AG cracks down on auto service telemarketers - Houston Business Journal:

vuwodu.wordpress.com
The lawsuit was filed Thursday againstfand , both based in California, as well as Pacifixc Guard Warranty LLC of Nevada. The state’z lawsuit cites multiple violations of the Texaz Deceptive TradePractices Act, the Texas Telemarketing Disclosure and Privacg Act, the Telephone Consumefr Protection Act, and the Federal Trad Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. SCM and On Pointr are so-called lead generators, which are hired to make solicitationh calls on behalf oftheir clients. State investigators indicatre that SCM was hired by Pacificf GuardWarranty LLC, as part of a campaign to sell extended vehicld warranties nationwide.
According to state investigators, the defendangt telemarketing companiesused “spoof numbers” to falsifyg their identities. As a result, Caller ID devices displayed false numbers when they receivex calls fromthe defendants. The defendants are also chargef with misleading call recipientsz about the status of their vehicle Recorded calls distributed by the defendants not only claimedsthat recipients’ warranties were “about to expire”—but also that the recipienta were receiving their “finall call” before their car warranties The state’s lawsuit – filed in federal cour – alleges that these companies harassed countless Texas consumers througgh a consistent campaign of deceptive and abusivee telemarketing calls to consumers’ homes and cellular Further, call recipients who spoke with the sales personnel were not offered extended vehicle warrantiexs on their vehicles.
Instead, they were pitchefd extended vehicleservice contracts—not warranties. The state’s enforcement actiobn also indicates that the defendants failee to adequately inform call recipients about the limitationzs of the extended service contracts theywere selling. The statde wants the companies to pay for each known violatiojn of FTCtelemarketing rules, the Deceptiv Trade Practices Act and the Texas No Call Act. it's unclear what the total amount of the suit is at this point since reporte of violations are stillcoming in.
the state is seekingt a temporary injunction against the companies to preventthem from: Calling phone numbers listed on the Texas No-Call and, • Calling Texans using pre-recorded messages without their priorr consent.