Phone Solicitation Rant

Have you gotten on the no call list? I signed up a while ago and get very few calls. In the rare event that I do get one, I tell the person to remove me from the company's call list. Seems to work for me.

 

This happened to me on my cell phone. I have no idea who it was. I stopped answering numbers I don't know or if it says Private.

 

"No Call" list or not, I'm pretty sure it's illegal for them to call cell phones!!!
just answer, tell them it's a cell phone and they will hang up and remove you from their list, trust me....

 

Not exactly... calling cell phones is legal as long as the telemarketers are not using automatic dialers. So if someone is sitting there actually punching the numbers in, they have every right to call your cell phone.

More info about this here:
Click on "The Truth about Cell Phones and the Do Not Call Registry"

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

 

At my office, my secretary usually screens my calls, and filters out the cold calls from the stock salesmen. One guy got thru, by telling her that it was personal. As soon as I established that: A) the saleman did not know me and B) had lied to get his way past my secretary, I informed him that I was thinking seriously about investing considerable cash and wanted a fresh look, but that, having lied from the outset, he was not to be trusted with my considerable assets.

I also like to engage in philosphical discussions with these guys, if I happen to pick up my office phone and get one. I raise issues about the meaning of life, the notion of money for its own sake, and the value of living life to the fullest at the moment. I usually drive them bananas.

 

The 'do not call' list is one of the most ass-backwards concepts I've ever heard of. I mean, how many names must be on that list?? 50 million?? 100million??
Seems much more practical do reverse the process and have a 'call' list. That way, the 10 or 20 miserable people in this country that like these calls can get on the list to be called.
That's how it should be!

 

It sucks that you have to put your name on a list not to be bothered, but since I've added all my numbers to the list, I've received no calls.

 

I love the calls that happen around 6:00 pm in the evening. Just hang up on the chump. The last thing in the world I'm going to do is buy anything from some cold call clown!

 

There are people that sue these clowns and make some money doing it

http://www.panix.com/~eck/telemarket.html

 

I got one right at dinner time, and it is for a local moving company. They had this super-special on their house & apartment moving service, blah blah blah.

I politely told them - look, I own my house, and have lived there for 10 years, and have no intention of moving within the next 10 years.

It does not even stop the jerk for a second. He goes on and on - sir, you don't understand what a great bargain this is, it is half price, etc. etc. etc.

I finally had to yell at him - LOOK YOU IDIOT, I DON'T WANT TO MOVE! I DON"T CARE HOW CHEAP IT IS!!!

click.

 

You're nicer than I used to be. As soon as I knew it was a solicitor, I just hung up.

 

Some of the calls come in VOIP from oversees. They're a weird list of numbers so you can easily tell. Not much you can do about those AFAIK.

 

I was a temp handling computer issues at Countrywide in Westlake Village a couple years ago.

Their login script was generating a low interest home loan/employee benefit pop-up that made you dismiss it before you could boot all the way into Windows.

If you've ever worked in the computer industry day in day out on computers for others, pop-ups and stuff are the most aggravating thing.

I took a call from one of the employees regarding a computer issue and walked to their area to investigate. I asked them to log in for me and they complied. I said loud enough for those right next to them, "Do you think its necessary we advertise to our own people over and over again regarding the same benefit until we take advantage of it while trying to get work done?"

A lady standing behind us made a choking noise and pointed at the gentleman who's computer I was working on saying, "He designed that!" I realized I was standing in the Internal Marketing department. I looked at the gentleman and he had the most blank stare I've ever recalled seen on a person's face.

All I did was laugh.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy **** we don't need." - Tyler Durden

 

Isn't that nuts,when they want you wait for an operator to be available? nack We hang up immediately for any solicitation and screen with caller-id. Any 800 or VoIP gateway #'s don't even bother answering. it's insane the volume of calls.

Even the banks are bad, they want to only talk to me, and will call back 100x - eventually my wife told them they'd never, ever, be able to do that, and to talk to her only. It worked once but continues on. Nuts how dumb these scripts are they use.

 

Me too. I used to try to be polite but I don't care anymore. They make a choice to call me and I make a choice that I don't want to talk to them. I hang up immediately.

 

I remember when I was a high school senior (back in the day of ROTORY DIAL PHONES ) when the God-damned military recruiters would call the house at 7am on SATURDAY wanting to talk to me about joining.

There's a phone line to my house but no phones attached, no phone number assigned Now I only own a cell phone. If I don't recognize the number or if it's blocked then I don't answer it. My motto: If it's important then they'll leave a voice mail!

Unlike many of my friends, my cell phone doesn't run (ruin? ) my life.

 

As far as I know, we do not have a centralized do not call list in New Zealand. I too got rid of my land-line, because of all the telemarketers constantly calling me during meal times to sell life insurances, time-shares etc.

I get sick of people ringing my company's 0800 toll free number to sell advertising etc. It means that I'm paying 15 cents a minute to speak to them. Most of the time they come up as "withheld" on my caller ID display so I can screen them out. It's always humorous though when I find out that some of them work from home on contract and I call them back during meal-times for a laugh!

 

I had one last week at work - pick up and it's (supposed to be) a ships foghonr. Just "hello?" then this loud blast. I'm thinking WTF, then I hear a way-too-happy (recorded) voice asking me if I'd like to get away from the hustle and bustle of work and take a relaxing vacation.

Even on the offhand that one of those phone solicitors has a good deal, I never take them as a matter of principle. If everyone turned them down, they wouldn't call at all

Even worse are the faxes that try to look like official company memos and discuss things like vacation getaways, etc.

 

oh man the fax thing always gets me, i know it's junk but for some reason i fid myself reading that crap......and thinking, "damn this is a good deal, cancun 3 nights, 4 days for $99, wow!!" but of course I never call or reply......

it's funny I hate the cold calls but when I first started at my job I had to do it from time to time, if anything to fill my calendar, not to sell people anything.........just to meet with them, and you know what.....I met some of my best clients that way, after that first meeting they're thanking me for taking the time out to call them and come meet with them, these days my business is 90% referral and 10% being in the right place at the right time......I hate picking up the phone and calling someone who doesn't know that I'm going to be calling ......

it's a crazy world, I don't have a land line at the house anymore either, but it seems that there's nothing I can do about junk emails and pop ups, even with spam filters and pop up blockers some always get through.....

 

Solicitation via fax is illegal in the US. You may want to talk to your legal dept. and see what you can do to stop those who are doing it.