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Record fine for nuisance calls firm - Homebased Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd
Record fine for nuisance calls firm - Homebased Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd
This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 30th September 2015 10:18
This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 30th September 2015 10:18
A firm has been handed a record fine for nuisance calls after making more than six million automated calls in a solar panel marketing campaign.
Glasgow-based Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd has been fined £200,000 by the Information Commissioner. Complainants described being powerless against calls or finding that calls were filling up answer machines. The company blamed another firm it hired to make calls and said it was appealing against the ruling. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that the company conducted a massive automated call marketing campaign offering "free" solar panels. One complainant told the ICO that they had been waiting for news of a terminally ill family member and could not ignore the phone. "The bottom line is companies trying to sell a product have got to stick to the rules. Nuisance phone calls are a modern pest," said the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham.
"People expect the Information Commissioner and other agencies to close this down and we're now closing down on these phone pests."
'Ignorance of the law'
The ICO said an organisation should have people's permission, which specifically names the company concerned, in order to make automated calls, but the company admitted it did not know what the rules were. "This company's ignorance of the law is beyond belief. It did not even bother to find out what the rules were and its badly thought out marketing campaign made people's lives a misery," said Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO..........Read more here
Glasgow-based Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd has been fined £200,000 by the Information Commissioner. Complainants described being powerless against calls or finding that calls were filling up answer machines. The company blamed another firm it hired to make calls and said it was appealing against the ruling. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that the company conducted a massive automated call marketing campaign offering "free" solar panels. One complainant told the ICO that they had been waiting for news of a terminally ill family member and could not ignore the phone. "The bottom line is companies trying to sell a product have got to stick to the rules. Nuisance phone calls are a modern pest," said the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham.
"People expect the Information Commissioner and other agencies to close this down and we're now closing down on these phone pests."
'Ignorance of the law'
The ICO said an organisation should have people's permission, which specifically names the company concerned, in order to make automated calls, but the company admitted it did not know what the rules were. "This company's ignorance of the law is beyond belief. It did not even bother to find out what the rules were and its badly thought out marketing campaign made people's lives a misery," said Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO..........Read more here