Posted on 07/25/2009 10:48:54 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
No brainer. Work nights. Hate telemarketers.
Don’t give out your unlisted, non-published number. Not to anyone who stores their client/contact list on a puter. Not to elderly, addled relatives. Not to people who turn into impolite idiots soon as a phone lands in their hands, either.
There are people who will do to you over the phone what they wouldn’t dream of doing to another person in the same room with them - because they know they’d get their @$$es stomped. The trick is to withhold that power from them in the first place.
Neat idea!
If I want to support single mothers I’ll go to a strip club.
One such telemarketer is a real scoundrel bouncing from one hoax to another after he gets busted.......
Stay good, Ronin! Stay good!
If I answer and get the machine silence, I hang up.
If a human is there, unless they quickly (e.g. quinnipiac University Poll; Field Research Polling, etc) I.D. themselves and succinctly state their business, I demand to know immediate who they are and why they're calling—then either politely or otherwise hang up or listen, depending on their answer.
If they are a persistent and “prior business relationship” caller (e.g. CC issuer pushing “protection plans”, I hang up, then immediately add the number to my auto-rejection service at the phone company.
IF I have time and inclination, I'll punk them.
My favorite was the guy pushing septic tank enzymes. In my best Hillbilly accent, I began questioning him about what the product was for and what it did, then ended with, “Septic tank? We’uns aint got nothin' so fancy as one of them thaings; we'uns jess ran a pipe down to the crick!” Dead silence, then a click.
The irony of that is that when we sold that house and bought the ranch, THIS house DID “just have a pipe down to the (dry) creek! The only plumbing was a hand pump next to the kitchen sink, and the sink drain...black plastic pipe that ended up in the gully out back. We had to install a septic tank and fresh water cisterns & pump; and I had to retrofit plumbing and electric service. We kept the outhouse for “emergencies”.
I screen out all my calls thanks to caller ID. No recognize the number, no pick up. If the call is important or legitimate, that person will either reach me on my alternate numbers or leave a message on my answering machine.
I ask for their credit card number.
My time is valuable, I do not answer questions for free for anyone.
In a lot of cases that is true. Many are also retirees, or others who have been unsuccessful in gaining other employment and, at least, are workking. I try to understand that as long as they are also polite.
I tell them I am glad they are working, rather than on welfare. And that is true. They are not responsible for what they have to do for the telemarketing company. Nasty responses are hard on those people. I know, I had to do it once to support my family as additional income.
Try to give them a break. Say you are not interested, thank them for working, and wish them luck. They are usually appreciative and get off the phone right away.
Of course, the other thing that works and does not irritate anyone is to just say that you do not live at the house they are calling and just there to do some work. They hang up.
Those are the ones that kill me, the “How are you today?!!!” ones. Like they care. They act all sweet and friendly and nicey-nice until I tell them I’m not interested in what they’re selling. Then they practically snarl at me, and/or hang up in my ear. It also irks me when they ask me how I am before identifying who they are.
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