Fewer telemarketer calls lately?

[Fear Itself]

I usually get 2-3 telemarketer calls per day, despite listing my numbers on the donotcall.gov website. But recently, there has been a noticeable drop in telemarketer call frequency, maybe only a couple of calls in the last two weeks. Anybody else notice a drop in telemarketer calls? Did a big call center get busted recently? A seasonal lull? Or is it just a calm before the storm?

[FairyChatMom]

Boy, not in our house. I keep getting calls from half a dozen numbers over and over again. Thank goodness for caller ID! Unfortunately, I don't have the option of blocking these calls, at least not without a fee. So I just do 2 quick clicks - one to answer, one to hang up - and I go one with my day.

[Musicat]

Are you including political calls? If so, we're between elections, but it's bound to start up soon.

Originally Posted by FairyChatMom

So I just do 2 quick clicks - one to answer, one to hang up - and I go one with my day.

Why answer at all? it just encourages the bastards.

[Fear Itself]

I'm including all unsolicited calls from strangers: telemarketers, charities, surveys and political calls.

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

I'm including all unsolicited calls from strangers: telemarketers, charities, surveys and political calls.

OK, so could the overall reduction be because of political calls in a lull? Otherwise, I'd say it's just random clustering.

[Fear Itself]

Most of my unwanted calls were telemarketers, so they have been most of the decrease.

[Khadaji]

No, I get a few a week. I diligently report them all and I also have a device to screen them. I don't even hear the phone ring anymore, if they're not on the right list.

[Senegoid]

For whatever reason (can anybody offer some theories?) it seems to vary drastically from one person to another. For me, the Do-Not-Call-List has been stupendously successful. Before that, I got several obnoxious telemarketing calls (but that's a redundant phrase) per week, at least -- not counting the political shit, etc. Once I got onto the DNC list, they gradually tapered off, over a 6-month period or so. Now, for the last several years, I get those calls but rarely -- maybe once a month on average.

I know of other people who claim drastically different results -- they say that DNC has helped them little or not at all.

I still get more unwanted calls that I would like. We just had a primary election here, so for weeks before that I got those robotic calls for candidates or issues. Go to the polls and vote for the robot of YOUR choice! At my current number, I am lately getting more that I would like of (presumably robotic) hang-up calls. I rarely answer my phone, BTW, unless I like the caller-ID. I let my robotic answering machine deal with it. And I've been getting plied with collection-agency calls, who are trying to get at somebody else. My answering machine deals with them too. Most of the time, I set my phone's ringer to silent so I don't have to even bother knowing when an incoming call is incoming.

(ETA: May Dante find a very special Circle in Hell for the purveyors of them all!)

Thought of the day: IMNSHO, Tele-robo-marketing calling machines, automated phone-answering menu machines (especially the voice-controlled ones!), and leaf blowers are high on my list of inventions the world didn't need.

ETA: Re-phrased the above "thought of the day" for better clarity.

[Motorgirl]

Now that you mention it, yes, I have seen a precipitous drop-off in telemarketer calls. I used to get at least one a day, but I checked my cell phone call log and I've only gotten 2 or 3 in the last month.

[Lynn Bodoni]

In my experience, these calls come in waves...we'll get nothing for a while, and then suddenly Rachel from Card Services has remembered our existence. We ARE on the DNC list. When we moved and had to change phone numbers (big phone company screwups), I didn't put the new number on the DNC list for a couple of days, and let me tell you, EVERY telemarketer called us. So the DNC list does do some good.

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni

In my experience, these calls come in waves...we'll get nothing for a while, and then suddenly Rachel from Card Services has remembered our existence.

Probability theory suggests you are experiencing random clustering. If the calls are indeed random, they will not be evenly spaced, but bunch up at times.

[FairyChatMom]

Originally Posted by Musicat

Why answer at all? it just encourages the bastards.

The ringing is annoying and if I'm close enough to the phone to make it stop right away, I will. Not answering doesn't seem to make a difference anyway - when I was still working, I'd come home to multiple calls from the same numbers. They just don't get the hint...

[ZipperJJ]

Originally Posted by FairyChatMom

The ringing is annoying and if I'm close enough to the phone to make it stop right away, I will. Not answering doesn't seem to make a difference anyway - when I was still working, I'd come home to multiple calls from the same numbers. They just don't get the hint...

Yeah I get the same problem, which is why a lot of the time I pick up and hang up too.

I actually don't get a lot of telemarketer calls anymore BUT I get collections calls from the people who had this number like 7 years ago. And also for a guy who lived here for a short while.

When I'm in the mood, I answer the phone and go through the steps to talk to a live person and explain that those people do not live here and have not used this number for at least 7 years. Or if they are calling for the ex-roomie I give them his cell #.

That actually cuts down on a ton of calls.

I just got a call during this post LOL It was from Windstream, my landline phone company. They've been calling a lot. So much that I blocked their number a while back. They changed their number and have been calling a lot again so I answered and talked to them and we figured out I wasn't interested so now we're all good.

The only companies that get me anymore are the Card Services dickheads. I either pick up/hang up on them, or let it ring through, then they leave a message, and I have to listen to the message to delete it. HATE THAT. But they're scum...there's no way to get off their damn list. And no way for the FCC to stop them, either.

[LegsAkimbo]

Interesting....yes, fewer calls. Actually, I was recently thinking I wouldn't mind another of those calls that start out "We are the ones responsible for sending out your magazines" (although they curiously have no idea what magazines I subscribe to...). I read recently that those guys have a call quota. In order to reach that call quota, they actually rely on most people hanging up immediately--they can show more calls made when the calls last less than 10 seconds. What they want least of all is an unsuccessful call that lasts 5 or more minutes--that's equivalent to many lost calls toward their quota, and got them nowhere. Next time they call, if they catch me when I have time, we are going to discuss possible magazines I may want for as long as I can keep them there. Do they have any magazines about African cooking? Wildlife photography in Kansas? According to the article I read, if you chat them up and don't order, you go on their less-preferred call list. If you pick up and hang up, you are helping them reach that call quota. Better to either not answer, or chat endlessly. Or so I read. (I am of course on the national do-not-call list but I still get calls.)

[Mopal]

Since a lot of sales calls start with "How are you today?" I tell them.In excruciating detail from the moment I woke up that morning.