| Comment Number: | OL-101665 |
| Received: | 11/27/2004 7:09:08 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Karl Auerbach |
| 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 still get too many commercial telephone solicitations even thought I am on the do not call list and have absolutely no prior relationship. Having automated, pre-recorded messages would add insult to injury - at least today I have the satisfaction of telling the caller to take trips to certain warm locations or to self-apply certain colorful verbs to the caller's own person. The telephone is for humans to talk to humans. I am willing to give a bit of ground on that and admit that it's OK for my pharmacy to use an automated message to tell me that my prescription is ready or some other similar thing. But for some pre-recorded solicitation to be made, on some contrived but false assertion of a pre-existing relationship, is simply not acceptable. In addition, our telephone system is valuable for its use during emergencies. I strongly resent having my ability to use 911 blocked because some jerk company wants to sell me some product I don't need. In addition, many of these messages land on my telephone answering machine - in fact it seems that many callers hang up if a human answers. Not only does this make my answering maching less valuable, but the huge number of calls that my family receives in which there is no one at the other end has gone well beyond the nuisance level. So in closing, please do not, expand the rights of telemarketeers to use my telephone. Pre-recorded messages are acceptable only if there is a pre-existing relationship and pertain to a currently outstanding transaction that I have initiated within the previous few days or hours. In other words, reminding me to pick up a prescription that I ordered is OK for a pre-recorded message. But for my ex-insurance company to use such a message to try to sell me an insurance policy is simply an improper use of the telephone that I pay for.