Telemarketing calls - how do you deal with them?

Wow, you could really say something like that? But I understand why you feel cranky. It's not easy working nights. For my part, I just listen to them rant on and on in an attempt to draw your interest. If it's a product or service I have not encountered in the past, I listen politely and see if it's worth it. I politely decline after their spiel. If it's a call I've already had dozen of times, I'll tell them outright I'm not interested.

 

I have actually never experienced any psychic telemarketing calls. I don't trust any psychic who contacts me first through wither the phone or email, though I know that psychics - real ones - do actually exist, and are genuine. But still, that does not mean that there are not fraudsters out there, who are just looking to happen upon someone who is vulnerable who they can bleed dry. They use a technique called cold reading most of the time. Then there are the people who call you and say that there is something wrong with your computer. They are so annoying. What is more is that people actually fall for this.

 

You handled the call very well. I need to get a on a Do Not Call List too. I used to answer the call to see what they wanted, but now I don't. I let the phone ring so the answering machine picks it up. They usually don't say anything on the machine. I don't have time to be bothered by people who are trying to sell me something I don't want so I won't answer the phone to them.

 

When the telemarketer starts their sales pitch, I usually say, "Is that free?" "But I don't have any money, so will you give it to me for free?" "No ,your low, low prices aren't low enough. It has to be free or I'm not interested." I keep up this patter of BS until the telemarketer gets tired and hangs up.

 

I have learned to either not answer the phone if the number calling is not recognized or if I do answer and find out that it is a telemarketer I will request to be taken off of their calling list. Sometimes it gets really frustrating with telemarketing calls as it seems like our information is sold to so many different companies without our permission, I mean how else would all these telemarketing places get our information? I really dislike being called over and over by companies trying to get my business, especially if I already have services that I am content with. Insurance companies seem to be a good one for that.

 

Here is my tip: talk in different accents and/or pretend you have split personalities.

This works, it really does. I've been doing voice impressions and accents since I was a little kid. When I got to my teens my parents were fed up with telemarketing calls. Wanna know what their solution was? They answered the phone and then put me on the line. I can't remember how many times telemarketers would hang up on me once I started in on the second voice.

In over a year we only had a few people calling us, and those started to disappear as well. The Do Not Call list is a good idea, but there are ways to take care of the problem yourself.

Sometimes I would repeat every work the telemarketer said, other times I would interrupt them every few seconds. My parents started to time how quick I could get the call disconnected. They would almost be in tears laughing by the end. Sometimes I would start off the conversation very normal, and then towards the middle when the telemarketer got "pushy", that is when I would breakout a new accent/voice every few seconds.

 

I worked in telemarketing for a month, and one of the tricks of getting these morons from calling you in the future, is simply ask the representative to take you off their calling list - it's that simple, and it's called a oral "cease and desist notice". Telemarketers must comply to such a notice, and immediately record the event and show their supervisor or management that individual no longer wishes to be called. The reason behind this is because people were gullible to sign for some contest, prize drawing, or some advertisement of sorts, and that contract allowed their information to be passed out to telemarketing business calling lists - hence the reason why asking or requiring one's name to be taken off the list of a telemarketing call list, must be obliged and carried out immediately because one's personal information is their property.

 

A majority of the time I simply don't answer them, but rather screen the number and look it up on my computer. If I can see it's a known telemarketer, I block the number from my phone, so I don't even hear my phone ring for any future calls from them - it just automatically hangs up on them, and removes any notifications that they even called.

The once in a blue moon when I do pick up the phone, I will start off by saying rather firmly and angrily "who is this? who am I speaking with?" and often times they get so spooked they just hang up on me, lol. You can especially tell when it's a telemarketer because they don't respond right away - as if their call system is notifying them that I picked up, then there is a brief delay as they cue the next available agent.

 

Lately, telemarketers have started calling people by their first names to get them to pick up. They used to say "Am I speaking to John Smith?"
But then people would hang up at the question, so now they ask "John? Is that you?" which I think is really sneaky and despicable because it tricks people into thinking that they're talking to someone they know. Some telemarketers also use a fake American accent that slips from time to time.

For those outside the US, John Smith is the example we use in hypothetical situations where we need a generic American name.

 

I'm advised never to say yes to them for whatever their offers are. Telemarketers who introduce themselves as a telemarketer are easier to deal with in that way. It's a bit more difficult when it turns out that most of your friends have been practicing their telemarketing skills themselves. I remember being tricked into thinking that I was talking to colleagues from work (for a few months), when it turned out that they are simply telemarketers doing market research. Other occupations like auditors also do the kind of telecommunication telemarketers do.

It's harder when they contact during non-office hours and using means such as telemarketing text messages. Not all telemarketers do cold-calls, I guess. I learned that they also do inside sales, and other methods of selling that aren't direct marketing. Some are very sympathetic and act like a friend, but that is where I find it really confusing/annoying, because these situations appear to be tricky.

What I would normally do is jot down their name, their occupation, the company they claim to represent, log the calls, and then I re-confirm their offers to the companies.

 

I made the mistake of filling out some surveys on Inbox Dollars with my personal information. After that, I was getting nonstop calls. I understand that telemarketers are just people trying to put food on the table, too. I politely but firmly ask them to stop calling.

 

For one thing, I think you handled that hilariously. I definitely sympathize with just getting really sick of it and getting sick of being super nice and polite about it. I'm on the no call lists too and still get them ALL the time. I don't really mess with them too much, I'm more prone to just ending the phone call, but one time I did try to throw a particularly persistent one off with my (very limited) Spanish...kind of bombed that one though, he just switched the conversation to Spanish without a pause. Then he was annoying me in a language I barely understood. -_-

 

I have done telemarketing so I'm not really hard on them. I do interrupt them to say that I'm not interested. Sometimes, I may even let them finish the entire pitch. Then I say no thank you. Even when they try to push through my objections, I don't get upset because that's what they are trained to do it. It's a hard job, but somebody gotta do it.

 

While screwing with them is loads of fun, especially after a long/rough day, I generally just make sure it's a real telemarketer and then just tell them I'm not interested and hang up. Just not worth the effort of trying to deal with them or getting agitated by getting calls. There are ways to make sure you block the callers by talking with your telephone company and the solution might simply might be as easy as getting caller I.D.

 

Do people still deal with this? I guess because I long ago jettisoned my land-line, telemarketers are not a problem for me.If an unknown number shows up on my cell, I just don't answer it, problem solved. It also helps that I don't give my information out willy-nilly, like, do I really need to give my zip-code and telephone # just to buy a pack of gum?? Yeah, Drugstores, you know who you are.

 

Like my mother taught me, if it's a telemarketer, I do like her, politely tell them I'm not interested and hang up. If it's a persistent caller, I will go right to the source to make sure I'm removed from their calling list. Sometimes, it's like the Do Not Call list does no good. They will call you regardless, kind of makes you wonder if you should've ever taken the time to be put on it.

I will say this though, I don't try to give the telemarketers a hard time, because in my job search, I nearly ended up being one. Many of these people could care less about what they are selling, but are at a last resort to find a way to make money to put food on their table for their families. I always try to remember the person on the other side of the phone. Many times they are only so persistent with you because their supervisors force them to be and the corporate level guys threaten their employment if they don't make upsells. It's hard on them, I don't think they want to be so annoying at times, but they have to.

 

You're right, Kwriter. It's not the telemarketer's idea to call incessantly. They are pressured into it by management. Being rude to them doesn't really help anyone. But, the original poster did it in such a hilarious manner that I don't really consider it to be rude. I just don't understand how it is an effective business model. I don't see that any of the products that have been so aggressively marketed succeed.

 

I didn't even think of Comcast! Now that you mention it, Rhoda, we have seen a dramatic increase in calls since we switched to Comcast. I made the mistaken assumption that since they were a legitimate business, they would not sell my information.

On a side note, never fill out an online insurance quote request unless you want your phone to ring nonstop for months.