| Comment Number: | OL-106874 |
| Received: | 12/6/2004 5:30:28 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Renee Flower |
| 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 am strongly opposed to the creation of any so-called "safe harbor" that allows telemarketers to deliver prerecorded messages. The phrase "established business relationship" is vague. Does this imply that because I've ordered merchandise through a catalog, or online, that I have a "relationship" with a business? Any unsolicited marketing message that enters my house, either through my mailbox via the USPS, through my email account, or via my telephone will be considered an unwanted intrusion on my privacy. My mailbox is a slot in the wall of my home -- my home is private property, and I consider junkmail delivery to be a trespass. The senders of junkmail do not assist me with the payment of my mortgage, my property taxes, or the fees to pick up trash at my home. Similarly, telemarketers do not pay the bill to maintain a telephone in my home. I do not wish to give businesses access to my home in any capacity. This is also true of the unwanted intrusion of spam in my email. The receipt of these messages is an unwanted expense. In addition, I have already been the recipient of prerecorded telemarketing calls and my reponse is usually to fly into a rage at the intrusion and the annoyance. If anyone needs a "safe harbor" is it the citizens of this nation who do not wish to participate in the consumer madness of this wasteful economy. Also, because I receive very few telephone calls, it is an emotional disappointment to find that the call is an impersonal prerecorded advertisement and not a long lost friend. I oppose the proposed amendment of the Telemarketing Sales Rule to create an additional call abandonment safe harbor to allow telemarketing calls that deliver a prerecorded message to consumers with whom the seller on whose behalf the calls are made has an established business relationship. thank you. Renee Flower