See, I hate this meme. Because telemarketers are sub-human leeches, I should be the one punished by having to screen my phone calls? Why should I have to put up with my phone ringing off the hook during evening hours (which it doesn’t anymore since the DNC Registry went into effect) just because these bastards want to shove their crap at me?
Telemarketing should be banned. Let them tread door to door like in the old days. At least then I can put up a “No Trespassing/No Solicitors” sign and shoot at them if they come too close.
It’s my phone; I pay for it with my money for my convenience and my purposes. You may safely rest assured that if you are not my relative, my friend, or my work that you are not welcome to use my phone for your purposes. I should not have to jump through hoops to avoid someone who shouldn’t be calling me in the first place.
By any chance, did that call originate from the 704 area code? I’ve been getting a woman with some odd accent calling under the guise of signing me up for a Visa card but I suspect she’s really just part of a phishing scam.
The Zapper can be installed on any Telephone provided it is Modular.
You just plug it inline with your telephone. If you have hardwired spade-tip
connections,you can’t plug it in.
After about 2 to 3 weeks,the Telemarketing calls drop-off by 90%.
The Zapper emulates a disconnect signal that the Network Provider
originates after a telephone number has been disconnected.
Them: Can I speak to…(short pause as they actually read my name and realize they have no idea how to pronounce it)… …(actual name deleted, but rest assured, they have butchered it miserably)?
Nothing to add except to say, Miller, that was fine. I’m sitting here giggling like a loon and I’ve forwarded that bit to a few friends.
Thanks for the laugh - I needed it today!
So the telemarketer asks for “Mrs. Baker” I put on my best chilly voice and say "This is Ms. Baker, and as they are stuttering, wondering how to get back on the right track, I hang up.
And I figure anyone who mispronounces my surname doesn’t know me well enough to have any legitimate business with me.
I’m on the “do not call” list. The “do not call” list is a wonderful thing.
My favorite telemarketing calls were the ones where I’d pick up the phone and someone would ask “Hello, can I speak with Mango The Asbestos?” I would just hang up on them. If they’re reading last name first, #1, they obviously don’t know who they’re calling and #2, probably outsourced (most of these callers had accents), which means the company is too cheap to even provide a crappy job to an American worker.
Although, I used to entertain fantasies of replying, “No, there is no Mango The Asbestos here. Here is also not a Smith John, or a Jones Bob. Please do not call this number again.”
(Oh, and thanks for the props on the ol’ “telemarketer speaks” thread. Follows me around like a big friendly puppy and leaps up and drools all over me at unexpected moments. Heh.)
Yeah, when someone calls asking for my wife and mispronounces her name, I just say, “Sorry, she’s dead.” What’s even more fun is when they speak spanish because her surname could be Hispanic. My wife is tall and blonde and doesn’t know a lick of Spanish.
Alas, my surname is easily pronounced. So I must deal with the schmucks.
Gosh, you really do have the empathy and intelligence demanded of every telemarketer. :smack:
Of course I understood that you think telemarketers are somehow ‘respectable’. But it’s only for desperate people who can’t get a decent job.
And as a telemarketer, you got annoyed at people who hung up on you. Why, they were wasting your time!
Incidentally the reason I don’t let my answering machine take calls is that my elderly parents worry if I don’t answer. As telemarketers don’t have parents (at least married ones), I don’t suppose you’ll understand…
An open note to all telemarketers and survey people.
I’ve always hated telemarketers and “survey takers” with a passion. Why? Because they call when I am trying to choke down dinner or just trying to relax after a day at work, and because they do not understand the word NO. I did read the other thread, and I have to say, I don’t give a goddam if a telemarketer is making a lot of money or not. You see, you are wasting my time, you are interfering with my quiet time, and I don’t get anything for it. I should not have to explain why I don’t want your product, or why I don’t want to take your stupid survey. I would think that politely saying no, would be enough. It never is. There is something wrong when I have to resort to yelling into the phone “What the fuck is wrong with you are you deaf or fucking stupid?” The argument that I must want you to call just because I have a phone is bullshit. I have a phone for important things, like calls from friends and family. It is not there for your convenience. I do not see why I should have to pay for a call block or a screener just to be left the hell alone. As it is, using an answering machine to screen does not work; it just gets filled up with your verbose shit. Before you get on the soapbox about your right to free speech, that right does not make it a requirement for me to listen to you.
So here’s something to chew on for a bit: If you are trying to sell or market something, you do not want to piss off your potential customer. If I want to buy something I will call you. Do NOT call me.
Sorry about the rant, but this is a major thing for me, and I hate all the self important “I have a right to bother you” crap.
I loathe telemarketers so very much. I work from home, which means that on average I probably get 10 times as many of these vermin calling a day than people who work in the office. I’ve taken to just yelling ‘Have a nice day!’ at the top of my lungs and slamming the cordless into the wall and then hanging up when they call, but it doesn’t seem to deter them. Hmmm, maybe a whistle…
