Do You Love Telemarketers???

by LB 19 Replies latest jw friends

  • larc
    larc

    I never answer the phone until I recognize the voice or the message on my answering machine. This eliminates the telemarketers. They hang up without leaving a message.

  • LB
    LB

    OOOH KAAAY, I found some help. Many states do have a "do not call" list for telemarketers. Oregon is listed and I have to pay $6.50 for the first year and $3.00 a year after that. The only ones who can call are those you've asked to call and political crap.

    Here is a link for a list of all states and links to sign up for your state.

    http://www.the-dma.org/government/donotcalllists.shtml


    Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

  • rhett
    rhett

    Personally, I love telemarketers! They're such fun. Check out my website http://www.asteroidmodels.com/personal/humor/telemarketers.htm
    Hey Reborn, the story about the carpet cleaners is wonderful!!!! God, I hope I get a carpet cleaner now just so I can pull this one. I can't believe you had the cops come out to see what's going on. I've never had anything like that. Lucky guy!

    Back down the bullies to the back of the bus
    Its time for them to be scared of us

  • Princess
    Princess

    There is this neat little gadget you can get at places like Best Buy called the Telezapper (I think). You plug it in to your phone line and everytime a computer generated caller (telemarketer) calls, it sends a tone to their computer that deletes your number from their database. They never call again.

    I bought one and used it for about a month. You have to get used to waiting for the tone to stop before you start talking, no big deal. Unfortunately, since we have a business line here with four different numbers, it didn't work for us. Three of the phone numbers we have are remotely forwarded to our main number by computer, so we were disconnecting our own customers! The gizmo works though. $50 well spent if you have a regular old phone line.

    When a telemarketer calls now, I hang up on them when they ask me how I am. No customer asks me how I am before stating why they are calling. Sure sign of someone who wants to sell me something.

    Click....brrrrrrrrr...........

    Princess

  • LB
    LB

    I have played some games with telemarketers, but I'm just weary of it now. Quite often I would tell them "let me get rid of this other call, I really want to talk to you" and then I'd hang up.

    But they just keep calling and calling.

    Now I've joined that "do not call" list in oregon. Let's see if my $6.50 is worth it or not.


    Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

  • ubdjudge
    ubdjudge

    You people are SOooooo CRUEL!! Telemarketers ARE real people too. For some, that is the only job they can do - because of lack of typing skills and other physical limitations. It is not fair to THEM to suffer abuse from every person that is called by the company that employs them. It is their ONLY source of income. Come on people! You did not like abuse from the WT, so why do you abuse others. Telemarketers ARE human beings and have feeling too!

  • Reborn2002
    Reborn2002

    Oh give me a break.

    I worked as a telemarketer for 2 years from age 15 (work permit) to 17.

    When they call and HARASS you repeatedly when you have told them you are NOT interested.

    When they CONTINUE to try to sell their product after youve ALREADY said your not interested.

    These people get just desserts.

    Ask one if they want someone anonymously calling their home in the evening hour or on Saturday, and they would say NO. But theyve no problem disturbing someone else. I know.. I USED TO DO IT.

    PERSONAL WEBPAGE-
    http://www.geocities.com/latinloverchicago/Jason1.html
    FREELANCE ARTWORK FOR SALE-
    http://www.geocities.com/latinloverchicago/JasonArtwork1.html

  • Amazing
    Amazing

    Hi LB: When I first started in Real Estate in 1996, I would 'Cold Call' and simply ask if the homeowner is thinkking about buying or selling in the near future ... and then ended the call if they said no. Most people were generlly nice ... some few acted like asses. I no longer cold call, because I have found other ways to get business, and I too get tire of telemarketers - even though I did that for a while.

    You said,

    "OK, I'm getting worn out from these guys. I always tell them to never call again and some do take me off the list."
    By law, they have to take you off their list. However, most of these people are 'self-employed' and only that person has to take you off of their list. So, if the company have 50 or 100 self-employed people, there is a chance that one of the other people will call you.

    In Oregon, the phone company had to place a 'Dot' by your name if you requested, and telemarketers were not supposed to call on those. The problem is that the 'dot' was not required in the "reverse' directory, and many telemarketers use this directory as its it easier to track.

    "It seems they are getting more agressive. One called me and asked for me by name. I knew it was a telemarketer by the 5 second delay before answering my "hello"."
    Yes, this is evidence that they are using the Reverse Directory when they don't know your name right away ... though in my business we always made sure we had the person's name, as this seemed more professional. When I get such calls, and they ask my name, I always ask them who they are looking for ... because ti could be a scam.

    "Before telling her she had ME I asked who she was and who she is representing. She asked me again if I were me. I asked her again who she was and she said "fine, good-bye" and hung up."
    Good for you ... the obligation is on the caller, and not you ... I agree with the way you handled that one.

    When I use to make such calls, here is what I would say to the homeowner: "Hi, I am Amazing, with XX Real Estate Company. Are you thinking about buying or selling real property in the near future?" The home owner often said that they were not planning anything soon ... and I thanked them for their time, and ended the call. If they said they were thinking about moving and selling their home, or buying another ... I would schedule an appointment with them at my office first ... and never made any agreements on the phone beyond that.

    "I have never purchased anything on the telephone, ever. Is there a website someplace that would help to get me removed from this calling list I'm on??? Any help would be appreciated."
    I never buy anything by phone ... ever ... because most of these where they ask for credit card are scams ... I always demnand they send written literature so I can check them out. Especially calls for charities are high risk for scams.

    You can have your phone number unlisted. However, some telemarketers go beyond the reverse Directory ... and get a total block of phone numbers on a data base ... and then filling in any that are not listed ... and call them all in numerical order ... that way they find the unlisted numbers. But they do not know your name.

    There is no universal system ... but aside from complaining to your phone company, you can get "Caller ID" ... and any calls that do not display, don't answer ... or "Call Blocking" blocks those calls that refuse to display their ID. The second method in case they still get through is to have your voice recording pick up the call with the following message:

    "Hello, this is the LB home (optional: The is the number you called. If you are a telemarketer, please hang up. All others, please stay on the line." Sounds hokey, but I found it works.

    The reason that you get junk calls and junk mail is that the individual caller cannot afford TV and Radio advertizing ... the phone is comparatively free, and mailing is inexpensive. But, the reason they do this, is not just money ...

    In marketing the law of large numbers is the principle: If I call 1,000 people per month (or mailing out junk mail at 1,000 per month) I will definitely get a certain percentage of response, and a certain percentage of business. I don't care if 900 people hang up, swear, or burn my mailings ... I care about the 100 who stay on the line or respond to my mailings. It is these thiat bring me business, and the other 900 will forget about me within a few minutes of disturbing them.

    Today, as I noted above, I do not send out much mailing. I no longer work ing the residential market ... I work with investors, and I know how to target them without having to bug the crap out of them through random calls. I made this market shift, because as I got out of the JWs, I hated cold calling ... too much like door-to-door ... and even though I am polite and fast with a personal need ... nevertheless ... I hate bugging people.[*D]

    Following Bible principles, we will avoid trying to live - or demand others to live - by an extensive and rigid set of dos and don'ts that go beyond the teachings of the Bible. The Watchtower, 4-15-02, pg 22, pp 15

  • Mulan
    Mulan

    We have Caller ID, and usually when it says Unavailable, it is a telemarketer, but not always. Sometimes it's Venice or her folks!!!

    One evening last week, a telemarketer called during dinner, and I said "Why are you disturbing my dinner?" It was a little after 6PM. He hung up.

    If there is a delay in their answering, after I say "hello", I know it's an automatic dialing system, and I hang up.

    My husband does what Princess does.......when they say "How are you?" he hangs up.

    Marilyn (aka Mulan)
    "No one can take advantage of you, without your permission." Ann Landers

  • KSJordan
    KSJordan

    I was a telemarketer for 4 days. I could not stand what they were wanting me to do, lie to people just to make a sale. Some telemarkers really do not like what they do, they only need the money. I felt really sorry for the people I had to call too as some were really nice old people who were really lonely. And my boss was all about sales. Most of them do not really care about people, just about profits!!! I say this from firsthand knowledge!!!

    I had Caller ID too, and when I saw unavailable on mine, I let my machine pick it up.

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