One Billion Calls
| Sat May. 16, 2009 8:39 AM PDT
Forget the stimulus package, universal healthcare, and global warming. This will surely be the Obama administration's greatest legacy:
A federal judge has issued two temporary restraining orders designed to stop what officials describe as a wave of deceptive "robo-calls" warning people their auto warranties are expiring and offering to sell them new service plans.
....The FTC filed suit against two companies and their executives on Thursday, asking a federal court in Chicago to halt a wave of as many as 1 billion automated, random, prerecorded calls and freeze the assets of the companies.
....Besides ordering a halt to the automatic telephone sales calls, Grady's order froze the assets of the two companies. The FTC alleged in its complaints that the calls were part of a deceptive scheme and asked the court to assure the assets will not be lost in case they might be needed to repay consumers who have been victimized.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has more here. Next up: how about taking on the clowns who keep calling to tell me they can lower the interest rate on my credit cards?
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Comments
robo calls
Submitted by EL (not verified) on Sat May. 16, 2009 9:23 AM PDT.
Just another example of "creeping socialism" and "judicial activism." Can't a guy just try to make a buck without the government stopping him? Pass the Grey Poupon, please.
These always crack me up
Submitted by Godless Heathen on Sat May. 16, 2009 9:42 AM PDT.
My warranty is up? You mean on the 90's VW I rebuilt from scratch by myself? Oh heavens me, whatever will I do?
Personally, I'd love to see them get rid of the phone calls from the Spanish guy who sounds like he's yelling at me but I've been told he's actually telling me I won a free vacation (probably a timeshare but I can't tell).
Thank God, I've been getting
Submitted by Eric the Political Hack (not verified) on Sat May. 16, 2009 10:19 AM PDT.
Thank God, I've been getting these calls for months.
Credit card robocalls
Submitted by Jay McDonough (not verified) on Sat May. 16, 2009 10:47 AM PDT.
I was getting the credit card calls nearly daily. First, I would just hang up. Then I began to press option 2 (not interested). When neither worked, I began pressing option 1 (talk to an operator). Like in your linked post, I was connected to people who either hung up immediately or sounded like they had just woken up.
I did connect though finally with someone, and by this time I was pissed. I told the guy to STOP CALLING ME, that I had tried option 2 and 1 already. The guy started yelling at me: "you can call the attorney general and his mother and we're still going to call you. Hang up when we call. Just hang up the phone you dumb fuck".
I rather appreciated the
Submitted by godoggo (not verified) on Sat May. 16, 2009 11:01 AM PDT.
I rather appreciated the call I got from a guy with an Indian accent who said he calling because he'd been told about the problems I was having with my computer, something like that. I mean, I actually was having problems with my computer, plus, he was an Indian! So he had me going for a minute, but the call ended with him saying "OK, I don't want to talk to you."
What gets me is these guys
Submitted by Crissa (not verified) on Sat May. 16, 2009 11:15 AM PDT.
What gets me is these guys fake phone numbers on the caller ID. That seriously pisses me off.
Criminal prosecution, please.
Submitted by Brock on Sat May. 16, 2009 12:10 PM PDT.
I really hope criminal charges are filed against these scumbags.
"Next up: how about taking
Submitted by Atlliberal (not verified) on Sat May. 16, 2009 2:15 PM PDT.
"Next up: how about taking on the clowns who keep calling to tell me they can lower the interest rate on my credit cards?"
They are the same company. Hopefully those will stop too, if their assets are frozen.
The REAL Do Not Call List
Submitted by Tentakles on Sat May. 16, 2009 4:25 PM PDT.
Let's see a billion phone calls over two years, hundreds of thousands of complaints to the FTC. Tens of millions in profits.
Then they call Schumer's private cell phone. A week later they are under a restraining order and have all their assets frozen.
What a triumph for the little man and the rule of law...
UPS, FedEx
Submitted by nepeta on Sat May. 16, 2009 5:42 PM PDT.
Anybody getting calls from Jamaica saying you have a package at UPS (FedEx) they need info to deliver? It was amusing, sort of, in the beginning. They ask for Miss Nepeta and say they are Mr. Smith or Mr. Thomas, but with an accent that makes it almost impossible to understand them. Same thing as the Indian call centers. They choose names like Susie, Amanda, Jason, etc. Right. I'd be a lot more patient if they'd just use their own names. Anyway, the UPS/FedEx thing is another scam that calls at least twice per week, along with the two mentioned above.
get proactive
Submitted by bobo the chimp (not verified) on Sat May. 16, 2009 10:39 PM PDT.
Instead of taking complaints for years, I wish the FTC would get proactive. They should rent a bunch of phone lines, and anytime someone call with something that sounds fishy, investigate and shut the guys down the next day.
This just came to me
Submitted by Godless Heathen on Mon May. 18, 2009 6:52 AM PDT.
What if we offer a cash bonus to whistleblowers who can prove their employer is ignoring the Do Not Call list. As a former telemarketer, I can tell you first hand that it wouldn't have to be a lot of money. That's a terrible job and for most people $2000 would be a full month's severance or more.
Also, full ban on commercial use of blocked or faked caller-id info. Again, cash bonus for whistleblowers.
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