Protest over proposed ban on ‘cold call’ selling

Date: 16/11/1995

PUBLISHERS from around the EU have added their voices to a chorus of protests over Euro MPs' calls for a ban on companies 'cold calling' potential customers to solicit business.

In defence of people's privacy, German Socialist MEP Annemarie Kuhn is trying to persuade her colleagues to change a draft directive on direct selling to force companies to get customers' written consent before phoning or faxing them.

But European Publishers Council (EPC), representing some 30 EU newspapers and magazines, argues that would place a huge administrative burden on its members and lead to lost business and jobs.

“If prior consent for telephone sales and marketing became mandatory, the impact on publishers would be substantial and would have a negative impact on employment,” it warned in a letter to MEPs this week.

“As publishers, we rely on telephone sales for a substantial part of our subscription business. In many EPC member companies, the majority of publications are sold by subscription, often over the telephone.”

The European Federation of Direct Marketing (FED!M) agrees. It says Kuhn's amendment, if adopted, would sound the death knell of the telesales business and cause up to 500,000 job losses. Both organisations are pushing the EU to introduce an opt-out system instead, which would allow customers to put their names on a 'do-not-disturb' list, but not forbid vendors from cold calling people whose names do not appear.

EPC also opposes changes to the current text which would ban payments by credit cards except when the cards in question have been 'swiped' electronically or presented to the seller.

MEPs have already been showered with complaints from banks unhappy with plans to include financial services in the scope of the draft directive.

They are particularly worried about a provision which would allow for a seven-day cooling-off period, during which customers could change their minds about contracts they have signed.