A Florida telemarketing company will cease making robocalls of any kind and pay the state $40,000 under a settlement reached with Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.
Explicit Media was one of the six companies that McDaniel had accused of placing thousands of unsolicited calls to Arkansas residents. He sued in June 2009, prompting the companies to abandon the practice of robocalling.
“Like most other Arkansans, I too received repeated robocalls related to the sale of automobile warranties and I could certainly relate to the annoyance these calls caused,” McDaniel said. “My office still receives occasional robocall complaints and we are investigating these complaints. It is gratifying that the portion of the telemarketing industry that used this improper sales tactic now understands that these robocalls will not be tolerated.”
The lawsuit alleged that Explicit Media and its owners violated state and federal telemarketing laws by calling Arkansas consumers on their home phones and cell phones to offer extended automobile warranties. In addition, the state further alleged that the defendants violated state and federal telemarketing laws by playing a prerecorded message on the consumer’s telephone and displaying a phone number on the consumer’s caller ID that was not the phone number for the company.
The settlement requires Explicit Media to cease making any prerecorded calls and to refrain from ever utilizing an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers. In addition, the settlement requires the defendants to refrain from displaying any fictitious or misleading information on a consumer’s caller ID. The settlement further requires the defendants to cooperate with the Arkansas as part of any current or future lawsuit involving the auto warranty industry. Finally, the defendants must pay the state $40,000 to defray the cost of the state’s enforcement effort.
As part of the settlement the defendants agreed to follow the law but make no admission of any prior violations.
“My office continues to pursue the other lawsuits we filed. While each of those telemarketers has abandoned robocalls, we intend to see that they don’t resume the practice,” McDaniel said.
Attorney General's office