Do-not-call violators get zinged with $7.7M in fines
In the biggest crackdown on do-not-call list violations in two years, bedmaker Craftmatic and five other marketers have agreed to pay a total $7.7 million in civil penalties to settle claims that they called consumers on the registry, federal regulators said.
"Consumers have made clear that they greatly value the do-not-call registry, and they must be able to depend on its privacy protection," said Deborah Platt Majoras, Federal Trade Commission chairwoman.
Several cases appear to mark attempts by marketers to skirt the rules by trying to create a business relationship with consumers. About 145 million phone numbers are on the registry.
Adjustable-bed maker Craftmatic agreed to a $4.4 million penalty, the second-largest for do-not-call breaches after DirecTV's $5.3 million in 2005.
Craftmatic and three subsidiaries allegedly ran a sweepstakes that gave consumers who filled out entry forms chances to win a Craftmatic bed. After being told their phone number would serve as their entry number, tens of thousands of entrants were called without being notified or granting permission, the FTC said.
Craftmatic was also charged with making millions of "dead-air" calls that didn't connect to a sales agent within two seconds after the consumer answered, as required.
Other settlements:
- ADT, the No. 1 alarm company, agreed to pay $2 million to settle charges that it called consumers on the registry. Two dealers also will pay $20,000 and $25,000 penalties. The FTC said ADT is liable for both its own calls and those made by its dealers.
In a statement, ADT said it "was returning phone calls to consumers who had ADT systems or had called us first."
While marketers can call people on the list for up to 90 days after they make a business inquiry, ADT blames the problems on software that failed to remove customer names.
- Ameriquest, the giant mortgage lender, called people on the list whose numbers were obtained from third parties that coaxed customers into providing them on financial-product Web sites. The FTC said consumers weren't "reaching out to Ameriquest in particular." It will pay a $1 million penalty.
Ameriquest, which plans to shut down, said the agreement "brings this matter to a final conclusion."
- Guardian Communications and U.S. Voice Broadcasters were charged with blasting prerecorded messages to consumers and disconnecting the call when a consumer answered in violation of the "dead-air" rule. The company also failed to transmit its phone number to consumers with Caller ID. The companies will pay a $150,000 penalty.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments