Telemarketing: What's Legal and What's Illegal

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was created in the early 1990's to provide telemarketing companies with legal guidelines that were created to protect a telephone consumer's right to privacy.

The following is a basic outline of legal and illegal telemarketing practices:

Legal...

• For a telemarketing company to call between the hours of 8 am and 9 pm.
• For a company with whom you have an established business relationship to call you. This is a company with whom you have made a purchase.
• For the affiliates of the company you have a business relationship with to call you as long as the affiliate is in some way associated with the product or service you purchased.
• For telemarketers to call your cellular phone if you have given them permission to do so.
• For telemarketers to send you unsolicited faxes if they have been given your express permission

Illegal...

• For a telemarketer to call you before 8 am and after 9 pm
• For a telemarketer to not have an internal do not call list.
• For a telemarketer to not remove your number from their call list when you request it.
• For a telemarketer to call you once you have made the request to no longer be contacted by them.
• For a telemarketer not to have a clear and defined policy, and to not make this policy available to a consumer upon request.
• For a company with whom you have an established business relationship to call you after you have made the request to be added to their do not call list.
• For telemarketers who use autodialing devices to call cell phones
• For telemarketers to send unsolicited faxes without permission
• For telemarketers to use automated messages
• For a telemarketer to not provide their name and the name of the company they work for when asked.

So next time be careful before you call anyone for sales.