Telemarketers.

[Lost Boy]

How do you deal with them?

The ones I despise the most are the ones calling to lower your interest rate.  Then next in line are the ones that want to sell you a car warranty.

So this is how I handle them.  

Lost Boy's rules for handling telemarketers.

1)  Always be polite.  If you are rude, they may hang up too quickly.

2)  Always find some dumb compliment to give them.

3)  When they ask you for your credit card number, give them most of it, but change a digit or two.  It won't work for them, so you have them repeat back the number to you.  But correct the incorrect digit, but change another...

4) Then you need to quickly tell them that you need to put them on hold for just a second and that you will be right back.

5) Let them hang there a few minutes.  But come back and apologize for the wait.

6) Talk with them some more and then put them on hold again.  make sure you apologize for having to do this.

7) repeat this until they finally give up on you.

I currently am on a call with one for 20 minutes.  

Update....

After 22 minutes, they finally hung up.......   and then they called back asking why they were put on hold and if they could continue.....    Dang.  Dang dang dang.   So back on hold they went.  This time they only waited a minute before hanging up.

Edited June 22, 2018 by Lost Boy

[NeedleinA]

I don't deal with them. The secret to my super success:

1. Never answer your phone unless it is a number you recognize
2. Rarely answer the phone with the numbers you do recognize
3. Put your number on the do not call list: https://www.donotcall.gov/

 

Edited June 22, 2018 by NeedleinA

[Lost Boy]

3 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

I don't deal with them. The secret to my super success:

1. Never answer your phone unless it is a number you recognize
2. Rarely answer the phone with the numbers you do recognize
3. Put your number on the do not call list: https://www.donotcall.gov/

 

The do not call registry is mostly pointless.  These guys ignore it and call anyway.

[NeuroTypical]

It's not mostly pointless.  The do not call registry is a wonderful thing.  Reputable businesses follow it, meaning, if you get a call from someone, it's pretty much guaranteed to be someone disreputable. 

Mostly they are recordings, so I block the number.  When I get a human, I just interrupt them and say "put me on your do not call list" and hang up.  I don't care if they heard me or not.  And I block the number.

 

[NeedleinA]

18 minutes ago, Lost Boy said:

The do not call registry is mostly pointless.  These guys ignore it and call anyway.

See point #1 of my super success.

[Lost Boy]

7 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

See point #1 of my super success.

Sure, but where is the joy in that?  I take pride in keeping them busy.  

[zil]

I cannot remember the last time a human solicitor called.  They're always robots who start talking before the machine picks up.  I never answer the phone anymore.  If you aren't willing to leave me a message, you don't deserve a return call.

[NeuroTypical]

6 minutes ago, zil said:

I cannot remember the last time a human solicitor called.  They're always robots who start talking before the machine picks up.

So, one tricky way some recordings work, is you say hello, and the recording says "Hi, is Nancy there?"  Then it pauses for a few seconds, and says "Oh, well maybe you can help me then - [insert sales pitch here]".

Because people just hang up on recordings, but they'll stay on the line and listen to someone who has a wrong number.

Also, this: 

 

[zil]

4 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

So, one tricky way some recordings work, is you say hello,

Or in my case, my machine says, "hello, no one..." and right about here, their machine starts talking while mine is finishing it's schpiel, so that after the beep, they're smack in the middle of their automated pitch.  Eventually, we sit in silence long enough for the voice on the other end to say "Good-bye".

Thing is, it's always a female voice.  You'd think they'd understand that I'd be more likely to pick up if the voice on the other end sounded like Sean Connery. ::smh::

[Overwatch]

58 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

I don't deal with them. The secret to my super success:

1. Never answer your phone unless it is a number you recognize
2. Rarely answer the phone with the numbers you do recognize
3. Put your number on the do not call list: https://www.donotcall.gov/

 

:C I did this one time as preventative measures and spam calls began the day after. It almost seems like someone took the list and started calling the numbers.

[SilentOne]

I used to almost always answer the phone. Then either last summer or the summer before, it was like the spam calls quadrupled. Since then, I rarely pick up if I don't know who is calling.

[NeedleinA]

2 hours ago, zil said:

 If you aren't willing to leave me a message, you don't deserve a return call.

^^^This. If it is something important, they will leave a message.

[2ndRateMind]

I'm not too bothered by telemarketers. We all have to earn a legitimate living somehow. But most of my unwanted calls are from outright fraudsters; you know, the ones who say they are from Microsoft, and ask you for access to your computer so they can 'fix' a computer fault you do not have, and then proceed to mess with your system so they can charge you many $money to restore it. I don't have any time to waste on these guys, I just tell them their call is fraudulent, and has been recorded, and their details taken, and that real soon now they will be in gaol. Then I put the phone down on them.

Best wishes, 2RM.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2018 by 2ndRateMind

[mrmarklin]

6 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

I don't deal with them. The secret to my super success:

1. Never answer your phone unless it is a number you recognize
2. Rarely answer the phone with the numbers you do recognize
3. Put your number on the do not call list: https://www.donotcall.gov/

 

4.  If by mistake you answer one of these calls hang up immediately.  These guys don’t deserve any courtesy at all. 

Edited June 23, 2018 by mrmarklin