A friend recently told me that there is a new law in march that prohibits making a one-call sale over the phone. Plus you have to provide the prospect a list of ten people who have bought the product or if you take credit card information there is a 7-day waiting period. Has anyone heard of this?
Uh, no, not me, but that sounds too drastic to be completely true. It for sure would curtail a lot of legitimate business transactions. It may apply only to sales over a certain dollar amount if true. Hopefully someone here can enlighten us about it.
yeah i know that's why i wanted to find more information. I guess the FTC is cracking down on fraud and outrageous claims! And yes I have a legitimate biz and do nothing but calls. When my friend told me about it I too thought it was crazy. We'll see.
A Google search brings up this forum post in the #1 position! #2 is this one: http://www.advertisinglawblog.com/ An excerpt: "The Rule covers a wide variety of business opportunities and applies to commercial arrangements where a seller solicits a prospective buyer to enter into a new business, including a work at home opportunity, where the buyer is to make payment. There is no minimum payment threshold that triggers the rule. It does not apply to MLM programs. It is triggered by 3 elements: 1. Seller must solicit prospect to enter a business. 2. A payment must be made or promised. This does not include the purchase of a reasonable amount of inventory at bona fide wholesale prices. 3. Seller must offer to provide locations, outlets, customers or assistance, or offer to buy back any goods that the prospect makes."
Same site, another posting: "While this may at first glance appear to be beneficial to marketers, in fact the new Rule will likely destroy the ability of many marketers to close a sale, especially where telemarketing is involved. The new Disclosure form must be provided to the prospective customer at least seven days in advance of requesting that the customer sign any contract or agree to pay any money."
I never heard of this before. Here in Canada we have a law that if you put yourself on the DO NOT CALL List, the telemarketers by law are not allowed to ever call you at all.
talfighel: I never heard of this before. Here in Canada we have a law that if you put yourself on the DO NOT CALL List, the telemarketers by law are not allowed to ever call you at all. So how does your answer apply to mediaworks question Tal? The U.S. also has do not call lists and violators can be fined $11,000 per call. Has nothing to do with the new March 2012 law.
Thanks just2EZ. So there is a law coming out. Interesting! Tal, the "do not call " is a joke, here in U.S. or anywhere else. I believe it was direct tv or dish tv that was fined , however they made 10's of thousands of calls before anything happened. So what's next, going after internet marketers claiming "make $1000 in the next 7 days!...etc" THIS IS ONLY THE BEGININNG!!!!!!!
Just read full article. I wonder why it DOESN't include MLM's ???? I'm sure "internet marketers" are next!
tmvmediaworks: I wonder why it DOESN't include MLM's ???? Ya, I was wondering that too... wonder how long that will last?
I don't remember where but I read a couple of days ago the reason why not "mlm" is because they have representation of certain groups and I guess "lobbyist" types that protect them. I'll try to find link and repost.
To Much government is all! If you offering a product or service why don't do your home work? Just a thought, all these rules now we do need some rule but sometime I think they go too far.
Question has been confirmed. If you sell a opportunity over the phone, you must read to avoid being fined. read here: http://www.advertisinglawblog.com/ thanks to just2ez
I think there should be a law that any company or telemarketer that makes over the phone sales calls Must have the phone call recorded from start to end, a copy gets sent to the consumer in order to be a legitimate sale, It would help protect both the company and consumers. I ran into a company that made statements over the phone and turned out different and quite shady too of that company. What's your opinion on it... catchdacons
