“Do Not Call” Enforcement Begins

The state Attorney General’s Office said last week that it was taking enforcement actions against some of the largest sources of unwanted telemarketing calls to North Carolina consumers under the state’s Do Not Call law.

“Some telemarketers keep calling even when consumers ask them not to,” Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a press release. “We’re putting a stop to these unwanted calls.”

Cooper announced settlements with AT&T and American Communications of High Point, which sells DIRECTV satellite equipment. He also filed suit last week against MST Business Research of Surrey, Canada, a telemarketer working with American Communications to sell DIRECTV products.

Last week’s settlement with AT&T resolves charges that the company and its telemarketers called North Carolina consumers who had specifically asked not to get telemarketing calls from AT&T or who had placed their numbers on the Do Not Call list. Under the agreement signed April 12, telemarketers calling on behalf of AT&T who fail to comply with North Carolina’s Do Not Call law more than once are prohibited from telemarketing into North Carolina for the company. In addition, AT&T agreed to train all current and future telemarketers to follow telemarketing laws and the terms of the settlement.

AT&T, which cooperated with the attorney general’s office investigation, did not admit or deny any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the state $30,000. AT&T has also agreed to keep thorough records for two years of telemarketing calls made to North Carolina numbers as well as Do Not Call complaints filed with the company by North Carolina consumers and actions taken to resolve those complaints.

AT&T must share the records with the attorney general’s office along with copies of any telemarketing complaints filed against the company with other government agencies.

The settlement with American Communications, signed March 29, resolves allegations that the company failed to monitor its telemarketers who placed calls to North Carolina numbers that appear on the Do Not Call registry.

Under terms of the agreement, American Communications must train all telemarketers making calls on the company’s behalf to follow the laws and the terms of the settlement. Any violations by a telemarketer working for the company must be documented in the employee’s file and must also be reported to the attorney general’s office, along with any complaints filed by North Carolina consumers with the company.

American Communications did not admit or deny any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the state $15,000. In addition, the company will cooperate fully in Cooper’s investigations of other DIRECTV telemarketers.

The attorney general’s office also filed suit April 1 against MST, a Canadian telemarketer that worked with American Communications but did not cooperate with the attorney general’s office investigation. MST is the source of many Do Not Call complaints about DIRECTV made to Cooper’s office. The suit asks the court to permanently stop MST from making illegal telemarketing calls to North Carolinians and to require MST to pay civil penalties.