Telemarketers

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » January 8, 2003, 10:48 am

Since I got myself put on the Verizon (then GTE) do not call list ~4 years ago, I very rarely get telemarketing calls. Maybe 1-2 per year. It was a pain in the butt to get them to admit they even had such a list, but well worth it IMO. You can pay to get on the official DoA list in FL, but the telcos' list is free, and very effective.

Do not call lists by state:

http://www.the-dma.org/government/donotcalllists.shtml

I realize these folks need to make a living, but the chances of me ever buying anything from a telemerketer are slim to none.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 8, 2003, 11:06 am

Got they need this in Canada. I'm getting and filtering 2-3 calls a day as it is now. f'ing retarded.

Burke · Post by **Burke** » January 8, 2003, 11:40 am

Maryland isn't on there.

figures

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » January 8, 2003, 11:56 am

Just yesterday I had to put all nine of our emergency 911 trunks on the MO no call list.

It's a fucking infestation.

Zygar_ Cthulhukin · Post by **Zygar_ Cthulhukin** » January 8, 2003, 12:04 pm

WTF? You gotta pay 5 bucks a year to keep yer name on the Arkansas one. Guess I AM living in a Banana Republic. sheesh.

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » January 8, 2003, 12:09 pm

I hate them with passion, but I learned to simply ignore them.
I'd pick up and usually give them a few seconds to butcher my name and then ask how I am. After that I normally just say "no thanks" and hang up.

when I have time or I'm feeling nice I'd fake interest in whatever they're offering for a few minutes.

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » January 8, 2003, 12:11 pm

Saw this on /. this morning, most of the telcos carry a list and will add you for free. Verizon/GTE maintain a list, though it will take 30-40 minutes on the phone to get someone to admit it exists and add you.

Unless you are your states list (assuming you have one) I'd guess no legal action will be taken against violators.

Cartalas · Post by **Cartalas** » January 8, 2003, 12:13 pm

When they call I tell them can you give me a couple of minutes Im having sex right now and im about to get a nut.

Adex_Xeda · Post by **Adex_Xeda** » January 8, 2003, 12:17 pm

It should be reversed, it should be illegal to telemarket ALL numbers. They should only be able to telemarket people who asked to be put on the "do call" list.

Post by **Sylvus** » January 8, 2003, 12:47 pm

I used to get more telemarketer calls than anyone, as well as constant calls from a fax machine or something that would just beep and call back like 5 times in a row at all hours of the day. About 2 years ago I just cancelled the land line in my house and switched to a permanent cell phone for all my calls. Since then, I haven't ever received even one telemarketer call. It's so nice.

Probably not the best solution for those of you with families, I suppose.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » January 8, 2003, 1:06 pm

Sylvus wrote:I used to get more telemarketer calls than anyone

That's a pretty bold statement, no?

Post by **Sylvus** » January 8, 2003, 1:08 pm

I was exaggerating to emphasize the fact that I got a lot of telemarketer calls. I apologize if I offended you.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » January 8, 2003, 1:16 pm

only thing i use my land line for is DSL. i pretty much know if that phone # rings it is a telemarketer.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » January 8, 2003, 1:26 pm

http://antitelemarketer.bizland.com/index2k18x6.htm ( be warned it does have one popup) will let you download a little app called enigma that keeps all the relevent laws for telemarketers handy.

Of course, I prefer to go thru their entire process until I am at the giving them my credit card number then hanging up.

miir · Post by **miir** » January 8, 2003, 1:52 pm

Voronwë wrote:only thing i use my land line for is DSL. i pretty much know if that phone # rings it is a telemarketer.

If my phone rings and lists:

Unknown Name
Unknown Number

I just let it ring through.

The only people that call me on my home line are my family, friends and my fiancee... and their numbers all come up on my phone.

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » January 8, 2003, 2:03 pm

You are correct Miir. When I see any Unknowns I send them to VM. Or if I'm drunk, it makes for a good laugh to fuck with one.

miir · Post by **miir** » January 8, 2003, 2:09 pm

Or if I'm drunk, it makes for a good laugh to fuck with one

ROFL, yeah, I do that too.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 8, 2003, 2:42 pm

When I first moved out to vancouver like a week after graduating high school I worked as a telemarketer for two weeks. I had literally no money and I refused to go on welfare so I went to this place that was basically a warehouse full of school desks with phones on them, a random dialer call sheet and a script. You could just drop in at anytime and mark your name down on a sheet and get paid for your time there while a bunch of "managers" walked up and down the aisles going "sell! sell!" It was the worst fucking job I've ever had by an enormous margin. Most of the people that where there were sincerely down on their luck and getting spazzed on by people over the phone 20x a day doesn't really help a person's morale. Thankfully I got a better job pretty quickly.

Since then I had always been sympathetic towards telemarketers and very polite to them on the phone.. Until I moved into my last place and got a new phone number. I don't know maybe the person who had our number before me bought something off a telemarketer and got his number put on some list and sold to every other telemarketer, but we must have gotten literally 4-6 calls a day from them. Finally we changed our phone number which was a HUGE pain in the ass because we had to tell all our friends and family etc. and felt that we were forced to do it in order to escape harrassment. Now our number is unlisted which is also annoying to have to do.

Now that I'm older and my time is more limited, I feel like I shouldn't have to pay for a telephone in order to get harrassed by these people. Laws should be passed to prevent calling people at their private residence in order to try and sell them shit.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 8, 2003, 3:13 pm

I haven't had a land phone line for several years. Satellite TV, Cable modem, and Cell Phone freed me of the need.

Somehow I've managed to get barely any telemarketing calls on my cell although I don't answer the few calls I get that are blocked. As cheap as digital cell phone plans are now, I would think more people would take this route.

h8 US West

kurzweil · Post by **kurzweil** » January 8, 2003, 4:39 pm

Favorite telemarketer putdown came when I was playing W3. Some vinyl siding salesman called and I cut him off saying:

"I can't talk right now, the undead are attacking."

and hung up.

Gurugurumaki · Post by **Gurugurumaki** » January 8, 2003, 4:41 pm

My wife gets twos to three carl a day for phone sex. Does thats count, and shourd I question her whereaboots during runch~ TT

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » January 8, 2003, 5:10 pm

I absolutely love telemarketers. I fuck with every single one of them and have a blast doing it. When I get a call at my place, my friends go quiet and just look at me, waiting for the "thumbs up" sign. Then the fun begins.

My favorite is when they ask for me, I say "Oh, he recently passed away". You'll get some sort of apology or something to which you reply "It's no big deal, he was a dickhead anyway. Nobody liked him, not even his own family."

Awkward silence from a telemarketer is a good thing.

The challenge is to think on your feet and come up with good stories as fast as possible and not sound like you're fucking around. Be as serious as you can and just get good reactions from the marketers.

After reading Kyo's post, I kinda feel bad about this one time I was asking this woman if she knew that she had the worst job in the history of jobs, and proceeded to name as many shit jobs as I could off the top of my head that I would rather do instead of a telemarketer. I usually try not to be mean, but I guess that one was pretty bad.

Anyway, I guess I'm just fucking weird or something.

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » January 8, 2003, 5:32 pm

I like saying "He is died 6 months ago, and thank you for bringing up such a painful subject."
That really stumps them.

And my wife was a supervisor for a telemarketing place during college. About a year after she quit we get called. She could immediately pickup the script and knew it was the place she used to work. So she tells the guy "No thanks, and put me down as a code x343" or whatever the code was. That was the code to never ever under any circumstances call this person again. The guy just had absolutely no idea what to say in response to that.

Anuin · Post by **Anuin** » January 8, 2003, 9:43 pm

if I know its a telelmarketer: "City morgue, you kill'em we chill'em"

Diae Soulmender · Post by **Diae Soulmender** » January 9, 2003, 12:51 am

When a telemarketer calls I always listen intently for about 30 seconds, give them a "yes" and a "maybe" then I just put the phone down and walk away.

They usually dont last long...

Key thing to remember here is this: They pay for there calls (many times long distance) so forcing them to pay more per minute charges just drives there cost up. If everyone did this you could likely drive them our of business as there telephone bills would soon exceed there profit margins.

:)

Peace bitches!

Sparck · Post by **Sparck** » January 9, 2003, 1:17 am

Telemarketers can call my house all they want......I just don't answer the phone, especially when I'm on EQ.

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » January 9, 2003, 3:05 am

I do have OMGIAMRETARDEDCAUSEALOTISTWOWORDS of pity for telemarketers.
Most of the ones I deal with are fairly nice, and understanding. The ones that don't take no for an answer, or are otherwise dickheads, I don't deal well with.

I think the meanest I ever was to one was this poor kid, by his voice I'd be surprised if he was over 17, no matter how many times I kept telling him I had family in the hospital and could not afford to buy anything, he kept just reading the script.. I finially just said, "look son, quit reading your script and pay attention to me. I have said 5 times now that I CANT buy anything, I'm sorry, DONT call here again." Kid sounded so scared after that that I really felt bad for him.

Just keep in mind. Only fun people to mess with are bill colelctors. Now, if they get rude to me, then fine, it's open season. I've done the "He's dead" routine, I've done the "Smith's House of Love Sex and Computer Repair - How May We Service your input / Output slots Today?" line (GOTTA love that one, works great).. heh.

beasted · Post by **beasted** » January 9, 2003, 5:59 am

sometimes it's pretty funny to just pick a random word, and use it as a response to everything they say.
also, if you're at least a half decent schwarzenegger impersonator, you can try talking to them in that voice.

it's pretty funny to make a telemarketer screw up their script because they start laughing.

heh.

Rikk Wolvenkin · Post by **Rikk Wolvenkin** » January 9, 2003, 11:37 am

Seven or eight years ago I worked as a telemarketer for a couple months. It sucked, but it was better than a lot of other ones in that they did soft sell instead of that hardsell thing where you aren't supposed to let them say anything until you ask for the credit card number and not let them hang up. My first week there I was the top seller. The secret to success is to not use the script.

But that doesn't keep me from hating it when they call me, my favorite thing to do so far is to just act like I can't understand what they're trying to say. Keep saying "what?" and " and who are you again?" Its fun making them have to try to find their place in the script again.