aenea, how do you track the company down? occ, how do you find an address for Accounts Payable? Many of these companies (I realize the OP is about a known newspaper) are total fly-by-night operations, out only to scam the scammable. That’s kind of my point with the extreme tactics (note: I have never done this, and don’t currently own a whistle) - you have to fight with whatever resources are available. The legal and polite resources just don’t work against companies that are operating illegally (after all, when they call you back after you ask to be put on the Do Not Call List, they are in fact breaking the law).
A tangential gripe…
Well, duh. I guess that means that people who hate telemarketing but have a job doing so much just be stupid. One of my best friends worked as a telemarketer for almost a year. He despised it; he disliked being bothered by telemarketers himself. He lost his job, and after a few months of unsuccessful searching, finally found a job - as a telemarketer. He hated his work; but as a poor college student in a relatively small town, without a car, he didn’t have much of a choice.
Just because you view a practice as annoying/ unethical does not mean that the peons who work in the field are also annoying/ unethical. If there had been any other job available (that could have earned my friend a living wage), be it at a gas station or as a janitor, he probably would have taken it over shilling AOL.
<steps off soapbox>
I work the night shift at AOL Time Warner (Cable) in Austin…I get home at around 8:30am and then TRY to go to sleep. I am living back at my Mom and step-father’s place for now, and I don’t know what they did, but they seem to be on everyone’s marketing lists. When a person calls, I may answer “Good morning, law office…” That get’s them off the phone within seconds. Sometimes it takes longer because they have to ask, “I’m sorry, this is a business? I apologize, we’re not calling businesses, thank you for speaking with AT&T/MCI/The Austin American Statesman, etc” One of my peeves is when a telemarketer calls and just directly asks to speak with one of my parents without first identifying themselves. When I get their info, I’ll either tell them, “She works all day and won’t be back until after 9pm” (which is true) or I’ll be like “Who? There’s nobody here by that name. You have a wrong number!” Then they apologize and hang up on me. Sometimes, I’ll have my tape recording device hooked up to the phone handset ready to record a call before I even answer…this is my ammo in case I need to escalate to their supervisor. I don’t give a flying fig if it’s “illegal” or not in the state of Texas to record a phone conversation; the last thing I read said that at least one of the parties had to be aware of the recording that was going on. I’ve also been known to say “Oh, I already subscribe to your paper, it’s GREAT! Are there any specials available for established customers, can you give me a DISCOUNT??” I know it’s hard, and despite the fact that they keep calling, I would suggest that you make the most fun of it that you can, for those that do happen to make it through your other lines of defense. I’m currently trying out the Privacy Manager that SouthWestern Bell offers, it’s on a trial basis for 30 days. I had initially called SWB to get Caller ID, due to the annoying phone calls I had been receiving. You can never go wrong by being very nice initially, and once you have the telemarketer’s identifying info such as their name, initials or phone extension, along with the company they work for, then go for the kill. Ask them to please remove your name from the list, if they give you a problem, get a supervisor…if you still have no luck, write all of your info down and submit a complaint to the Public Utility Commission (anyone reading this should be able to submit their complaint at the PUC website). In regards to recording conversations, you can also tell them outright at the beginning “This conversation is being recorded, please do not proceed unless you agree.” At which point you will hear a <CLICK>.
Sysop, what is “Privacy Manager?” Also, I have Caller ID but the junk phone calls always have their ID blocked.
The consumer arm of my station has been testing the Telezapper for several months. I’ll double check to see what results they’ve had.
I was in the same boat as the OP-- regular phone calls from annoying people. I talked to the Security people at my phone company because all these callers had their numbers blocked. They rigged things so I could hit *57 to trace their calls. I never had access to the numbers, but they went straight to the phone company. Whenever I got three calls from one company (whether over a day, or a week, or three weeks) I would call Security and sic them on the offenders.
Most of my harassing calls were eliminated in two weeks.
Sorry about your friend’s career woes, but they do not make telemarketing an honorable or in any way “okay” profession. Was the small town’s job market so dominated by telemarketing that there were no other jobs available? (Reminds me of Hitchhiker’s Great Shoe Store Collapse.)
To draw a comparison you won’t like: people justify stealing because there is no other way for them to live. Whether or not this is bullsh*t, it in no way makes stealing okay.
I’m currently stuffing envelopes for a living. It’s not so bad. I don’t know how the pay rate compares to telemarketing; I never checked.
masonite, you’re stuffing envelopes? Does that actually work? I always thought the stuffing envelopes gig was just a scam…
Heh heh. I knew it would sound like that. It’s perfectly legit, unless working for a large insurance company isn’t legit in itself. (I have my doubts sometimes.) The envelopes contain x-rays and invoices, not information on how to get others to stuff envelopes for you, and so on, and so on.
Yes.
Does asking for a supervisor mean you’re being hostile? That makes me worry that if I say “Please put me on your do not call list” the telemarketer might view that as hostility and put me in a “contact saturday morning at 7AM” queue.
Depends more on the delivery really.
“Gimme ya fuckin’ supervisor COCKSMOKER!” as opposed to exactly what you had in quotes, for example. There are certain subtle nuances at play there that are difficult to pin point. Maybe it’s more of a feeling. In any case, I don’t have a wildly different perception for hostlity to the one most people have, so I don’t see the reason for your confusion. I’m a reasonable and decent person. Asking for a super (who would surely be even more predatory and less sympathetic than I would) is tantamount to saying, “You’re a fuckhead, gimme someone that matters”. Well, I matter and when you assume otherwise, Mersavets’ Evil Twin comes out to play.
There are more important things in life to ‘worry’ about than telemarketers Arnold. So worry no longer as I assure you I’ll not try to sell you The Australian when you use your approach. In fact, our conversation will last less than the time it takes me to say, “I’m terribly sorry Mr Winkelried, I’ll see that you aren’t bothered again. Goodbye”
Anyway, as far as equating my actions with those of a moron on the internet calling for the perforated eardrums of the annoying; it’s a completely invalid comparison. I’d give my full name and my number shows on the customer’s caller ID if activated. If that wasn’t sufficient, I’d go further and ask the others in the room to all call out my name in unison if the customer thought I might be using an alias for some God only knows reason. Frankly, the opportunity to have upwards of ten young European, Canadian and American accented girls crying out my name sends shivers down my spine.
Of course, by this time, I’d have given up on getting a subscription and would be looking to draw out the game with anybody so loony to believe I might do this sort of thing under false pretences.
Anyway, if the opinion of hell-bound tele-scum like myself is worth anything (as if there was any doubt here) I’d give a prize to Green Bean for her customary good sense and solution. Then a further prize to Stockton for his masterful elaboration. In the case of a reasonably respectable product, as I’m sure The Daily Bulletin likes to bill itself, it’s the one I’d go for. As a bonus, it involves no injuries whilst still giving you that cold dish of revenge the little dark spot in everyone’s heart so yearns for sometimes.
Wow, you’re a telemarketer and you will tell us your name, or an alias confirmed by your coworkers. So what? Do you get a prize for this? Say, do you also give out your home phone number? If not, why not? I really want to know. Could it be because - it’s private?
It’s not loony; many “telemarketing” calls are actually done under “false pretenses.” How is the receiver to distinguish which are legit?
I repeat: you are in a dishonorable profession. You annoy people all day long for a living. Merely by being a telemarketer, you associate yourself with scam artists and criminals. I urge you to change jobs.
-A Moron on the Internet
I have to ask: Has anyone every said “Yes!” to a telemarketter? A quick scan of my social circle says no one has ever said yes to a telemarketter to have their carpets cleaned, driveway paved or dog fixed, et al. This has to be a pretty unsuccessful way to obtain a client list, (especially since it pisses so many people off)so why do they continue to do it–I mean, from a business stand-point?
I worked with a DJ that would listen to see if the telemarketter was female then ask is his best “pervert” voice “You sound cute. What are you wearing?” He figured it wasnt’ sexual harrassment since THEY called HIM.
drollman–over 200 posts with spelling mistakes!
I can see both sides of the argument. Telemarketers are people too and get upset when people are rude to them just the same as anyone would. I would suggest, however, that since they are being paid for the job, the onus is on the telemarketer to be a bit more thick-skinned and take the person off the list no matter how rudely they ask.
As I just mentioned in another thread in the pit, I don’t get many of these calls to my home, but whenever I get an uninvited call to my work phone from someone selling something, I put them straight through to a specially set up phone in the broom closet.
Mersavets - posting here to acknowledge your answer and let you know I read it. If I wanted to continue the discussion it would have to be in IMHO since we’re getting away from the OP.
P.S. I don’t think you’re scum.
My bad, Cheesesteak. Should have put a smiley there, instead of a “read the thread.”
No hard feelings, I hope. I tried to email you and got blocked off.
A cursory reading made me feel that the exact same 2 solutions I suggested above were being recycled. I don’t attribute any malice or etiquette problems, except on my reply. Please, everyone else, carry on. Nothing to see here.
Barbarian, I’m interested in your station’s Telezapper test results!
This reminds me of an ancient debate we had in GD about whether or not telemarketing should be outlawed.
Mr. 2001 was involved, and I don’t know if Claudia VonL is still around, but Cervaise couldn’t resist taking a detour to The Pit in this thread.
Ironically enough, the whole discussion began in The Pit and made its way to GD, then back again!
This is how you get the TeleM to hang up…it works everytime I’ve tried it and it has cut down on the calls themselves:
Tell them you are on a cell phone. Seriously. There is usually a 2-3 second delay before the TM says anything (predictive dialers). I call it the double hello. If I can say hello twice, it’s a TM. Then I mute the TV and yell into the phone “hello…hello are you there” like I’m on a cell. When they start they’re pitch I say, “This is my CELL phone.” I’ve done this over 20 times and the result is ALWAYS a quick apology and a hangup.
These TM companies are not allowed to call cell phones. In fact, they can get into a lot of trouble! They update their lists accordingly so you are out of that companies call list at the very least.
Another tip is when you ask to be removed from a list, be sure to get a response from the TM. You can NOT simply say “Don’t call me” or “Take me off your list” and hang up. As them instead, "Would you take me off this campaign and all other call lists?