Phone solicitors

[BowlingForSoup]

I just thought I'd let everyone know that I want all phone solicitors, of any kind, I don't care what they're selling....long distance, magazines, home insurance, life insurance, my ASS insurance, credit cards...WHATEVER. I want them all to burn in a fiery abyss of hell unlike any other. But just as they're about to make their ascend, I want them to look up at me....so I can pee in all of their eyes. Just thought I'd share.

That's it...I'm GONE!

 

[Big Mac Attack]

I used to be just like you, I hated those fuckers til one day back in 93. I met a guy at the poolhall that was a telemarketer, I went to the phone room the next day with him just to check it out. I felt like MJ did the first time he walked onto a court. The rest is history I have made millions in the biz, I sell names by the millions to telemarketers who dial them using computers for days on end, I sell names to junkmailers who fill mailboxes across the country(thats what I do now). I own several call centers. Its a great gig you should join us cause you cant beat us.

 

[Spruceman]

Telemarketing companies should be required to have their name and numbers show up on caller-id. They should be given a separate area code ["666" would be the most appropriate.], and consumers should be able to block all calls coming in from this code. Non-profits, political, etc., should NOT be exempt.

Just as there's a sex offender registry, there should be a national registry of all persons working the phones for telemarketers, which includes their HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER; and telephone harrassment laws should be revised to allow annoying and harrassing calls to these people 24/7.

I make it a policy NOT to buy anything from (or make charitable contributions to) any telemarketing, spamming e-mails, or door-to-door solicitations. If anyone wants to sell me something, they can do it via first class US mail, preferably with free samples. And on the subject of mail, anyone (particularly AOL) sending those CD media in the mail should be required to send CD-RW media rather than those CD-Rs, At least in the ancient days of sending floppies, they could be reused rather than cluttering up the landfills.

 

[BowlingForSoup]

Telemarketing companies should be required to have their name and numbers show up on caller-id. They should be given a separate area code ["666" would be the most appropriate.], and consumers should be able to block all calls coming in from this code. Non-profits, political, etc., should NOT be exempt.

Amen, nuff said. Glad it's working out for Big Mac, but if you had any idea (my experience) how bad it's gotten here, such as them harrassing myself by calling my home phone and cell phone, as well as calling my MOTHER of all people among other practices, you'd be pretty pissed off.

 

[AustinTX]

Amen, nuff said. Glad it's working out for Big Mac, but if you had any idea (my experience) how bad it's gotten here, such as them harrassing myself by calling my home phone and cell phone, as well as calling my MOTHER of all people among other practices, you'd be pretty pissed off.

Sounds more like bill collectors

BTW in Texas, for bill collectors or any sort of collection matter, you can tell them once to stop harrassing you and to never call you again, they are allowed to make one final follow-up call, but that's it. If they call after that, get ahold of the AG office.

 

[TxArmyGuy]

In Texas it's against the law for them to call your cell phone...Even Bill Collectors in Texas can't call your cell phone

 

[Big Mac Attack]

I dont believe in pissing people off. They wont buy if their pissed and its bad for the image of the biz, not that we have a good image. The best thing to do in just "slam" them, in other words dont speak just hang up. There unfortunatly has been so many bad telemarketers if has ruined the biz for the few good ones. I send out mail solications and have the people call us, that way its their chioce. it isnt intrusive.

 

[BowlingForSoup]

Well you I could've dealt with Big Mac. Yeah I've already had to call the Attorney General on one company. I think it's been taken care of because I hadn't heard anything from them in over a month now. I counted 16 calls in one day from them. Not including all on my cell phone. I've recently been getting a phone call from a long distance company saying I owe them money. I'm like "um...who are you? I've never even heard of you" etc.etc.etc. They went on to tell me became part of their service at so and so time and I was like "well, that's really funny because I've never had contact with you people before in my life, and I haven't had long distance on my phone since 1995". I talked to my lawyer and he told me just to let them know the basic, you know, I believe this is telephone harrassment, I have no obligation to them nor do they have any tangible proof that they have a valid account with me, I didn't authorize an account with them and any further calls to me will be considered telephone harrassment and I will sue the person calling personally and their company plus report them to the AG. I mean hell, I don't like being a dick. I pretty much try to get along with everyone, but this is the kind of crap that could REALLY piss you off. I know everyone has to make a living someone, but damn!

 

[BowlingForSoup]

I know everyone has to make a living someone, but damn!

Meant somehow, instead of someone. Sorry

 

[velvett]

I get a lot of phone solicitation at work from telephone services providers.

I let them talk briefly and then I tell them very kindly that I'm sorry but I do not have a phone.


Works every time.

 

[biteme]

I just got one of those calls as I read this thread. Someone conducting a survey about soda pops and something else. Ask if you can get their home # so you can call them at an inconvenient time and bug the shit out of them. They're just doing their job, but I wouldn't have a job like that unless I were starving.

 

[collegiateLifter]

( solicitor) "hi, blah blah blah"

" I'm a bit busy right now, can i call you back later at your home phone number?"

"uhhhh well no...."

"Oh, i see you don't want people disturbing you while you're at your home"

"well yea"

"think of that next time before you call me."

 

[Big Mac Attack]

The reason you got 16 calls in one day is simple. The person running the auto-dailer was loading the same data files through it again and again. Which from a business perspective is a bad plan because all it does is keep calling the same people who didnt buy the first pass. They probably had someone who didnt know what they were doing load the data. Typically a company will run the data about once a week until there isnt very many sales on any given pass. Some systems will remove your number if you hang up fast "slam"them, If you mutherfuck the telemarketer the computer only sees talktime and will keep redailing your number because statistacally talkers are buyers.

 

[BowlingForSoup]

Yeah my brother had told me " don't cuss at them, don't yell at them". Basically all I do (when someone actually answers after I answer the call...even after the 10 second delay) is say "we do not allow solicitation, please put us on your do not call list". Some say it works. Who knows.

 

[BowlingForSoup]

I just changed my quotes, if you can't tell. Sorry, I got a little overzealous.

 

[Big Mac Attack]

btw: don't bitch at telemarketers or piss 'em off. Cuz they'll just put a flag on your number to get you called again and again. It's how they get their revenge.

Hopefully that new federal "do not call" legislation will get passed. That'll put an end to it.

-= nav =-

Telemarketers arnt looking for revenge just $$$$, maybe some kid in a phone room may call back but thats about it, most call centers the rep's cant even place calls.

The national DNC list wont stop shit. The reason is simple, When data files are stolen from a phone roo and obtained by the next phone room your name goes right along with it hence more calls. Most telemarketers dont honor the DNC rules now in 27 states. If your name is on the national DNC list long distance companys can still call you cause they are regulated by the FCC not the FTC there are lots of exemptions. The scammers in Canada dont havr to even bother with it.

 

[Big Mac Attack]

In theory the DNC would work but the poeple who are the most abusive wont bother with it. They simply dont care because they operate hit and run gig's and they wont be there to be fined. The ligit guy's will comply.

The cooperation between the US and Canada has been improving the past few years, unfornatially not enough to stop the "rip and tear"(scam) guys up there.

BTW AT&T is doing the build up of the national DNC at a cost of $3.5m which seems high to me.

 

[Delinquent]

Bellsouth offers an option called privacy directory. It's only $2.50 a month and it requires the person to identify themselves before the phone even rings. If they end up identifying themselves, all you have to do is hit reject and an automated response tells them that we don't wish to speak with them and to take us off their list. Since getting it, we get maybe 2 calls a day compared to 15-20 like we used to. It's an awesome service.

 

[BowlingForSoup]

Bellsouth offers an option called privacy directory. It's only $2.50 a month and it requires the person to identify themselves before the phone even rings. If they end up identifying themselves, all you have to do is hit reject and an automated response tells them that we don't wish to speak with them and to take us off their list. Since getting it, we get maybe 2 calls a day compared to 15-20 like we used to. It's an awesome service.

Yeah, southwestern bell offers the same thing, but it doesn't get to where I live. Small towns...OH small towns.

 

[Spruceman]

When they call, tell them they reached an outside payphone. It might help get your number out of the system. They don't like payphones. Better yet, if you can cajole your telco to give you a number embedded within the bank of numbers it reserves for payphones (often the upper 9000s). I have two numbers at one place I live. The main number ,embedded among the payphone assignments, hardley ever gets called, whereas the second number LISTED AS A FAX LINE does get pestered by sleezy, slinky, slimy telemarketers because its a lower number. Best yet if you can get a number in the 9900s -- usually reserved for TELCO official use, sometimes for payphones. They are virtually never called.

Another ploy is to get an unlisted number just above a business or gov't office whose listed number ends in "000" -- say some big business place with xxx-xxx-7000, and having secondary lines scattered between 7001 and 7025. Sometimes there are unassigned numbers eg 7006 or 7011, which would generally not be dialed even by random or sequential number dialers ,as blocks of business numbers, payphones, gov't, and TELCO numbers are programmed out as worthless to telemarketers. This is also where some TELCOs put unlisted numbers for favored customers.

 

[Big Mac Attack]

My cell phone ends in 8000, I get 5-7 wrong numbers a day. Its usually people calling car dealers or hospitals. I got that number cuase of the number of line for my biz around 800.

 

[Spruceman]

Numbers ending in 00 or 000 often are reached as wrong numbers by someone dialing some business. Also, as they are usually main switchboard numbers for businesses, they would be called by telemarketing firms that cater to products businesses use. Avoid them like the plague.

Numbers that spell obscenities also are a no no if you want to avoid unwanted calls. Some kids will dial 382-5968 and ask "is this is FUCKYOU?" similar goes for 327-7448, 747-7633, etc, etc. also a number like 567-7203, which will be spammed everytime a local country station plays Lonesome 7-7203 (popular some years back)