Suggestions on how to handle this telemarketer?

[Little Nemo]

I'm apparently on a list for a telemarketing company. I guess they're trying to sell me a debt consolidation service or something. But the point is I don't want to buy their product and I want them to stop calling me. Here's the problems:

It's a robot call. The phone rings and I pick it up. But there's not another person on the line. It's just a recorded message. I obviously can't tell a recording to take me off their list and stop calling me.

If I listen all the way through the recorded message, I'm told I can push 1 to speak to a representative. I've done that so I can tell the representative to take me off their call list. But if I have a person on the line and I start to say anything that sounds like I'm about to tell them to take me off their call list, they immediately disconnect the call. I'm assuming this is so they can claim I never actually told them to take me off the call list and they don't face the legal repercussions for continuing to call me.

Any suggestions on how I can get the message through and get my name off their call list? Or some other means I can use to make them stop?

On what may be a connected issue, someone is calling me on a regular basis. But when I pick up the line there's nobody there. I'm figuring the likeliest possibility is it's a defective robocall service. It's dialing my number but the recording isn't kicking on when I answer.

Obviously, I could handle this by screening my calls. But I have an old phone that doesn't have the capability. I'd prefer not to have to buy a new phone to make somebody else stop annoying me. And all call screening would do anyway is tell me they were calling - I'd still have to check the phone when it rang to see who was calling and then listen to the phone ringing when I didn't pick up. I want them to stop calling entirely.

[Annie-Xmas]

Cuss them out. Really. Start with "How the fuck do you dare call me, you fucking asshole? What fucking asshole bastard gave you my fucking number? You are never to call me again, you fucking bitch of a cunt. You do and I will fucking sue your fucking ass and your bastard shit of a company. You understand?"

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by Annie-Xmas

Cuss them out. Really. Start with "How the fuck do you dare call me, you fucking asshole? What fucking asshole bastard gave you my fucking number? You are never to call me again, you fucking bitch of a cunt. You do and I will fucking sue your fucking ass and your bastard shit of a company. You understand?"

Shouldn't I include some death threats to really get my message across?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

Shouldn't I include some death threats to really get my message across?

Question--do you really think it wise to leave death threats recorded on somebody else's machine?

Or even you own?

[LegsAkimbo]

Some of those ones you pick up and nobody is there may have been generated by one of those machines that dials five or six numbers at a time--dials them all, and when one picks up, the others are disconnected and recycled. Nothing you can do, unless you are the first person to pick up of all the calls made simultaneously. I was recently on a list with some company that did that ("American Service <something>" I think--caller id only showed American Serv). The phone would ring at least twice a day from them, nobody there. I finally just started picking up and immediately disconnecting--no point in saying Hello to a dead line. They quit after about 3 weeks.

[Rachellelogram]

We need more information to provide useful advice. Is this a land line or a cell phone? Do you not have caller ID? Caller ID-enabled phones are very inexpensive; if this is a land line, get one. Have you signed up for the national Do Not Call list? Do so, if you have not.

Some general advice: don't threaten them with harm or death. Most likely there would be no consequences, because telemarketing companies are run by scum-sucking chucklefucks who don't care how their employees are treated. But phone threats are still illegal. if the company has any ethics policy at all, the line will be traced and you could be charged.

You will also catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. You would get further with them by pretending to be interested in their scam, get a rep talking for a few minutes, thank them for calling you, and then let them know nicely that you would prefer to be removed from their list.

I work in a call center (not outbound and not telemarketing, ok, but still a call center). It may be difficult for you to keep this in mind, but the people on the other end of those lines are just people working a shitty job they hate. Anyone who threatens me gets hung up on immediately. Anyone who is rude or entitled gets the bare minimum I'm required to do. But for people who are nice to me? I will go an extra hundred miles to make their day better, because they made mine better. So if you manage to get someone on the phone, don't be a dick--if you do that, you're only hurting yourself.

Personally, I just don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the caller ID. But if you don't have caller ID, that's hard advice to take!

[Little Nemo]

That was a joke, people, and I'm assuming Annie's post was a joke as well. I'm not going to yell at or swear at or threaten the person on the line. I have no reason to be angry at the person on the line - I just want the company to stop calling me.

As I said, I don't have caller ID and it's not an option on my current phone. And I don't want to buy another phone, especially when it wouldn't solve the problem. Caller ID won't stop them from calling me, it would just let me know they're calling me before I answer the phone. I don't see how that improves the situation.

I have considered the possibility of stringing them along and acting interested in their product in hopes that I can lull them into complacency and then tell them to stop calling me. I don't like this idea because I'd instinctively rather be honest than deceitful. But maybe I've reached the point where there's no honest approach that'll work.

[picker]

Air Horn.

[Rachellelogram]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

As I said, I don't have caller ID and it's not an option on my current phone. And I don't want to buy another phone, especially when it wouldn't solve the problem. Caller ID won't stop them from calling me, it would just let me know they're calling me before I answer the phone. I don't see how that improves the situation.

Because if you've signed up for the national DNC list and the same phone number violates it repeatedly, you can report the company for breaking federal law (still don't know if you're on the list or not, though). You need to know the number before you can take that sort of action, though, which means you need caller ID.

[Chimera]

Is this a land line?

Because you can still buy an old fashioned Answering Machine for under $20.

Then screen your calls, as I did for my entire adult life up until I dumped the land line. Let the call go do the machine. Listen to the message. If it's someone you want to talk to, pick up. If you're busy or you don't want to talk to them, let the machine do it's work. I had everyone I knew trained fairly well that "It's going to go to the answering machine. If you want to talk to me, leave a message. If I'm there, I'll pick up."

As for getting it to stop completely, nice dream, won't happen. Especially not in an election year.

[runner pat]

Originally Posted by Rachellelogram

Because if you've signed up for the national DNC list and the same phone number violates it repeatedly, you can report the company for breaking federal law (still don't know if you're on the list or not, though). You need to know the number before you can take that sort of action, though, which means you need caller ID.

But companies who are violating the DCL will either spoof or block their number.

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by runner pat

But companies who are violating the DCL will either spoof or block their number.

Yup. We get a ton of "unknown number" calls, and some of these are total robocalls that never have a human on the line, or just have some silence and then it disconnects.

The ones I really "love" are the collection agencies calling for a sister-in-law who used to live upstairs; a lot of time we'll get a recorded message on the answering machine citing the Fair Debt Collections act and saying that it's my job to hang up now (oops, you're talking to a machine!) to avoid violating privacy, and then it goes on to have the collection message.

[lost4life]

Serious answer? These people are most likely thieves, usually using spoofed numbers, and there's nothing you can do to stop them. They don't care about Do Not Call lists (although I report them just to be sure) and they're probably threatened several times an hour. If I'm not busy, I put them on speaker phone and play along, while continuing doing whatever I was up to. It's like being part of an improv class! There's usually an option to opt out of calls, but choosing that always just disconnects the call, so be sure and get an actual operator.
Of course, I consider the Nigerian email scammers to be penpals.

[Rachellelogram]

Sorry, that earlier post posted in part, and way too soon.

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

As I said, I don't have caller ID and it's not an option on my current phone. And I don't want to buy another phone, especially when it wouldn't solve the problem. Caller ID won't stop them from calling me, it would just let me know they're calling me before I answer the phone. I don't see how that improves the situation.

Because if you've signed up for the national DNC list and the same phone number violates it repeatedly, you can report the company for breaking federal law (still don't know if you're on the list or not, though). You need to know the number before you can take that sort of action, though, which means you need caller ID. It's hard to imagine how being repeatedly trolled by telemarketers doesn't make it a priority for you upgrade your phone. Caller ID technology is decades old at this point, there's no legitimate reason not to have it by now.

That said, there are certain brands of telemarketer that you CAN'T stop, but you can still screen them... so screening your calls (and possibly turning your ringer off at night) would be a good way to avoid the most egregious offenders. Other possibilities would be getting a new phone number, or switching from a landline to a smartphone (which would also give you a new number, as well as access to apps that are capable of blocking unsolicited calls, or google voice etc that can route unknown callers directly to voicemail).

If you're still using an old-fashioned rotary phone, though, you have effectively chosen to severely limit your options.

[echoreply]

There really is very little you can do. The company is almost certainly selling a scam which violates several laws, so what do they care if they violate some poorly enforced Do Not Call list? If they are a legitimate company, they will almost certainly remove you if you ask (corporate bureaucratic stupidity excluded). If they're not a legitimate company, then they don't care if they remove you, even though the law requires that they do. You can file a complaint with the FCC, and the more information you provide the better. If you can figure out what they call themselves, what their contact information is, or anything like that it will make the report worthwhile. You can file a report that just says, "I got a robot call at 8:30pm," but obviously the FCC can't do much with that.

If it's a cell phone, particularly a smart phone, you can often block numbers. I have an app on my Android phone which I use to block unwanted numbers. I get a call from an unwanted number, then add it to the blacklist, and then I never see when that number calls me again. If it's a landline without caller ID then your options are extremely limited. You can try talking to your phone provider and see if they can do something. You can port your number to google voice, which can filter calls.

As for doing nasty things to the person on the other end. It can be a fun game, and I don't have much sympathy for the caller. They're probably not some abused drone working an honest job in a legitimate call center, but the bottom rung hustler in some criminal organization. Of course abusing them isn't going to get you anything, other than maybe a laugh. There are devices which are supposed to play the "out of service" tone to trick the robot to remove your number from the list, but my guess is they don't work, because the caller doesn't care if your number's out of service or not. They'll just keep calling back until they move onto the next batch of numbers.

[Sudden Kestrel]

Originally Posted by Chimera

Is this a land line?

Because you can still buy an old fashioned Answering Machine for under $20.

Then screen your calls, as I did for my entire adult life up until I dumped the land line. Let the call go do the machine. Listen to the message. If it's someone you want to talk to, pick up. If you're busy or you don't want to talk to them, let the machine do it's work. I had everyone I knew trained fairly well that "It's going to go to the answering machine. If you want to talk to me, leave a message. If I'm there, I'll pick up."

This is what we do. We do have caller ID, but it's just about useless nowadays. We don't even have a personalized message on our answering machine, just the prefab message that was programmed into it.

If you do get a person on the line, say very quickly and emphatically, "Do not call here again," and hang up. Do not engage with them in any other way. You're far better off if you just don't answer.

Originally Posted by runner pat

But companies who are violating the DCL will either spoof or block their number.

We had one the other day that showed up with an 800 number and the location listed as something like "XKSIDYBVGCTD, NY." I felt kind of sad. They're not even trying any more.

[Little Nemo]

To answer some questions I have a regular phone (a land line), I have an answering machine, and I am on the DNC list.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by echoreply

You can file a complaint with the FCC, and the more information you provide the better. If you can figure out what they call themselves, what their contact information is, or anything like that it will make the report worthwhile.

This is a possibility. The calls identify the company and I can start keeping records of when they call.

[Clothahump]

Go to this site and record the tones on your answering machine, then record your greeting after it. The robot will hear the tones, think your phone has been disconnected and drop you from the list.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by Clothahump

Go to this site and record the tones on your answering machine, then record your greeting after it. The robot will hear the tones, think your phone has been disconnected and drop you from the list.

I just want to check. This won't stop regular calls from coming through, will it?

[echoreply]

Originally Posted by Sudden Kestrel

If you do get a person on the line, say very quickly and emphatically, "Do not call here again," and hang up. Do not engage with them in any other way. You're far better off if you just don't answer.

That's fine if the company is trying to comply with the law. Unfortunately there are no magic words to make criminals go away.

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

I just want to check. This won't stop regular calls from coming through, will it?

It shouldn't. As far as a human is concerned, it will just be funny noises on your answering machine. If you have easily confused callers, you might have to explain it to them.

[Sudden Kestrel]

Originally Posted by echoreply

That's fine if the company is trying to comply with the law. Unfortunately there are no magic words to make criminals go away.

I probably should have meticulously delineated that I was addressing the OP's comment about the humans disconnecting as soon as they figured out their potential victim was telling them not to call. We all know these callers have no intention of complying with the law, but the OP wished to get the message across that their calls are unwelcome. Additionally, having made that statement can also carry some weight in the unlikely event that this company is prosecuted for misconduct. For instance:

Originally Posted by Office of Minnesota Attorney General

Some companies, such as those with whom you’ve had a business relationship, or those calling on behalf of nonprofits or political entities, are not required to follow the Do Not Call Registry. Under the law, however, these organizations must maintain their own “in-house” do not call list. If you ask each organization to put you on their individual in-house do not call list, the organization must stop calling you. Organizations that violate this law and continue to call you may be subject to a fine.

This may not apply in states other than Minnesota, of course.

[Alley Dweller]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

I just want to check. This won't stop regular calls from coming through, will it?

If by "regular call" you mean your elderly aunt dialing from her home, then no.

But there is no such thing as an "illegal telemarketer call origination system that responds to SIT tones." The telemarketers use the same equipment that any other business that might need to make a lot of phone calls uses. So it might block some legitimate business phone calls.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by echoreply

That's fine if the company is trying to comply with the law. Unfortunately there are no magic words to make criminals go away.

"You're under arrest" seems to work.

I realize that criminals don't follow the laws. But we have a legal system that enforces the laws. (I should know; I made a living off of this.) I'm perfectly willing to use that legal system if this company doesn't comply with my request.

[Wheelz]

I am perplexed as to why these people would continue to waste their time and resources calling you after you've made it clear that you're not interested in purchasing their product/falling for their scam. They may be crooks, but they're stupid ones.

Anyhow, given your current technological limitations, I don't have any better advice than "screen your calls." But this is in fact an effective way to avoid talking to people you don't wish to talk to. I assume they'll eventually give up on you.

[kayaker]

I haven't had a land-line for ten years, but back when I did I once blew a whistle at a telemarketer. It was a Fox 40 whistle, and what I did was probably illegal, but the calls stopped.

[MLS]

There's a product called a telezapper that will sense the slight delay of a robocall and send back an electronic signal indicating that the phone has been disconnected.

[Missy2U]

Little Nemo, if you have a phone that has caller ID, you will get the number they are calling from. They you call the phone company, tell them you want the ability to block that number from calling you, and it's done. I had to do that with an ex who was stalking me. Worked like a charm!

[Shodan]

If you find out what to do, post it here so I can do it too. The assholes at Credit Account Services have been harassing me for months.

They kept hanging up the instant I started telling them to put me on their DNC list. The only time I got the whole phrase out, the jackhole at the other end informed me that, because I pressed 1 "to speak to a representative about lowering my credit card rates", that meant that I wanted them to keep calling.

Now I just scream abuse at them. It doesn't do any good about making them call less, but it makes me feel better, and it makes the job of violating the law that much worse for the depraved idiot at the other end.

Regards,
Shodan

[Lynn Bodoni]

Originally Posted by Missy2U

Little Nemo, if you have a phone that has caller ID, you will get the number they are calling from. They you call the phone company, tell them you want the ability to block that number from calling you, and it's done. I had to do that with an ex who was stalking me. Worked like a charm!

Blocking one number from an obsessive ex can work very well. However, telemarketers sell numbers to each other, and they also spoof their ID phone numbers, so it doesn't work nearly so well on them.

[Missy2U]

Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni

Blocking one number from an obsessive ex can work very well. However, telemarketers sell numbers to each other, and they also spoof their ID phone numbers, so it doesn't work nearly so well on them.

But he's only complaining about one.

[Mama Zappa]

Originally Posted by Rachellelogram

... which means you need caller ID.

However, a number of scammers *spoof* their caller ID (something I personally think should be illegal as hell) - so you'd be reporting a nonworking number or worse yet, the number of an innocent party.

Heather from Account Services is one of the ones that's famous for this. Oh yeah, Heather's been fired and someone else is doing her dirty work but the rest of the call is identical.

[Max Torque]

"That sounds awesome! Yeah, I'm really interested! Oh, hang on, I gotta take the roast out of the oven." Then, set the phone down, and go about your business. Check it a suitable period of time later, like half an hour, to see if they've hung up yet. If the idiot is still there, set the phone down for another half hour.

Or, if you don't want to do that, just talk about whatever comes to mind. There's no rule that you have to talk about what the telemarketer wants you to talk about. Ramble on about your day, your weird neighbor, that strange pain in your shoulder, how runny the cat's bowel movements are lately, whatever.

Telemarketing will not stop until it becomes unprofitable. Every minute an actual human being is on the line with you is time wasted that they could spend selling to someone else. Therefore, the best thing you can do is waste as much of their employees' time as possible.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by Shodan

If you find out what to do, post it here so I can do it too. The assholes at Credit Account Services have been harassing me for months.

They kept hanging up the instant I started telling them to put me on their DNC list. The only time I got the whole phrase out, the jackhole at the other end informed me that, because I pressed 1 "to speak to a representative about lowering my credit card rates", that meant that I wanted them to keep calling.

I think it's the same outfit. It's Credit Something Something and they sound like the operate the same way.

Do they keep telling you this will be your final notice? I wish that was true.

[norvalnormal]

& recently, there's a new one, something something "Google" (I assume no connection whatsoever with the real Google). As with years ago with "Cardholder Services," I actually pressed a key as instructed, to be "removed"--and then got 4-5 more calls over the next 2 days.
Have actually phoned the FCC, and they can't do bupkus.
Always spoofed phone numbers, sometimes all that shows up on my Caller ID is "0."

Get at least a dozen of these calls on my landline a week, including Rachel, and have had only a single occurrence of them repeatedly calling me back after I wished on the live person that he undergo a service entry acquaintance with a hot lead poker.
Unfortunately, cursing them out provides next to no satisfaction and, yeah, they are doubtless bottom of the telephone pole minions.

Not to be confused w/getting 3 dozen RNC robocalls during the last presidential election and, this year, ones from the NRA (I assume both of these, 'cause I made the mistake of subscribing to a Rupert Murdoch newspaper and providing them with the number of my landline)--to put it mildly, not remotely my political persuasion ...

[Fear Itself]

PhoneTray Free

Nothing more satisfying than having your phone hang up automatically after one ring.

[Kimballkid]

Originally Posted by Max Torque

Then, set the phone down, and go about your business. Check it a suitable period of time later, like half an hour, to see if they've hung up yet. If the idiot is still there, set the phone down for another half hour.

I used to work for a guy in a body shop that did this. It's the first time I'd seen anyone do it and it was funny as hell.

[beowulff]

I switched to a VOIP service from Ooma.
In addition to saving $200/year on phone bills, the "premier" service has a very neat feature called community blacklist. Since getting the system, my Spam calls have dropped about 90%. I still get maybe 1/week, but unless I recognize the Caller ID, I always let the Ooma box answer it, and they just hang up.

[Czarcasm]

Hanging up before you can tell them to put you on the "Do Not Call" list? Bullhorn the bastard.
It may be only a lowly peon calling you...but that lowly peon knows it is wrong to do that. Bullhorn the bastard.

[Shodan]

Unfortunately, I was informed in one of my previous threads on the same subject that the lower life forms who do this kind of thing have noise suppressors on their end, and a bullhorn would not affect them as it should.

If Romney or Obama want to break this race wide open, just come out in favor of the death penalty for telemarketers. Then anyone who has been called by Heather, or Rachel, or Anne at Cardholder Services would knock down the election judges to go vote for him, and that's gotta be half the country.

Fuck nuking the Iranians or killing Osama bin Laden - play some video of Navy SEALs slapping the shit out of Heather, and get ready for a landslide.

Regards,
Shodan

[silenus]

If we make telemarketing a Capital Crime and televise the hideously painful and drawn-out executions, it might slow them down a bit.

Simulpost with Shodan.






I feel so dirty.

[Vinyl Turnip]

Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni

Blocking one number from an obsessive ex can work very well. However, telemarketers sell numbers to each other, and they also spoof their ID phone numbers, so it doesn't work nearly so well on them.

Yeah, trying to ban specific numbers is a losing proposition. I get telemarketer/scammer calls on my cell phone, and I created a "Morons" contact entry with a silent ring tone where I save each number that calls. It's got about 40 different numbers in it so far, from area codes all over the U.S. They almost never use the same number twice, in my experience.

I just never answer the phone for numbers I don't recognize. If it's a legit call, they can leave a message and I'll call back. The assholes comprising the remaining 99.9999% of unrecognized numbers can go light themselves on fire until I figure out a way to do it with my mind.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by Shodan

If you find out what to do, post it here so I can do it too. The assholes at Credit Account Services have been harassing me for months.

They kept hanging up the instant I started telling them to put me on their DNC list. The only time I got the whole phrase out, the jackhole at the other end informed me that, because I pressed 1 "to speak to a representative about lowering my credit card rates", that meant that I wanted them to keep calling.

Now I just scream abuse at them. It doesn't do any good about making them call less, but it makes me feel better, and it makes the job of violating the law that much worse for the depraved idiot at the other end.

Regards,
Shodan

Does this sound familiar? If these are the people calling you a whistle in their ear sounds quite appropriate.

[Hampshire]

Is it Rachel? From Carholder Services?
Just googling the term will take you to dozens of news outlets that have done in depth stories on them.
In summary they say there's not much to be done with them as they keep skirting the law by renaming the comapny so as one gets sued and closes down another pops up with the same equipment.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Originally Posted by silenus

If we make telemarketing a Capital Crime and televise the hideously painful and drawn-out executions, it might slow them down a bit.

Vlad the Impaler had the right idea, just the wrong targets.

[Annie-Xmas]

My post was not a joke. Any telemarketer who calls me will get a swear word loaded earful.

I've yet to have one call me twice.