She’s Seeing Red Over Solicitations Pickets Because Firefighter Phone Come-Ons Keep Coming Even After She Sounds The Alarm

Teresa Juneau’s angry, and she wants everyone else to know.

For the past two days, Juneau has stood outside the Spokane Fire Fighters Local 29 office with a tall cardboard sign. “I am a victim of the Washington State Council of Firefighters and Gehl Group Telemarketing scheme,” it said.

Before “scheme,” the word “scam” was crossed out in black ink, followed by “oops.”

She’s received too many phone solicitations, she said. After making several complaints to the state Council of Fire Fighters, she’s taking matters into her own hands.

“I want these calls to stop,” Juneau said, waving the sign to the passing cars on Hamilton Street. “Telemarketing companies need to respect people at their homes.”

Juneau said she received 10 phone calls last summer from the Gehl Corporation, a company hired by the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters to sell concert tickets for its fund-raiser. She asked to be put on the “do not call” list, but she still received two calls in December, she said. One of the callers also was rude, Juneau said.

She was pushed to the limit five days ago, when she saw the Gehl Corporation’s number on her Caller I.D. box. That’s when she decided to picket the Local 29 office.

In the past, the calls have interrupted her work as a hairstylist at home, Juneau said. “I’m sick of it.”

The Gehl Corporation is investigating the latest incident, said Bryant King, the company’s office manager in Spokane.

“We don’t know how this happened,” King said. “We tried everything we can to resolve the issue. We don’t want to contact her anymore.”

The state Council of Fire Fighters has sponsored the concerts since 1990. To sell tickets, the Gehl Corporation makes nearly 3 million calls statewide. On average, the telemarketing group receives only 66 complaints annually, King said.

“This is the first time that we’ve ever had this type of reaction,” said Kelly Fox, president of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters in Olympia. “We’re trying to provide resolution.”

Juneau has spent all her free time standing outside the Local 29 office, located downstairs from the Fire Fighters Credit Union. She was ignored for the most part. People inside the building simply shook their heads.

“She can stand out in the cold for as long as she wants,” said Terry Inman, a loan officer.

“We don’t like it any more than she does,” said Doug Bacon, president of the Spokane Fire Fighters Local 29.

Juneau isn’t protesting against local firefighters, she said, but she wants their attention so that they’ll take action against the Gehl Corporation. She also wants to “educate the public,” she said. “If they want my time, they’ll get it this way,” she said. “If they’re doing it to me, they’re doing it to everyone else.”

, DataTimes