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You know those annoying calls you get about the warranty on your car, especially annoying when your car is an older model no longer under warranty, or you don’t even own a car? Well, as of September 1, 2009, such calls are now banned. The prerecorded telemarketing calls are no longer allowed into your home or on your cellphone unless you sign a form giving the telemarketer permission to harass you.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) updated their Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) in an attempt to give consumers a breath of fresh air.
But wait a minute, the number of allowed robocalls is still mind-numbing. Here are the entities that are still legally permitted to send calls in your direction.
Tagged as “purely informational recorded messages”, the following robocalls are allowed:
- Physicians, dentists, and other health care professionals can continue to leave reminder messages about upcoming appointments.
- Airlines can call about cancelled flights.
- Banks
- Politicians (Oh, no!)
- Charities
- Telephone companies
- Stores letting people know when their appliance will be delivered
According to Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the FTC, “Starting September 1, this bombardment of prerecorded pitches, senseless solicitations, and malicious marketing will be illegal. If consumers think they’re being harassed by robocallers, they need to let us know, and we will go after them.”
The Do Not Call option put in place cut down on many calls, but this step helps those who were harassed by the automated calls that could not be stopped. Personally, I don’t know how many car warranty calls I received on my cell phone – repeatedly – until I was ready to throw the phone out the window. Thankfully, those calls have stopped.
If you continue to receive unwanted calls and you have not signed a form giving the telemarketer permission to call, you can, and should, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Marketers could be fined up to $16,000 per unwanted call.
You can reach the Commission by going to donotcall.gov Website or by calling 1-888-382-1222.
While many on this list are understandable and welcomed calls, I think the list could be whittled down a little further.
Now, if only the FTC would prohibit the political robocalls!
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