It is sad indeed that lawmakers like Ed Markey are forced to grandstand to get attention (“Reinventing the Wheel,” Jan. 13). But what’s abundantly sadder is that hearings on no-brainer issues have to happen at all.
We spend so much time and energy crucifying companies that engage in spam when it is mostly the small, fly-by-night Viagra peddlers that are in violation. Why are we spending so much time and money discussing policy and procedures around marketing practices that shouldn’t be happening in the first place?
Isn’t it ironic that the most flagrant violators of telemarketing conduct are some of the largest corporations in the United States? The real irony is that the calls largely come from corporations with which we already do business or from large corporations that rent our names to their competitors. At the same time, these same corporations that wouldn’t even think about sending e-mail to their customers without permission are the corporations that are interrupting our dinner.
The national DNC list is an unnecessary expense that could be avoided if corporations would stop disrespecting their customers by calling them at dinner time and selling their names to the competition the week after they sign up for service.
Telespam is in many ways worse than spam and should be seen for what it is: a desperate ploy for revenue. The ultimate solution is not a national DNC list. This problem won’t go away unless and until some of the most widely known corporations in the world simply agree to stop the practice altogether.
Looking at the glass as 1-100th full is a twisted perspective for corporations hooked on the relatively small amounts of revenue that unwanted telemarketing generates. Especially when you consider that some percentage of the customers interrupted during their cobb salads silently take their business elsewhere.
Tom Osenton, CEO, Customer Share Group
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