Broward Directory Blog

It was a caller hang up.  The calls were being made by a group conducting a political poll representing our own Davie Mayor Truex.

I have been getting these annoying phone calls daily – sometimes twice a day since March 5th.  I have more than one phone line and sometimes both phone lines ring at the same time.  The called ID read 561-693-2225.

• Most of the time, the call would disconnect and just hang up when I tried to answer it.
• Sometimes the call would come during dinner and sometimes lunch.
• Sometimes the call begin an automated polling message about  Mayor Truex and Judy Paul when I did answer it and just hung up when I found it to be an automated call.
• The last call came Sunday afternoon.  This time I decided to make my way through the whole phone call giving undecided answers.

It turns out those calls are being paid for by “the Davie Honesty and Integrity group” who seems to be sponsoring Mayor Truex – (They mentioned the name after you have taken the poll).  The questions asked were very slanted and designed for a negative campaigning style.  In the beginning of the poll they did not identify themselves, but merely asked who I was voting for. What type of question is that? It is my private choice to make. The second question concerned Judy Paul and a spending issue, but you can tell by it’s wording that the poll was setup on behalf of Mayor Truex.

Since this is a local government sponsored form of call campaigning – The FCC & AT&T will look the other way.

I am truly disappointed in Mayor Truex over this style of campaign annoyance – he may have cost himself a vote for this stupidly designed way of “getting the message out”.

Moreover, I am fed up with my invasion of my privacy over this style of political telephone campaigning. We need to send a message to all politicians to stop doing this form of campaigning:

Shame on you Mayor Truex for using this method of campaigning. I for one, have thought highly of you and your leadership efforts on behalf of the Town of Davie.

Mayor:
tom_truex@davie-fl.gov

Council members:
lisa_hubert@davie-fl.gov
mike_crowley@davie-fl.gov
susan_starkey@davie-fl.gov
marlon_luis@davie-fl.gov

Or you can call   -  (954) 797-1030 and ask to speak with Mayor Truex.

Or you can contact the Federal Communications Commission.

The reasons this company can make those calls is due to the exceptions that the politicians made into law.

Exemptions to the Florida Do Not Call Law

Some solicitations calls are not “telephonic sales calls” as defined in the statute because they typically are not selling a product or service.  Generally, calls from:

• Charitable organizations seeking donations.
• Political candidates and political parties seeking donation.
• Research or survey companies seeking an opinion.
• Collection agencies trying to locate a debtor or collect on a debt.

However…

Calls using artificial or prerecorded voice messages – including those that do not use autodialers – may not be made to home phone numbers except for:

• emergency calls needed to ensure the consumer’s health and safety;
• calls for which you have given prior express consent;
• non-commercial calls;
• calls that don’t include or introduce any unsolicited advertisements or constitute telephone solicitations;
• calls by, or on behalf of, tax-exempt non-profit organizations; or
• calls from entities with which you have an established business relationship (EBR).

In addition, the FCC’s rules prohibit the use of autodialers in a way that ties up two or more lines of a multi-line business at the same time. All artificial or prerecorded telephone messages must state, at the beginning, the identity of the business, individual, or other entity that is responsible for initiating the call. If a business is responsible for initiating the call, the name under which the entity is registered to conduct business with the State Corporation Commission (or comparable regulatory authority) must be stated. During or after the message, the caller must give the telephone number (other than that of the autodialer or prerecorded message player that placed the call) of the business, other entity, or individual that made the call so that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. The number provided may not be a 900 number or any other number for which charges exceed local or long distance charges.

Autodialers that deliver a recorded message must release the called party’s telephone line within five seconds of the time that the calling system receives notification that the called party’s line has hung up. In some areas, you could experience a delay before you can get a dial tone again. Your local telephone company can tell you if there is a delay in your area.

Telemarketers must ensure that predictive dialers abandon no more than three percent of all calls placed and answered by a person. A call will be considered “abandoned” if it is not transferred to a live sales agent within two seconds of the recipient’s greeting.

Caller Identification (ID)

If you have caller ID, a telemarketer is required to transmit or display its phone number and, if available, its name or the name and phone number of the company for which it is selling products. The display must include a phone number that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. This rule applies even if you have an EBR with the company, and even if you have not registered your home phone number(s) on the national Do-Not-Call list. Before these rules took effect, the words “private,” “out of area,” or “unavailable” might have appeared on the Caller ID display.

What You Can Do

The FCC can issue warning citations and impose fines against companies violating or suspected of violating the do-not-call rules, but does not award individual damages. If you receive a telephone solicitation that you think violates any of these 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 & Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554.

If you feel you have been harassed by these calls, you can fill out a report on line to complain about it.  Go to esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

Get out and vote on Tuesday