Telemarketers - Do you hate them? - I do!

[Sleepy]

I've got say, I am sick of Kevin from Karachi or Brian from Bombay ringing me just as we are putting dinner on the table. It's happening on a daily basis.:mad: 6.30pm every day! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.


I've signed the do-not-call web site. (May have made things worse?)
I've tried to politely tell them to not call me
I've hung up on them
I've played guitar to them. (I know - cruel!)
I've let the dog talk to them
I leave them on hold
I just want them to go away!!!!!!

Has anyone had success in getting rid of these annoying leaches?
What tactics do you use when they do call?

I'm close to changing my number or cutting the phone off and just having a mobile.

[Phil633]

I signed the do not call register on the web.

Haven't had a call since:D:D:D:D:D
From telemarketers that is:cool::cool:

[JDNSW]

I've got on the "do not call" register, and have found it reduced them, but not eliminated them. (note that this does not mean that charities and politicians can't call you!)

My technique for dealing with them is to ask for and insist on getting the company's name and ABN before listening to anything else. Usually they hang up immediately, but if you actually get the information, you can then lodge a complaint with the do not call register (which is why they hang up). Worst offenders I have had are phone companies, which means you can also complain to the TIO or Department of Communications.

John

[easo]

We went though a stage of continuous calling, so as soon as we picked up and heard that pause sound from an oversea call, we just hung up strait away with out answering. Before you know it they will be face stalking (face book) you too.

Haven't had one for quite some time, Easo

[waynep]

That's a good idea John I'll have to try that.
Since we went on the DNC register most of the calls we get are from the charities - ( who are exempt but still irks me - I donate to several charities but like to do it at my behest ) and survey companies - the genuine survey companies that is.

[MacMan]

We have an unlisted number, but we STILL get unsolicited marketing calls for people looking for our number's PREVIOUS owners even though we are on the do not call list. Signing up did shut them up for a while, but they are increasing again.

Up to now I have either:

- Ask them in a breathy voice, "what are you wearing". I figure they called me in my home, so game on.

- Yell, scream, rant, rave and generally wig out until they hang up.

I LOVE the ABN question. Will use that from now on.

[mike 90 RR]

I do the following
Hang up on the pause

If I happen to answer and one of them is talking to me ... I ask "Are you trying to promote your product" and they usually answer NO and go straight into the promo ... in which I then explain to them how they have "Lied to me" and God will punish folks that tell lies

Or just tell em "I do not wish to participate in this"

Oh and Yes ... The Company name / address & ABN question does knock out a lot of them ... Especially when you tell them that you forward it on to the "A triple C" .. to verify the company

Telemarketing has been raped as a legitiment industry mainly due to Queensland and the Indian's

[dobbo]

Fake the Symptoms of Tourette syndrome

or

Inform them of your consultation fee and minimum charges and then ask for their credit card details

works every time.

[Santana]

I put them on hold... indefinitedly. I ask them to hold on that I am just going to close a door, and I never return, that costs the company some money on wasted operator time. :twisted: And you don't have to interact with an innocent person who is just doing its job, no need to get agro.

For genuine charities I given them a genuine answer.... I am a shift worker and you've just woken me up, I need to sleep as I have a 24h shift coming... they always apologize and leave you alone.;)

[olbod]

I just tell them to F... off and hang up.

We used to get those door knocking religious groups banging on the door,
so I would just tell them the same thing.
They dont call here anymore.

[dobbo]

For genuine charities I given them a genuine answer....

I got one of them not mentioning names (The ramps one) waking me up the other week asking for a donation, I said not at this present time, then they peed me off by asking why not? I got offended by this and told them I lived on a level block and hung up. Then I felt guilty, sort of, for a short period of time.

[Xavie]

Well years ago to stay off the dole I did such work. And I have to say that I never lasted long and it was a terrible job. Not because of the people you call but they taught you to lie and they told you lies so you would lie to the people you were calling. It was actually really sad and gave me some insight in to how terrible large companies are.

BUT in all of this I learnt that none of us cared if someone swore at us... It really was water off a ducks back... But waste the operators time and that was what got to people. Because you are rewarded when you make the most calls or you get the most details etc... So wasting their time makes them lose comeptitvness. And they have scrolling screens saying who has taken the most calls in the hour, morning, day etc..

So, I think saying your off to close the door is actually pretty effective. I like to talk for about 30 seconds... get them involved too and then say i'll brb the kids just spilt some food but tell them how interested you are. thye will hold for quite a while.

Xav

[JohnF]

I heard of one guy who put on his best foriegn accent and repeatedly asked the tele marketer "Have you seen my chickens." Apparently they think you are crazy and do not bother to ring back.

[LSBob]

I got rid of most of the unwanted callers by using the DNC register but that only applies to Australian companies. So if they call you, just ask them in your nicest voice for their details as they are breaking the law and you will be making an official complaint (ok so it is not true but close enough). They generally quickly hang up. Or if it was a that :censored: mobile phone company that told you that you had just won a free phone "but you just give me your credit card and personal details" I ask them arn't they the company that was charged with improper conduct when they were selling the mobile phones to the aborigines in the remote communities which were part of the 2%of the population with out any coverage. if so they are liable for further prosecutions. They hang up before I can finish my sentence ...rude people they should listen to me if I have to listen to them:twisted:

If you are on the DNC and they still phone it means that they are an overseas company and therefore in the same category as the nigerian scams or a shonky Australian telemarketing company which is not following the organisations guidelines. I also put political parties in the same category.

[Surferjim]

I work in the SMS and mobile messaging solutions industry..

I fell into the role and it keeps nice Burgen bread on the table rather than WonderWhite, but has it's share of critics

Anyway - I know this much: Offshore companies are not bothered by the Do Not Call register, as it doesn't have any international jurisdiction. The ACCC don't touch it 'cos it's too hard. Changing your number won't do much either as there are auto-diallers at work, and they'll grab your number soon enough.

The TIO recieved something of the order of 1700 complaints about "spam" calls last month, so keep complaining and Conroy will have to do something else.

In the SMS industry, I am tidying things up through regulation and work with the carriers to the point that all similar organisations are dobbing each other in to each other. If you ever see what you think is an SMS scam, then please let me know and I can look into it.

[Sleepy]

Thanks All,

I feel better now I'm not alone.

I feel Xavie is on the right track and I try and make them wait as long as possible. Sometimes I put them on loudspeaker and just go back to dinner.

My wife is a cracker and puts on a real authentic Indian accent and starts talking about the cricket - Makes me laugh thinkin' about it. :Rolling:

Oh well I'll try and find that do-not-call register and re-enter my number...and hope . I fear that many companies just trawl through consecutive phone numbers and that's how they get the unlisted one too.

I am a shift worker too so probably a little sensitive to unsolicited calls too.

Lets start a campaign - KEEP TELEMARKETERS ON HOLD - that'll P them off.....hopefully

[adm333]

One I heard some time ago, might have even been in a similar thread here.

Answer the phone as Senior Sargeant "Johnson" of the <insert name of your town here> homicide squad and announce that the address they have just called is a murder crime scene, and that they are now suspects in the case and will need to interviewed.

Seems to put them a little on edge.

[Sleepy]

Then I felt guilty.....

Human Frailty - Dobbo , you're getting soft!:wasntme:

[p38arover]

We rarely ever get them.

[Rockrover]

This works. I am still giggling


Bob_and_Tom_-_Telemarketer_Nightmare - Vox (http://joshualowry.vox.com/library/audio/6a00c225203796f21900c2252ab8c18e1d.html)

[Sleepy]

This works. I am still giggling

Bob_and_Tom_-_Telemarketer_Nightmare - Vox (http://joshualowry.vox.com/library/audio/6a00c225203796f21900c2252ab8c18e1d.html)

Yeah I've heard that one ! Very Funny!:lol2:

[Boxhead63]

Every call on our land line goes through to message bank. If we recognise the voice, we pick up. Generally the people that matter have our mobiles and call us on them. We have at least 6 calls a week from these pests that just don't speak and won't leave a message. So, good bye to kevin from karachi or Baz from bangalore. Your products or your incomprehensible message suck. Pheeeew! I'm glad i got that off my chest.

[CowsGoMoo]

Mate of mine keeps them on the line by discussing deficencies inthe Indian cricket team. Gets them nicely worked up until they hang up... :cool:

[Hucksta]

We got mobile broad band, got rid of our land line and have not had call since. I just used to hang up on them, got sick and tired of trying to tel them nicely to shove off .......

Hucksta

[George130]

I have to main tactics if I am not angry.
1. "National emergency response line, give me your access code and location for tactical response." This throws them and then you launch into this is a secure government line who are you where did you get this number and you are being recorded and traced for national security. You also then ask the company they represent with a you will follow up with a request for justification of how the number was obtained and that they might be liable for cost recovery. At this point they hang up.

. "before you speak I need you name, loation, company name, Company ABN." You then tell them you are on the do not call register and that you will take action and that it is an offence to cold canvase this line so can I speak with your supervisor.

If I am angry then I launch into racist and any and all religions I can think of drunk yobbo swearing till they hang up.

I rarely get calls anymore. I also never hang up first but once board just put the phone down outside and leave it till I wish to use it.

[CowsGoMoo]

I wonder if they ever put us on a telemarketer's "do not call" register... :D

[gromit]

We don't get any nuisance calls because we have a 'silent' number, costs a couple of dollars per month. It should be a free service but I guess if the Telco's can't make money selling your number on then they make money instead by not selling it on.

Colin

[George130]

I also put political parties in the same category.

Yep. Last election I went off at the political surveys and ended up asking them to put me down for pre public hangings and total dictatorship where all political parties will be killed with their families and affiliates. Next time they rang I asked for their next rally so I could bomb it. Now political parties don't ring.

[TimNZ]

I usually just say "Can you hold on a minute please" then drop the phone on the couch and continue what ever I was doing.

I wonder what would happen if you called your phone company and said that you want to cancel your land line contract because of the spam calls you are recieving?

Tim

[Gillie]

We seem to get a lot of auto diallers ringing home flogging there wares. If you hang up on them straightaway the keep ringing. :mad: Don't really know what do about them?

[Offroad_AJ]

Gotta love telemarketers......

I had a bloke phone up offering to clad my house, so I let them ramble on annd on, finally agreeing to let the guy come out and clad my house. When they got here they were bitterely disappointed when they found my house to be brickveneer.

Similar story with carpet cleaning, they were terribly upset when they got here finding my house is a combination of tiles and timber.

Hey if they wanna waste my time, I can waste theirs :)

[Sleepy]

Well six months later and the calls have dropped of dramatically.
Still getting about 2-3 a week but down from the 5 or 6 a day.
Looks like the do no call register does work.:D


**Logs off and touches wood**

[nereece]

We have had no calls since the 'no call website' notification. I was informed that at the end of this month they will start calling mobiles and then charge you for the call costs.

:mad:

[101RRS]

How can they charge you if you only answer the call???

[hoadie72]

We have had no calls since the 'no call website' notification. I was informed that at the end of this month they will start calling mobiles and then charge you for the call costs.

:mad:

Did you read this in a spam email by any chance?

[blue thunder]

I start of by asking them how they got the number, then when they reply that they buy the numbers from so and so I reply with you owe me money because thats my number and not theres and they hang up real quik. Another one is I give the phone to my 2yr old and tell him its the wiggles and talks away. Haven't had a call for a while but also my wife put me on a do not answer:D

[Lotz-A-Landies]

I have a silent number on both phones, unfortunately one somehow got listed during a phone and internet deal and the telemarketing calls started coming in. Apart from fixing the silent number thing, I put the fax on that line and they got the fax "handshake" in their ears the calls disappeared within a month or 2 although the listing lasted for the remainder of the year.

My advice in addition to the helpful hints above. Turn on a fax machine between 5pm and 730pm and have friends ring on your mobile at dinner time.

Diana

[The ho har's]

i have been known to just put the phone own an walk away for 10 mins or so.........but my daughter has the best come back...imagine intermittent sound ...ha...o y.. I am s..ll h..re wh..t do y.. wa.. and they usually hang up really quick:D

BTW we haven't hd calles for months now and we are on the DNC register



Mrs ho har:angel:

[101RRS]

I am on the DNC register and it works but now I am flooded with researchers and charities - sorry every charity that rings me at home will never get another cent from me - ever, ever, ever

Garry

[Disco Steve]

I give them edd(George 130)'s number...they never call again:wasntme:





I hear the suicide rate for telemarketers has gone up after I started doing this:p

[mike 90 RR]

Well it took a while ... but this week, the little beggars are highly active again ... had 6 try me today :mad: .... They appear to be trying to hit businesses, as they are reciting the company name & the name of the owner .... and a lot of fronts for "Investment in the Gold Oil & Gas stock's"


Every piece of confirmation that they get, they add to the list


So if you hear a click and a pause .... Just hang up

[ant_schomacker]

My grandfather had a telemarketer on the phone for a couple of hours one day (few years ago now) while he tried to sell the telemarketer a "genuine british battleship" from WWI. He had all sorts of things about how the flag was made from "genuine" etc. I can still remember absolutely ****ing myself as i listend to him :Rolling:.

On a slightly different note, my grandmother was never bothered by doorknockers again. One day she answered the door to find 2 JWs on the door step... "sorry boys I don't have time to chat, I'm running late for a lesbian wedding". She was really on her way to a Lebanese couple's wedding:oops2:

Both stories get trotted out regularly at home and still get a good laugh!

[Shonky]

One day she answered the door to find 2 JWs on the door step...

I live in the Hills District of Sydney - aka Hillsong Central. They constantly bomb every door in the area trying to convince people to join their cult and learn about Zombie Jesus - as long as you stump up a tenth of your worth to make sure their son-of-a-peadophile leader continues to live in immense comfort.

They avoid ours now. :twisted:

They came knocking one day when I was still a bit ****ed from the night before - the sight of my bleary eyed pasty bod in nothing but a pair of Y-fronts evidently grated against their sense of humility!

[Sprint]

normally i get them to call 0419 317 446 - the rejection hotline...... i tell them the accounts manager is out of the office but thats his mobile number.....

tho i think i did well today...... i got one of the bastards to hang up on me!

[steve_35]

I just say hang on ill get someone and sit the phone down for 10 minutes then just hang it up

They don't ring back

[WhiteD3]

Get an unlisted number, then...

Never give your number or address to any on line site or in store at wow, Harvey Norman, jb hifi, dick smith, whatever. They don't need it, they just want to seek their marketing database.

[Radz]

I think your onto something whited3. Whenever I fill out the form when making a purchase never ever put down my home phone number. Give them my work phone number....at work there a couple of clerks taking turns to answer the phone.....so wot happens don't really know.

Same for giving out your home email address....never do this....now do not even give out my work email address.

Get enough spam on my work computer as it stands.

At home happily so rarely get a telemarketer that I actually listen to their speils for entertainment before telling them to, well you know, go away.

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

Last month a world-wide survey was conducted by the UN.
The only question asked was:-

"Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions
to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"

The survey was a huge failure because of the following:

1. In Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant.
2. In Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant.
3. In Africa they didn't know what "food" meant.
4. In China they didn't know what "opinion" meant.
5. In the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant.
6. In South America they didn't know what "please" meant.
7. In the USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant.
8. In Australia they hung up as soon as they heard the Indian accent.

Hehe

[Tote]

We've got a number that is similar to the council's with a couple of digits reversed. Have had a few funny calls with one woman berating me for 5 minutes about the **** flowing through her garden before I could get a word in to tell her she had dialled the wrong number.
We have a number that is not in the directory as opposed to being unlisted and have never had any problem with callers. I put it down to the autodiallers not getting answered when they call during the day most of the time.

Regards
Tote

[Teks]

I run a home based business and my phone number is listed on the DNC register which seems to work well but now I get asshats in Hong Kong, UK, US and parts of Europe with crappy American type accents trying to inform me on my mobile that they are not selling anything but merely informing me about overseas investments and the huge profits that can be made in the money market. Most of these calls are between 4pm and 6pm EST and I get around 5 of them every Monday morning starting at 6-30am.

As these dills are calling my mobile from overseas the costs involved must be pretty high which prompts me to keep them on line for as long as possible while they rack up a huge phone bill. I pretend that the line connection is really bad after 2-3 minutes of their rambling and ask that they repeat everything from the start then interrupt them by saying I had another call on another phone and would they please hold on (for at least 4-5 minutes), get back to them and ask them to start over again. When they ask for an email address I ask them ''what is email?'' which chews up more time and jacks up their bill further. Silly buggers end up spending heaps for a 5-10 minute call which gives no return and yet the same sales person will keep calling but with a different name thinking I won't notice.

Other times they ask for the business owner or manager to which I reply ''he's just left the office''. Then ask them to give me their name and number which of course I stuff up and spend the next 10 minutes trying to sort out with them spelling their name incorrectly numerous times and repeating their phone number over and over again. Then I ask if daylight saving is going to stuff up the call back and ''hey what about the time difference with GMT?'' They get confused with the time difference and often have to go ask someone in their office what is a good time for my manager to call them back. This ruse can chew up a good half hour or more of their costly mobile ISD call to me which must cost them upwards of 100 UK pounds or more if calling from Britain. If they don't give me a number and are really insistent on getting my number, I give them a spammer's number in Russia, China, Korea etc making sure that the number is as far away from them as possible whilst making the same mistakes as above with giving the number over and over again - this will cost them dearly in ISD charges. Jeez I'm a vindictive little bugger at times!! Serves them right for giving legitimate cold business callers a bad name. Phone spammers – [I]gotta love ‘em[i/].:p

[Frenchie]

I used to work on a RAAF base. For some reason that I never worked out the Bureau listed my office number in the white pages so I used to get callers asking for the 'business owner'.

After a slight pause I would ask them in a serious voice how they got the number, then go on to ask them if they realised they were calling a restricted line on a secure military establishment and please hold the line the call is being traced......the military police will be around shortly......

They usually hung up at that point.....:D

[Fish78]

I worked for an employer in QLD that was buying computer CDs from Telstra of phone books, these CDs had all numbers listed, even silent numbers.

I was surprised to see the silent numbers in there as i thought by paying for the 'Silent' bit it should be private.

That was in 1999-2000, not sure if it has changed but i doubt it.

In my line of work i have come across a few interesting facts, there are companies out there that collect phone numbers and email addresses, compile lists of those people and then sell that information to Charities, Vote polling organisations, surveys etc.

The lists can include all sorts of info, salary, address, work type, marital status etc.

They get this stuff from competition forms, website memberships, internet searches etc all over the place.

Google is the main offender, they record everything you do through google then target advertisements to you, for eg, i use facebook, i will get ads from Land Rover there and from anything that i have used google to look up, its no coincidence, they will try to sell you what you are interested in.

Its nothing to do with Land Rover apart from the fact they pay google a fee to do this on their behalf as do most companies.

[Rangier Rover]

Just pull a prank on them:twisted:
Telemarketer Prank Call Murder Scene Hilarius - Video