Actually, if you follow the script routine, you can call them anything you want, including “you fucking bastards.”
They are required by law to provide this information, and will be fined $500 per violation. The trick is to find out exactly who it is who’s calling, their address and other pertinent information before they get half a clue in their dim brain and decide to hang up on you. I’ve no idea if this is true, but I’ve added the “Don’t hang up on me, it’s against the law” which seems to work swell.
The T-marketing has dropped considerable, and it’s in fact so rare at this point I rather enjoy putting them through the routine.
As a direct marketing professional (yes, I am the scum of the earth…or at least I get paid by them…)
Reputable direct marketers don’t want to call people who don’t want to be called. It’s a waste of time and money. If you ask a REPUTABLE dm’er to remove you from their list, they will. However, many don’t have the ability to remove your name, because they have rented the list. So, if you ask to be placed on a Do Not Call list, they will do a merge/purge of their phone list and you will be removed the next time a list is rented. This can take some time.
The Direct Marketing Association (the-dma.org) offers a service on their website that will help to stop REPUTABLE direct marketers from calling you. I think it costs about $5. They will place you on a list of people who do not wish to be called. Companies who are members of the DMA use this list to scrub their calling lists before starting a campaign. This also takes some time.
I emphasize, this all works for REPUTABLE direct marketers. As we all know, there are way too many dis-reputable companies out there, who don’t give a rat’s a** that you don’t want to be called. The fine isn’t a deterrent, because so few people have the tenacity to follow up on their complaint with the attorney general. A few small fines are worth the price of doing business.
Yes, I know, how do I sleep at night? Well, I’ve convinced myself that you all really want to receive mail from my company, and that our telemarketers are really interesting conversationalists.
Sn-man, I can get that feature in California, costs nothing but $4.50 to add it. Any anon or unavailable calls can’t get thru unless they hit *83 or *84 (I forgot what the code is) & then the number displays on the caller id & the call can come through.
Sure, you have the power to say anything you want on the phone. But if someone had called me a fucking bastard and then asked me to take them off the list, I think my finger might have accidentally slipped from "T"ake Off to "R"edial. (A simple mistake… the keys are right next to each other!) Then they would have gotten another call the next week, sworn at someone else, and been put on redial again.
The information you’re trying to get isn’t really a secret, either… every time I’d make a call, the first words out of my mouth were “this is (my name) with (my employer) calling for (the organization)”. Occasionally people would ask for phone numbers and addresses, hoping to trip me up, and I’d happily give them the information and volunteer so much more that they got sick of it.
I turn the ringer off and use the phone answering machine to screen calls. If its someone I want to talk to I’ll pick up the phone. You are wasting your money if you pay for Caller ID.
The Wall Street Journal interviewed a Las Vegas oddsmaker years ago. They asked what the odds were that a caller would be someone he didn’t mind talking to. He said " one in three." Then he was asked about the odd that a caller would be someone he really wanted to talk to. He said “one in a thousand.” Then they interviewed the lady who writes the ‘Miss Manners’ column. She said it’s perfectly acceptable to screen calls.
I think this is more suitable for MPSIMS rather than bumping a long-obsolete thread in GQ. You are welcome to start a new thread in that forum. Please don’t bump old threads without specific new information on the original question. I’m closing this one.