| Comment Number: | OL-103398 |
| Received: | 11/28/2004 10:44:30 AM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Knutsson |
| State: | PA |
| Subject: | Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Telemarketing calls in general are an annoyment and an abuse of the telephone service I am paying to receive. However, with "live" telemarketing calls, there exists at least financial limits to how many calls a telemarketer can make, and a real way for the consumer to express his opinions about companies that take liberties with his or her time. Allowing automated calls with recorded messages erode the last incentives for telemarketers to curb their practice, and also removes the consumers last opportunity to express opinions that they have any credible reason to believe will be heard by an actual human, and even if an opportunity exists to leave feedback, typically forces the consumer to sit through the recorded spiel to be able to leave it. Besides all this - automated calls with recorded messages are also the most annoying calls you can get. If such calls were allowed, I would seriously consider cancelling my telephone subscription. The national do not call registry has been a great relief for me, and I can see no benefit to me as a consumer from these proposed changes. Finally, the very idea that telemarketers should be allowed call consumers only to hang up on them is ludicrous. Not only does this rob the consumer of any chance to complain about the calls, but it also speaks volumes about how low the telemarketers value their targets.