TMCnews Featured Article

A predictive dialer can be a useful tool for any business or entity that needs to make a number of focused calls to prospective clients. The technology allows for fast and correct connections, enabling agents using it to be more effective and return a higher ROI for their employer.

The only roadblock these days is the TCPA, or Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The TCPA was passed by Congress in 1991, amending the Communications Act of 1934. In short, the TCPA restricts telemarketing calls or phone solicitations via automated telephone equipment. The TCPA also limits the use of automatic dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages and other ways of reaching prospective customers. Savvy businesses know this (or should) and steer clear to avoid hefty fines. Yet one company in West Virginia is in the crosshairs for allegedly violating the TCPA by using an automated dialer.

According to a report in West Virginia legal journal the West Virginia Record, in 2014, Credit One Financial began placing calls to Jessica Dodd’s personal cell phone, according to a complaint filed recently in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

“Dodd claims based on the frequency, number, nature and character of these calls, the defendant used an automatic telephone dialing system or other equipment capable of storing and/or producing telephone numbers to call her,” the Record reports. “These calls were related to a debt Dodd allegedly owed to the defendant, according to the suit.”

Dodd says that in August, she told the company at least three times to stop calling her, and says her husband told them the same thing. According to the TCPA, once that request is made, the calling company must honor the request, which Credit One Financial allegedly failed to do.

According to the suit, the company subsequently re-called her at least 86 times. As such, Dodd is seeking statutory damages of $500 “for each and every negligent violation of the TCPA.”

Predictive dialers work extremely well when used as intended. When misused, as alleged here, they not only can serve as a nuisance, but possibly a costly one as well. Caveat Emptor.