Automatic Dialers and Telemarketers

[Jardine]

As for being rude to telemarketers, I have a friend formerly in the business and he was and remains rude to those that call him.

As he says, "F##K 'EM".

[agentsteel53]

^^ Oh, that dipshit.  I've gotten many calls from them, including about 24 yesterday between 8 am and 4 pm.  I collected all the phone numbers they spoofed and added them to my call reject list.  They used a total of 13 different numbers.

For a listing of numbers for these jokers, check out 800 Notes.

holy shit.

I don't think I've ever gotten 24 phone calls in a week, and that includes relevant and solicited ones.

[roadman65]

Yes, but, it was you that called them, not some nameless, faceless entity.   From the point of view of someone getting the call, "Hey lady, we're just doing our jobs by calling you four times today" isn't a moving argument.  If "just following orders" doesn't work for soldiers, it isn't going to work for telemarketers.  It's not like one doesn't know what they're getting into when they take a telemarketing job (and yes, I've done it too).

I am not saying that you should not be rude to those who call you, but if you have a question do not ask somebody who does not know the answer.  What I was saying has nothing to do with me making myself feel good for calling them because a dialing machine with leads generated from another company actually made the call.  No, I accept that I will be called names at the time I am doing it, but when the person thinks that I made the call for my benefit and am the one profiting solely on this and actually purposely picking on them for the sake of picking on them I think it is ignorant.

Back in 1980's when I worked for a Research Firm to help pay my rent in addition to my full time job, the very first week an old woman accused me personally of trying to sell her a hot water heater a few weeks back which was before I was employed by the firm.  Back then, believe it or not, I had no idea you could hang up on people you did not want calling you because I once tried that and the dude from The March of Dimes trying to get my dad to subscribe to the Newark Star Leger called back after I hung up on him.  I used to always answer the phone and be polite, even when they called at times I was busy including the Army who used to recruit people via phone solicitations.  In fact I thought I would go to jail if I hung up on the US Army, or Navy for being rude to an officer.  It was not until I became a telemarketer then I learned that you can hang up, curse, or threaten people and did not have to take abuse.

Anyway, if someone did not want to talk to me or listen to me, I moved on to the next call.  If that person accused me of trying to continue the sell when I gave out the toll free number, it did not bother me either because it was the law at the time that we had to leave the contact number so that consumers were allowed a method to complain about rude telemarketers after the call was made.  If I thought that they thought that I was hoping they would change their mind to talk to me personally, I actually chuckled to myself as it was not and they were simply flattering themselves by thinking that especially when they are asking me to have H & R Block Mortgage to stop calling them when a duh the number for them to call H & R Block is being oh let me see given right to them free of charge.  Hey dummy, you just had a duck at your door where you can make dinner out of him because you are hungry is what it is.

Yes, people treat all Telemarketers as the same so they do not differentiate them unless they prove to be different to them just like we still kick the vending machines that eat our money and give us no product even though that results in the same.  Face it no one is going to quit their job as a telemarketer just because you tell them.  Maybe over time they do as not many stay because they either cannot take being cursed at or get fired for low sales, but the firm that hires them will eventually call back with another person ready to pitch and annoy you again.  You can moan all you want, but the next caller will not care when you do complain about the previous person or rival company also marketing and just log the call and move on while the computers programmed by the higher ups who never hear your complaint will continue to let their system harass you!

[algorerhythms]

Thinking of Indian callers who use fake names... My mom used to work at a call center where she took inbound calls handling health insurance claims. The doctors who were filing the claims would often hire companies to handle it for them, and many of those companies used Indian call centers, so my mom often ended up getting calls from them. The fake names they would come up with often became a joke among the staff there.

My mom once got a call from a "Francis." Just to be a smartass, she asked him if it was with an I or an E (i.e. "Frances", a common female name). He didn't know. One of her coworkers got a call from a "Jude", and got written up after she couldn't find his claim in the system and told him by singing "Hey Jude, can't find your claim..."

[hbelkins]

Are transcontinental phone calls so cheap these days that it's easier for American companies to use call centers across the water rather than hiring Americans, whom you can actually understand when talking to them?

[spooky]

I'm not rude to them, I just hang up. OK maybe that is rude, but serves them right for not giving me a chance to even politely say I'm not interested.

[jeffandnicole]

Just had a smile at this one, which I only did one time but I should probably do it again.  As you may know, once you say No twice, the telemarketer must end the solicitian.  So when I picked up, I said No.  When the telemarketer started talking, within a second I interrupted with a No again.  Guess what?  He thanked me for my time and hung up!  It was actually kinda funny.

[oscar]

I'm not rude to them, I just hang up. OK maybe that is rude, but serves them right for not giving me a chance to even politely say I'm not interested.

When I don't want to be rude (on the rare occasions where I even answer a telemarketing call, rather than letting it go to my answering machine), I just hang up, so neither of us wastes any more time on the conversation, and the telemarketer can move on to his next mark that much faster.  If I do want to be rude, I don't hang up, but just leave the receiver of my phone dangling while I go off to do something else, letting the telemarketer make his sales pitch to empty air and wonder whether I was still listening.

Occasionally, I wish I could blast an air horn into my receiver.  Fortunately for the salespeople, I don't have an air horn, and by the time I can buy one, I decide using one can't blow out the eardrum of the real offender, at most just an underling trying to make a living. 

Those of you who've done telemarketing, did you have circuitry or other ways to defend against air horns or other loud retaliatory noises, or don't they even make it full-force through the phone lines?

[PHLBOS]

He sounds Indian, so if he is calling from India, he knows the cops or Attorney General cannot do squat to him and he knows it, so why not hound me.  What is even more interesting is that India now has telemarketers selling American company products, but when you call one of their people to market they hate it and try to shame you for calling them and give you the third degree.

Although this example is lampooning the Customer Service side; anyone remember this gem of a commercial a few years back?

[Pete from Boston]

It's one thing to go off on telemarketers for bothering you, but spending energy on being rude to them?  Time to get some real hobbies. 

[Brandon]

It's one thing to go off on telemarketers for bothering you, but spending energy on being rude to them?  Time to get some real hobbies. 

I have no problem with honest telemarketers.  They're trying to do a job.  I have a problem with scammers like those Indian ones mentioned above.  Those folks are rude, call multiple times in a day (24 for me yesterday), and are trying to scam you out of your money.  I wound up just plonking their numbers (all 15 of them from as many area codes).

[GaryV]

My sister-in-law replied to a telemarketer who was selling long distance service, "Oh, we don't have a phone."  It worked - the telemarketer apologized and hung up.

[roadman65]

It's one thing to go off on telemarketers for bothering you, but spending energy on being rude to them?  Time to get some real hobbies. 

I have no problem with honest telemarketers.  They're trying to do a job.  I have a problem with scammers like those Indian ones mentioned above.  Those folks are rude, call multiple times in a day (24 for me yesterday), and are trying to scam you out of your money.  I wound up just plonking their numbers (all 15 of them from as many area codes).

That is how I lasted at my one job.  I did not mind the service we were providing our customers, as we could be honest with them and not have to stay scripted as long as we stayed on point.  We were allowed to talk to the people using our own personality and it was for refinancing as at the time it was good to redo things with home mortgages. 

The other jobs I did for timeshares we had to stay scripted and even lie a little just to get people interested which maybe why I did not succeed.  Plus it bothered my conscious as well to do it then, but with the one it did not and our job was only to qualify those people who could use the service, so we did not have to create scenarios like with time share sales where anybody who had a credit card qualified for the vacation packages we offered.

Like I said, being rude is a waste of time, and they are not worth it.  It may be fun to vent, but asking a phone operator is just as good as asking the vending machine to give you your money back when you do not get the candy bar or soda you wanted.

[Pete from Boston]

One thing that stops a lot of conversation even with the so-called legitimate folks is that regardless of who they are, I make it a rule to never give money or personal information to somebody who has called me and not the other way around.  Since their whole script usually leads to the goal of getting one or both of these, it tends to obviate the need for them to go any further.

[bugo]

He sounds Indian, so if he is calling from India, he knows the cops or Attorney General cannot do squat to him and he knows it, so why not hound me.  What is even more interesting is that India now has telemarketers selling American company products, but when you call one of their people to market they hate it and try to shame you for calling them and give you the third degree.

Although this example is lampooning the Customer Service side; anyone remember this gem of a commercial a few years back?

Peggy was cool.  I hate most modern commercials, but I liked this series.  I wish they had kept it going (I rarely watch TV so I don't know if it is still being shown but I suspect it is no longer.)  The commercials themselves weren't that funny, but the thought of a guy named "Peggy" makes me laugh.

[formulanone]

A good litmus test word to see if your telemarketer or call center employee is from North America: Have them pronounce the word "Arkansas".

[hotdogPi]

A good litmus test word to see if your telemarketer or call center employee is from North America: Have them pronounce the word "Arkansas".

They'll probably interrupt you in the middle.

[Duke87]

I got a call from Gallup once. I went through the process since I was objectively curious what it would be like. At the end of the call they asked if they could contact me again. I said "no" and have not heard from them since. Well, nice to see they follow the rules.

I don't frequently get telemarketing calls, although I do get a lot of robocalls from one particular source. I responded by blocking their number, but the problem is that on a cellphone all that does is kick them directly to voicemail every time they call. You cannot block them from leaving voicemails (which they do!) using an app on your phone since voicemail functionality is handled upstream by your carrier. 
But at least I know if my phone makes a noise notifying me I have a voicemail without ringing first, it came from that number and I can just delete it.

I could probably opt out of those robocalls by confronting the company they come from but I haven't seen fit to bother. I prefer solutions that I can implement on my end without having to rely on them to play by the rules anyway.

[Pete from Boston]

I got a call from Gallup once. I went through the process since I was objectively curious what it would be like. At the end of the call they asked if they could contact me again. I said "no" and have not heard from them since. Well, nice to see they follow the rules.

I don't frequently get telemarketing calls, although I do get a lot of robocalls from one particular source. I responded by blocking their number, but the problem is that on a cellphone all that does is kick them directly to voicemail every time they call. You cannot block them from leaving voicemails (which they do!) using an app on your phone since voicemail functionality is handled upstream by your carrier. 
But at least I know if my phone makes a noise notifying me I have a voicemail without ringing first, it came from that number and I can just delete it.

I could probably opt out of those robocalls by confronting the company they come from but I haven't seen fit to bother. I prefer solutions that I can implement on my end without having to rely on them to play by the rules anyway.

Verizon, at least, allows blocking on their web site so your phone is never involved.

[algorerhythms]

It seems to vary depending on the phone. Blocked numbers on mine don't go to voicemail. Plus mine allows blocking entire area codes, which is useful if the spammer uses multiple numbers from the same area code, which seems to be common.

On the subject of poll calls, I once got a call from a CNN poll at 6 AM on a Saturday morning. Still half asleep, I told them in not particularly friendly terms that calling 6 AM was unreasonable. Their excuse? It's not 6 AM in the eastern time zone... At least they haven't called back since as far as I know.

[roadman65]

CNN can get a fine for doing that even.  It is supposed to be the time of the person being called, not the one who is making the call.  However, good luck on that one getting authorities to do something like fine one of the top media agencies on the planet.

[hbelkins]

CNN ... one of the top media agencies on the planet.

When did that become the case? 

[bugo]

CNN ... one of the top media agencies on the planet.

When did that become the case? 

You're denying that they're one of the most watched TV news channels?

[Brandon]

CNN ... one of the top media agencies on the planet.

When did that become the case? 

You're denying that they're one of the most watched TV news channels?

However, Reuters, AP, and BBC are much bigger than CNN in actually collecting the news.

[algorerhythms]

I hadn't actually watched CNN in a long time, so out of curiosity I watched it for a while last night. There was a show about conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination, then when that ended another show came on with a dude sitting in a bar in Salvador, Brazil, ordering six caipirinhas. Then I switched to MSNBC and there was a show about a dude in prison jacking off at people.

The "news" doesn't seem to have much news anymore...