Dallas

Group Works to End Robocalls

Robocalls are ranked as the No. 1 consumer complaint according to Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports.

The group has collected a petition of nearly 600,000 signatures from people around the country who are calling on telecommunications companies to provide free tools that allow consumers to block robocalls.

Dallas resident Curtis Garrison is one of the many who signed the petition. His Dallas start-up business, Dream Machine Association, organizes car shows. It's a job that requires him to be constantly connected because vendors call from across the country. He has to answer his phone, but too often it's a robocaller.

"I get maybe three or four [robocalls] a day," he said.

Garrison said he's sick of it, as are almost 600,000 people who signed the Consumers Union petition. The group is presenting the petition to AT&T executives Tuesday afternoon and calling for the company to take action to protect consumers.

"That's why we're calling on companies to step in and act and provide companies with free and effective tools to block these tools before they get to their homes," Consumers Union End Robocalls campaign leader Tim Marvin said.

Marvin believes large telecommunications companies like AT&T should take the lead and adopt technology like that used by start-up company, Nomorobo which blocks robocalls and is free to most VoIP users.

"This was designed by a guy in his basement in Long Island," he said. "We're talking about multi-national companies with millions of dollars at their disposal and hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers working for them. It's hard to believe that they can't do something just as good as Nomorobo and probably better."

That's Garrison's hope. He's joined a movement, adding his name to this petition and his voice to a call for action.

"Robocalls are an industry-wide issue and we continue to work closely with the government and industry partners to make improvements," an AT&T spokesman told NBC 5 Responds. "We appreciate consumers union's input and will continue our work to help find solutions."

Consumers Union says until the telecommunications industry takes action, you can take steps to end robocalls..

  • Get Nomorobo. Consumers union says it works great, but only with Vocie Over Internet Protocal. Here's a list of service providers compatible with Nomorobo.
  • Get an app for your android phone. Consumers Union recommends Call Control and Privacy Star. Currently there are no known apps that work for iPhones.
  • You can get hardware for your landline. (Pages 14-16)
  • Consumers Union recommends you call your phone provider and ask what works with your service.

Consumers Union are also talking with leaders at Verizon and CenturyLink, as well as AT&T, because those are the three companies with the most landline customers.

Online: Consumer's Union End Robocalls Petition

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