Vent - Let out your frustration

Phone Spam

Intrusive! Everytime I try to start something, those stupid phone spammers call and I have to put down EVERYTHING, walk around the house looking for the phone, and answer it just in case it's for me, but it's not and it makes me even more mad when it's a stupid machine! They aren't paying for the phone! And when we say "WE DON'T WANT ANY!" We mean it!

I didnt survive Minas Tirith 2004-03-14 07:15 1058

I did this once, and it really worked... PHONE RINGS Me: Hello? TM: Hello, Mr. Chowder, my name... Me: Hello? TM: Hi. My name is... Me: HELLO? TM: Hello? Me: I'm sorry, but I am not home right now...please leave a message after the beep, and I will get back to you, should I feel like it. Bye for now! (Then I promptly hit a key on the phone) Nine times out of ten, this works!

WildChild79 2003-02-07 19:23 425

i'm not sure what has happened, but the last couple of days, i haven't had any solicitor calls.. *knocks on wood* but of course, i probably just cursed myself.

kit kat 2003-02-05 12:07 422

I don't like the phone company calling me asking me to switch. Not that I don't switch - normally I do. But it's the fact that they go on and on. If I say no, kindly say "Ok thank you for your time!" and hang up already...

Breubengarten 2003-02-03 20:19 421

FOUR DOLLARS???? Sheesh. In New York it's free. You do have to re-signup every three years, and it takes 3 months to update the list, but it is free. The fine ranges from $500 to $2000 per incident. I guess they figure the fines pay for the service. All telemarketing companies are also required to purchase the list for $500 as well, and they must purchase it every 3 months. Of course, they must also purchase lists from every other state too. Maybe this in itself will put the shady ones out of business.

Momzilla 2003-02-03 12:50 420

I love our new No-Call List law. Best $4 I ever spent. We do get the odd call, still, but all I have to do is tell them, "We're on the no-call list. What did you say the name of your company is?" They usually quickly mumble an apology and release the line in a hurry. The fine is HUGE for violating no call rules.

Decent Christian 2003-02-02 02:50 419

Kit, My dad says something very similar..

Kit Kat 2003-01-29 14:32 412

i like saying... "Sorry, I'm in the middle of lunch/dinner. Can I have your phone number so I can call you back? When do YOU have dinner?"

I Didnt Survive Helms Deep 2003-01-28 21:13 403

We're on the no call list now, but they still call sometimes. But my dad can really give it to `em :)) HAHAHA

kryssie 2003-01-28 20:40 402

no no no that does not work! lol They keep talking and talking. If they would take the first, or even the SECOND no, then it wouldn't be so bad. Its those that keep on going even though we say that we aren't interested a billion times, or even recently we had both lines put on the no call list. Even with that, we have still had people call. The other morning this guy called and, even when we said, "No thank you we are on the no call list" he still kept going. That's the thing that gets me.

telediva38 2003-01-28 20:26 401

first of all telezappers are being found to not work i hear i have a telezapper it should have stopped you. second off all hanging up on them does not work because we just call back again and again. and the beong hostile dosn't work either we call back again and again and again. If you would think about it alot of these people are trying to put food on their table and pay for their expenses and things. think of it this way you can listen to them and be cival and not get a call back or be nasty and get a call back. either that or pay for the telemarketers to live off welfare from your tax's. Because i for one would much rater be home colleting welfare and taking care of my special needs son instead of talking to people that are so simple they can't even be civel i mean if you just would say no thank you i am not interested and take me off your list it would stop alot of the calls maybe not right away but in the long run it would help

The Highlander 2002-10-17 07:12 202

How about giving this one a go. I have never actually had the opportunity to try this, but let me know if you do. ;-) When they call and say: "I'd like to take a few moments of you time ..." Immediately reply with: "Oh no, I am part of the (insert phoney, made up religion name here) faith. It is the most serious of sins to speak on the telephone; one for which the gods demand a swift and painful punishment ... (pause for several seconds then scream a blood-curdling scream) ... LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!!!" and hang up. Have a ball. *evil grin*

The Highlander 2002-10-12 16:11 201

I have actually done this: When they call and start "How would you like to make $2000-5000 more a month working from home using your own computer?" I calmly stated, "No thanks. I'm already independantly wealthy." (Which isn't a lie since I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I also have a loving and supportive wife, supportive friends and loving [for the most part] family. This makes me richer than I can ever hope for.) The tele-spammer just replied with a moment of silence and, "Uhhhhh ... OK ... bye ... *click* ... dial tone"

Greg Steiner 2002-10-10 15:05 177

treat yourself to a tele-zapper from radio shack. costs around 50 bucks, but it gets rid of most of those annoying predictive-dialer phone spam spiels.

Breez 2002-09-27 08:35 65

I let my answering machine screen my calls. My message is very short (wait for the beep - then talk!) LOL. My friends know I'm usually there and will pick up so they just say hey, and wait a sec. And I've found that most telemarketers won't leave a message.

Chien 2002-09-26 17:55 59

I get, on average 3.8 calls per week in my office from outfits selling printer supplies: ribbons, ink cartridges, toner cartridges, etc. There are several problems with these companies. 1) They want you to buy sight-unseen, 2) they want you to buy dozens or grosses at a time, 3) They sell shoddy merchandise, 4) Their bulk prices are higher than buying a genuine article at the store across the street, one at a time. Anyway, for many years i was rather polite and listened to their speil until they finally asked if i had any questions, at which point i would politely thank them for the offer and try to explain the four points above which they would of course stenuously deny even after they had told me their prices, minimum quantities, and specifications. After a while it became painfully obvious that no matter what company name they gave at each call, it was still the same people calling again and again. Then after a few years i got to the point where i would politely break into the conversation as early as possible and tell them i wasn't interested. They would treat me like i had been incredibly rude and insulting. Then for a while i tried the tactic of simply hanging up on them. It was amusing to count how many times they would call back complaining of being cut off before they finally got a clue (i believe 5 was the record). My fourth tactic was to be very rude and insulting up front (since i was going to be accused of it later on anyway, i figured why not have the fun of actually doing it?). Oddly enough this started them calling me about twice as often! Now, as soon as i realize it's another printer supply salesman, often less than 10 words into the conversation, i simply yell as loudly as i can, "Do not ever call me again!" Some of them just hang up. Others try to explain why i should listen to them anyway. A couple have just stayed on the line in utter silence for a long while before hanging up. One guy called me back a few minutes later to tell me to do some rather obscene things with assorted parts of his anatomy. But on the whole this last tactic has been most rewarding because for the last 3 months or so i've only been getting about 1.2 calls per week. YAY!

katielady 2002-09-26 16:09 58

you can always go off to get the hubby to talk to them... then forget to tell him :)

incognito 2002-09-25 18:55 39

Now I have a neat advangage in that I have an assumed name in the phone book that only telemarketers use and my friends know better to use. (my last name is assumed and the real name is not available). This really un-nerves telemarketers in that I already am mega hostile before they are even able to get one word out of their mouth. I imagine if more people did this and telemarketers met up with such hostile enviorment maybee they would consider a safer job, like being a repo person. As a result of this ploy neither ATT, Sprint or MCI have called me in over 3 years. Let me introduce another telemarketer pet pieve....the poor telemarketer that cant speak english. Puuulllleeeezzzzeeee....Why do I have to listen this person? My Gosh I am supposed to buy what he is selling?? I cant even understand him!!!!! Since I could not vent on him I merely just let him go since I was chatting online til he realized I wasnt gonna answer him and waited til he hung up on me.

WereCub 2002-09-25 18:51 35

I feel so much better now! :))

WereCub 2002-09-25 18:50 34

And another thing! IF YOU ARE GOING TO WASTE YOUR TIME CALLING, THEN DON'T HANG UP RIGHT WHEN WE PICK UP THE PHONE!!!