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I don’t
care if you are a Republican, Democrat or whatever...
I think you will agree with me that sometimes the
function of our government just seems to defy explanation, reason or logic.
Perhaps those are the key
words…reason and logic applied in the same context as ‘government’.
My bad.
Now, here’s one for you.
Last year I received an unsolicited fax notice from a group that I am not
fond of for any reason. I have no idea how they came to have my name and
fax number, but in any case they did and sent me several notices announcing
an upcoming political rally and asking me to attend. Aside from the fact that I had no
intention of going, the notices sent to me via fax were against the Federal
Communications Commission rules and are subject to fines being levied
against those responsible.
Like the good little
trooper that I am, I logged onto the FCC’s web site, looked up the proper
complaint form and sent it off to them along with samples of the faxes I
had received.
No answer. I sent it again.
No answer, I sent it
again.
No answer, I sent it
again
No answer, I sent it
again
No answer, I sent it
again
As you can see, I am
persistent. I sent it to them five times, along with a letter to my
congressman asking why I could not receive an answer for something as
simple as this seemed to be.
Perhaps the key word for
my mistake is ‘simple’.
Yesterday I received an
answer in a form letter and I defy anyone to explain just what it says or
means.
Here are some examples of
my confusion:
“Although the FCC does
not adjudicate individual complaints from consumers of this type.” ---
doesn’t that mean they don’t pay any attention to a complaint? Why have a
web site with a complaint form on it, if they don’t look at these?
“We do closely monitor
such complaints to determine whether any action is warranted.” ---I thought
they just said they didn’t look at these?
“The FCC has issued
numerous warning citations…and has levied fines of up to $11,000.” ---based
on what…if they don’t look at complaints sent in by consumers?
“The FCC does not resolve individual
complaints of this type…”---Then what do they resolve? Again I ask why they
bother to put a individual complaint form on their website if it isn’t
going to be of any use.
“But consumers should still report
violations of the telemarketing rules….” ---Why would anyone want to do
this when it isn’t going to be of any use?
“The FCC encourages
consumers who have received such calls or faxes to file complaints with the
FCC.” ---didn’t they just say they don’t accept complaints from
individuals?
“In addition, you may
wish to note that, under the TCPA, consumers may bring a private lawsuit in
state court to recover damages.” ---Who would want to hire and pay for an lawyer
to sue someone over a unwanted fax?
Perhaps I’m just getting too old to
understand some things and this is one of them. This letter is signed by
someone who is the acting chief of the ‘consumer inquires and complaints
division.’ He lists several phone numbers, but good luck on trying to get
some live human on the phone to help you decipher the meaning of this
mysterious letter.
So, in this case the
bottom line is that we have a federal agency that has employees, getting
paid with generous benefits, but giving out completely useless information
concerning their lack of enforcement abilities for a specific governmental
violation. They end up telling me that I am free to file a suit in state
court to recover any damages, but as we all know this is impractical and a
waste of both time and money. So, why have the agency at all when they just
send vague letters telling you absolutely nothing and offering no relief of
any kind?
I realize this might be a
trivial matter, but it just makes one wonder how many other agencies and
departments there are out there who do the same thing, day after day.
Letter in, and letter
out. Day over.
I need a vacation.
Don’t forget to check out my new book…”Manuel Muldoon.”
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