The big telecom companies have been hiding behind excuses for years but those excuses are no longer holding water. With email systems doing it regularly, we know better; These excuses do not hold water anymore.
Consumers Union has taken a stand and is making progress. An update email from Consumers Union USA dated Dec 22, 2015:
“Last year at this time, hardly anyone believed robocalls could be stopped.
The Do Not Call list wasn’t working. Scammers quickly disappeared and reopened shop before the cops could find them. And your phone company just ignored you when you asked for help.
But together, with you, we changed all that.
After our campaign launched in February, the FCC and nearly every state Attorney General followed Consumers Union’s lead and told the phone companies to block these calls. Members of Congress introduced legislation. And presidential candidates even talk about this on the campaign trail.
Now, we are bringing Verizon, AT&T and Century Link to the negotiating table in the New Year. We will be representing your demands for free tools to block robocalls before they reach your phone – and we won’t back down!
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When we started this campaign, everyone thought we were nuts. It was such a perplexing problem that regulators, who tried for years to stop robocalls, even held a contest looking for solutions. And the giant phone companies didn’t want to act, hiding behind the claim that they didn’t have the legal authority to block these calls.
But you told us robocalls were ruining your quality of life. And for others, your bank accounts. Some $350 million is stolen each year from consumers – mainly the elderly who take these calls and are quickly duped.
It’s been a long haul, but together we’ve made huge progress. Once thought an impossible problem, our research has found several solutions that will dramatically reduce robocalls. Now we’re headed to the major phone companies demanding they implement these solutions for you!
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Thank you,
Tim Marvin, Consumers Union
Policy and Action from Consumer Reports”