231-732-2067 Stop Calling Cell Phones; How to Complain to FCC & State Attorneys General; National Do-Not-Call List; Boycott

First, if you are thinking about going to a G-Rated movie about a plush toy known for being soft and cuddly and emulating an animal that reproduces wildly, please don't go. We need to not fall for their plan...In a WORLD where rapidly reproducing rodents robodial. In a TIME when voices are digitally stored. Suddenly your CELL PHONE RINGS. DO NOT ANSWER OR YOUR SOUL IS AT RISK! In a SEASON when cell phone companies, the FCC and State Attorneys General are the ONLY ones on whom you MUST DEPEND. You are in a HEAP O'TROUBLE. PRAY you don't take the call, when the ROBORODENT RINGS YOUR CELL!

The above movie pitch is fiction (aren't they all). But there another movie over which I steam. It is an outdated 2007 rerun movie that might be fine. It might be great. I doubt it. But this one needs to be boycotted...or at least borrowed. WHY?

A lonely boy wins over his distant father and strict grandmother with help from an outlaw telemarketer whose one wish is to become a real criminal someday.

Huh? OK. That's more fiction. But I really don't like what just really happened. I got a call on my cell phone from 231-732-2067 and they claimed it was not a sales call. I wondered why, but figured that got them past some legal loophole. Whatever.

I'm on the do not call list and I consider this a violation. I kept listening, and in fact, it was a sales call, announcing a movie (made in 2007 according to imdb.com) and trying to get me to commit to spending $20 on movies within a certain period of time. I fear I answered their automated yes/no a bit impolitely.

I started searching and found this...

First, there are several websites that attempt to help you discover who is calling you, but in this case the helpful one was this one...

• http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/2317322067

Other people are pretty mad about this, too, and I would like to say I have nothing against movies (you know it) or even movies for children (ha I like some of them) or religious messages in movies. What I have a problem with is skirting the obvious intent of the no-call list and accompanying laws. Mistakes happen. Random calling with pre-recorded messages is not a mistake. Hiding a for-profit venture behind a non-profit to attempt a new way around the law is not cool...and it certain isn't appropriate for a movie giving lessons on morals (if this movie does that). 

Be ashamed Michael Landon, Jr.

• consumerist.com article on a company bypassing-the-do-not-call-list 

Here's a reference that says Verizon has sued...

A representative for the mobile service said Verizon had nothing against children’s movies but it is taking issue with a Utah-based telemarketing company, which has apparently been calling cellphone users to advertise the movie.

Verizon said it filed a suit in the U.S. District Court in Trenton, New Jersey , alleging that Feature Films For Families Inc illegally used an auto-dialer for LA-based Family 1 Films. The suit says Verizon Wireless customers and employees received nearly 500,000 calls with a scripted promotion for the film over a 10-day period in February.

• reuters blog verizon-wireless-sues

I would be just as mad if the Democratic or Republican or Get Rid of the Republicans and Democratics party had called. I would be just as mad if the We Need Oxygen and Fuzzy Bears foundation had called. I would be just as mad if it were an offer of free stuff with no strings attached. Come to think of it, it must be legal for Richard Petty to call me, because he did that last election by personal recorded message. 

Check this out from the FCC about using dialers and recorded messages...emphasis added...

For example, it is unlawful for any person to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with express prior consent) using any automatic telephone dialing system or any artificial or prerecorded voice message to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, mobile telephone service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call. This prohibition applies regardless of whether the number is listed on the national Do-Not-Call list. 

• http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/truthaboutcellphones.html
  

• http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/1088G-R.pdf

Here's more from the same FCC site about how to complain.

How to Complain

If you receive an unwanted telemarketing call that you think violates the do-not-call rules, you can file a complaint with the FCC. There is no charge for filing a complaint. You can file your complaint using an on-line complaint form found at esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm. You can also file your complaint with the FCC’s Consumer Center by e-mailing fccinfo@fcc.gov; calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554.

What to Include in Your Complaint

The best way to provide all the information the FCC needs to process your complaint is to complete fully the on-line complaint form. When you open the on-line complaint form, you will be asked a series of questions that will take you to the particular section of the form you need to complete. If you do not use the on-line complaint form, your complaint, at a minimum, should indicate:

• your name, address, e-mail address, and phone number where you can be reached;

• the phone number where you received the call, and whether this number is on the national Do-Not-Call list;

• the date and time of the call;

• whether the call advertised or sold any property, goods, or services;

• any information (including a caller ID number) to help identify the individual or company whose property, goods, or services were being advertised or sold, and whether any of this information was provided during the call;

• whether you or anyone else in your household gave the caller permission to call;

• whether you have an established business relationship (EBR) with the caller (specifically, whether you or anyone else in your household made any purchases of property, goods, or services from the individual or company that called, or made any inquiry or filed an application with the individual or company prior to receiving the call); and

• whether you or anyone in your household previously asked the caller or individual or company whose property, goods, or services are being advertised or sold NOT to call, and when you made the request.

Here's another link about how to complain to the Federal Communications Commission about violations of the National Do-Not-Call list and a link to register or call to be on the federal do not call list

• http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/consumer/a/callcomplaint.htm 
• http://www.donotcall.gov/ or by calling toll-free to 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number they wish to register.

Even if you find your complaint is not valid for some loophole reason, you can still contact your State Attorney General about the annoyance and to complain there. Here's a list that I believe to be in the public domain as it was linked to from usa.gov without an exit message... Please check the link as this list will become less accurate over time...

• http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php

Skateylove, y'all, and I mean it. 

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