A California company that made repeated calls to North Carolina consumers on the Do Not Call Registry even after being ordered to stop must now pay $40,000 to the state, Attorney General Roy Cooper said. 

“My office will continue to fight those who ignore the Do Not Call Registry,” Cooper said in a news release.  “You’ve said loud and clear that you don’t want telemarketers calling you at home.”

Since the Do Not Call law began in October 2003, Cooper’s Consumer Protection Division has taken action against more than 30 companies that have broken the law, forcing violators to pay more than $1 million, according to the news release.

A Superior Court judge signed a consent order resolving a motion for contempt that Cooper filed in 2010 against Warrior Custom Golf Inc. and its owner, Brendan M. Flaherty, for violating a 2004 court order about the company’s telemarketing practices.

The company has now agreed to stop its unlawful calls and must pay $40,000 for its violations in the form of civil penalties which go to North Carolina public schools. 

In 2003, Cooper filed suit against Warrior Custom Golf and won a court order banning the company from making telemarketing calls to consumers on the Do Not Call Registry and to consumers who asked not receive any further telephone solicitations by the company.

In late 2009, Cooper’s office started hearing from consumers again about the company’s telemarketing practices and has seven written complaints against the company on file. 

Warrior Custom Golf claimed that it was entitled to call people on the Do Not Call Registry because they responded to a mailing it sent out. Although, there is an exception in the law for existing business relationships, telemarketers must still comply with direct requests from consumers to stop the calls.

All of the consumers Cooper’s office heard from about Warrior Custom Golf made direct requests not to be called again but the company continued to call them anyway, the news release said.  

Cooper encouraged consumers to be careful about responding to mailings or filling out surveys that may include fine print waiving their Do Not Call rights.

“Be sure to sign up for the Do Not Call Registry to cut down on the number of telemarketing calls you receive,” Cooper advised consumers. “If a telemarketer continues to harass you with unwanted calls, find out who they are and report them to my office.”

To file a complaint against a company or telemarketer, North Carolina consumers can call (877) 5-NO-SCAM toll-free within state or file a complaint online at www.ncdoj.gov.

To place your home and mobile telephone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry, visit www.donotcall.gov or call (888) 382-1222 from the number you wish to register.