody's marketing list. I don't believe them for a second that they don't give my number out to some other company. It's usually right in their fine print that they can share your info with their "partners".
Employees at the local farm supply store look at me funny when I get snippy about they don't need my damn phone number to buy a bag of chicken scratch. Speaking of which, I was surprised yesterday to see one of the Dan's grocery stores in Bismarck was clearing out a couple bags of chicken food. Hell, I didn't even know they carried the stuff.
I ran into this a few years ago when I was shopping for a vehicle over at Bill Barf in Mandan. I ended up not buying a vehicle from them that day, but because we had gotten far enough along in the negotiations to where they ran my credit report, they now had my phone number. I spent the next 7-9 months answering random calls from them. "Hey, do you wanna come in and take a look at ______ we just got on the lot?" Umm, how much you want for it? "I don't know." How many miles are on it? "I don't know." WTF???? After a few months we had already bought something else from somewhere else and even after letting them know I was no longer in the market for a new car the calls didn't stop. I finally told them I was tired of getting random calls and to stop calling me. After another few months I started to get pretty annoyed with it all and demanded they stop calling me. And I quote, "the do not call list doesn't apply here because we have a business relationship". Really, you ran my credit report and we have a relationship? That's how low the standard is for circumventing the Do Not Call registry. Nonetheless, it took the threat of filing a complaint with the State for even them to stop calling me.
Sheesh, that was 11 years ago and it still gets under my skin.
I tend to be pretty willing to answer questions on survey calls, etc. But I HATE telemarketing!