ATCP 127.83 Telephone solicitation practices. ATCP 127.84 Record keeping. Ch. ATCP 127 NoteNote: This chapter is adopted under authority of s. 100.20 (2), Stats., and is administered by the Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection. Violations of this chapter may be prosecuted under s. 100.20 (6) and s. 100.26 (3) or (6), Stats. A person who suffers a monetary loss because of a violation of this chapter may sue the violator directly under s. 100.20 (5), Stats., and may recover twice the amount of the loss, together with costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. Subchapter V is also adopted under authority of s. 100.52, Stats. A telephone solicitation to a residential telephone customer included on the “no-call” list under subch. V does not, by itself, result in a monetary loss for which the customer may seek recovery under s. 100.20(5), Stats., unless the residential telephone customer sustains an actual monetary loss as a result of another violation of this chapter. Ch. ATCP 127 NoteNote: Chapter Ag 127 was renumbered ch. ATCP 127 under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 1., Stats., Register, April, 1993, No. 448. Chapter ATCP 127 as it existed on July 31, 1999 was repealed and a new chapter ATCP 127 was created effective August 1, 1999. ATCP 127.01(1)(1) “Acquirer” means a financial institution or other person who, under a license or authorization granted by a credit card system operator, authorizes merchants to honor credit cards and submit credit card sales drafts for payment through the credit card system. ATCP 127.01(2)(2) “Consumer” means an individual to whom a seller advertises, offers to sell, sells, or promotes the sale of consumer goods or services. “Consumer” does not include an individual who purchases consumer goods or services in a business capacity, or for resale to others. ATCP 127.01(3)(3) “Consumer goods or services” means goods or services typically used for personal, family, or household purposes. “Consumer goods or services” includes personal investment opportunities, personal business opportunities, and personal training courses but does not include any of the following: ATCP 127.01(3)(a)(a) Investment opportunities, business opportunities, and training courses when offered to a business, rather than a consumer. ATCP 127.01(3)(d)(d) A newspaper subscription that the consumer may cancel at any time without penalty. ATCP 127.01(4)(4) “Credit” means the right granted by a creditor to a debtor to defer payment of debt or to incur debt and defer its payment. ATCP 127.01(5)(5) “Credit card” means any card or other device which entitles an authorized holder to obtain goods, services, or other things of value on credit. ATCP 127.01(6)(6) “Credit card sales draft” means any record or evidence of a credit card transaction. ATCP 127.01(7)(7) “Credit card system” means the system through which credit card transactions, using credit cards issued or licensed by the credit card system operator, are processed for payment. ATCP 127.01(8)(8) “Credit card system operator” means a person who operates a credit card system, or who licenses others to operate a credit card system. ATCP 127.01(9)(9) “Department” means the state of Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection. ATCP 127.01(10)(10) “Disclose” means to make a clear and conspicuous statement which is reasonably designed to be noticed and readily understood by the consumer. ATCP 127.01(12)(12) “Investment opportunity” means anything, tangible or intangible, that is offered, sold, or traded based wholly or in part on representations, either express or implied, about past, present, or future income, profit, or appreciation. “Investment opportunity” does not include a security sold in compliance with ch. 551, Stats., or a franchise investment sold in compliance with ch. 553, Stats. ATCP 127.01(13)(13) “Mass advertisement” means a solicitation which a seller publishes or makes accessible to an unrestricted mass audience. “Mass advertisement” includes a solicitation published in a newspaper, magazine, radio broadcast, television broadcast, or internet home page. “Mass advertisement” does not include a solicitation which a seller addresses to an individual consumer, to a consumer’s residence, or to a gathering of consumers invited by means of telephone, mail, or face-to-face solicitations under this chapter. ATCP 127.01(14)(14) “Merchant” means a person who is authorized, under a written agreement with an acquirer, to honor credit cards and submit credit card sales drafts to the acquirer for payment and processing through the credit card system. ATCP 127.01(15)(15) “Person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, or other legal entity. ATCP 127.01(16)(b)(b) A seller’s express or implied representation that a consumer has won, has been selected to receive, may be eligible to receive, or may have a chance to receive a prize. ATCP 127.01(16)(c)(c) Any communication from a seller to a consumer in which the seller is required to give the consumer a prize notice under s. 100.171, Stats. ATCP 127.01(17)(17) “Purchase” means to buy or lease consumer goods or services. ATCP 127.01(18)(18) “Purchase contract” means an agreement to purchase consumer goods or services, regardless of whether that agreement is subject to a later right of cancellation. “Purchase contract” does not include the following agreements, but does include a purchase commitment which arises under any of those agreements as a result of the consumer’s subsequent action or omission: ATCP 127.01(18)(a)(a) An agreement authorizing the trial delivery of consumer goods or services which the consumer has not yet agreed to purchase, provided that the agreement includes no minimum purchase requirement. ATCP 127.01 NoteNote: Some direct marketers offer trial delivery plans in which the consumer agrees to receive trial deliveries of goods which the consumer has not yet agreed to purchase. Under these agreements, a consumer is typically free to reject or return any trial delivery without purchasing that delivery. But under the trial delivery agreement, the seller may bill the consumer for the delivered goods if the consumer fails to reject or return the delivery within a specified time. Although the consumer’s initial agreement to receive trial deliveries is not itself a “purchase contract” (unless it includes a minimum purchase commitment), the consumer effectively enters into a “purchase contract” for a particular delivery when the consumer fails to return or reject that delivery according to the trial delivery agreement.
ATCP 127.01(19)(19) “Sale” means the passing of an ownership or leasehold interest in consumer goods or services to a consumer for a price. ATCP 127.01(20)(20) “Sell” means to engage in the sale of consumer goods or services, or to accept payment pursuant to a purported sale of consumer goods or services. ATCP 127.01(21)(21) “Seller” means a person, other than a bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union, insurance company, public utility, or telecommunications carrier engaged in exempt activities under s. 93.01 (1m), Stats., who is engaged in the business of selling, offering to sell, or promoting the sale of consumer goods or services to consumers. “Seller” includes all of the following: ATCP 127.01(21)(a)(a) A person who accepts payment for a purported sale of consumer goods or services to a consumer. ATCP 127.01 NoteNote: For example, a telemarketing firm that makes telephone solicitations on behalf of a “seller” is also a “seller” for purposes of this chapter. Individual employees of the telemarketing firm are also “sellers,” for purposes of this chapter, when making telephone solicitations to consumers.
ATCP 127.01(22)(22) “Solicitation” means a communication received by a consumer at a place other than the seller’s regular place of business, in which a seller offers or promotes the sale of consumer goods or services to a consumer, or which is part of a seller’s plan or scheme to sell consumer goods or services to a consumer. “Solicitation” does not include any of the following: ATCP 127.01(22)(b)(b) A telephone, mail, or electronic communication initiated by the consumer, unless prompted by the seller’s prior solicitation to the consumer. ATCP 127.01 NoteNote: Paragraph (b) does not except a face-to-face communication.
ATCP 127.01(22)(c)(c) A written communication that invites a consumer to the seller’s regular place of business. ATCP 127.01(22)(d)(d) A communication initiated by a consumer at an established public market, unless that communication was prompted by the seller’s prior solicitation to the consumer. ATCP 127.01 NoteNote: For example, a routine transaction at a farmers market is not a “solicitation” under this chapter, even though it occurs at a place other than the seller’s “regular place of business.”
ATCP 127.01(22)(e)(e) The delivery, to a consumer, of goods or services sold to the consumer in a transaction other than a telephone, mail, or face-to-face transaction under this chapter. ATCP 127.01 NoteNote: A “solicitation” under sub. (22) is covered by this rule even though it is not the first communication between the seller and the consumer.
ATCP 127.01(23)(23) “Written” or “in writing,” as applied to a seller’s disclosure to a consumer, means legibly printed on paper or another tangible nonelectronic medium that is delivered to the consumer, or legibly printed in an electronic form that the consumer can electronically retrieve, store, or print for future reference. ATCP 127.02ATCP 127.02 Definitions. In this subchapter: ATCP 127.02(1)(1) “Caller identification information” means information provided by a caller identification service regarding the telephone number, name, or other information regarding the seller originating a telephone solicitation. ATCP 127.02(2)(2) “Caller identification service” means any service or device designed to provide the user of the service or device with the telephone number, name, or other information regarding the origination of a telephone solicitation. ATCP 127.02(3)(3) “Telephone solicitation” means a solicitation, under s. ATCP 127.01 (22), that a seller makes to a consumer by telephone, videoconferencing, or other interactive electronic voice communications. ATCP 127.02(4)(b)(b) Purchase contracts and other dealings that result from a telephone solicitation. ATCP 127.02 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, July, 1999, No. 523, eff. 8-1-99; CR 12-036: renum. (1), (2) to be (3), (4), cr. (1), (2) Register May 2013 No. 689, eff. 6-1-13. ATCP 127.04(1)(1) Disclosures required. A seller making a telephone solicitation shall disclose all of the following to the consumer before asking any questions or making any statements other than an initial greeting: ATCP 127.04 NoteNote: For example, a telemarketing firm making solicitations on behalf of another company must disclose the name of the company for which it is acting as agent. The telemarketing firm may also disclose its own identity, but is not required to do so.
ATCP 127.04 NoteNote: For example, if Mary Smith makes telephone solicitations for the ABC Company, Smith must disclose her individual name. Under sub. (3) (b), Smith may use a fictitious name which uniquely identifies her if the ABC Company keeps a record of that uniquely identifying fictitious name.
ATCP 127.04(1)(c)(c) That the seller is offering or promoting the sale of consumer goods or services. ATCP 127.04(1)(d)(d) The nature of the goods or services which the seller is offering or promoting. ATCP 127.04(2)(a)1.1. The seller is widely known by and consistently does business under that name. ATCP 127.04(2)(a)2.2. The name does not have the tendency or capacity to confuse or mislead the consumer as to the seller’s true identity. ATCP 127.04(2)(b)(b) An individual making a telephone solicitation as an employee or agent of a seller may disclose a fictitious individual name under sub. (1) (b) if all of the following apply: ATCP 127.04(2)(b)1.1. No other individual making telephone solicitations for the same seller uses the same fictitious name. ATCP 127.04(2)(b)2.2. The seller for whom the individual is making the telephone solicitation keeps records under s. ATCP 127.18 (1) (d) which correlate the fictitious name with the actual name and address of the individual seller. ATCP 127.04 NoteNote: Subsection (2) (b) balances the needs of consumers against the privacy interests of individuals employed to make solicitations on behalf of a seller.
ATCP 127.04 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, July, 1999, No. 523, eff. 8-1-99. ATCP 127.06(1)(1) Disclosures required. In a telephone transaction, a seller shall disclose all of the following to a consumer before the consumer enters into any purchase contract, and before the seller takes the consumer’s credit card number or accepts any payment from the consumer: ATCP 127.06(1)(a)(a) The nature and quantity of consumer goods or services included in the sale. ATCP 127.06(1)(b)(b) The total cost to purchase and receive the consumer goods or services. ATCP 127.06(1)(c)(c) All material terms and conditions affecting the sale, receipt, or use of the consumer goods or services, including credit terms if any. ATCP 127.06 NoteNote: Consumer credit disclosures under par. (c) must comply with applicable requirements under ch. 422, Stats., and federal law. ATCP 127.06 NoteNote: For example, a telemarketing firm making solicitations on behalf of another company must disclose the name of the company for which it is acting as agent.
