Do Not Call Violations #1 Consumer Complaint in 2017
January 2nd, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Tallahassee resident Barbara Rodman likes to kick back by enjoying a a game of Wii Bowling with other seniors at the Tallahassee Senior Center.
But throwing a strike takes concentration and holding that concentration can be difficult when you’re interrupted by annoying solicitation calls.
“I want to talk to somebody about it and see if they’ll make them stop,” said Rodman.
Despite being on the state’s Do Not Call Registery Barbara estimates she still gets about 300 unwanted calls a year.
“I get calls about renewing a warranty on my car. There’s no point to it,” said Rodman.
The State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services received more than 40,000 consumer complaints in 2017.
This year violations of the state’s do not call list were by far the most common.
With more than 19,000 complaints, it’s nearly nine times as many as the second most common complaint category, landlords.
Florida ranked 2nd for complaints filed with the federal government for violations to the national do not call list.
The Department wasn’t available for an interview for this story, but in 2014 we spoke with Liz Compton, Chief of the Department’s Bureau of Compliance and it seems little has changed.
“People do not want to be called, at their dinner hour or late into the evening, especially when they’re on the do not call list,” she told us at the time.
Despite the high number of complaints, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says it’s holding violators accountable.
The department collected more than $2.6 million in fines for consumers in 2017.
To file a complaint with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services call 1-800-HELP-FLA or visit FreshfromFlorida.com.
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