Telemarketers

[laundryhater]

Heard the other day on the news that telemarketers are going to start calling people's cell phones now too.

That makes me mad!  It's annoying enough to get them at home and work, now I will be expected to PAY for those calls on my cell phone too?!?

That's where I draw the line!

I don't even give my cell phone number out to my sister (we don't get along well), I certainly don't want complete strangers to have it and waste my minutes without my consent.

What do you think?  Are you willing to let telemarketers waste your cell phone minutes?  Are you willing to pay extra if this puts you over your minutes maximum?

[chevygirl55]

Absolutely NOT!  My cell phone is for MY convenience.  When telemarketers start calling my cell, we will have a big problem.  

Any suggestions for how to keep this from happening?

chevygirl55

[chris68]

Other than caller ID or talking to your service provider, I don't see a solution.

Chris68
Deskdemon Forum Board Staff

[radaro]

Personally, I think telemarketing companies are lower than pond scum.  If I need your product/service I will call you.  Do not call me during dinner, my favourite TV show, my quiet time with my family to attempt to interest me in things that I am not interested in.  Tar and feathering is too good for these people.

My cell phone is actually my company-issued cell phone which has caller ID and call answer.  Even now, if I don't recognize the phone number, I don't answer.  If it is important, they'll leave a message, if it is a telemarketer, they won't.

[laundryhater]

Caller ID is a possible solution, but doesn't it still use up my minutes even if I don't answer the call?  If so, yes it is less minutes than answering the call but it is still minutes wasted.

I am going to write a complaint to the FCC.  Doubt they will listen but at least I will have tried to get my voice heard.  I am also going to write a letter to my cell phone provider in an attempt to get their support in my complaint to the FCC.

[spitfire78]

Fortunately, I keep my cell phone for emergency use only and don't keep it turned on unless I need to use it (don't have voicemail either).  But if I did use it I would be REALLY upset.  I get upset with those calls on my regular line at home as it is.  I generally try never to be rude to anyone; however, I make an exception for telemarketers.  I have not asked them to call me; therefore, I feel no reason to be polite.  Generally, as soon as they start their spiel and I realize it's a telemarketer, I yell very loudly - TAKE MY NUMBER OFF YOUR LIST AND DON'T CALL ME AGAIN.  Then I slam the receiver down as hard as I can.  I used to be polite, and all they did was keep calling back again and again.  I had to threaten one with a harassment lawsuit in order to get them to stop.  They, of course, didn't know that I didn't have a lawyer and wasn't really going to sue, but at least it worked.  They have gotten me out of the bathtub, down off a ladder, running in from the yard.  I certainly don't feel the need to be polite.  AND my phone number is unlisted, so I am certainly not inviting these calls at all.  Frankly, I think telemarketing should be banned.

[fireproof]

Anyone who mangles my name (first or last), I immediately ask what they are trying to sell me, this generally knocks them off their spiel long enough for me to tell them I'm not interested, thank them for calling (it is, after all, their job - and they have bills too), and hang up.

My pet peeve is pollsters - they get a max of SIX questions (which is what I tell them), then I hang up.  As soon as I get on the phone anyway my kids go ape (like I'm not gonna notice they're out of control since my attention is elsewhere - I don't think so).

[raindance]

Like Spitfire, I keep my mobile for emergencies and generally it is switched off - so I don't know whether people are calling me .  The particular thing that does irritate me is unsolicited text messages.  Grrrr ....

Raindance

[Susan V]

I agree that if they can't  say my last name correctly they don't know me and I don't know them.  Usually when this happens I just hang up, but I have been know to ask them for their home number and what time do they eat dinner, spend time with family, etc. so that I can disrupt their lives.  No offense to anyone but my last name has two lls in it (it is not a Spanish) and I get callers who try to talk to me in Spanish and when I tell them I don't speak Spanish they hang up.  

Gator

[marcie175]

You know what I LOVE to do???  Answer the phone like you are the housekeeper who speaks a different language.  I did this once at my parent's house in spanish and had the guy on the phone all frazzled.  He was cussing and everything because he was so upset with me and he didn't think I knew his words.  I have never in my life laughed so hard.

The best part is that I know very little spanish, so I kept repeating the same things over and over again - no hablo ingles.  (I know I didn't spell that right - sorry!)

Another solution on your regular phone to look in to is a thing called privacy manager.  My parents have it on their phone (provider is Ameritech).  When an unrecognized number makes a call to their house, an automated system catches it before it rings to their house.  The caller is instructed that the person they are calling has privacy manager and if the caller wishes the call to go through, he or she must give his/her name.  95% of the time, the telemarketers won't give their names, so the call is never put through to my parent's house.  You would not believe the difference in the number of times that phone rings!  Oh yeah - and even if the caller gives his name, my parents still have a right not to accept the call.  Pretty snazzy.  I don't know if such a thing is possible on a cell phone or not.

Marcie

[twhfan]

I would suggest that everyone call their cell phone service provider and ask their policy on selling phone number lists to telemarketers.  If they do sell the list, you could ask that your number be omitted.  If they couldn't do this, then say that you were going to look for another service provider who doesn't sell their phone lists.

If enough people do this, I bet the cell phone companies would be forced not to sell their phone lists for fear of losing their customers.

I too only turn my cell phone on at my convenience so it probably wouldn't be much of an issue for me, but I certainly wouldn't be happy to get telemarketer calls if I did leave my phone on.


Another thought:  maybe you could inform the cell phone companies that you didn't intend to pay for unsolicited calls to your call.  Don't know exactly how you could do this or if it's legal, but just a thought.

Edited by twhfan on 10/07/02 03:07 PM.

[Jackie G]

I don't think here in the UK that anyone can get hold of your mobile (cell) phone number unless you give it to them, ergo telemarketers can't get your number.

Jackie
www.iqps.org
DeskDemon Forum Board Staff

[fireproof]

My mother kept getting calls for my sister (who had move out years before).  I told her to very happily tell them that she was up for parole next week.

It would have worked, too, if she would have done it.

[dharma]

They're just trying to make a living. Just hang up if you don't want to talk. Does being rude make you a better person?

[spitfire78]

Nope - it doesn't make me a better person at all.  But if it keeps them from calling me back and bothering me at inconvenient times, then I don't feel bad about it at all.  Junk mail is one thing - I drop it on the table and deal with it whenever I feel like it.  Telemarketing that interrupts me in the middle of whatever I'm doing is something entirely different.  No - I don't have an answering machine.  I don't want one and I don't feel I should have to get one just because these people insist on calling me when I don't want them to.  I keep my phone number unlisted, and I do not give it out unless it is absolutely necessary.  I do what I can to prevent these calls, and if they insist on calling me, they will have to take what I dish out.