Increased Telemarketing Calls???

[Wiljo05]

DONOTCALL.GOV is down now. Everyone is fair game for telemarketers now! I've received no less than 4 calls a day. This is getting stupid. Correction, this is stupid

[Bigiron]

I'm getting them too.  If I don't recognize the number, I don't answer the phone.

[Caster]

I enjoy it because ...well...I'm an azzhole.

Telemarketers use a head set, not a hand set. I talk as quietly into receiver as possible all the while sounding interested.
I have an air horn from a fire engine and my compressor puts out just over 150psi here at work. Get them interested but talk quietly. They will turn up,their headset so they can hear me......then, well you're smart, you know what happens next.

[Wiljo05]

I enjoy it because ...well...I'm an azzhole.
Telemarketers use a head set, not a hand set. I talk as quietly into receiver as possible all the while sounding interested.
I have an air horn from a fire engine and my compressor puts out just over 150psi here at work. Get them interested but talk quietly. They will turn up,their headset so they can hear me......then, well you're smart, you know what happens next.

I like it! While less likely to cause permanent hearing damage, I go this route. I always act interested, especially on the alarm systems and such, yet ask incredibly dumb questions. I let them give the spiel then I ask about setting the appointment. When they ask when, i make them work with a few dates then we agree on one. I give me excuses like I have to do my weekend time at the county pen, ooh that's rooster fighting Wednesday, sorry but I'm in a worlds tallest midget contest that day, ect. If they make it past that round of bs I usually try to give written directions from wherever they are because "I don't trust those PGS systems". But of course using landmarks like the giant Indian statue that fell over last year ect. Usually by now I've been hung up on or they have no clue and I start to describe an alien obduction or something similar...that gets me off the phone after I've had my fun with them.

[TripleDigitRide]

None here.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Anything that has a blocked ID is blocked in my house. The rest of the calls go unanswered, most of the time, anyway.

[Pat]

We have dial-up internet, so no callers can get through anyway!

 

Um, but, if they do happen to... my dad patented a phrase for dealing with telemarkets - "SHUT UP GO TO HELL *click*"

[Raoul]

donotcall.gov doesn't help anyway

[Oh Shoot]

Cell phone only here. Haven't had a telemarketing call on it ever, or even a spam text.

 

Been pretty surprised that cells have escaped this long, though.

 

- OS

[Caster]

I've had several telemarketers call my cell.

[UncleJak]

I got one for the first time ever today. Hung up on them.

Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[MphsTiger1981]

Here's one way to deal with those annoying calls.

http://youtu.be/mkdoogjic4I

[Volzfan]

I use a free app on my cell called "Call Control". Every time I get an unwanted call I put that number on the blacklist and no more calls from them! Works great. You guys should try it

[Guest brighac]

There is a block feature built in to ios7. Settings < phone < blocked

[analog_kidd]

We dropped the land line years ago and dont really get telemarketing calls anymore. When we did have a land line I used to mess with them. Sometime I would answer the phone and the would say "good evening Mr. Jones, how are you today" and I would get all scared sounding and say well not too good. I would go on to explain that I was in witness protection and Mr Jones was my old name, and what worries me is if you put my old name together with my new phone number, then they can too. I usually got a lot of stuttering and um, um, um's.

 

Sometimes they asked for my wife, and I would say "I'm sorry my wife's phone privileges have been suspended" They would say Huh? Is she your wife? I'd play it straight and say Yes, call back in a few weeks and maybe I'll let her use the phone again.

[Guest TankerHC]

Was wondering why the calls began coming again, 3 yesterday. One real shady one.

 

I'm an NRA life member, I donate through the donate thing on the NRA website when I decide to. So I get a call from Orlando Florida.

 

The guy has a heavy Spanish accent.

 

He starts off on a spiel about the UN Arms Trade Treaty.

 

He asks for my Credit Card number.

 

 

First off, I have spoken with various departments of the NRA at least 50 times over the last 6 months. At no time have they EVER called my home number. For one thing my Account is associated with my cell phone number even if they were to call and they have only contacted me for various things through mailings.

 

Secondly I have never spoken with ANYONE from the NRA who was located in Orlando Florida. I mentioned that and the individual said they were a telemarketing service contracted by the NRA. Could be I suppose.

 

Third, if the NRA is going to contact me about "my rights" maybe they should have someone contact me who has, at least, a rudimentary command of the English language.

 

Finally, is the NRA dumb enough to think I would be dumb enough to give my credit card number to a perfect stranger on the telephone? Hope not.

Edited October 11, 2013 by TankerHC

[McGarrett]

My son pulled a good one on the telemarketers one time. Miami Vice fans will get this: seeing a # he did not recognize on the caller id, he then answered the phone and just said Crockett and after the spiel about the alarm system or whatever he told them he would need to put them on hold and check with Lt. Castillo for approval, they just hung up. He managed to stay straight faced the whole time, but I was cracking up.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Here is what I did to stop the calls. I received 18 calls in two hours one day then I did this. I had never received any calls prior to this or at least not like this. And since doing this I have not received any.

I found the "disconnected telephone tone" on YouTube. I recorded the two second tone as my answering machine message. Just the tone, not the rest of it where the operator says the line has been disconnected.

Now when a computer calls and my recording plays the computer that hears the tone logs my number as being disconnected. And within 10 calls of doing this, which all were answered with my answering message, the calls totally stopped.

You could even add your normal voice message after the tones. Your human caller won't think anything of the tone followed by your voice but to a computer calling you your line is disconnected.

[Wiljo05]

Here is what I did to stop the calls. I received 18 calls in two hours one day then I did this. I had never received any calls prior to this or at least not like this. And since doing this I have not received any.
I found the "disconnected telephone tone" on YouTube. I recorded the two second tone as my answering machine message. Just the tone, not the rest of it where the operator says the line has been disconnected.
Now when a computer calls and my recording plays the computer that hears the tone logs my number as being disconnected. And within 10 calls of doing this, which all were answered with my answering message, the calls totally stopped.
You could even add your normal voice message after the tones. Your human caller won't think anything of the tone followed by your voice but to a computer calling you your line is disconnected.

Genius!

[frankmako]

i get several a day on my cell phone.  most of the time i tell them to take my number off their list.  then i don't hear from them for some time.  but it does come back, from a new group.  they have to take your name off if you ask them to.  but they can re-do their company and start over again with all the numbers.  i use to play games with them, but the person on the other side is just trying to make a living at a low pay.  they are not the company that is making the big bucks, just low pay workers.  in my wife office building there is a company that sells insurance for your home.  they make calls to get the business.  the workers making the calls are just normal low pay workers happy to have a job.  turn over rate is high and the pay is low with nothing else. but the company has two floors in a new office complex.  

[jtmaze]

Just answer the phone in a whisper," The job is done, but there is blood everywhere...." if they are still on the phone with then continue, "i am going to need some help cleaning this up." definenately gone by then.

[bersaguy]

While in the military I learned to speak fluent Vietnamese and back when I had a land line with caller ID and I didn't recognize the number I would answer in Vietnamese and all I would hear is click and get dial tone. Now I have a cell and don't get any of the calls.