Darn Telemarketers

How to get rid of 'em

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
from WinCustomize Forums
My family recieve hundreds and hundreds of telemarketing calls every year (typically 2-3 right during dinner). In order to avoid this, I suggested to my family that we sign up for a national do not call list. Debating that this would be a company which leaked our phone number out to the world, I thoroughly read the privacy policy, and found no such scam. On top of that, the site has a suffix of .gov. After about 15 days, the calls started getting rarer and rarer. Now, after almost a month, we recieve almost no calls at all.

I'm so happy we dont have to put up with those EVIL people.

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
6,082 views 15 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So I was a nasty telemarketer for a few years. Most of those people are just trying to make a living and not able to get a job elsewhere. The Company that puts them to work and makes people annoy other people for profit is what bothers me.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I signed up for the Do Not Call List immediately, as soon as it became available. It's made a tremendous difference, my phone doesn't ring nearly as much as it used to.

Now, if they could just stop the spam junk text messages sent to my cell phone....
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I also signed up for the do not call list. Im fed up with companies saying ive won a free trip , etc, it was getting on my nerves. Not once was I able to eat a meal at dinner time without some ass calling me to sell me a dam vaccum cleaner , or sell me new dual pane windows , etc was getting pretty annoying
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I devise new and anatomically impossible ways of saying 'please go away' and hang up on them.

It got easier once the out-sourcing started...and the calls would come from India....so there's a lag....if they don't respond quick enough after I say 'hello'...I know it's one of these and simply hang up.....before they speak.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have an unlisted number ...through the nation's largest provider (Telstra).

I had requested it be unlisted for just this reason. Imagine my surprise the other day, when Telstra themselves called me up to promote something to me.

...Needless to say, I let fly with some pretty harsh words, carefully pointing out the reasons why my number was unlisted, and requesting the reasons why Telstra themselves should be exempt from the rules I had applied.

the answer: "...err, umm ...but we're Telstra"

My response: "I pay good money for you and everyone else marketing their goods, to not call me!" "If I receive another marketing call from anyone at Telstra, It will be taken directly to the telecommunications ombudsman!"

I received a profuse apology, and was guaranteed my number would be deleted from their list.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Prior to the no call lists here is what I would do (if it didn't blow my stack out of the gate).
Take control of the conversation right away. Cut them off if you have to.
Start bombarding them with questions. What is YOUR name, What is the address of the location you are calling from, What is your company's name, What is your direct phone number, How did you recieve this number.. etc..
In the US, they are required by law to give you this information. I don't think I ever made it entirely through my list of questions before THEY hung up.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top

If govts were serious about personal privacy invasion, etc....this 'opt-out' legislation would be policed as opt-in only.

In other words...unsollicited spam should be illegal to all UNLESS you specifically ask to get it.

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Solutions:

Telezapper and/or a answering machine.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Got rid of my land line and replaced it with a couple cell phones. By US law telemarketers are not allowed to call cell numbers. Voila! No more annoying sales calls!
(Internet connection is cable modem, I ended up saving about $20 a month over paying for a land line, one cell, and cable ISP.)
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I do the same thing, jester!
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
do what Jerry Seinfeld did in one of his episodes lolz i dont think i can live without one reference a day to that show ;X
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Caller ID is useful too...keep my cordless phone next to me while working at the computer, when the phone rings, if I don't know the caller (especially if it says unknown or is a toll-free number), I let my answering machine answer. 95% of the time, the telemarketer (computer) won't leave a message.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
When we used to have a phone, ( we have long since stopped it since we never use it more than 2 or 3 months a time with all other ways to talk... ) I'm sure we used to annoy telemarkers with soounds of what sounds like FAX ( someone told me that ) when we answer using TTY.
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
#9 That's what I finally did.

Originally I signed up for the do not call list right away, but found out later from a rather rude telemarketer that if they had a prior business relationship with me thay were allowed to call.

The ones that always bothered me most would come about 5:30 and would just be a computer checking on what time the telemarketer should call to find you at home.