Robo Calls Cost Time Warner $225,000

A federal court has awarded a woman $229,500 compensation after a cable company unlawfully called her cellphone 153 times in less than a year. Time Warner Cable continued to make the automated "robo calls" even after Araceli King complained.

The court ruled Time Warner Cable had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, passed in 1991. The issue wasn't simply that the company made the calls without permission, but that they were automated.

Robo Calls Illegal Without Express Permission

With the so-called robo calls, a computer automatically dials a home phone number. If and when somebody picks up, it either plays a recorded marketing message, or connects the recipient to call center staff. In some cases, when staff aren't immediately available, the recipient simply hears silence.

An amendment to the law in 2009 means it's now illegal for a company to make robo calls unless it has the express permission of a customer to do so. Giving permission must be voluntary and can't be a condition of getting a product or service. The only exceptions are for political campaigning and charitable fundraising.

Normally, the standard penalty for making a robo call without permission is $500 for each call. Judge Alvin Hellerstein opted to hand down the maximum penalty of $1,500 per call because of Time Warner's "particularly egregious" actions.

Calls Continued Even After Lawsuit

The company made many of the calls to King after she had contacted them to point out that that the customer they were actually trying to reach was no longer using the cellphone number in question. To make things worse, 74 of the calls actually came after King had begun legal action.

Time Warner Cable's argued in its defense that it genuinely believed it was calling the previous number of the user, a customer who had given permission for robo calls, and thus that it was not knowingly breaking the law. (Source: time.com)

Judge Hellerstein had no sympathy for Time Warner and said that the maximum penalty is exactly what should be expected by any company that "robo dials the same person hundreds of times over many months without pausing to wonder why it cannot reach him." (Source: bbc.co.uk)

What's Your Opinion?

Are you plagued by robo calls? Have you noticed any difference since the law change in 2009? Should more companies be hit with stiff fines for violations?