| Comment Number: | OL-108918 |
| Received: | 12/9/2004 1:08:01 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Richard Mandell |
| State: | CA |
| Subject: | Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I strongly oppose this rule. Recorded calls are more annoying and intrusive than live calls. The calls arrive at inconvenient times, and the technology for cancellation rarely works. If I am on the Do Not Call list, I am saying I don't want commercial calls period. The only exception in my mind should be customer service calls dealing with a specific transaction, or situation that must be handled, not 18 months of free advertising. I should not have to bat the flys away with a fly swatter unless I give them explicit permission to come into the room. Clearly if something goes wrong with an order, or a payment, the company should be able to contact me. However, soliciting new business isn't the same thing as servicing a previous transaction, and the FTC should recognize this. Recorded calls are the most intrusive form of communication, because you can't ask questions, and you can't abort them. It isn't enough to be able to signal that you don't want any more calls. You shouldn't get them in the first place, and if you get them it should be possible to abort them immediately. I oppose any form of recoded communication relating to new transactions, unless I opt in. Opt out isn't a good way to go unless it is a blanket Opt out, as in the Do Not Call List. The fact that I may have done business with someone in a single transaction must not be considered an automatic blank check for them to contact me to solicit future transactions in any way. We have junk mail for that.