# You're fucking kidding, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 9, 2002, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004 "2002-11-09T08:06:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GreatKingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@GreatKingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreatKingRat)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/21 "2002-11-10T09:14:15Z")
Wow…another pk telemarketing rant. I suspect you cant say no to salesman can ya? I telemarketed for 10 years or so,mainly in Wisconsin, probably sold ya pk. I called cell phones every chance i got, ran a great conversion rate on them also,more on a personal level i think. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/22 "2002-11-10T16:24:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GreatKingRat \* > **I suspect you cant say no to salesman can ya? > I telemarketed for 10 years or so,mainly in Wisconsin, probably sold ya pk.** Guess again! I’m a slaesmans nightmare. And I’ve never bought anything from any telemarketer. I find having someone calling me, looking for money, very annoying! It’s a God damn intrusion! I’ve been known to blow a thunderclap whistle into the phone on telemarketers who kept calling back after I hung up on them. Hope I didn’t destroy your ear drums!😃 And I’ve never gotten a telemarketer call on my cell phone, and during the week it’s on almost 16 hours out of the day. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/23 "2002-11-10T19:43:48Z")
I just don’t get it. How many seconds does it take to say I’m not interested, take my name off your list, and hang up the phone? Five seconds, maybe? And that phone call almost made you faint?! Yikes ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/24 "2002-11-10T21:19:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kevja \* > \*\*I just don’t get it. > > How many seconds does it take to say I’m not interested, take my name off your list, and hang up the phone? Five seconds, maybe? > > And that phone call almost made you faint?! Yikes \*\* Did you read my OP? Huh? did you? My wife hasn’t gone by her maiden name for almost 23 years. I almost fainted (just a figure of speech, by the way) because I couldn’t imagine why someone was calling for her, by her maiden name, at a number we’ve had for only 2 years, at a house we’ve lived in for less than 5 years. I was stunned. The telefucker could only say the numbers/names he calls are computer generated. he had no idea how/why they got her maiden name. (but if you read this entire thread you know we figured it out). As for your theory that it’s no big deal, “5 seconds”, to deal with those fuckers, I’m guessing you’ve never had to deal with getting 20 or more of those calls a day…every single day of the week! This happened to us once, which is why we know take extreme measures to avoid them. If it happened to you like it happened to us, you wouldn’t make such silly statements! I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HATES THESE FUCKING CALLS! I AM IN THE MAJORITY! ---
**Author:** ![furr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@furr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furr)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/25 "2002-11-10T22:53:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cessandra \* > \*\* > > Why do you want them to call your cell phone, pkbites? Wouldn’t that cost you more money? \*\* maybe the pricing is different in NZ but if a person rings a cell phone it goes on their phone bill not the cell owners. over here you only get charged for out going calls on a cell. guess thats one reason telemarketing nutters never ring cells, they pay to have someone hang up on you. ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/26 "2002-11-10T23:45:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pkbites \* > \*\* > I’ve never known a telemarketer to call a cell phone. I could be wrong. It’s never happened to me though. > \*\* Maybe I am showing my ignorance here, but how would they know it was a cell phone number? > [@](#): > > maybe the pricing is different in NZ but if a person rings a cell phone it goes on their phone bill not the cell owners. over here you only get charged for out going calls on a cell. That wasn’t how it worked with my cell phone, but I think it makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/27 "2002-11-11T00:36:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cessandra \* > \*\*Maybe I am showing my ignorance here, but how would they know it was a cell phone number? > \*\* Cell phones, pagers, and other annoying, yet necessary evils of the 21st century, are usually assigned certain prefixes within each area code. So it’s rather easy to determin what numbers are a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/28 "2002-11-11T01:12:52Z")
Ahhhhhh, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/29 "2002-11-11T01:17:23Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by GreatKingRat_ > **Wow…another pk telemarketing rant. > I suspect you cant say no to salesman can ya? > I telemarketed for 10 years or so,mainly in Wisconsin, probably sold ya pk. > I called cell phones every chance i got, ran a great conversion rate on them also,more on a personal level i think.** You telemarketed for 10 years and _delibrately_ called cell phones in order to get more sales? Do you realize that people are charged for cell phone calls, even if they aren’t the ones who initiate them? In essence, you were causing people to spend money (and, my god, those roaming charges aren’t cleap!) in order to line your pocketbook. I’m glad I quit my telemarketing job as soon as I did. I could’ve ended up like you. I mean, no offense, but damn… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/30 "2002-11-11T06:05:58Z")
It is illegal for telemarketers to call any phone where the receiver of the call has to pay for the call. This includes toll free (“800”) numbers and some cell phones. Since it is impossible for the telemarketer to know what sort of payment plan you have on your cell, they don’t call any cell phones. As someone said, they can tell that it’s a cell phone by the prefix. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/31 "2002-11-12T04:12:32Z")
Tememarketer: “Hello. Would you be intrested in switching to _our_ telephome service?” Me: “I don’t own a telephone” They usually hang up. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/32 "2002-11-12T04:19:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pkbites \* > \*\* > But what really got me today, is, today a telemarketer called and asked for my wife…using her maiden name!!!:eek: > > We’ve been married for almost 23 years!!! > \*\* My father died 6 years ago. I moved to another state and I still occasionally get mail in his name to my new address. Marc ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/33 "2002-11-12T13:51:58Z")
A friend of mine who has no caller ID with which to screen calls will usually listen to a telemarketer’s pitch, then tell said telemarketer that she is mentally unstable and can’t make decisions 🙂 They always hang up. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/34 "2002-11-12T15:17:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pkbites \* > \*\*I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HATES THESE FUCKING CALLS! I AM IN THE MAJORITY! \*\* The problem being that the minority spend enough dollars to make it all worthwhile. I’ve said it before if you want telemarketing to stop you need to… a) get people to stop buying from telemarketers or b) get congress to pass a law placing a tax of $2 or so on every outbound telemarketing call Either of those would do it. And I speak as a man who once ran a small telemarketing department for a publishing house. Please don’t hate me. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/35 "2002-11-13T17:38:35Z")
**pk** , wouldn’t it be easier (and cheaper) to have your number listed and pay the phone company to block your number from anonymous callers instead? The anonymous call block is only $3 a month here, something we finally signed up for after getting tired of picking up the phone only to hear an anonymous caller hang up. ---
**Author:** ![Alto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Alto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alto)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/36 "2002-11-13T20:06:22Z")
One warning, though. My parents for a while had all anonymous callers blocked. Then they heard from my elderly aunt and another elderly friend who had been trying to call but had been blocked. Apparently anonymous caller blocking also sometimes blocks people calling from rotary phones. (Remember those?) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/37 "2002-11-13T20:21:27Z")
Evidently, the block dosen’t always work. Either one unknown name & number somehow managed to get through or it had been in the ID box’s memory prior to our block going into effect. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/38 "2002-11-14T15:14:42Z")
The Onion reported on the evil link between telemarketing and al Qaeda recently: www.theonion.com/onion3834/al-qaeda\_telemarketing.html ---
**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/39 "2002-11-14T21:20:28Z")
I got rid of my home phone and got a cell phone a year and a half ago, and have not received a single telemarketing call since. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004/40 "2002-11-15T03:31:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\ ***pk** , wouldn’t it be easier (and cheaper) to have your number listed and pay the phone company to block your number from anonymous callers instead? \*\* NO. Mainly because telemarketers are not the only people I don’t want getting my number. Finding out someones non-published number may be hard, but it is not impossible. there are some proven techniques for doing so. However, if people trying to get my number are trying to get it by doing searches under my name, my wifes name, etc., they will fail. My phone is billed under a name that, not only do very few people know it, I only use that name for my phone bill. And the bill is sent to a p.o. box, so going through my mail box at home won’t help them. i have reasons for being protective of my home number. None of this is as difficult to do as it sounds. Very little effort went out to do this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-fucking-kidding-right/136004.md?page=3)