Newly formed last March, the National Privacy Commission charged with creating stricter rules in data sharing might have a way of tracking down the bad actors in the consumer robocall arena. An area TCPA enforcers continue to be duped. NPC Deputy Commissioner Ivy D. Patdu said the Commission is looking to implement a “do not call” register for direct marketers and the Commission will work together with the telcos. Fines, she added, will be imposed on violators.
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“After a thorough review of your profile, you’ve been pre-approved for a business loan of up to $75,000," says the canned call message. Of course, financial communications like these come from smaller unregulated fiscal participants - and they've recently upped their call volumes. Robo-blasting the business universe with millions of solicitations daily. If you are selling these pre-approved loans, your most important consideration should be predatory TCPA Attorneys serving pre-litigation demands and lawsuit filings against you. Why? Because your B2B call lists are now poisoned with high-litigation-risk cell numbers previously unavailable through Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. And very few B2B callers are adequately protecting themselves.
Smart. Savvy. Attuned to who's calling her prized iphone illegally. As hard as I try to clarify - there is no place in my wife's realm of possibilities for an Avatar call solicitation. "Why would someone clip sentences together and play them?" she says. "How stupid is that. And why would someone ring my phone four times quickly to get me to call back, and then have chopped up messages try to interact with me?"
Last month, consumer Teofilo Vasco scored a TCPA class action settlement for calls received after filling out a Home Depot improvement form in 2015. He received 21 calls. Teofilo personally received $3,000 in restitution. The Lawyers received 2.5 million - as the Judge “further awards 25 percent of the common fund recovery as attorney fees, and approves the capped administrative costs incurred by the claims administrator and class counsel.” So TCPA prosecutors continue getting rich. Nothing new there - But could the whole thing have been prevented with proper consent language on Home Depot's info form?
The FTC and CFPB use complaints as guides for their next Telephone Consumer Protection Act victims. An easy way to cut down on unhappy prospects? - Start listening to people and honoring their requests. Particularly requests not to be called.
“Would you have some time to talk about our services for your business?”
“I’m under mandatory evacuation for a hurricane, and I have to get out of here now!”
“So let me tell you about our services,” - Doesn't make it.
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?"
Effective May 12, 2017, the FTC will no longer separately classify Avatar calls, sometimes called "soundboard technology calls," from prerecorded robocalls. Avatar calls will need prior written consent required under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, just as robocalls do now. Some Avatar users have been abusive of call prohibitions, causing complaints. Like ringing the phone four times and hanging up to initiate callbacks, or questionable "Police Benevolent Association" solicitations from pushy phantom officers. Apparently the FTC has noticed too.
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?"
Companies continue to underestimate their liability exposure under the TCPA. Smart firms like Dun & Bradstreet settling a 10.5 million TCPA Class Action in California - accused of sending inappropriate texts to plaintiffs without permission. Or Auto-Owners Insurance Company not covering their client’s 2 million dollar TCPA lawsuit for sending unsolicited faxes. And B2B companies continuing to insist they are exempt from everything.
