Recorded Telephone Sales Pitches Now Required to
Provide Way to Opt-Out
FTC opt-out must work both for consumers who answer
the call in person and answering machines
Dec. 2, 2008 There are few calls more irritating
to most senior citizens than the pre-recorded sales pitch. A new
regulation took effect yesterday, however, that should help. Now, any
telemarketing call that delivers a prerecorded message must include a
quick and easy way to opt-out of receiving future calls.
The opt-out must work both for consumers who answer
these calls in person and for those whose answering machines or
voicemail services receive the calls.
Prerecorded telemarketing messages are permitted
only in limited circumstances only when the caller has an established
business relationship with the consumer being called. Now, additional
restrictions on prerecorded messages are going into effect.
Under Do Not Call amendments adopted in August,
effective December 1, any permitted prerecorded message must provide the
called consumer with an interactive means to opt out of receiving future
calls from the seller or fundraiser using the prerecorded message.
Moreover, the consumer must be able to opt out at
any time while the message is playing by pressing a particular number or
speaking a particular word. Once the consumer has opted out, his or her
phone number must be automatically added to the in-house Do Not Call
list of the calling seller or fundraiser. Then the call immediately must
be disconnected so that the consumers line is cleared.
If the prerecorded telemarketing message is left on
an answering machine or voicemail service, it must include a toll-free
opt-out number that, when called, also connects to an automated voice or
keypress opt-out mechanism. This will allow consumers to opt out at any
hour of the day or night when they retrieve the message, without having
to wait until the next business day to call.
All recorded telemarketing calls subject to the
Commissions Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) must comply with the new
requirements, including calls to solicit sales of goods or services and
calls placed by telemarketers to solicit charitable donations.
Exceptions
Some calls delivering prerecorded messages (such as
political calls, bona fide market survey calls, and calls made in-house
by banks or telephone companies) are not covered by the new requirement,
however, because the Commission lacks the legal authority to regulate
them.
In addition, prerecorded healthcare messages
covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPAA) are exempt from the new requirement.
More Restrictions to Come
The automated opt-out requirement is the first of
two measures provided by the recent TSR amendment to protect consumers
privacy at home. The second measure prohibits telemarketing calls that
deliver prerecorded messages to anyone who has not agreed in advance to
receive such calls.
But until September 1, 2009, sellers may continue
to use prerecorded messages in calling consumers with whom they have an
established business relationship. After that date, sellers may use
prerecorded messages only in calls to consumers who have expressly
agreed in advance to receive them.
Copies of the prerecorded call amendments to the
TSR are available from the FTC's Web site at
http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center,
Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to
prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to
provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.
File a Complaint
To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit
the FTC's online Complaint Assistant at
www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or call 1-877-FTC-HELP
(1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a
secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal
law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC's Web site
provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.
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