| Comment Number: | OL-113759 |
| Received: | 1/10/2005 2:12:49 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Cindy Snyder |
| State: | FL |
| 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 strongly object to loosening the FTC rules allowing no more than 3% of a company's telemarketing calls to existing customers to be automated. Such calls are much cheaper to make and will increase the number of calls these companies make to their "customers,' a category that includes people who have had any business (not necessarily regular business) with a company in the past 18 months. I placed myself on the Do Not Call list to reduce the number of telemarketing calls I receive. Changing the rules to increase the number of calls people would receive flies in the face of the rule itself. I rarely want to receive any call from a telemarketer, whether they have information about a current account or activity, or are trying to sell me something new. I also do not feel I should have to screen all calls to avoid this. The onus should not be on the consumer, but on the telemarketer. I also hate the idea of recorded messages even more than a live person. These companies say they are not costing American jobs because otherwise the jobs would go overseas, but in today's global economy, they are still costing jobs. Please keep the FTC rules as they are currently, and do not loosen them to match the FCC's rules. When considering this change, just imagine what it would be like if everyone on the Do Not Call list forwarded all recorded messages to your phone line. The numbers would be overwhelming. I pay for phone service for my convenience, not for the convenience of the telemarketers. Unless you or they plan to begin paying me for my time and the convenience of changing this rule, then it should stay as is and limit automated calls.