I read an Associated Press article about robodialers, and its recommendation to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, with great frustration ("It's official: We're fed up with telemarketers").
I have been filing complaints after every such call since June. I have dozens listed on my computer for a record. Many are repeat calls, but the caller ID and phone number are varied from call to call.
I wonder if the article's writer has ever filed such a complaint. If so, she would see that it takes five minutes to submit just one, with no opportunity to make more than one without redialing and waiting through the 48-second introduction all over again.
The article advises that the best thing to do upon receiving an illegal call is to hang up. But the FTC asks if you were given the opportunity to opt out of future phone calls. You cannot answer this if you've hung up.
The article also neglects to say that you need the date and time of the call to file a complaint. The biggest joke is the quote from the FTC's Louis Greisman saying that "it's absolutely working." I challenge the FTC to find one person whose robocalls have been reduced or eliminated since filing a complaint.
LESLIE GERSTMAN, ST. PAUL
