Telemarketing FAQs

The main federal law that governs telemarketing calls is the "Telemarketing Sales Rule." (16 C.F.R. Part 310). Perhaps the most important aspect of this law prohibits telemarketers from calling phone numbers that are registered on the national "do-not-call" registry, which the Federal Trade Commission administers.

A number of other laws, like the Federal Communication Commission Rule (47 C.F.R. Part 64, Subpart L) and state laws, also impose duties and restrictions on telemarketers.

These laws collectively cover, for example:

• disclosures that telemarketers must make during a call
• when a telemarketer may call you
• limitations on using prerecorded messages and automatic dialers, and
• limitations on calls that a computerized dialing system makes that fail to connect a live operator when the consumer answers (called "abandoned" calls).

Consumers who receive telemarketing calls often have questions. Learn the answers to common questions below.

A telemarketer contacted me about removing negative information from my credit report, asking for upfront money. Is this legal?

No. Credit repair companies often promise consumers who have bad credit histories that the company can remove negative information from, or otherwise improve, the consumers' credit reports—regardless of whether the information in the credit reports is accurate. In many instances, credit repair companies ask consumers to pay upfront for credit repair services. However, the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits credit repair companies from asking you for payment or receiving payment from you before:

• the time frame during which the credit repair company promised services would be provided has expired, and
• the credit repair company has provided you with evidence that the improvement the company promised has been achieved, as evidenced by a credit report from a consumer reporting agency issued more than six months after the results were achieved. (16 C.F.R. § 310.4).

Generally, credit repair services tend to be scams. You can't remove negative information from your credit report if the information is accurate and is within the legal time limits for staying on your report. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act dictates how long negative items can stay on credit reports. If negative items are accurate, they will appear on a consumer’s credit report and stay there for up to seven years and, in the case of a bankruptcy, for 10 years.

If it turns out that negative information in your credit history is inaccurate or outdated, you can easily file a dispute with the credit reporting agency yourself without the help of a credit repair company. All too often, consumers pay credit repair companies hundreds or thousands of dollars in upfront fees, but the companies do little or nothing to improve their clients' credit and then disappear with the fee money.

Are the automatic dialers telemarketers use legal?

• is made for an emergency purpose
• isn't made for a commercial purpose
• is made for a commercial purpose, but does not include or introduce an advertisement or constitute telemarketing
• is made by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, or
• delivers a “health care” message made by, or on behalf of, a “covered entity” or its “business associate,” as those terms are defined in the HIPAA Privacy Rule, 45 C.F.R. § 160.103.

Also, telemarketers can't abandon more than 3% of all telemarketing calls that a live person answers. (A call is “abandoned” if it is not connected to a live sales representative within two seconds of the called person's completed greeting.) (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200).

Can telemarketers call me again after I've asked them not to?

No. The Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits telemarketers from calling you again if:

• you have stated that you don't wish to receive calls from them, or
• your telephone number is on the national “do-not-call” registry. But if the telemarketer can show that it obtained your express written consent to place calls to you or that it has an established business relationship with you and you haven't said you don't want them to call you, then the telemarketer may call you. (16 C.F.R. § 310.4).

When can telemarketers call?

Without a person's prior consent, the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule limits telemarketing calls to the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., local time at the called person's location. (16 C.F.R. § 310.4).

What does the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule require telemarketers to do?

Among other things, the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule requires telemarketers to:

• provide all material restrictions, limitations, or conditions to purchase, receive, or use the goods or services that are the subject of the sales offer
• tell you if they don't allow refunds, exchanges, repurchases, or cancellations, and
• in a prize promotion, provide the odds of winning a prize, inform you that no purchase is necessary, that any purchase or payment will not increase the chances of winning, and tell you how to get instructions for entering without buying anything. (16 C.F.R. § 310.3).

Why do telemarketers only call my home number and not my cell phone? Mind you, I'm not complaining

The Federal Communication Commission Rule prohibits automatic dialing machines and prerecorded voice message devices from calling:

• emergency telephone lines
• guest or patient rooms in a hospital, nursing home, or similar establishment, and
• any telephone number assigned to a paging service or cellular telephone service, or any service for which the person called will be charged for the call. (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200).

What about door-to-door, mail order, and online sales?

Many federal laws protect buyers in sales transactions, especially when it comes to door-to-door, mail order, and online sales. For instance, under federal law, door-to-door sellers have to give consumers three days to cancel a sale. Sellers of merchandise must generally ship ordered goods within 30 days, and provide warranty information before the sale—if a warranty covers the product.

State law, too, often provides consumers with protections in sales transactions that happen door-to-door, through the mail, or online.

Door-to-Door Sales

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) “Cooling-Off” Rule gives buyers a three-day right to cancel any sale of consumer goods made at their residence or at facilities rented on a temporary or short-term basis, such as hotel or motel rooms, convention centers, fairgrounds, and restaurants, or sales at their workplace or in dormitory lounges. (16 C.F.R. § 429.0 and following). The rule covers sales of $25 or more (in the case of sales made at your home) or $130 or more (sales at temporary locations).

Notice about the right to cancel. The salesperson must tell you about your right to cancel the sale and give you two dated copies of a cancellation form showing the salesperson's name, address, the date of the transaction, and the date, not earlier than the third business day following the date of the transaction, by which the buyer may give notice of cancellation.

How to cancel. To cancel, sign and date one of the cancellation notices provided to you. Send the notice by certified mail, postmarked before midnight of the third business day following the sale. Saturday is considered a business day, but Sunday and federal holidays are not. Keep the other notice of cancellation for your records. If the salesperson didn't give you a notice of cancellation form at the time of the sale, you may send your own letter (postmarked within three days of the sale) to cancel the order.

Refunds. Once you've canceled, you're entitled to a refund within ten business days. The seller must also notify you of the date for product pick up. The seller must pick up the product within 20 days, or reimburse you for mailing expenses if you agree to send back the item, after you cancel. If the seller doesn't pick up the product or provide a refund, you can keep the product, without any payment obligation. If you paid by credit card, canceled the contract within three days, have not yet paid the credit card bill and still have a problem getting a refund, you can dispute the charges with your credit card company.

Exceptions. You can't cancel the sale if you signed any documents waiving your right to cancel, you wait too long, or you can't return the product in substantially the same condition in which you received it. Also, the Rule doesn’t apply to sales:

• made entirely online, or by mail or telephone
• that are the result of prior negotiations at the seller's permanent place of business where the goods are sold regularly
• needed to meet an emergency
• made as part of your request for the seller to do repairs or maintenance on your personal property (purchases made beyond the maintenance or repair request are covered)
• that pertain to real estate, insurance, or securities
• that involve automobiles, vans, trucks, or other motor vehicles sold at temporary locations (if the seller has at least one permanent place of business), or
• of arts or crafts sold at fairs or places like shopping malls, civic centers, and schools.

Mail Order and Online Sales

If you buy a product through the mail or online, the seller generally must send you the item within 30 days. The seller also has to provide you with warranty information, if the product has a warranty. Under the FTC's “Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule,” a mail order company or online seller must deliver ordered goods within 30 days, or within the time period the company has promised. However, if you apply to the seller for credit to pay for the merchandise in whole or in part, the seller generally gets 50 days, rather than 30 days, to ship the order. (This Rule also, as the name suggests, applies to telephone orders.) (16 C.F.R. § 435.2).

Missed deadlines. If the company can't meet the deadline, it must tell you and give you the opportunity to cancel the order. Alternatively, you may consent to the delay. (16 C.F.R. § 435.2).

Getting a refund. If you paid by cash, check, money order, or by credit where a third party is the creditor, or by any other method except credit where the seller is the creditor, the seller must refund the correct amount within seven working days after you cancel the order. If you paid by credit and the seller is the creditor, the seller must credit your account or notify you that the account will not be charged within one billing cycle after you cancel the order. (16 C.F.R. § 435.1).

Goods you didn’t order. Except for free samples, federal law also prohibits companies from mailing you goods you didn't order. The law gives you the right to retain, use, discard, or dispose of any goods sent to you by mail that you didn't order, without having to pay for them. (39 U.S.C. § 3009).

Warranties for Products You Buy Through the Mail or Online

Under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a warrantor (the person or company making the warranty) has to ensure that consumers are permitted to read the written warranty before buying an item. This way, consumers are able to compare different warranties before buying a product. In most cases, merchants display warranties near the products that have them. But if you buy a product online or through the mail, here’s how to find warranty information.

Mail-order items. If you’re buying an item from a mail-order catalog, the catalog must include the actual warranty or a statement letting you know where to get a copy of the warranty. The warranty information is usually near the product description or, sometimes, on a separate page. If the warranty is on a separate page, the catalog must give a page reference near the product description so you can easily find the warranty.

Online sales. To find warranty information for an item that you buy over the Internet, look for a hyperlink on the webpage listing the item for sale. The hyperlink generally will connect you with a separate website where you can read the complete terms and conditions of the warranty. If you buy a product online, it’s a good idea to print out a copy of the warranty or save a copy to your computer when you buy the item and keep it for future reference.

Getting Help

State laws often provide additional protections for consumers. To find out about any consumer protection laws in your state that pertain to telemarketers or other sales transactions, talk to a local consumer protection attorney.