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American Morning

Do Not Call List

Aired June 27, 2003 - 09:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We have Tim Searcy on the phone with us. He is the executive director of the American Teleservices Association. That's an American telemarketing trade group, and he says today's adoption of the national "no call" list will cost his workers two million jobs.
Tim, thanks for joining us.

What is the answer to the problem, or the dilemma that common folks have when they don't want to be bothered by unsolicited phone calls during dinner and other times? Your people have to make a living, but obviously people don't like being disturbed. So how do we figure this out?

TIM SEARCY, AMERICAN TELESERVICES ASSN.: Well, it's not a simple issue. This is an industry that hires 6.5 million people.

CAFFERTY: I understand.

SEARCY: Two million people will lose their jobs because of this. There a variety of voluntarily means by which people can get of lists as they like. They can ask the companies that call them to not call them anymore, and by law, they can't.

In addition, they can obviously have technology solutions, like privacy manager, caller ID. And there's a national list maintained by the Direct Marking Association, which has been in place for ten years. It has millions of names on it now.

CAFFERTY: So what's your read on this thing we've been talking about all morning here?

SEARCY: Well, this list idea is rooted in some false promises, and the idea is that person would know before they pick up a phone whether they want to hear a call or not. That's not possible. Once you hear an offer, you can make a decision whether you want to accept it or not. The average consumer makes three purchases per year by phone, $662 billion in sales. It's an important part of the economy. And I don't an economist alive thinks that unemploying two million people at this point in our nation's history is a good idea.

CAFFERTY: I would be inclined to agree with that.

But what about this image problem that your industry has? Is there any way to address that?

SEARCY: Well, we work diligently to train our representatives to be good on the phone, and to provide valuable information and good products and services. If it didn't work, no one would use it. The reality is that consumers right now purchase frequently by phone, even though many times they say they don't.

CAFFERTY: What's your interpretation of all the exempt groups? There are a ton of loopholes in this thing, politicians, charity groups. There is a whole list group of organizations that can still call you, and they're not going to be affected by this national list.

SEARCY: Well, there's a constitutional question when the federal government decides who you can listen to and who you can't. It's not just the loopholes. But you all spring up a good point, it's a false promise, the idea being that your phone is going to stop ringing, which of course it's not. So it's going to create frustration for consumers who sign up for the list and erroneously think that they're not going to get calls anymore.

CAFFERTY: Tim, my phone's ringing. It's from the control room, tells us we're out of time. I appreciate your coming on. Thank you for your point of view. Tim Searcy, the executive director of the American Teleservices.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 27, 2003 - 09:57   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We have Tim Searcy on the phone with us. He is the executive director of the American Teleservices Association. That's an American telemarketing trade group, and he says today's adoption of the national "no call" list will cost his workers two million jobs.
Tim, thanks for joining us.

What is the answer to the problem, or the dilemma that common folks have when they don't want to be bothered by unsolicited phone calls during dinner and other times? Your people have to make a living, but obviously people don't like being disturbed. So how do we figure this out?

TIM SEARCY, AMERICAN TELESERVICES ASSN.: Well, it's not a simple issue. This is an industry that hires 6.5 million people.

CAFFERTY: I understand.

SEARCY: Two million people will lose their jobs because of this. There a variety of voluntarily means by which people can get of lists as they like. They can ask the companies that call them to not call them anymore, and by law, they can't.

In addition, they can obviously have technology solutions, like privacy manager, caller ID. And there's a national list maintained by the Direct Marking Association, which has been in place for ten years. It has millions of names on it now.

CAFFERTY: So what's your read on this thing we've been talking about all morning here?

SEARCY: Well, this list idea is rooted in some false promises, and the idea is that person would know before they pick up a phone whether they want to hear a call or not. That's not possible. Once you hear an offer, you can make a decision whether you want to accept it or not. The average consumer makes three purchases per year by phone, $662 billion in sales. It's an important part of the economy. And I don't an economist alive thinks that unemploying two million people at this point in our nation's history is a good idea.

CAFFERTY: I would be inclined to agree with that.

But what about this image problem that your industry has? Is there any way to address that?

SEARCY: Well, we work diligently to train our representatives to be good on the phone, and to provide valuable information and good products and services. If it didn't work, no one would use it. The reality is that consumers right now purchase frequently by phone, even though many times they say they don't.

CAFFERTY: What's your interpretation of all the exempt groups? There are a ton of loopholes in this thing, politicians, charity groups. There is a whole list group of organizations that can still call you, and they're not going to be affected by this national list.

SEARCY: Well, there's a constitutional question when the federal government decides who you can listen to and who you can't. It's not just the loopholes. But you all spring up a good point, it's a false promise, the idea being that your phone is going to stop ringing, which of course it's not. So it's going to create frustration for consumers who sign up for the list and erroneously think that they're not going to get calls anymore.

CAFFERTY: Tim, my phone's ringing. It's from the control room, tells us we're out of time. I appreciate your coming on. Thank you for your point of view. Tim Searcy, the executive director of the American Teleservices.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com