Telemarketers

[meezercat]

Yes, this has been brought up before, but it's time to do it again.

Just got a call that started out as a wrong number, but then of course turned into a sales pitch for me. I am on the Do Not Call list, but this was a "charity" so they are exempt. I politely told them I do not respond to solicitations via the phone. They offered to send me something. Remember they don't even know who I am at this point, so that would involve giving them my name and address. I said "you don't understand - I don't do business with anyone who solicits me via the phone, regardless of how the business actually is conducted." He interrupted me again with more crap, at which point I hung up on him. I hate to do that, but sometimes there's no other way to get them to go away.

[Prox]

I really hate it when they call . . . I finaly finish making dinner, sit down and take one bite of my nice piping hot grub, and then the phone rings . . . I answer it and to my dismay its some :censored: :censored: who insists on calling to tell me that I must have this new credit card or that the sheriff's office really needs my support, by the time I politly tell them to play a game of hide and go ... yourself the food is not piping hot anymore and the atmosphere for dinner has been ruined . . . I have no problem with people making a living, I just dont think that this should be an option for how to do it.

[meezercat]

Did you get yourself on the list?

www.donotcall.gov

I can never bring myself to not answer the phone, either...and I don't have caller ID. I don't get enough phone calls to make the expense worthwhile.

[Diesel]

I'm on the list, but I still get called frequently. I also have the Telezapper on one of my phones, and that does help.
Combine those things with caller ID, and I almost never pick up when they call.

On those rare occasions that I do pick up the phone, and I'm in a vindictive mood, I answer them politely, tell them how interesting their offer sounds, and ask them to hold on while I consult with my wife.

I usually leave them on hold for the next half hour while I make dinner, play computer games, watch TV, or something else noisy that they can hear in the background. On those rare instances that they've stayed on hold that entire time, I tell them "after a lengthy discussion, she decided that we're not interested in the offer".

[meezercat]

I don't have caller ID... our phone number is unlisted, and in general we get very few calls so it's not worth it.

[Panache87]

Arrrrrrg!! I can't stand telemarketers!!!! :mad: I don't know, but I think were on the no-call list (I'm just the teenage kid in the house, so I dunno 100%) Thankfully, they haven't called us in a while, but when they did, and I so happened to answer the phone, all I did was hang up! One time my mom answered the phone, and it was a telemarketer. She changed her voice in a funny tone and said, " This is a halfway house. Let me go get Mara" (no offense was meant at all to people who really live in halfway houses) and hung up. :lol: We were both laughing hysterically!
All I do is hang up on them. It's really the only way to get them to leave you alone!
I heard that some people who are on the list still get calls. :confused: Is that so?



On Today @ 02:35 PM Diesel had this to say in Post #4 (http://www.aliensoup.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=90846#po st90846)

On those rare occasions that I do pick up the phone, and I'm in a vindictive mood, I answer them politely, tell them how interesting their offer sounds, and ask them to hold on while I consult with my wife.

I usually leave them on hold for the next half hour while I make dinner, play computer games, watch TV, or something else noisy that they can hear in the background. On those rare instances that they've stayed on hold that entire time, I tell them "after a lengthy discussion, she decided that we're not interested in the offer".



:rotflmao: Diesel, that's quite the anti-telemaketer method you've got there!! Funny to think that a few of them actually stay on hold. LOL

[monsieurjohn]

nicely done, dan!

http://www.jimflorentine.com

that guy has three or four CDs out called "terrorizing telemarketers"... he plays hilarious pranks on them and records it

it can be fun to make them hang up on me when they get exasperated, or else just mess with them. one offered me a cell phone and i told him i was talking to him on my cell phone (not true), and he was like "uh, okay"

another time the pay phone in the lounge across from my room rang, and i decided i should answer it. i don't remember what her pitch was, but i said "um, you just called a pay phone" and she said "i what? really? oh... uh, sorry to bother you..."

so yeah, i have fun with them so they don't make me too mad

[koehiir]

I received this as part of an email about one year ago. I practice this quite often, including at our office. It's great fun, if not especially helpful:

Subject: How to cause total terror and anguish to the world


>>I suppose some degree of commerce would grind to a halt if telephone
solicitors weren't able to call people at home during the dinner hour.
But that doesn't make it any more pleasant. Now Steve Rubenstein, a
writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, has proposed "Three Little
Words" based on his brief experience in a telemarketing operation that
would stop the nuisance for all time.
The three little words are "Hold on, please." Saying this while putting
down your phone and walking off instead of hanging up immediately would
make each telemarketing call so time consuming those boiler rooms would
grind to a halt. When you eventually hear the phone company's beep beep
beep tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset,
which has efficiently completed its task. This might be one of those
articles you'll want to e-mail to your friends.

When you get ads in your phone or utility bill, include them with the
payment. Let them throw the stuff away. Think globally; act locally.

When you get those pre-approved letters in the mail for everything from
credit cards to 2nd mortgages and junk like that, most of them come with
postage paid return envelopes, right? Well, why not get rid of some of
your other junk mail and put it in these cool little envelopes!

Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express, or a
pizza coupon to Citibank.

If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their
application back! Just make sure your name isn't on anything you send
them. You can send it back empty if you want, just to keep 'em guessing!

[meezercat]

On Today @ 03:06 PM koehiir had this to say in Post #8 (http://www.aliensoup.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=90910#po st90910)

When you get those pre-approved letters in the mail for everything from
credit cards to 2nd mortgages and junk like that, most of them come with
postage paid return envelopes, right? Well, why not get rid of some of
your other junk mail and put it in these cool little envelopes!


I do this fairly often.....although now that I bought a fancy shredder I usually just stick the whole thing in there unopened.

[mthrlangl]

We're on the DNCL, so when they *do* call us, it shows up as "blocked call" on our caller id. (Stupid me, not realizing what it was the first time, answered the phone. Oy.)

One day at work, I told a telemarketer one of the bosses was dead. The poor flustered thing asked to speak to the replacement and/or next in the line of power.

At home, I've asked for their home number to call them back with my answer - just in case she wasn't at work when I called back. I don't think she liked that very much - said she couldn't do that. I said I didn't like being called at home, either.

Finally, I think my husband has the best ever response. Our last name (which God help me, I took willingly) is a big, hyphenated, German mess. So when they call and mangle it, he just polietly says "I'm sorry, but there's no one by that pronunciation here," and hangs up.

[monsieurjohn]

On Today @ 07:31 PM mthrlangl had this to say in Post # (http://www.aliensoup.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=90925#po st90925)
One day at work, I told a telemarketer one of the bosses was dead.

I said I didn't like being called at home, either.

"I'm sorry, but there's no one by that pronunciation here,"

:rotflmao: those are all awesome!!

[MO]

I used to do the same thing as mth!!!
Too funny.

My dad begins to talk nonsense or in a made up language to them, it works for him. :)

[meezercat]

My dad always used to say "oh MAN!! I just bought one of those YESTERDAY! You're 24 hours late!!"

:lol:

[monsieurjohn]

:lol: i gotta try that

[liltaz]

Thank goodness I get NONE of these calls.

I am on dnc, just got a brand new number that is private from day one and I have caller ID.

For you NYC area Cablevision folks, their phone service ROCKS.

Unlimited local, long distance, local toll, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding and others for $34.95/month.

ROCKS

[kunphuzed]

heh... i used to work for MBNA america.... (credit card company)... i was a telemarketer... or as they put it "new account specialist"... i quit because it was too stressfull... i hated calling ppl.. i hate being called myself... but i did get some usefull info out of it.. before i knew nothing about credit cards... now i can probably help you with your financing lol... but i also learned that it takes a while for the dnc list to actually kick in... atleast thats what we are told to tell our customers if they ask... and most of the time we called ppl who are already a customer of ours.. or a company we are affiliates with... so it wasnt that bad... but from now on im more appreciative towards telemarketers... and i at least listen to what it is that they are selling... cuz some times (from my experience) a sale can save a person from debt. i know it sounds silly.. but some of the deals we offer... and if only some ppl listen.. i had this one guy sing me a song he wrote intitled "i hate telemarketers".. he had the guitar even.. it was great... i gave him mad props for it.. lol.. but anyway.. thats my spin on telemarketing.

[kunphuzed]

o btw.. i did get most of those excuses from ppl.. telling them that the recipient of the call is dead works!! we have to remove them from the list!!.. o and if you just hang up on them... they register it as a not in.. or no sale... which puts the name back through the system and some other telemarketer calls back. same works for if you say that they are not in.. so my best advice is be honest ... they have to atleast tell you about it 3 times (unless your from a state that has rules implying otherwise)... just tell them to remove you from their list.. they have to tell you that they will do that immediately then end the call.. so that is the best bet right there! :D