‘Hello, I’d Like to Tell You About the FCC Finally Eradicating Warranty Phone Calls’

The only good thing that's come out of the incessant phone calls about are vehicle warranties are the jokes.

IRRITATING VEHICLE WARRANTY ROBOCALLS

Those irritating robot voices have given rise to some very funny memes, but those memes are something I can happily sacrifice if I never hear Generic Human tell me the warranty on a car I haven't owned in more than six years is about to expire. You don't know how many times I've wanted to stay on the line so I could inform Whoever It Is that that Hyundai Sonata is a distant memory. But I've never gone down that road, and now I'll never have that opportunity.

The Federal Communications Commission, which has governed a portion of my life for three-plus decades, has likely won the hearts and minds of tens of million Americans who answer a call from Idaho or Alaska or Maine telling them about a warranty issue they don't have. Now, to be fair, most of us have probably given up on answering our phones if a strange number from a state WE'VE NEVER EVEN VISITED appears on the screen, but sometimes we're hurried and answer without thinking. One one of those occasions, I wish I'd thought to turn the tables on them like THIS guy did:

THE FCC HAS CRACKED DOWN AND PUT AN END TO WARRANTY SCAM CALLS

The FCC announced, on Thursday, that its Robocall Response Team was putting the final nail in the coffin of unwanted and highly annoying scam calls regarding the marketing of auto warranties.

Not only that, the agency pinpointed the origin of those calls, naming names and companies:

The move follows a public notice, issued by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau on July 7th, that gave a heads up to service providers that action aimed at eradicating the unlawful calls was imminent.

HOW THOSE WARRANTY ROBOCALLS HAPPEN

All originating service providers must immediately stop carrying robocalls from the  Cox/Jones/Sumco Panama operation.

Here's some background from a media release issued by the FCC Thursday:

FCC TIPS FOR CONSUMERS REGARDING SCAM CALLS

And though we may already be doing the following, the consumer tips shared by the FCC are worth keeping handy:

• Don’t Share - Do not provide any personal information to anyone that calls you unexpectedly.
• Be Aware – Telephone scammers are good at what they do and may use real information to gain your trust and imply that they work for a company you trust.
• Caller ID – Criminals might use “spoofing” to deliberately falsify the information transmitted.
• Double Check - If you think it might be a legitimate call, hang up and call the company with which you have an established business relationship using a phone number from a previous bill or on their website.
• Let Us Know – File a complaint with the FCC: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/.

I doubt I'm alone in saying this is a huge relief. For one thing, there are business contacts who connect with me via my personal mobile phone, but I don't necessarily have all their numbers saved. And because many of those in question are out of state, I may not answer the phone, fearing it's another stupid robocall about a warranty.

I look forward to seeing reduced activity on my phone, going forward.

[SOURCE: LEX 18-Lexington]