I’m currently away at school and it seems as if my room mate and I get credit card calls all the time. Anyone on the boards have any interesting ways to bother the hell out of them? A friend down the hall told me he once told a long distance carrier the rest of his family died in a train wreck and that he didnt have anyone to call (at this point the kid started crying and the person on the other end just hung up). I’m still waiting for the day someone calls me up and offers me a free siding/windows/roofing estimate. I’d love for them to come right on over and realize I’m in a 10 story dorm!
So yeah, anyone have any other original ideas…I’m sure there are plenty? As always, thanks in advance.
You can get into trouble for this. I knew someone that thought it would be funny to describe in detail what he would do the the woman on the other end of the line. 3 days later the FBI was at his door, the telemarketing company recorded his comments and considered them as a threat as did the FBI. No charges were filed but it scared the bajeebers out of him.
Some of the things I have done to telemarkers include:
Set the phone down and walk away. I come back 5 minutes later to see if anyone is still there.
Tell them you only speak Klingon on the phone and you will buy their product of give their spiel in Klingon.
Ask for personal advice.
Act real paranoid. Ask them if they are aliens or know of any aliens.
Play game shows with the caller. My wife and I still get calls for my MIL who just happened to pass away 12 years ago. One such call a few weeks ago went something like this.
Ring, ring…
r72: Hello.
Girl on phone: Hi, this is Donna with XYZ credit card company, my I speak to Mrs. Daniels?
r72: I’m sorry, she is not available. But if you can answer 3 questions, you can win lots of neat prizes!!
Gop: Excuse me?
r72: Johnny, tell this young lady what she can win!!
r72 (using different voice): Thank you Wink, she can win a vacation to Hawaii, airfare not included, a $5 shopping spree at Wal-Mart, and a pack of Juicy Fruit gum.
Gop: I really can’t do this, my supervisor could be listening.
r72: For the pack of Juicy Fruit gum, what is 7 plus 8?
I’m with Fretful…why tie up your phone line or take your time. And it isn’t like people set out to make telemarketing their career - cut the person on the other end a little slack, they are just trying to pay their rent. Which is why phone sex, or telling them someone died, is out.
I know one time my dad got a call asking him if he wanted to buy some dog food at wholesale price.
He acted like a moron, and kept asking if they had any supplies for the “racin horse” he had. haha The woman kept trying to switch him back to the dog food, and he just kept asking about the race horse supplies. haha
She eventually hung up.
Of course, he also once ordered a set of Dr Suess books because he was so tired. He didn’t want to argue with the woman. I believe I was about 17 at the time, and my brother was 10. Neither of us were too interested in the Dr. Suess books. haha Mom was also thrilled.
If everybody in the country were to draw out telemarketer calls to 5+ minute affairs that ended with no sale, they would go out of business and never bother us again.
I don’t always have the patience to do this, but I’ll say “uh huh”, “yes”, etc then tell them I wasn’t paying attention and ask them to repeat. The smart ones hang up.
in my state we have a “do not call” list. it was widely publicized a few years ago, but a lot of people seem to have forgotten about it, so it’s not being taken advantage of so much anymore. it makes it illegal for telemarketers to call your number - and it actually works. you might check into that. nowadays we only get calls for pledge drives :rolleyes:
before that wonderful invention, though, my mother always used to tell the “poor baby” on the other end of the line, in an honestly sympathetic voice, that she was sorry that they had to make a living by calling people’s homes to sell things nobody wants. they usually had no clue how to respond, and so she said goodbye and hung up. worked great for my polite mother.
Heh. They usually mangle my name so badly I can honestly say, “There’s no one here by that name.” But usually I hear their special version of my name and just hang up.
I always ask them to put me on their “do not call list”. Almost all of them thank me and end the conversation there. A few of them try to keep selling me stuff, and I interrupt them, puzzled,
“Uh, you know you’re in violation of federal law if you keep trying to sell me stuff after I’ve asked to be on your do not call list, right?”
That works every time.
Daniel
[sub]who thinks it’s a violation of federal law, but doesn’t that much care, as long as the line works[/sub]
I know they are only trying to earn a living just like the rest of us but c’mon, the moment you walk get the job you better be ready for tons of rejection and pissed off people who are in the middle of dinner when they call.
I pretend to be interested, ask questions about everything they say, then slowly try to make the conversation personal. I try to see how off-topic I can get them to go (pretty far on some occassions). Does it solve anything? No, but it can be enjoyable screwing with someone without hurting their feelings.
Of course if I’m busy, I just say “he’s dead” when they ask for me.
Currently, I just tell them the truth. It doesn’t annoy the hell out of them but it does, in most cases, make them sympathetic and conclude the call quickly.
After the first 10 seconds of ramble from the caller, I interrupt them and tell them that I got laid off and cannot commit to anything that involves money.
Typical response is “I’m sorry to hear that. Have a nice day”
If I’m in the mood, got a little spare time to waste, I like to fool around with them. They’ll usually ask how you are, and I tell them. In long and intimate detail about my 'roids. No matter what they try to say I just keep going on about my various ailments until they hang up.
As for that, “Just making a living,” argument. Fuck’em. The same thing could be said of Mafai hitmen.