201 CMR 12.02 - General Telephone Solicitation Regulations

(1) No telephone solicitor shall make or cause to be made an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer if the consumer's name and telephone number appear on the then current quarterly "do not call" registry maintained by the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation as otherwise detailed within 201 CMR 12.03.

(2) No telephone solicitor shall make or cause to be made an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer between the hours of 8:00 P.M. to 8:00 A.M., local time at the consumer's location.

(3) No telephone solicitor shall make or cause to be made an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer through, by or in the form of electronically transmitted facsimile(s).

(4) No telephone solicitor shall make or cause to be made an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer by the use of a recorded message device.

(5) No telephone solicitor shall use or cause to be installed a blocking device or service to circumvent a consumer's use of a caller identification service or device.

(6) All telephone solicitors engaging in unsolicited telephonic sales calls of Massachusetts consumers must institute procedures for honoring the list of Massachusetts consumers who have elected not to receive unsolicited telephonic sales calls in compliance with M.G.L. c. 159C and 201 CMR 12.00 et seq.

(7) All telephone solicitors engaging in unsolicited telephonic sales calls of Massachusetts consumers shall, at the be ginning of such call, disclose all of the following information within the first minute of a telephonic sales call and before requesting, accepting or arranging for payment by a consumer:

(a) that the purpose of the telephone call is to make a sale or solicit funds;

(b) the correct name of the telemarketing company that employs the individual telemarketer who is making the call;

(c) the correct name of the ultimate seller whose goods or services are being offered by means of the telemarketing call; and

(d) a complete and accurate description of the goods or services being offered including, but not limited to, the retail market value of the goods or services.

(8) All telephone solicitors engaging in unsolicited telephonic sales calls of Massachusetts consumers shall provide all of the following information before requesting, accepting or arranging for payment by a consumer:

(a) the cost to the consumer of the goods or services that are the subject of the telemarketing sales call including, but not limited to, any applicable tax, shipping and handling fees;

(b) any restrictions, limitations or conditions attached to purchasing the goods or services;

(c) the complete terms of any applicable refund, return, cancellation, exchange or repurchase policies; and

(d) any material aspect of an investment opportunity being offered including, but not limited to, the price of the land or other investment, the location of the investment and the fact that an investor may lose some or all of their original investment.

Notes

201 CMR 12.02