| Comment Number: | 525547-00153 |
| Received: | 11/20/2006 2:57:38 PM |
| Organization: | EnvoyWorldWide |
| Commenter: | Julia Geyerhahn |
| State: | MA |
| Subject: | Telemarketing Sales Rule |
| Title: | Request for Public Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I believe that this policy fails to distinguish between telemarketing “spam” and telemarketing “announcements”, and it does not take into account my preferences as a consumer. All calls are not equal! If I understand this policy correctly, I would not have the option of receiving useful, prerecorded alerts and notices, such as prescription availability, or that my bank is offering me a lower interest rate on a loan. Not only do I want to receive these types of messages, but I actually prefer that they are prerecorded. With 2 young children, a full-time job, and a lot of traveling, my time on the phone is limited. When I pick up the phone and there is a recording, I am much more apt to listen to the message if it is of interest to me than to give a “live” person my full attention and time. I know the recording will be quick, versus a conversation with a person that would take up more time and energy. There are companies out there with which I have not directly done business, but nonetheless from whom I would not mind receiving automated calls. For example, if a well-known airline is offering a deal on a flight to Seattle, let's say, I might want to know about it, since I do quite a bit of business/personal travel to Seattle. I do not feel it is necessary to “opt in” before I “opt out”, meaning that the company has to get my, the consumer's, consent prior to calling. There have been a few times where I have opted-in only to opt-out later, so why not just skip a step (i.e. save time) and let me opt out if I want to. I would like to see this policy modified to (a) define various types of telemarketing calls and to (b) allow companies to use this technology to communicate with consumers. Please take this into consideration; find a way that permits responsible automated messaging. Thank you for your time!