| Comment Number: | OL-113805 |
| Received: | 1/10/2005 2:39:11 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Richard Petretti |
| State: | NY |
| 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 was quite shocked and distressed to learn that the FTC is considering relaxing it's rules to make it easier for telemarketers to bombard us with useless marketing calls. These calls are always annoying and often predatory and misleading. I understand that some telemarketers claim that consumers actually welcome these calls. This is too absurd to even consider taking seriously. Any studies which purport to prove this point are either flat out lies or else so badly flawed in their methodology as to be virtually a lie. Please examine very closely and skeptically any purported evidence presented on this point. A terrible aspect of many of these calls is the offering of services on a so-called free trial basis. The pitch is that some service that you don't really need (such as a discount card with so many restrictions as to to make it virtually useless) is offered at no-charge for the first month, but with an automatic monthly charge to your credit card thereafter. They emphasize that you can cancel at any time so that it won't cost you anything if you are not satisfied, but the reality is that by putting the onus on the customer to take affirmative steps to cancel, the consumer is always bound to pay for at least a few months. It's a racket and should be stopped. The FTC is supposed to be there to protect consumers. Please kept it that way. Do not allow telemarketers to bombard us with pre-recorded messages. Live people using automatic dialing equipment is already too much to bear. If anything, you should be making things tougher not easier for telemarketers.