Telemarketing Calls

[Paper Mario]

I have my phone numbers on the Do Not Call list, but I still keep getting calls from these foul beasts! Can anyone help me out here?

[myself]

be as mean to them as you possibly can

[Robert The Jester]

Hand the phone to a 80/8 year old

[Defective]

I don't think they ever really take it off they just don't call you for a long time. Make sure you ask all of them to take you off their list, there is more than one telemarketer.

Or just do what I do: Talk in another language (if you don't know one just talk gibberish), then hang up.

[Mr. Anderson]

Pretend it's a crime scene and record the conversation.

Waiiiit...

Yeah just check the list.

[DarkReality]

Threaten to file a complaint with the police. Ask for the telemarketers name. Be as intinimdating as possible.

[Justin]

Just report them to the FCC. If you're on the DNC list, they'll be fined a minimum of $15,000.

[dicemaster]

I have heard that they cannot hang up until you do, so answer and then put the phone in another room while you watch TV or something.

[Circuit]

Do what I do. Pick up the phone, realise it's a telemarketer, and pretend to be a telemarketer.

[Video.Head]

Just report them to the FCC. If you're on the DNC list, they'll be fined a minimum of $15,000.
Do you get the money from it?

I check the caller ID then not answer it.

[Justin]

No, the money goes to help maintain the DNC registry.

[Dragon]

Damn, 15,000?

We are on the DNC list, I am so reporting these people, they never stop calling.

[a1b23]

Make sure they are not charitable organizations. I have people call my house too, but they are all people calling for my famuily to donate money to their cause (whatever it may be).

[¿CRAZYØ¿]

Not that there aren't any great ideas in this thread, but if you're age is correct, you're 16. What do you care? I'm the same age, and I just tune the house phone out and never answer it anyway. Unless you're talking about your cell phone.

If you're talking about you're cell phone, you'll probably need to get your number changed. I was getting called by these people from a middle eastern country looking for muhammed and was also getting calls from some phone sex line or something the former number owner had registered for.

[Justin]

Charities and certain other organizations are exempt from the DNC list, as well.

[¿CRAZYØ¿]

Charities and certain other organizations are exempt from the DNC list, as well.

Oh yes, cancer research, they call every day at 2 PM.

[denacioust]

How often does it happen that it causes this much of a problem? Can't you just hang up. There's no need to be abusive, it's not like it's just one person who rings you up, telemarketing, abusing one person won't get any results unless you benefit from that sort of thing. Not to mention the person on the other end of the phone probably isn't that bothered about what they're doing they're just looking for a bit of money.

If it doesn't happen that often then just hang up.

[Ice Punk]

be as mean to them as you possibly can

Hand the phone to a 80/8 year old

I have heard that they cannot hang up until you do, so answer and then put the phone in another room while you watch TV or something.

Threaten to file a complaint with the police. Ask for the telemarketers name. Be as intinimdating as possible.

>.> you know, I used to be a telemarketer. We're regular people too you know, just doing a job to earn some cash.

few things here

A) It takes two weeks for you to get registered in the DNC list, but most people don't because they don't specify to be added to it. And you can only fine the company (not the person talking to you) IF your added. most of the time we list you down as to not call for that specific product again, so your still in the company's listing.
few things which will still get you calls from us, but for a different product;
"remove me from your list"
"don't call this number"
Not to mention if you are being rude, mean, and just a straight up #######, I'm most certainly not putting you on any list. sure the next time someone calls you can ask the manager and tell them you were added to the list, but after the two weeks you thought it'd take to put you in the DNC registry, with the number of calls for different things we called your house for, they can't trace it back to me. so telling me to "####ING NEVER CALL [you] AGAIN!" will simply be checked off as "unavailable" and you'll be hearing from us tommorow ^^

B) We can hang up on you whenever we want. if you're harrasing us we have the right to mute you, disconnect you, or listen to your TV in the background as long as we want. We get paid hourly, and get extras for commisions. So as long as you don't hang up, we don't have to take another call and can sit there reading, drawing, whatever we want. Less work for me with all the pay, no skin off my back XD

As I said before, I'm just doing my job, if you want to be mean, I can be mean back.

[RocketSoldier]

My friend used to be a telemarketer. I know the #### they have to go through every day. I befriended a telemarketer once. We talked about how awesome The Dark Knight was.

[Wyneko]

after getting on the list, wait a month. Then you sue em or something...

[Ryd00d]

Do exactly what i do.
Pick up the phone.
Say Hello? then just be like: hello? HELLLLLO???????? DONT CALL MY HOUSE UNLESS YOU SAY SOMETHING. HELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOO. or just be rude & stuff,it makes EVERYTIME they call alot more fun.

[theJagJr]

I don't think they ever really take it off they just don't call you for a long time. Make sure you ask all of them to take you off their list, there is more than one telemarketer.

Or just do what I do: Talk in another language (if you don't know one just talk gibberish), then hang up.

I talk German or French to them and they don't know what's happening so they hang up.

[Ice Punk]

I talk German or French to them and they don't know what's happening so they hang up.

I speak both those.

[Helmic]

I have my phone numbers on the Do Not Call list, but I still keep getting calls from these foul beasts! Can anyone help me out here?

Hey, isn't this the same guy that only posts in this forum, asking for advice but never confirming if he even took note of it?

Anywho, make SURE you've signed up, then report the offending company. Ask for a company name the next time if you're not sure or if you don't have caller ID.

[theryman]

Also, if anyone in your family ever signed up for an email thingy and put your phone number down, that is basically giving them consent to call you.

[Twitchy_Whiskers]

I have heard that they cannot hang up until you do, so answer and then put the phone in another room while you watch TV or something.
WRONG! If you screw with them long enough, they'll hang up.

[Dan]

I honestly don't see the problem with telemarketers. You can have so much fun messing with them for laughs.

[What do you want from me?]

I've got to ask this question.
What's wrong with saying "No thanks" politely, and politely hanging up?
Telemarketers are people, trying to have a job, trying to make money.
They've one of the worst respected jobs, next to lawyers when you don't need them, and IRS agents.

[¿CRAZYØ¿]

I think the best part about this thread is how the OP hasn't responded once since he made this.

[DarkReality]

I've got to ask this question.
What's wrong with saying "No thanks" politely, and politely hanging up?
Telemarketers are people, trying to have a job, trying to make money.
They've one of the worst respected jobs, next to lawyers when you don't need them, and IRS agents.

I'm sorry, but I have no respect for someone who calls me during dinner and tries to sell me something I don't need. I don't want salesmen at my door, why should I want them on my phone?

I might have just had some bad experiences with people trying to sell me insurances that I need about as much as I need a third ear.

[a1b23]

I've got to ask this question.
What's wrong with saying "No thanks" politely, and politely hanging up?
Telemarketers are people, trying to have a job, trying to make money.
They've one of the worst respected jobs, next to lawyers when you don't need them, and IRS agents.

Most of the time that doesn't work. They will push to get you to buy somehting because they get a comission on the sale. The only way to stop them from calling is to say "please remove me from your list". If that doesn't work you can always threaten a call you your local DA (District Attorney) to file harassment charges.

[RocketSoldier]

I think the best part about this thread is how the OP hasn't responded once since he made this.

He never does.

[Ice Punk]

Most of the time that doesn't work. They will push to get you to buy somehting because they get a comission on the sale. The only way to stop them from calling is to say "please remove me from your list". If that doesn't work you can always threaten a call you your local DA (District Attorney) to file harassment charges.

If anyone ever threatened me with harassment charges for doing my job, i'd laugh at them... I might as well threaten to sue you for being ignorant, it's just as applicable.

[Screech]

My advice is to stop being an arrogant little brat.

These people are just doing their job. They have no controle over who gets called. They are underpaid for the harrassment they put up with, so do you REALLY think they give two ####s if you are on the "do not call" list? no, they'll just set up a call for two hours from now laughing.

If you ACTUALLY want a feasable solution, treat the telemarketer with respect. YES, I know they are on commission, but being an ass won't help dick all either. Try something like this, but REMEMBER, 80% of how the person on the other line is seeing you is in your TONE, not what you say. Allways speak with a smile on your face (Yes, you can hear it, and you hear it alot easier after ten hours a day on the phones) and sound firm.

"I mean no dissrespect Sir/mam, but I did register on the Do-not-call list, and I am confused to why I am still recieving phone calls. I totally understand you are just doing your job, but this line absolutly cannot be tied up for buissness reasons. Do you have a manager I can speak with, or a number to a law department so I can direct my lawyer?"

I guarentee you'll get a better reaction from that statement than with rudeness. Most call center employees cannot continue speaking with you after you threaten any sort of legal action anyways.

[Justin]

If you don't like getting shat on on the phone all day, don't work call center. That's my take on it.

If I'm on the DNC registry, and you call me, your company is going to get fined. It's pretty simple. It's not your fault, probably, as you just call whatever number pops up on your computer, but you represent the company you are calling on behalf of, and as such are the one who has to deal with it.

I'm not rude, but I simply get the name, employee number, and company information, and report them to the FCC. Probably that employee gets fired. Too bad for them. They shouldn't work for a company that breaks the law.

Of course, none of this applies in Canada, as they have no federal Do Not Call registry.

[Grunteh]

I'm on that list also. Just Accept the call and hang up.

[Screech]

Probably that employee gets fired. Too bad for them. They shouldn't work for a company that breaks the law.

Most likely not. You can't get fired over a single complaint, or no one would last over a week in the industry. You'll be constantly reminded of your failures and your job will constantly be hung over your head.

If you don't like getting shat on on the phone all day, don't work call center. That's my take on it.

Thats a pretty ignorant take on it. The fact is, call centers usually pop up in areas where there are not many jobs, like wherer I lived before. That was the main industry. Unless you want to flip burgers and get paid miniumum, you go to a call center and make 12-13 bucks an hour. And just because you've got an education and have a place to work, does not mean every person who has a masters does. I've worked with a helecopter pilot, a robotics specialist, a chick with a masters in linguistics who spoke more languages than you can shake a fist at.. What, because some hick town doesn't need their work mean they deserve to be treated like ####?

Also, people are leaving post secondary in increasingly amounts of debt. Then theres life, such as kids, the rising prices of just about everything, rent, morgage, payments.... So, your telling me, these people just working a job deserve to be treated like bags of #### JUST because they work in a call center? Whats so special about your ass that makes YOU deserve more respect at your job than someone else, the fact you work in a university? Yeah, because the amount of respect you give someone should TOTALLY be rated on where they work. Not like all human beings deserve repsect or anything, just the human beings that work in pretty places.

[denacioust]

I'm just wondering exactly how often you all get called by these that you feel the need to hurl abuse at them?
We get a call maybe every couple of months. They usually ask something like, 'Would you mind if we ask you about the services you receive from your ...?' at which point you answer 'No, thanks' and hang up. It's never really been an annoyance, about as much so as someone dialling the wrong number.

[DarkReality]

These people are just doing their job. They have no controle over who gets called. They are underpaid for the harrassment they put up with, so do you REALLY think they give two ####s if you are on the "do not call" list? no, they'll just set up a call for two hours from now laughing.

Being underpaid definitely justifies harrassing people despite them not wanting to be called -_- I frankly don't care if someone's only doing it because it's the only job available. If I tell them to take my phone number off their call list and get another call, then someone ####ed up. If being friendly the first time didn't help, then it won't help a second time. I know they're human people, but being on the other end of a phone doesn't justify incompetence to follow through with a simple request.

[Justin]

[/rant]

My point is simply, you choose where you work. If the working conditions are unacceptable, don't work there. If you have a higher education and can't find work in your field, then move somewhere where you can.

Trust me. I've worked my fair share of crap jobs. But never for very long.

[Ice Punk]

Being underpaid definitely justifies harrassing people despite them not wanting to be called -_- I frankly don't care if someone's only doing it because it's the only job available. If I tell them to take my phone number off their call list and get another call, then someone ####ed up. If being friendly the first time didn't help, then it won't help a second time. I know they're human people, but being on the other end of a phone doesn't justify incompetence to follow through with a simple request.

no, It means you got put on a list not to be asked about that product. the same company (not the one where they say, "i'm calling on behalf of _____". because they're the ones who sold your information to 20 other companies which could all be selling the same product and others [that is how this stuff works]) can still call you again about another product. and even if you DO get called again on behalf of whoever sold you out for the same product, doesn't mean it's the same company you told to #### off in the first place... So no, if you get called again doesn't mean someone ####ed up. it means you ####ed up in specifying that you wanted your number removed... That still doesn't mean you can't be called by other companies for the same product... And you think being rude to the next person calling you, threatening them and being an ignorant dick will get you anywhere? NO, I'd mute your ass (which I can do, and have the right to do when you verbally harass ME) and decide whether I'll just ignore you and write you off as an answering machine or set up to have you called again at the shortest possible time, just to piss you off.

In welland it's the only job that gives enough money to pay bills that doesn't require a highschool degree, so almost everyone in town has worked at Marusa's at some point or another. it's not a choice lots of us have.

[a1b23]

If anyone ever threatened me with harassment charges for doing my job, i'd laugh at them... I might as well threaten to sue you for being ignorant, it's just as applicable.

I disagree. If a telemarketer from Company A calls you and you aske them to remove you from their list, and the next day another telemarketer from Company A calls you, I believe you have the right to file harrassment charges. You specifically told them to stop calling you and the did not, hence the harrassment. Now based on that logic, how can you refute that. Also, how would you feel if everyday people called you saying "buy this" or "give us money for this" it is very frustrating, and if you're having a bad day that can just set you off and you yell at the person calling you.

[Screech]

My point is simply, you choose where you work. If the working conditions are unacceptable, don't work there. If you have a higher education and can't find work in your field, then move somewhere where you can.


Oh thank goodness. I half expected to be banned when I logged on, I did fly off the handle a little and I do appologize for that Justin. A bad mood is no excuse for personal attacks.

However, I shall rerefine my point.

Yes, call centers are crap jobs, and harrassment is just part of the job. People seem to forget theres a regular person just trying to make a living on the othe rend of the line. But you know what? All those people who yelled and #####ed at me, harrassed me, thinking they would get what they wanted? Got no where. Its the same with any other seasoned agent I've met. If anything, it would make it more difficult to get what they want. You yell at me for half an hour, call me every name under the sun and want to complain about me to my superviser, when I was only doing my job? Well, he's been sitting beside me since 30 seconds in, and he's not too keen on listening to you complain about me, and he sure isn't going to fire me.

Point is, as is with anything else in life, respect will get you farther. That, and politly threatning legal action, but I don't think anyone reads the non-#####y-trying-to-be-helpfull parts of my posts anymore anyways.

I would, and I know many an agent, go out of my way for that customer that went out of their way to be nice to me, too.

[Ice Punk]

I disagree. If a telemarketer from Company A calls you and you aske them to remove you from their list, and the next day another telemarketer from Company A calls you, I believe you have the right to file harrassment charges. You specifically told them to stop calling you and the did not, hence the harrassment. Now based on that logic, how can you refute that. Also, how would you feel if everyday people called you saying "buy this" or "give us money for this" it is very frustrating, and if you're having a bad day that can just set you off and you yell at the person calling you.

no, you don't have that right.. because you don't even know the next day if it's company a calling you again or company b.

look. you buy a product and give information to a company, in the fine print it says they have the right to sell that information out to other companies. so even though the speaker on the line say "I'm calling on behalf of century 21 who you have a mortgage with", they are simply 1 of the many companies who paid for your name and number. most of those companies will sell the same thing, and therefore, just because you told one to stop calling, doesn't mean they ALL stop calling. and if your not specific about being put on thier do not call list, then that company can still call you AGAIN on behalf of whoever sold your info about OTHER products... YOU have no right to sue that individual or even the company, AND if your a dick while asking to be specifically put on the DNC list, most of the time we don't care about your bad day and will NOT register you on the DNC list, which makes it still legal for us to call you again, and again, and again.
Just cause you've had a bad day doesn't make you special, even telemarketers get called too, you know how we handle it? politely EVERYTIME, and do you think we get recalled for the same #### over and over? no. I certainly don't. once in a while i get a repeat because of another company, but that's not thier fault. and it get's taken care of quickly.

there's no one to blame but yourselves for not watching where your information was being sold when you purchased things or got a new credit card and more so for not handling the situation efficiently.

[Chimpy]

This thread has raised my curiosity..

How often do you telemarketing guys actually make sales over the phone? To be honest, (no offence), all I hear is complaints about telemarketers, and I can't see many people buying stuff of them, especially with so many people connected to the internet now anyways.

Personally, I'm not too bothered by them. Sure, it's a bit annoying, but no worse than the Jehova's Witnesses who knock on my door (hell, I'd trade JW visits for telemarketers anyday). One thing that does annoy me is when you answer the phone and clearly a person is not speaking, I just hang up straight away (what I mean is, a computer).

[Blastedt]

Yeah, recordings are annoying. But I dislike live people more because I am incompetent with phones. I'm polite and all, but I'm not good at hanging up politely.

Even more annoying are the calls that you pick up....and nobody's on the other end of the line.

[Scirocco Kinu]

Here's a solution: GET CALLER ID (Provided you don't have it, if so, then get it already), then ignore any ID that's clearly the name of a company. You should also usually ignore "Privacy Manager," unless you're expecting a call from someone out of the country, in which, pick it up.

[Ice Punk]

This thread has raised my curiosity..

How often do you telemarketing guys actually make sales over the phone? To be honest, (no offence), all I hear is complaints about telemarketers, and I can't see many people buying stuff of them, especially with so many people connected to the internet now anyways.

Personally, I'm not too bothered by them. Sure, it's a bit annoying, but no worse than the Jehova's Witnesses who knock on my door (hell, I'd trade JW visits for telemarketers anyday). One thing that does annoy me is when you answer the phone and clearly a person is not speaking, I just hang up straight away (what I mean is, a computer).

depends on what we're selling, credit insuranse is something like 2 sells per shift, while easy things (I actually forget what it was, but it came with free grocery coupons or something) and i'd get 6-10 sales.

[Justin]

You really get 2 takers per shift selling that credit insurance crap?

Faith in humanity -5

[Ice Punk]

I got 5 one night... but understand we call somewhere around 2-300 people, depending on how long each customer lasts on the phone.

[Dan]

Have you actually spent an entire shift talking to only 2 people?

[Ice Punk]

that shift would last 5 minutes, 15 if they both bought the product.