| Comment Number: | OL-101973 |
| Received: | 11/27/2004 8:13:18 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Eddie Williams |
| State: | MA |
| Subject: | Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Dear FTC Representative: Please keep the Do Not Call List exactly that. It should be every American's right to not be disturbed by salesmen at any hour. The new proposal requesting a loophole for telemarketers to call clients with whom they have a previous relationship will be abused. We both know that marketers will take the most broad liberties with that definition and call anyone for whom they can cook up any pretense of a "pre-existing relationship" For instance, if I call a company to enquire about their services, but decline them, would I be eligible for bombardment by any of their subsidiaries or partners? The marketers will certainly decide yes, and as an individual citizen what real recourse would I have but to challenge this with the FTC on a case by case basis, with a huge delay between that challenge and any resolution during which time I will be getting calls. By the time such resolution arises, the marketers will simply have adapted and moved on to their next excuse to call. There is no way the FTC will have the manpower to adjudicate these many individual challenges, and if they did, the cost to taxpayers would be staggering; and for what? All to defend ourselves against a few greedy companies pushing a service that is unwanted to citizens who have specifically taken action (by signing up for the no-call-list) to state that they do not want these services. I'm sure the lobby of the telemarketers is strong. I'm sure you are under pressure to let them have their way. But while they are loud and well funded, I urge you to consider the spirit in which the no-call list was introduced, so that an average citizen, perhaps one who works nights and who must sleep during the day, can be left in peace in his own home during the day and evening. The telemarketers have all of America who do not sign up for the no-call list to pursue. If the number of people who are on the list is so substantial that it cuts that deeply into their business, then clearly America is voting that telemarketing should be curtailed. Please hear the voice of those millions of Americans who say that the public good is better served by an uninterrupted dinner with family and by being able to decide when you want to wake up on a Saturday morning than by a few telemarketing execs having a few more people to pester. If you're still wondering, ask yourselves how many people you know who absolutely hate telemarketing calls, and how many people you know who have told you "Gee, I'm so happy about that new time-share I bought! And just think, if they hadn't called me and talked me into it, I'd have never even heard about it!" I know you'll do the right thing. End of Rant. Thanks, Ed Williams