Please don’t call. Please don’t try to sell me anything. Please stop butchering my last name.
Along with tens of millions of other Americans, my requests to telemarketers are on hold until the courts and the Federal Trade Commission sort out the legality of the agency’s national Do Not Call registry, originally scheduled to take effect Wednesday. Even though President Bush signed legislation Monday authorizing the FTC to enforce the measure (created and passed by Congress in record time), at least one valid question remains.
The registry rules prohibit commercial telemarketers from making sales calls to those on the list–at the risk of an $11,000 fine for each call–but politicians and charities are exempt from the restrictions and welcome to keep on calling. Why?
That’s what a judge in Colorado asked Thursday, ruling that the registry violated the Constitution by creating two classes of speech, allowing non-profits to make a pitch for money, while barring businesses from making similar calls.
I agree. It may be a bitter pill for lawmakers, but it’s the right thing to do. Political and charity fundraising should be included in the do-not-call list because the same message applies to them: Don’t bother me over the phone, please. It’s not what you’re selling, it’s how you’re going about it.
During the upheaval over the registry, which includes more than 50 million home and cellular telephone numbers, I talked to several Chicagoans about telemarketing. The phone is intrusive, many complained predictably, but for some it wasn’t nearly as irritating as e-mail spam or junk mail.
“I don’t buy things that way,” said a 36-year-old advertising professional. She said she hates finding her mailbox stuffed with paper ads.
“It’s not a medium I’m interested in.”
OK, while that’s not exactly an invitation to telemarketers, it does send a simple, informative message–some people may not mind getting calls and may be receptive to a phone pitch. (Maybe the industry is catching on: In a surprising nod to consumers, the Direct Marketing Association, which represents 70 percent of the industry, encouraged its members to respect the list regardless of the court rulings.)
A smart business or fundraiser would see that the public is helping them target customers more effectively. Try phoning the millions of Americans who aren’t registered on the do-not-call list. And to those who signed up, send a letter or an online solicitation instead. Logical, right? Businesses that approach more likely customers, in the way they like to be approached, tend to enjoy a higher rate of return for their efforts.
The same goes for you, Mr. I-Want-To-Be-State-Senator or Worthy Cause X. I might be interested in contributing to a political campaign or a charity fund, but I also made my wishes perfectly clear in July when I registered online for the do-not-call list. Call me, and I’m unlikely to listen to the whole money-raising spiel, let alone part with any cash.
FTC officials say they are confident the legal mess over the registry will be cleared away and the service will be implemented eventually. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission will enforce telemarketing rules, which block about 80 percent of calls.
I’m as impatient as anyone for an uninterrupted dinner or a phone-call-free episode of “The West Wing,” but the proper changes during this delay may produce an outcome in the public’s favor. A redrafted version of the FTC rules should categorize political and charity organizations in the same group as telemarketers. It’s respectful of consumers, not to mention free speech.
Complain anyway
To sign up for the list and file complaints about telemarketer violations, call the Federal Trade Commission at 888-382-1222 or visit www.donotcall.gov.
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asneumer@tribune.com
