Pesky Telemarketers OT

[55 Fargo]

Hi all, was just outside in my hot, humid yard, and going back and forth to the garage, trying to wire a beat-up utility trailer I have, and let me tell you the skeeters are worse than I have ever seen all this summer.

Now the phone in the garage starts ringing, and I answer it as my phone in the shop does not have a caller ID display, I hear noise, and people, then this telemarketer, named John states he is calling from Laredo Texas, this is 7:45 PM on Sunday night. I then tell John, poliltely, what on earth is he doing calling me from Laredo Texas on a Sunday night, he asks can I call tomorrow, I say no, it's Labor day tomorrow, you should be taking a break that day, as I plan to do.

He does'nt know what to say, he asks can I call next week, I say sure, knowing I will be at work. He then says good bye, and I hang up, 2 minutes later he call back as for Mr B, as he did the first time, I then say to him, now John you just called me, don't you think you should be home with the family on Sunday night instead of phoning me, 1600 miles to the north, he gets real flustered and apologizes, I then say good bye and end the conversation.

Now I know people need to earn money,work, pay bills etc, but on Sunday night, didn't even ask what he was trying to sell me from Laredo Texas, either, not sure if he was some kind of a scammer, but he sure didn't know what to make of me.

The worst it is so humid up here, the skeeters are so bad, had to come into the house, thank God for central AC........

[Captain Neon]

Sounds to me that he is a bill collector where the one behind on his bills used your phone number when he applied for credit or changed it to your number before he stopped making payments. That is why he called you twice, two accounts with the same bill collection company.

Bill collectors try to contact people when they are most likely to be home, yet most inconvenient. As early as they can legally call, as late as they can legally call, or around dinner, breakfast, or supper.

Everytime I move and have to get a new number I spend at least a year convincing bill collectors (and pizza delivery boys) that I am not the person who previously had my number.

Recently, we've been getting phone solicitations asking for the previous owner of our home. The organisation seeking donations looks for a phone number associated with their last known address hoping that potential donor may have just gotten a new number.

I hate telemarketing. I even worked for a telemarketing company for a few months in college. Very eye-opening experience.

[TodFitch]

If the caller ID is blocked or comes up with something like "800 Service" then my home phone system sends it directly to voice mail. The phone never rings. They almost never leave messages so I don't even have to delete the messages. I only really know they tried calling by the "call records" that the system generates.

If a specific telemarketer actually leaves messages and is really persistent I can set the phone system to give them the tones for number disconnected or no longer in service, play them a message saying that all of the members of the household are busy talking to other telemarketers, then hang up. Again the phone does not ring and in that case they can't leave a message.

On the other hand I do get some grief from my wife when the phone system acts up. Such is life with modern technology. "Technology", my wive tells me, means the bugs have not been worked out of it yet.

[55 Fargo]

If the caller ID is blocked or comes up with something like "800 Service" then my home phone system sends it directly to voice mail. The phone never rings. They almost never leave messages so I don't even have to delete the messages. I only really know they tried calling by the "call records" that the system generates.

If a specific telemarketer actually leaves messages and is really persistent I can set the phone system to give them the tones for number disconnected or no longer in service, play them a message saying that all of the members of the household are busy talking to other telemarketers, then hang up. Again the phone does not ring and in that case they can't leave a message.

On the other hand I do get some grief from my wife when the phone system acts up. Such is life with modern technology. "Technology", my wive tells me, means the bugs have not been worked out of it yet.

I like this method of diverting these calls, heck Todd, my Wife should know how to do this on our phone service, she works for Ma Bell....

[oldmopar]

Solved all the annoying calls and saved money. I got rid of my home phone and only use a cell. Unless you have a business or use a dial up for a computer (I'm on cable) why pay 2 phone bills.

[Jacqualine47]

I worked for a telemarketing-like part of my university's sociology department for a little while. We were just taking phone surveys (mostly polls for the government). The way the system worked (and I think that the system is the same one a lot of telemarketing firms use) is after we logged into our computer, a number pops up, we dial it, read the script and hit the right buttons according to what answers we get, and when we're done we can either save the survey or discard it and recycle the number in the system. If we were declined, we could put in a call-back time, remove the number from the list, or just recycle the number.

A lot of people just always recycled the number - the general 'rule' was that if somebody was rude or mean-spirited then they'd get their number recycled rather than removed from the list. If somebody was polite and said they weren't interested, then they'd be removed from the list. Also, a lot of the people in the lab were lazy and didn't feel like entering the call-back time, or they'd enter the call-back time but accidentally hit the button for recycling the number out of habit.

It wasn't a fun job - basically these people are paid next to nothing to be yelled at by strangers all day. Even non-profit surveys only have a 1 out of 50 response rate.

[TodFitch]

I worked for a telemarketing-like part of my university's sociology department for a little while. ...snip...

How long ago was that? I was under the impression that most telemarketers used "predictive dialing" nowadays. In that case the operator does not have any choice about numbers, they are picked and dialed by the computer. Basically a computer dials a bunch of numbers. Only if someone answers is the call then transferred to a operator. Sometimes (usually) the operator is a bit slow picking up the line so what you hear is a bit of "dead air" after you answer the phone before someone is at the other end.

I have read some literature for companies that make those systems for telemarketers and apparently they also attempt to determine if they have gotten an answering machine or not before they transfer to an operator. That pretty much guarantees a bit of "dead air" when you answer the phone.

Even if you don't have caller ID, that dead air is a giveaway that the call you received is from a "call center" and is most likely a telemarketer that you don't want to deal with.

[james curl]

I answer the phone hello and if I do not get an immediate reply I just hang up or place the phone on the stand in front of the TV for them to talk to. When I hear the dial tone come on, I hang up the phone.

[Captain Neon]

In 1996, the telemarketing firm that I worked for used predictive dialing. We never saw the number we were dialing. Most of the people that I worked with I wouldn't even lend a dollar to because I was pretty sure they'd never pay me back.

I'm pretty sure that people that we marked "remove" were simply put on a different list. Despite being a predictive dialer, I know that I called some of the same people again the next day. I can only imagine how many times these people were being harrassed by the customer that the telemarketing company contracted for. We were simply a fund-raising company contacting people that were supposed to be sympathetic to the cause we were raising money. Bill collectors are an esp. vicious bunch.

[Plymouthy Adams]

my take on the phone....I pay the bill I elect when to answer and who I care to speak too...as the government does not dictate that I need to have a phone and even at that they do not pay the bill..then phone calls by any business is not legitimate form of notification..

[Harvey Tank]

This will stop them.

here is a ph# you can call to get your phone on the do not call list.

it is the national do not call list by the Fedral trade COM.

the no. is [888 3821222]

[james curl]

I have been told by non proffit organization callers that the rule does not apply to them.

[Plymouthy Adams]

the national do not call list works to some degree..local community is not held to that I think..it will not cut the calls completely but it sure is a help...I hve been registered for years..

[Captain Neon]

I have been told by non proffit organization callers that the rule does not apply to them.

James, you are correct. "Non-profits" and those with a prior or current business relationship are exempt from the national "do not call" regulations.

I got into a rather heated discussion with a newspaper that wanted me to subscribe and called me twice at 7:30 AM to get my business. I get my news from the web. I have worked nights for 12 years so I am esp. grumpy about the phone ringing that time of day. Equivalent to 1:00 AM for day shift folks.

I called in a favour from a lawyer friend that wrote them a strongly worded letter notifying them of Minnesota's prohibition on unsolicited business calls before 9:00 AM and the consequences of calling some one that explicitly notifies a business not to call again. They stopped calling me.

[Oldguy48]

Hi all, was just outside in my hot, humid yard, and going back and forth to the garage, trying to wire a beat-up utility trailer I have, and let me tell you the skeeters are worse than I have ever seen all this summer.

Now the phone in the garage starts ringing, and I answer it as my phone in the shop does not have a caller ID display, I hear noise, and people, then this telemarketer, named John states he is calling from Laredo Texas, this is 7:45 PM on Sunday night. I then tell John, poliltely, what on earth is he doing calling me from Laredo Texas on a Sunday night, he asks can I call tomorrow, I say no, it's Labor day tomorrow, you should be taking a break that day, as I plan to do.

He does'nt know what to say, he asks can I call next week, I say sure, knowing I will be at work. He then says good bye, and I hang up, 2 minutes later he call back as for Mr B, as he did the first time, I then say to him, now John you just called me, don't you think you should be home with the family on Sunday night instead of phoning me, 1600 miles to the north, he gets real flustered and apologizes, I then say good bye and end the conversation.

Now I know people need to earn money,work, pay bills etc, but on Sunday night, didn't even ask what he was trying to sell me from Laredo Texas, either, not sure if he was some kind of a scammer, but he sure didn't know what to make of me.

The worst it is so humid up here, the skeeters are so bad, had to come into the house, thank God for central AC........

If you want to hear a hilarious telemarketer gag, just google "Tom Mabe" and telemarketer. I'm sure you'll get quite a laugh when you hear it:D

[garbagestate 44]

The "do not call registry" does work however, it won't stop a service provider with whom you're currently doing business, from bothering you legally. Like a cable tv service provider begging you to upgrade your service etc.

[Don Coatney]

The "do not call registry" does work however, it won't stop a service provider with whom you're currently doing business, from bothering you legally. Like a cable tv service provider begging you to upgrade your service etc.

I use Comcast as my ISP. They started sending me e-mail wanting me to spend more money with them, So I reported there e-mail as spam:cool:

[Frank Elder]

IF, I have the time there is a fun little game to be played, it's called pretending to be interested...works for other things too!:eek:I listen to the whole speech then decline to buy, man they get mad!:mad:I can always reheat my supper.

[Reg Evans]

I like to tell them that I'm busy right now but if they give me their home # I'll call back tonight.

[Harvey Tank]

yay! but if they call on your cell phone you pay for the min.

[Frank Elder]

Magic Jack...I don't want or own a leash:D

[TodFitch]

Magic Jack...I don't want or own a leash:D

I guess I am being slow here: There is no "Magic Jack", "Magic", "Jack" or "leash" in this thread prior to your post. So what is this in reference to?

[JIPJOBXX]

I just let the answering machine do the talking and never pick up the phone till I know who is on the other end.

[Reg Evans]

I guess I am being slow here: There is no "Magic Jack", "Magic", "Jack" or "leash" in this thread prior to your post. So what is this in reference to?

Oh Good, Slowness loves company. I don't get it either.

[Frank Elder]

I guess I am being slow here: There is no "Magic Jack", "Magic", "Jack" or "leash" in this thread prior to your post. So what is this in reference to?

Magic Jack is a module that is plugged into a usb port on your computer for about a 50 dollar one time fee, then you pay 20 dollars a year to have your phone services come to you through the net. Unlimited calls with all the bells and whistles....cox cable was charging a minimum of 40 a month not counting long distance for a land line. Funny thing is though my cheaper service comes through their internet..I'll bet that chaps the rear end:DThe only drawback to be found so far is you cannot converse on the phone and look something up because it chirps and growls interfering with your conversation.

A cell phone is good for a car trip in case of emergency...otherwise to me it is just a leash, you tug on the end of a leash to remind your dog whose in control, I don't care to be the dog....the missus would call constantly wanting the 411, and If I didn't answer she would want to know why. So after months of this I set some boundries by losing it, in the missouri river ooops. Never bothered to get a new one, life is fine without it.:)Magicjack google it.

Edited September 10, 2009 by FRANKIE47