Bob's Do-Not-Call Protection Blog

Virtually every phone-centric marketing company and servicing business agrees : Don't call previous TCPA lawsuit filers. It's at the top of their phone security list. Call centers concede the importance. No room for objections here right? So why doesn't every company screen out these troublemakers before calling? The one's causing many of class actions - and 40% of whom have sued more than once under the statutes. Let's look at some excuses that could cost you.

You're a call center. Your customers depend on you. Which includes identifying the biggest compliance troublemakers before dialing on their behalf. The recipients that'll make life miserable. Your clients may be in energy and utility fulfillment, travel and entertainment, customer acquisition or financial services. They might be in healthcare, retail, or communications. They are experts in their respective fields. But they are not experts at staying out of compliance trouble with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. That's your job.

Remember the 1983 movie War Games? The only way for the computer to win its Global Nuclear War game against Matthew Broderick was to "Not play the game!" That's kinda what Litigator Scrub does for TCPA compliance efforts. By helping eliminate former court filers from your call lists (the folks most likely to sue again under TCPA), there's less chance of legal engagement. In essence, not playing the game, and helping you steer clear of lawsuits in the process.

Litigator scrub has become the most important pre-call campaign tool around. It eliminates folks from your calling lists that have already sued. Begging the question: Why would you call someone that has already filed under the Do-Not-Call, TCPA, FDCPA, FCRA or CFPB related statutes? We certainly can't figure it out. Neither can the plaintiffs happily suing under these laws - particularly in the B2B arena where "99% of my clients still think they are exempt from everything," according to top TCPA Defense Attorney Eric Allen of Allen, Mitchell & Allen.

Why would any telemarketer or B2B solicitor pick up the phone without first making sure they're not dialing a serial TCPA lawsuit expert? Someone who lives and dies making phone marketers miserable. A self-proclaimed call prohibition terrorist sitting back waiting to sue unsuspecting, hard working businesses. You do know how easy it is to protect yourself from these call litigation predators, right? 

Professional TCPA Prosecutor Sid Childress would like to know why businesses selling internet loans, solar power, and marketing opportunities keep calling him. Or calling him back when he fills out their web forms. He's on numerous TCPA prosecution court filings in his home state. He's also on the Do Not Call List. He has additional call prohibition protections under the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act. Yet B2B companies keep the calls and money coming.

Whether you call businesses using an ATDS or click to call system, ringless voicemail, avatars or even live salespeople – you can’t afford to ignore the advantages of Litigator Scrub any longer. Maybe you’re calling in search of other business opportunity partners, even calling existing clients – you need to eliminate TCPA previous claimants before each communication. These are the folks that can hurt you. And they’re multiplying like gangbusters.

Safe to say, companies relying on call centers, fulfillment houses, virtual and hosted dialers for their outgoing communication requirements have no idea how devastating it can be to get tangled up with previous TCPA litigators. And clients count on you to help guide them against ongoing call prohibitions, whether you know it or not. Sure they've read about the $75 million dollar fines to banks and cruise lines, but it may not be real for them. That is, until they get hit with personal litigaton mishaps. Then they'll ask, "Why didn't you help protect me?"

A comparison of the latest super expensive fines and settlements associated with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act affirms the continued upward spiral of the last few years. What a time to be a TCPA Prosecutor! Go ahead and sue – you’ll be able to find something: Cell phone scrubbing, Express Written Consent problems, Reassigned Number issues - even Do Not Call fines for B2B’s are part of the wild west now. What to do? First – it’s time to admit you can't handle this compliance stuff alone efficiently. And second –  "Who the heck do I partner with?"

If you’re in the debt collection game, you’ve watched as your competitors slowly consolidate or go out of business altogether. You’ve seen Capitol One’s outsourced collectors get hit with a 75 million dollar suit for lack of Express Consent. You’ve witnessed the CFPB’s initial request when auditing your competitors: “Where are your cell phone records.” And maybe you know first-hand how previous TCPA, FDCPA, FCPA and CFPB complainants are one big happy family – in a kind of crazy way. Not to mention the class action penalties for calling the wrong person, now called "Reassigned Numbers Scrubs."