| Comment Number: | OL-100724 |
| Received: | 11/27/2004 1:07:28 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Deb Kegelmeyer |
| State: | OH |
| 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 do NOT wish to be inundated with calls from machines advertising services delivered by an entity that I at some time had some relationship with. Any bank I take a loan out from can then fill my answering machine with automated messages trying to get me to use their credit card. Companies that I buy one thing from then feel they can endlessly contact me to do business with every minute subsidiary or branch they have. The companies in this country are huge and have many branches and subidiaries. The fact that I purchase something from one entity does NOT mean I ever wish to have anything further to do with that company. You can let those companies know that ANY company that harrasses me on the phone will NEVER get my business. It has gotten out of hand. I finally got my life back when the do not call list came into being and I never want to go back to the endless sales calls that we used to have. I am enjoying my peace and quiet. I do NOT want a machine bothering me any more than a human. Furthermore, with automated messaging I cannot tell them not to call me again! Please stand up for consumers. We can read print ads, listen to the radio, get bombarded endlessly on TV, read billboards etc... I know what I want to buy and I can easily hear their sales pitch when I want to shop. I don't see any reason they need permission to harrass me over the phone. It is in no way a service to the consumer. It is a means for them to harass us and I promise you they will abuse the privilige. The definition of a company that you have done business with is very nebulous and far reaching. I feel like buying anything and filling out the warranty card is like signing my soul to the devil. Don't let the simple act of filling out a warranty card mean that the consumer decided to allow a company to harrass them for the rest of their lives. Furthermore these machines know no limits. I work for the state and have gotten sales calls at my office. It is hard to get work done if machines are calling my office because I purchased an item from a company to use at work and used my work address and phone number. This has happened to me. Furthermore they have called cell phone numbers. I really don't wish to pay for minutes during which a machine was trying to sell me something. The only consumers that actually respond to these messages are the most vulnerable ones who feel threatened. It is your job to protect them. Let these companies know that this means of doing business is not appreciated and they need to stop taking advantage of the elderly and mentally disadvantaged. They need to make a quality product and put it in the stores or on the internet, use advertising that we can choose to read or view at our own discretion and if their product is a good one it will sell.