Telemarketers: My Pet Peeve

[Pundit]

This is how it usually goes:

Phone rings. I pick up.
Me: Hello?
Them: Hello. Is this Mr. ____?
Me: Yes.
Them: My name is ____ and I'm calling on behalf of _____. I'd like to offer you...
Two to three minutes of scripted monologue follows. Sometimes, they speak with a heavy accent and I can hardly understand a word that they say.Of course, I hang up on them.

Why can't they simply ask, "Can I have a moment of your time?" Instead, they play the robot telemarketer without any thought or consideration. Often, I get these calls late at night as well! I understand they have a job to do, but taking up my time without asking me is just wrong.

 

[pyonir]

how many people would they get to listen to their "deal" or "offer" if they gave you an opportunity to choose whether or not you wanted to hear it. start keeping track and ask to be put on their do not call list and they will eventually stop calling.

 

[stonecold3169]

The absolute worst thing to me is when the phone rings, you answer, and they play a recording that says all their operators are busy, to stay on the line and someone would be with me shortly.

If someone is going to interrupt my dinner, they'd best damn well be there when I answer the phone.

 

[eakers]

i have friends that are telemarkers
they are just trying to make money
they have to follow a script
*shrugs*

*kat. <-- doesnt mind telemarketers. she just says shes not interested.

 

[Pundit]

<< how many people would they get to listen to their "deal" or "offer" if they gave you an opportunity to choose whether or not you wanted to hear it. start keeping track and ask to be put on their do not call list and they will eventually stop calling. >>


pyonir, it's not so much that they call me that's the problem. Hell, I'm always open to advertising. I just wish they'd ask me if I had a minute before they start rambling and not let me get a word in.

 

[Pundit]

<< i have friends that are telemarkers
they are just trying to make money
they have to follow a script
*shrugs*

*kat. <-- doesnt mind telemarketers. she just says shes not interested. >>


I have friends in telemarketing as well, eakers. But if they asked me to do something that was wrong, I'd object. Like I stated above, I have nothing against telemarketing, but against those who are inconsiderate.

 

[KokomoGST]

I do mind when I get called... I have to actually pick and and answer the phone while I'm in the middle of doing something else usually... and for what... something annoying and a waste of my time... gee, I wonder my other people get PO'ed at telemarketers.

And I've even been on the other line talking to a friend and had to click back from the telemarketer... that's quite annoying when you're having a pleasant conversation with your friend and interrupted for something trivial. And if you're on long distance... forget it. I don't blame people for going bonkers on that one. Yet another reason to just use your cell phone?

 

[CedarTeeth135]

Pull a Seinfeld on them.

No, but if you leave me your number I can call you and get back to you on that.

I"m not sure were allowed to do that.

Well, now you know how i feel.

*hangs up*

I think i got the dialouge right. Been slaking off my Seinfeld trivia lately.

 

[microAmp]

<< The absolute worst thing to me is when the phone rings, you answer, and they play a recording that says all their operators are busy, to stay on the line and someone would be with me shortly.

If someone is going to interrupt my dinner, they'd best damn well be there when I answer the phone. >>



I hear you on that one! Almost irriates me more than them calling me and hanging up on me......

 

[Fandu]

I had a really persistant one last month. They called about 10 times in 2 weeks, and were really pissing me off. It was a friday afternoon on the seond week and this lady calls AGAIN. I tell her 'No, now quit calling me!' Then she asks why I don't want to....... so I tell her that her damn company has already called me 6 times that week. So she goes "Oh, well let me check the computer and see how many times we've called." THEN puts me on hold. By this time I'm quite pissed, so I stay on the line until she gets back on and starts blabbing *click* I had to wait cure I didn't think it would have much effect if I hung up while on hold.

I really need to do what Jeff Foxworthy does in one of his skits. He makes a recording that goes something like:

Hello, You've reached Mr.X
For the low low price of $25 per minute you can speak with Mr.X
If you wish to continue, please enter your credit card number, followed by the pound key
Otherwise, GET THE F**K LOST!!!!

I would love to hear what telemarketers would say when they heard that, they'd be like WTF? I don't think it's ever occured to them that my time is worth money as well, if they want my time, they can pay me for it.

 

[Gujski]

caller id is very nice, if it says 'unknown caller' i just let the machine get it 99% of the time there is no message left. I think i can actually program my machine to play an automatic recording for those, but i didnt feel like reading the manual.

Oh, and 90% of the time you can tell it is a telemarketer even without caller ID, when you pick up and say hello and there is a pause, it is a telemarketer. I usually hang up immediately when i get the pause.

 

[pcmodem]

Yo,
If you request to be removed from their telemarketing list, by law they have to.
-PCM

 

[Ornery]

TELEPHONE PRIVACY - IT'S THE LAW

• Two federal laws regulate telemarketing. Additionally, individual states may have specific laws regarding the use of telephone lines for telemarketing.
  
  Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 199
  
  This law requires that businesses:
  • 
    · Take you off their list if you ask them to do so.
    
    · Have a written policy for maintaining "do not call" lists that is available upon demand.
    
    · Can call only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., unless they have your express consent, or unless you have an established business relationship.
    
    · Cannot use a fax machine, computer or other device to send an unsolicited ad unless the receiving party has given prior consent.
    
    · Cannot use a prerecorded message unless the called party consents or the call is for emergency purposes.
    
    · Tax-exempt or nonprofit organizations are not required to comply with the "do not call" list requirements. And, the laws do not apply to calls made to businesses.
    
    · The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 allows you to sue a telemarketer in state court under certain conditions.
  
  The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud Abuse Prevention Act
  • 
    
    · This law also requires telemarketers to keep "do not call" lists, and, under certain conditions, you can sue telemarketers in federal court if they do not comply.
    
    · They are restricted to the hours of calling and must make certain disclosures during the course of the call about the nature of the call and the goods or services they represent.
    
    · They cannot make false or misleading statements or misrepresent any information including the total cost and the quality of any goods or services they are offering.
    
    · Under this law, "do not call" lists don?t apply to nonprofit organizations, but they do apply to telemarketing companies providing services for nonprofit organizations if the telemarketers sell goods and services as part of the call.

"...doesnt mind telemarketers. she just says shes not interested."

Ornery minds telemarketers A LOT! :frown: They are lazy. inconsiderate mofos that can't be bothered to get a "real job", which would require punching a clock and actually working a 40 hour week. Ornery tortures the SOBs as much as possible. They are permitted do ramble on and on about their lame ass product or service. Then they have to repeat their name and who they represent. They are then told in no uncertain terms to add Ornery to their DO NOT CALL list. I pity the fool telemarketer who calls Ornery a second time after that! :|

 

[Fandu]

Ya, and spammers are suppost to stop spamming me if I reply with a 'remove'. We all know how often that happens...

 

[Fausto]

Guys, there have been threads on this before. They are required by law to place you on their "do-not-call" list if you request it, and if they call back after you've made this request you can nail them for $500 every time they call. It works, trust me. I was getting a sh*tload of calls when I first bought my house, and have been consistently telling them to put me on the do not call list and now I hardly get any calls ever.

Just interrupt them as soon as you know its a telemarketer and tell them to do this. Shuts 'em up real quick, believe me.

Fausto

 

[GooberPHX420]

<< Often, I get these calls late at night as well!

<<

Just so you know, its illegal to call at 9:00 or later....

 

[GooberPHX420]

<< Guys, there have been threads on this before. They are required by law to place you on their "do-not-call" list if you request it, and if they call back after you've made this request you can nail them for $500 every time they call. It works, trust me. I was getting a sh*tload of calls when I first bought my house, and have been consistently telling them to put me on the do not call list and now I hardly get any calls ever.

Just interrupt them as soon as you know its a telemarketer and tell them to do this. Shuts 'em up real quick, believe me.

Fausto >>



Hi, Im fausto and I have no clue what Im talking about.

I worked with discover card and we dealt with anal customers all day long. You cant fuggen just be like "o0o0oh Im gonna charge them $500 per call after my warning." What you have to do is say "take me off our calling lists." Then, they will say "not a problem sir, please allow 4-6 weeks for your number to be taken completely out of the system, along with any affiliates. So you do have to wait for that to kick in. Then, if the calls persist, call ur local attorney general. Tardass, u cant just be like oo0o00oh $500 plz.

 

[Ornery]

"I worked with discover card and we dealt with anal customers all day long."

Oh, that's soooooo sad... Were they mean to poor Goober? Did they give Goober a hard time? Oh, so, so sad...

 

[wyvrn]

I don't let Telemarketers get under my skin. I had to cold call doing surveys for various companies during college so I know what they go through. Besides, all you have to say is "No thank you" and "please take me off of your calling list". That usually does it, and if they get rude then I just hang up. Why make it worse than it is?

 

[killface]

This is why I LOVE New York State's do not call registry. Just put your name in online and it's all taken care of. Too bad they don't have it everywhere
I was always polite when they called. I just thought "There, but for the grace of God, go I." Sometimes I would try to at least get the person to break out of their script by making a little small talk. Some of them seem to like it.

 

[GooberPHX420]

<< Oh, that's soooooo sad... Were they mean to poor Goober? Did they give Goober a hard time? Oh, so, so sad... >>



WTF, ur ghey. I was just stating that I dealt with the issue all the time... :disgust:

 

[phlashphire]

I like to put the annoying telemarketers on hold, I check back every couple of minutes to make sure they're still there and put them back on hold.

 

[Ornery]

"...I was just stating that I dealt with the issue all the time..."

Let's see... if I remember correctly you said, "I worked with discover card and we dealt with anal customers all day long." Anal, were they? In what way? And how did that make you feel? Still dealing with it I see!


...oops sorry, I meant to say, so sad...

 

[HappyPuppy]

As much as most of us hate it, telemarketing works, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.

 

[Ornery]

HappyPuppy is right about that. And coincidentally, it was a Discover representative that I last spoke with. I let him give me his spiel and proceeded to give him some business! Ironic, eh?

Actually, they already had my business, but I transferred a ton of money from other cards to them. Easiest transaction I ever did. Kid's name was Jerry. We joked around about my massive debt, and how nobody else would even extend any more credit to me. How sad...