ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area one for the telemarketers....

I didn't think Howard Stern was an electrician?!

I've heard of a callee turning the tables by trying to sell the telescum special high-performance ear cushions and industrial shoulder rests.

Or, maybe you could try asking, in an appropriate voice, {regardless of gender on the other end} "What are you wearing right now?"

First I say hello. Then as they start their spiel I say hello? hello? Then I just hang up.

I just tell them that I will not buy over the phone unless I make the call. Then hang up.
Since I started this calls went from 5-8/wk to none in past 4 months.

whew!, i guess i'm not alone......

Thanks, Officer Bill.
Well done.

A few years ago my mother-in-law died of cancer. During her extended illness, she spent some time in M.D. Anderson here in Houston. M.D. Anderson is one of the best hospitals in the world. Well, these telemarketers would call on behalf of M.D. Anderson, and I would buy magazines from them. Anything that had to do with M.D. Anderson, I would open my wallet for because of my mother-in-law. It was automatic......M.D. Anderson......my wallet would "dang near" fly out of my back pocket. I have stacks of magazines in my bathroom that I never get to read because I have so many subscriptions.
I finally put my foot down, (if you can believe that) and said, "Enough is enough."
These people were calling me every week.
So, in the spirit of Mr. Gigs, I became a time waister. I don't drink alcohol, but when they would call I would tell them that I was drunk. That didn't make any difference to them until I started waisting their time. They would ask me about car magazines, and I would tell them that I love to drive drunk. I asked them if they sold girlie magazines, they responded, "Well, we have Playboy." I said, "That's not dirty enough for my wife, she likes Hustler(she doesn't by the way)." Finally, I kept them on the phone so long, that they were trying to get off the phone with me, and I wouldn't let them. That happened a few times, and they haven't called back again.

Best Telemarketological Regards,
Doc

There have been some great responses, to these Telemarketer jerks.
I got a call from one guy in Texas trying to sell me sawzall blades, you know the kind 5000 per pack all come with a lifetime guarrantee.
I asked, Well if they have a lifetime guarrantee why do I need more than one. Since then I have gotten caller ID and these calls come up listed as ' Out of Area ' so I just dont answer it.
-Mark-

Phone companies may offer a "Privacy Manager" screening system handled at their end. This will not allow any calls through to your phone that is not recognized by Caller ID,if they really want to talk to you, they have to leave a message on a service that will in turn call/contact you to see if you want the call. Now I don't know if you have to have caller ID for this feature, but you do have to pay for it. Since I put the service in use, my phone has been totally free of telemarketers! Typically, they use a computerized dialer that waits for a human voice to answer before it notifies a operator that the connection is made.
The U.S. Gov supposedly had a bill to be proposed, that was going to set up a "do not call" listing that affected all telemarketers, instead of you telling each one that calls to not call anymore. But have not heard any more about it.

Nonlinearload
Do you really think we need another federal law to help reject unwanted phone calls ? This is still America, and cant we handle these unwanted calls as everyone has stated above, ie hanging up on them, wasting their time. I mean look what Utility deregulation has cost us, under the auspices of ccheaper rates, Oil companies are now selling Electricity.
No sir,I'd rather hang up on them.
-Mark-