---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20160117201602.75153.qmail@ary.lan> Date: 17 Jan 2016 20:16:02 -0000 From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> Subject: Re: Class-action lawsuit against Publix seeks $5M for robocalls >Ahh, I just followed the link, and a critical piece was left out of the >excerpt: "But many of the people said they never used Publix's >prescription services and did not have a prescription to be picked up." > >Why would Publix deliberately call people about prescriptions they don't >actually have? Do they really think this bait-and-switch tactic will get >customers in the door? > >I'm inclined to suspect it's just a bug in the prescription notice >software, not intentional phone spam. Of course it is. Publix is a well respected employee-owned supermarket chain. On the other hand, as far as I know there is no case law for an "oops" exception in the TCPA, and if they really made as many calls to non-customers as this suit claims, it's hard to believe that nobody told them about the bogus calls, and the line between "oops" and "we don't care" may be relevant. R's, John ------------------------------ Message-ID: <n7gjlv$h0h$1@blue-new.rahul.net> Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2016 09:40:58 -0800 From: John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us> Subject: Re: Class-action lawsuit against Publix seeks $5M for robocalls > Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> wrote: >> It alleges Publix's pharmacy made robocalls to customers to tell them >> their prescriptions were ready for pickup. On 2016-01-16 12:36, Barry Margolin wrote: > I thought the law against robocalls does not apply to calling someone > with whom you have an established business relationship. > > Ahh, I just followed the link, and a critical piece was left out of the > excerpt: "But many of the people said they never used Publix's > prescription services and did not have a prescription to be picked up." It sounds to me like either the customers gave wrong numbers because they didn't want to receive the calls, or they gave their numbers but the pharmacist copied them down badly. Or they have moved since, and the store is reminding them to refill their prescriptions. When I moved to my present address, I got calls on a weekly basis from a local grade school reporting on upcoming events there, and from the kid's doctor's office reminding him to come in for checkups and shots. It was a hassle finding the school and the doc and getting them to take my new number off their lists. I suspect the problem here is similar. I have no problem with companies making robocalls to their customers if their customers will put up with it -- but please, include an easy way for the call recipient to turn the calls off, or at least identify yourself and give a phone number we can call back for this purpose. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <n7j93t$cqa$1@dont-email.me> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 13:01:07 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: AT&T Data outage affects Ohio customers AT&T data outage affects Northeast Ohio customers Some AT&T customers in Northeast Ohio woke up to a data outage Thursday morning (January 14, 2016). According to downdetector.com, the outage is affecting customers from Cleveland all the way down to Canton. http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/att-data-outage-affects-northeast-ohio-users -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <n7j6rd$3tk$1@dont-email.me> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:22:28 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon (VZ) Data Outage Grounds JetBlue Airways by Sam Hason (January 14,2016) JetBlue flights were unable to take off after Verizon's data center went down A power outage at a data center operated by Verizon, disrupted JetBlue Airways Corporation's nationwide operations on Thursday. Issues with the network cropped up that affected check-in and airport gate systems. Additionally, the airlines website, toll free number and mobile apps were affected. While some flights were still able to depart, others were delayed and grounded until further notice. No explanations were given by the two companies as to why services were down and neither was the location of the data center provided. Also, why the data center did not switch to auxiliary power or whether there was a backup site or not, was also not answered. Problems continued until 2:30 PM EST until a blog post by the firm indicated that most issues had been settled and booking systems were back online with online systems being partially restored. http://www.businessfinancenews.com/27339-verizon-vz-data-outage-grounds-jetblue-airways-jblu/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <n7j9er$eo7$1@dont-email.me> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 13:06:57 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Washington newspaper editorial advocates stiff fines for Centurylink Levy full fine for CenturyLink's 911 failure By The (Everett, Washington) Herald Editorial Board Among the 6,600 missed calls to 911 that occurred in Washington and five other states during a six-hour period in April 2014, were those of an Everett woman who repeatedly called for help as an intruder menaced her and her young children in their home. Alicia Cappola, in an interview with HuffPostLive following the outage, said she heard a banging at her front door at 1:45 a.m. and saw a man demanding to be let in. Cappola made repeated calls to 911 but each time heard only a busy signal. When the man then attempted to come in through an unlocked window, Cappola grabbed a kitchen knife and confronted the intruder, who soon left. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20160115/OPINION01/160119369 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <n7j7dt$6ff$1@dont-email.me> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:32:18 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Major Verizon outage reported in Massachusetts CAPE COD -- On Sunday afternoon (1/17/2016), local public safety agencies are advising of reports of a large phone outage affecting Verizon customers. The outage is reportedly affecting much of southeastern Mass. 911 does not appear to be affected at this time. The cause of the outage is not known nor is their an estimate of when service will be restored. Verizon spokeman Michael Murphy told the capecod.com Newscenter: "We are actively investigating reports of some customers experiencing issues completing calls to or from landline phones in southeastern Massachusetts. Verizon Engineers are engaged and working to resolve any issue as quickly as possible." http://www.capecod.com/cape-wide-news/major-verizon-outage-reported/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Tue, 19 Jan 2016