John Smith was working at a local coffee shop from his laptop when his cellphone vibrated and made the TING alert sound. That signaled he had a new voice mail message, yet his phone had never rung.
“At first, I was confused and thought maybe I didn’t have good reception where I was sitting,” said Mr. Smith, a content writer for a local food blog. “When I checked my voice mail, I instantly became frustrated and upset. It was literally a telemarketing voice mail to try to sell me something from a company I had never of or had any affiliation with.”
Mr. Smith had just experienced a technology gaining traction called ringless voicemail drops – the latest attempt by telemarketers and debt collectors to reach the masses. The calls are quietly deposited through a back door, directly into a voice mail box — to the surprise and (presumably) irritation of the recipient, who cannot do anything to block them.
Ringless Voicemail Drops v. Consumer Protection Laws
Regulators are considering whether to ban these messages. They have been hearing from ringless voice mail providers and pro-business groups, which argue that these messages should not qualify as calls and, therefore, should be exempt from consumer protection laws that ban similar types of telephone marketing.
But consumer advocates, technology experts, people who have been inundated with these calls and the lawyers representing them say such an exemption would open the floodgates. Consumers’ voice mail boxes would be clogged with automated messages, they say, making it challenging to unearth important calls, whether they are from an elderly mother’s nursing home or a child’s school. Debt collectors could potentially hijack a consumer’s voice mail with collection messages.
Are Ringless Voicemail Drops Legal in Florida?
In Florida, however, there is a new statute that limits a business’s use of ringless voicemail drops or ringless voicemail technology. As of July 1, 2018, it is now illegal for a business to send “voicemail transmissions” to a consumer’s cellphone or landline if the number for that phone has been placed on Florida’s Do No Call List or the consumer has informed the business that he or she does not wish to receive any telephone communications from it. This is the first state law of its kind, and we suspect it will not be the last.
Report Your Ringless Voicemail Drops to the TCPA Lawyers at Shamis & Gentile, P.A.
When you report your ringless voicemail drops to Shamis & Gentile, P.A. our team of ringless voicemail Lawyers will track down the sender of the voicemail and help you recover up to $1,500 if the violation was willful or knowing.
You heard that right… You could receive up to $1,500 per ringless voicemail that you received.
Report your ringless voicemail drops to The Ringless Voicemail Lawyers. It’s as simple as 1-2-3:
- Take a screenshot of your ringless voicemail drops
- Send us your screenshot to 1-833-3-TEXT-ME
- Let us do our work to fight on your behalf!
There are NO fees or expenses, so call today for a free consultation from our ringless voicemail lawyers or submit your claim here and we will get in contact with you immediately. We would be happy to review for you, a loved one, a friend, or anyone you suspect may have a case. Report your ringless voicemail drops today and we’ll see if we can help you recover $500 to $1,500 for ringless voicemail drops you received.
