Fighting back
Consumers can send robocallers a message in court
John Shipmon of Pittsburgh was fed up with robocalls from Ashford University of San Diego. He decided to send his own message.
It’s a message the robocallers needed to hear. It’s a message more people should send.
Mr. Shipmon filed a lawsuit in federal court asking for damages from the school.
If more consumers took matters into their own hands and filed lawsuits, perhaps the robocallers would get the message.
A company employing robocalls to sell something might think a few lawsuits are no big deal. A swarm of lawsuits, though, might get the attention of those companies.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act sets damages at $500 for each separate violation and $1,500 for willful violations.
Mr. Shipmon is asking for $1,500 per call.
Ashford wanted Mr. Shipmon to sign up as a student. He doesn’t plan to go back to school.
Mr. Shipmon told Ashford to stop the automated calls. Despite the request, his phone kept ringing. And ringing. Several times a week. Mr. Shipmon stopped picking up the phone when caller ID told him the call wasn’t local. Then the calls from Ashford started coming from Pittsburgh’s 412 area code.
Robocalls steal people’s time. It adds up when people get multiple calls each day. The FCC estimates lost time for consumers at $3 billion a year: Picking the phone up, realizing it’s a robocall and hanging up. The seconds become minutes which become hours.
The FCC keeps track of the numbers. In three minutes, Americans get 350,000 unwanted calls and nearly half of them are scams.
Even if they’re not scams, most robocalls peddling products or services are illegal unless the company has written permission to make the call.
The robocallers don’t care about the law. The companies don’t give a whit about no-call lists. Automated text messages are also illegal.
A lawyer isn’t necessary to file a lawsuit. Suits can be filed by anyone paying the filing fee, which is nominal. And the suits can be filed in state or federal court. For those who can’t afford the court filing fees, a waiver is available.
It’s time people are compensated for lost time and irritation.
Robocallers need to be on the other end of the line. And they need to get the message.