Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law

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Termyn8or -> Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 9:21:03 AM)
I know some of you are going to want to hug me and kiss me over this, which seems ironic because this is basically a rant. And now officially it is costing me money to post this as I should be on way way to work, but fukum. We got this double house, and only one person lives in each suite, with only two people living in this structure total, there is simply no need for more than one phone line. Well we were paying like a buck a month to have an unlisted number. Last time around with the phone books we dropped that, partly because the charge has gone up, and partly because wew were already getting telemarketing calls. Never do that. We average eight to twelve calls a day now and I am getting sick of it, but have made a game out of it. I am even fucking with the recorded ones. I'll press one or three now, or even dail their 800 number. I let out all my frustrations and always try to get to speak to a supervisor, all that shit. I actually sort of enjoy it, but there are only so many hours in a day. I believe it was Tom Mabe, a radio commentator or something that just about made a telemarketer piss his pants, that was solid gold to me. One day I hope I would be able to pull something like this off. Oh, and the second part of the title of this thread ? The Terminator tellecomminucations act of 2008. No company nor any representative of same shall contact by telephone, any person having their telephone listed as a private residence. Elements of the crime are simple, they called, and the law urges you to buy what they are selling, then within three days you and the CEO of the company that called you are hauled into court, you get the services for free and they might get a jail sentence. The only defense is proof of the company having done prior business with the individual. This therefore exempts your mechanic or other type of repairman calling you with your estimate. I hope you have enjoyed this post, because it has now cost me about ten dollars to do this. But tips on possible punishments for offenders would be welcome, as well as any addendum' to the law one may see fit. Because it really is getting ridiculous. I did mention one calling and starting up "We are a non-profit orginaization" which is where I cut him off and said "We only deal with for-profit organizations, WHEN WE CALL THEM". Are we that devoid of any talent or capabily of doing something useful that we must pay people to call other who they do not know, at random trying to sell useless things that nobody needs, or to solicit charitable funds from people who are struggling financially in thei non fucking recession we have been in for ten years ? Yes ten years. Their figures lie, certain parameters are given more weight and rely more on unrealistic, or more aptly put irrelevant figures to be able to claim that we are not in a recession. Every fucking businessman in this country knows damwell that we are in a deep deep recession, and those who give me government figures to support the opposite are doing NOTHING to enhance my faith in their intelligence. Go ahead and joke about when your neighbor is out of a job etc., that is all bullshit, and so it the government. This is the deepect recession we have ever been in, and yes there are some people doing well, I am OK, but the facts are their unemployment statistics are very far off. The GDP they herald as growth is all fueled by tax dollars, there is no money coming in, only going out. But I am engaged in a real business where we have to earn our fucking money. I know the difference. And people are calling strangers to get their money. Fuck me. T

Mercnbeth -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 9:36:25 AM)
Termy, Try this: https://www.donotcall.gov/ Haven't gotten a telemarketer call since putting my phone on it. Also did the same for the family with the same results. It is also a good idea to register your cell phone. I have a listed number and don't get any calls. (Saving that $1 for gas money!) Although I must say, when I had nothing better to do, I spent many an enjoyable (read that as sadistic enjoyment) conversing with telemarketers and their supervisors. I love it because they can't hang up. It's like playing with a non-consensual sub who has been told by their 'master' (supervisor) they can't use a 'safe-word'. Since I don't get those calls anymore, I have only wrong numbers to 'play' with. I always wondered what happened when I, as 'owner' of whatever company they were trying to call (after reaching me 4 times and being told it was the wrong number), said it was okay to take back the above ground pool for a full refund after 3 months as long as they brought it back to the store and dried out the liner. I suggested they use a few hair dryers.

pahunkboy -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 9:42:08 AM)
I hear you. I experience alot of these calls. Term, the problem is that it DOES rob you/me of our time. There is nothing that can be done. Well- put another way, you need a bigger billy club. The reason why this is bad- is it is computer against man. The auto-dialer, mechanized voice, IVR, .... A business IVR costs $600-$1400. So thats your bigger billy club. Who do you serve papers too? Which court? How much does an attorney cost? Filing fees? And airfare to India? [or other location] You could get a disposable cell phone and take text messages so as to turn on the ringer of the landline. Badly- this is only the start. It goes with the auto bill mode of business ethics. One lone man can not fight the sleazy 2008 world business practices. You see, as little as 5 years ago- a human was obtainable to lay into. Today such disposable human is isolated from riff raff like you and I. My phone rings like yours does. I even changed the number. That had some but not much helpful effect. I get calls for every human that ever lived at this address and every human that ever had this phone number. Even when I DO get lucky and get a human on the other end of the phone, they do NOT believe me when I say John Doe is not at this number. [bill collector] Anyhow IVR is what you want if your phone is bothering you. Consider that email is phone and phone is email, but only one mode is spam...while the other is not. I hope I am dead before the computers completely take over.

Arpig -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 11:07:32 AM)
Changing your number ior having your number unlisted really makes no difference, since telemarketers either have the numbers randomly generated by computer, or they call off a generic list of every possible number.

DesFIP -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 11:20:51 AM)
In addition to signing up on the do not call registry, tell them you want to be put on their do not call list. Should you do this and they continue to call you, then contact the attorney general's office of your state. If they get enough complaints, they'll issue whopping fines.

kittinSol -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 11:32:47 AM)
Okay: I HATE these calls - particularly offensive is when the call is made by a robot: you can't tell a robot to fuck off. Or those pre-recorded messages by political candidates: I mean, WTF? [:'(]

candystripper -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 11:40:22 AM)
Someday, these pre-recorded sales calls that tie up my line for like 5 minutes at a time are gonna prevent a recipient from calling 911 and cost a life. That's a case I'd love to handle. Termy, how much has the cost of an unlisted number gone up? Anyone know whether you can opt out of receiving phone books? I've never received so much crap in all my life. It won't fit in the garbage and I have trouble thowing them away. I despise all utility companies. candystripper

slaveboyforyou -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 11:47:56 AM)
I was a telemarketer for awhile. I got a job doing it when I was 17, and I kept that job until I was about 19. It was a great job. When people told us to fuck off, we didn't care. I got paid on commission. So the more calls I made, the more money I got. If someone told me to fuck off, oh well. By the way, I hung up on people all the time. If you started rambling or telling stupid stories, I'd hang up on you. If anyone said something about it, I'd blame it on the phone company. Supervisors? LOL. I'd give the phone to the guy sitting next to me. We'd laugh our asses off after we fucked with you. It always makes me laugh when someone talks about how they stuck it to the telemarketer. If you think that, you never worked in sales.

pahunkboy -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 11:49:26 AM)
I am and have been on both the federal and state do not call list. so I suppose it has some degree of effectiveness. Like Kitsol (sp) says- how do you tell a robot off? what is more - a phone line is a thing the resident PAYS for. Thus the payer ought to have rights to fully control their own phone line. I seen the debate on c-span. It was throw eggs time. The 'expert" says there are so many options for residents. [per robo-calls] But that is a lie. 1/2 way options cost $$$ per the phone company. So ok- a human IS behind the program of the call- but figure it takes 7 minutes or so to reach a human. If you are running water, the stove, that costs you money to be taken away from the task. Most of all- it STEALS time from the person. we all have 24-7. but what gives any machine the right to consume the time of a human? once again same human pays money for phone line. so in a way it belongs to that person, NOT the caller.

stef -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 12:10:49 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: candystripper Someday, these pre-recorded sales calls that tie up my line for like 5 minutes at a time are gonna prevent a recipient from calling 911 and cost a life. Hang up. If someone lets a telemarketer tie up their phone for five minutes, they are an idiot. quote: That's a case I'd love to handle. Are you really a lawyer? I read the things that come out of your head and have a really hard time believing you not only graduated from law school but somehow also managed to pass the bar somewhere. ~stef

kittinSol -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 12:32:31 PM)
slaveboy, people need to work - it's not necessarily their career of choice. What I object to is the tactics used by marketing companies to get business. It's intrusive: I'm not a rude person and I've never told a cold-caller to 'fuck off'. I have been abrupt at times, and said that I wasn't interested, to stop calling, and to erase our number from their list - but it seems like ten heads grow back where one was severed! As for the political thing: it's just wrong. A political candidate shouldn't act as if they were in a mercantile occupation.

DomAviator -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 12:48:57 PM)
Depending on my mood when I get telemarketers whose services I am not interested in, I either sexually harass them, which is great when you get the Indian / Pakistani women, because it offends them SO much more than it would a Westerner and they get so mad they start stuttering in their native tongue... (Plus maybe their supervisors have to do an honor killing on them after they have been violated by me LOL) or I simply pretend to be retarded. The pretending to be retarded is hilarious, because they try soooooo hard to be nice. Here is an example of a call: Hello, I would like to offer you the opportunity to upgrade your windows with the latest in energy saving coated replacement windows. (Keep in mind my house is two years old so they are really buying a shitty list! Spend a few bucks more to get the list sorted by age of the dwelling... LOL) Windows are nice. I like to look out at the birdies... You have a pretty voice will you be my friend? We will be happy to send a representative over for a free no obligation estimate.... Do you like birdies too? M O O N that spells Birdies! My name is Kevin. I dont like it because it has too many letters but thats my name. Whats your name? Jennifer. The estimate will take approximatly 30 minutes and there is no cost or .... M O O N That spells Jennifer! Jennifer, Kevin and Jeniffer. We are neighbors cause we are next to each other in the alphabet. <singing> A, B , C, D, E, F G, H , I , J , K see??? Do you a boyfriend Jennifer? I dont have a girlfriend by we could go to the park and feed the birdies together... Do you like birdies? The hard part is not bursting out laughing.... [:D] With that said though, in business I have actually gotten some pretty good things via telemarketing. A fantastic deal on Quickbooks. a $20 a month Broadcast Fax service. $50 free postage and a scale through Stamps.com thus eliminating my trips to the post office, a cheaper wholesale supplier for the ASA text books we use in our training programs... Telemarketing can be a good business tool and I will buy from them .... I just get pissed off when they are idiots working off of bad lists - like trying to sell vinyl siding or replacement windows for my 2 year old home, or trying to get me to sign up for DirectTV when I already have three Direct TV accounts - home business and cabin , or the asshole who wouldnt take no for an answer when I told them Im NOT diabetic and neither is anyone in my family and hence I dont need a free blood glucose monitor if I get my diabetic supplies from them... Its the fucking Indian / Pakistani call centers who are the worst. Any business hiring them is an idiot, because they will call for the sake of calling without refining a list at all. In the latter example, a companies resources would be better spent getting a more expensive telemarketer that targets its efforts to a plausible market than hiring these morons to make random calls in the hopes of running across a diabetic or person with an old house... LOL

MstrDennynSlave -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 1:14:00 PM)
Master was telling me of a telemarketer that called him one day and told him they were working on the basements of some of our neighbors. Sealing them to prevent moisture and leaks. Master asked for the names of the neighbors whose basements they were supposedly sealing. The telemarketer told Master they could give him a great deal on basement sealing, not even listening to anything Master was asking. Finally Master could stand it no longer. He asked the guy if he knew to what area he was calling. He said yes he did. Master told him if he was sealing any basements it wasnt in this area, as no house has a basement. Master said we live at the lake, any basement would be below the water level. You arent in this area, I know it, you know it. So stop wasting my time and yours. My biological father had a telemarketer call and offer replacement windows. He told them he didnt need them as he only had one window in his whole house. Got real quiet on the phone then......lol. He lived in an underground house that did only have one window, the rest were sliding doors or skylights.

pahunkboy -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 1:14:04 PM)
Ild guess most people simply hang up. A real person most the time will be mindful that they are on YOUR phone line. I tried to get my machine to trick the robo-calls. No luck. So this ans machine can fill up. So Tina Doe lost the place to foreclosure. Apparently she has owed bills everywhere. I made the mistake of listing a house number to the listing. I mean really- is it any less intrusive to get calls for "Ben Dover" ?? It still runs you to the phone- and often at in-oportune moments. The last call was some Indian sounding guy. I asked who is calling. "Steven". Not "Steven with ABC widget company". So being that I have no Indian phone buddies, CLICK. Especially local. When someone rings the line- they identify the business they are with. I recall a call to some call center. I wanted to mail a photo copy to the company. Well the Indian lady refused to tell me a postal address. Or maybe she did not know- she was offended.... like I was going to come and locate her- specifically her. They must think too that all Americans are rich and rolling in money. Many of us worry about rent, and bills. Tho many dont let on to neighbors or others. I hope I am done with the NSF fees from scwab bill payer. Dont trust bill payer that is not in your state. [schwab is in Nevada] Why? They are governed under different rules... and what you think is doable is fineable. My mortgage company is a good example of how the computer trumps humans. I called and instructed them to not cash any checks what-so-ever from Shwab. They ignored it. The computer would not "let" them. OK- if I cant override the bill payer online. and if customer service there or at the mortgage company cant over ride it, then whom can? Pisses me off - I emailed -called and wrote a paper letter. But whatever. This is something to watch in that every road one day will be toll and time billed. same with utitities. Even now banks want MORE fees for debits, all of which is so automatic. It sails along until there is a cash flow problem, also known as a "liguididty problem", then assesses expensive fees to the lowly peon. The lowly stupid- peon! Anyhow- even telling the original bill payer service to get lost- that does not erase the 5 NSFs x 2= $250. [on the reciever] But consider this; I can pay anyones bills. I am serious. Suppose I do. I pay John Does bill of anytown New york. The debit bounces...ok, I get fined- but Im wolking...well there is John Doe who doesnt walk as he must pay the fee, even tho he had nothing to do with that transaction..... See?

Termyn8or -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 6:24:26 PM)
I got a bit different technique. My idea is to use up as much of their time as possible. >This is Time Life Music and la la la >Uhuh >Right now we are offering bla bla bla >Really, you can get me music ? >Yes >Well how about getting me Thirty Pieces Of Silver by Hank Williams Sr. ? There was of course a long pause. That song as far as I know only exists as a poor recording, probably was a wire recording and it was off of AM radio. I have never been able to find it produced professionally. Well I didn't have to ask for a supervisor, they obliged. The suprevisor came on and said that they could get it for me but only if I bought the entire Alan Jackson collection. Now what the hell does Alan have to do with Hank ? >So we can do it, do you want it ? >Well how much is it ? >Well it's only----- >Hold on, SHIT my dog got loose So I put the phone down for a good ten minutes and handed it off, told the guy to say "I'll call him now" and then push the button, hanging up. Oh, and stef, hanging up does not always work unless you have what is called a reverse disconnect. Normally if thecalled party hangs up and the calling party does not, it takes a while for the telco to time the connection out. Reverse diconnects were used in the past, before SS7 (ID) technology to catch harrassing callers. With that, the called party simply did not hang up and the caller's line was locked to the connection. This gave them time to trace the call, in other words, THEY cannot hang up, well they can but the connection stays open. Things have probably changed of course, but that's the way is was a few decades ago. Anyway, if I have the time, I will fuck with them. When I do I am aware that time is money. I don't especially appreciate junk mail, but I find it alot more tolerable. Even spam via email is not so bad, except the ones for viagra or penis enlargement, as I need neither. What I do resent in the spam department is buying a PC a couple years ago that was attached to about two hundred bucks in rebates. NEVER deal with onrebates.com. And never allow Global Computer to get your email, they will never stop. But junk mail can be tossed in the trash, spam can be deleted. It is up to me when I decide to go through it. But the phone ringing, you never know what it is, so you almost have to at least look at the ID. That is not the time I choose to deal with this shit. There is one bunch I do not fuck with. Every so often the olman will send like $25 to this organization who claims to send care packages and things like that to our troops in Iraq. We must stand with them no matter how against the war we are, they probably aren't too fond of it either. They call to say thank you for the donation, give a basic synopsis of what they're doing and say that they will send out the envelope again, so if you have it to spare bla bla bla. I don't fuck with them. Organizations soliciting donations for medical research get it, but only with one barrell. I tell them why, because the medical community already knows who to prevent and cure most of the common diseases that plague people. They withold the information. You want to discuss that get me on the other side because if I get started that will be the hijack of all time, I mean of monumental proportion. When I get to bend their ear, and they probably know some terminology relating to whatever they are researching, it may be worth a few minutes of my time. In that time I try to educate, not debase. But when they call at random trying to sell me windows, both barrells. First of all up here in my suite, they are all new as of 1995, so just what kinds of miracle breakthroughs have there been ? Downstairs is not my concern, and about half of the windows down there are even newer than mine. Whatever happened to the old way ? Signs, direct mail from local companies, flyers ? I would rather respond---------- The phone just rang - HEY, IT"S ACTUALLY SOMEONE I KNOW. He's going to stop over, so I am off the phone in seconds. I like that. ----to direct mail. In fact I have been considering starting a company and if I do I intend to use direct mail advertising. It would be targeted. In other words, as a contractor, we notice work that needs to be done on your house, then a custom notice is sent. Part of it is an introduction to the company, and at the bottom the specifics of whatever problems we noticed are enumerated. Although I would make the flyer look all official is would say point blank that we are not part of the government or have anything to do with code enforcement, we were just working in the area and noticed something. We are a business we are always looking for work. What house in your area were we working on ? Perhaps none, you could just be on the way to or from another job. If we are paying these guys travel time we want them to keep their eyes open. This is one way we keep costs down, and we can just about underbid anyone, but that is not our goal. We do the highest quality work for a fair price. If you go to work you like to get paid. Just do a good job. Something directed like that, it probably wouldn't bother me. Say if a driveway company notices that I have a gravel driveway, gimme some prices by the yard, all that, I might just call. If CM runs a banner for XR, well that fits. If the electronics forum I am in has a banner from a parts place. This is kinda OK. T

MsLadySue -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 6:29:33 PM)
The most fun I had with a telemarketer was a company that supposedly sends out free samples of Grade A beef. I get a call asking if I received my sample by mail. Now keep in mind I knew about these calls from a colleague at work and had a prepared response ready. I told her "yes I received my sample and the meat was absolutely delicious, thank you so much for sending it." The telemarketer went silent for a moment then she thanked me for my time and hung up.

pahunkboy -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 6:50:24 PM)
I think I will call you and ask if your refrigerator is running. ==== anyhow a real dude did call for Tina...was flirtatious...said his name was dave. I then asked, are you the dave who used to live here? The tone of his voice was priceless. busted. like maybe a love triangle went on. lol he never called again.

Leatherist -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 7:09:52 PM)
I just use an answering machine. I have a button that I can push that makes a noise like fingernails on a blackboard I can push if a telemarketer tries to leave a message. It comes in at about 65 decibels-they stop quickly.

Vendaval -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 7:10:34 PM)
I have an unlisted number, caller ID and screen calls with the answering machine.

kittinSol -> RE: Telemarketers and Re: If you could make a law (7/1/2008 7:16:40 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Leatherist I just use an answering machine. I have a button that I can push that makes a noise like fingernails on a blackboard I can push if a telemarketer tries to leave a message. It comes in at about 65 decibels-they stop quickly. Oh, that's brilliant. Oh, man [:D] .

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