FTC sues over car warranty calls
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WASHINGTON - The US Federal Trade Commission sued telemarketers Voice Touch Inc. and Transcontinental Warranty Inc. yesterday, accusing them of deluging people with as many as a billion automated phone calls offering car repair contracts.
The lawsuits, filed in federal court in Chicago, say the companies violated "Do Not Call" rules designed to protect consumers from unwanted calls. The regulations bar companies from making calls to people who have registered their phone number with the federal government.
The automated calls by Voice Touch and Transcontinental "falsely claim they are associated with the consumers' car manufacturer and that their warranty is about to expire," said FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz. He said his agency has received "tens of thousands" of complaints.
The lawsuits seek a temporary restraining order to bar the companies from continuing to make calls and to freeze their assets.
The suits were filed two days after US Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, called for the FTC to take action against the telemarketers.
Alison Southwick, a spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau, said the nonprofit group has received more than 300,000 inquiries in the last two years about the warranty offers.
