 sj |
||
|
||
BS: Questions to ask Telephone Solicitors
|
|
|
Subject: Tech: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Bo Vandenberg Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:00 PM I am so sick of telephone solicitors calling my house asking for me or or my wife and saying they are "personal name" when really they represent a commercial company. When its for my lady I actually have to ask, "On behalf of...." to drag it out of them. Some people refuse to say, some hang up, and the phone company has given them unlisted numbers and say they cannot trace these people. I think it would be appropriate to have a list of questions telemarketers must answer truthfully before they can ask their own questions, they called me after all. Name: Nature of Call: Need something to inspire honesty. Contact # Name of Supervisor: I hate screening calls for anyone because I feel like I'm intruding on their privacy but my wife is all for me making it difficult for these vultures. Just to get some outside validation for this, what sort of questions would you add to the list, to weed out the crooks and make the phone call non productive? bo |
|
Subject: RE: Tech: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Deckman Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:09 PM I usually ask them some pretty mundane questions, but I speak in Finnish. Anyone who REALLY knows us recognise this "speaking in foreign tongues" and cuts in. If there is a stunned silence after my speaking, I hang up! CHEERS, Bob |
|
Subject: RE: Tech: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: okthen Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:13 PM It may not be of any use in your case but when I get these calls I just say "I don't own my own property" and that usually stops them in their tracks, if a tennant doesn't pay for double glazing/new kitchen etc. how are they going to get their money? |
|
Subject: RE: Tech: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: wysiwyg Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:25 PM Friends of mine once had their phone listed under an alias (Mr. And Mrs. Ringo Alibi). Anyone who asked for someone of that name (Ah-lee-bee or Alli-bye) was considered fair game for whatever came to mind. :~) Now that we have the "do not call list," the calls are reduced to surveys and crap from nonprofits. I think I'll start asking them to contribute to MY favorite charity when they call, and ask them if they are on the "do not call" list, themselves, cuz if they are, according to my logic, that means they should "do not call" anyone, especially me! I'm on it and I NEVER make spam calls! Fair is fair! Perhaps they would like to give me their home phone number, too, just to even things up a bit, or that of their boss? ~Susan |
|
Subject: RE: Tech: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Clinton Hammond Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:26 PM " I hate screening calls for anyone because I feel like I'm intruding on their privacy" Sorry... but that makes NO sense at all.... |
|
Subject: RE: Tech: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Ed. Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:32 PM I am so sick of telephone solicitors calling my house Choose not to live in the USA. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Clinton Hammond Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:42 PM Or get Caller ID and if ya don't recognise the number, don't answer it... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Bill D Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:48 PM well, I signed up for the do-not-call list, and I must say, the calls have essentially stopped. I 'used' to ask them things like "how big IS that card you're reading from?" and "What # can I call you back at?" |
|
Subject: RE: Tech: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Joe Offer Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:52 PM Our phone is still listed under the name of my my twice-widowed wife's first husband. When we get calls for him, we can be almost sure they're from solicitors. I casually say, "Oh, he's dead" - usually, there's a gasp or stuttering on the other end of the line. I have to say that we have had very few phone solicitations since the U.S. "Do Not Call" list went into effect. -Joe Offer- |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Jan 04 - 05:03 PM I recently had a couple of calls from the local NPR station. I don't think of it by it's call numbers so when the woman with the New York accent called and said she was calling from 90.1 FM it didn't mean anything except an annoying radio station calling me. If she'd identified herself clearly as calling for the local NPR affiliate KERA I'd have gotten it. In the dynamics of repulsing unsolicited phone calls there are a few seconds in which to respond, to really make your point, so if I don't know who they are I just automatically tell them to take me off of their list and I hang up. It dawned on me later who it was. They called back again last week, and by then I had renewed my membership (by mail) and this caller started telling me how great NPR is. I said "you're reading from a script--what is the point of this call?" "I was just telling you about the radio station." "I know about the radio station. Why are you calling?" She wanted to know if I would renew, at which point I told her her information was old and I already had, so it ended. Since I'm on both the national and the state "do not call" lists I should probably give a moment more to the caller to see if they really are legitimate. I don't get many calls anymore, but you may well note that everyone in creation out there all of a sudden wants your phone number. If they can show a "business relationship" with you they can legitimately call, or one of their "partners" or "affiliates" can. My brother out in California tells me that places are frantic to get phone numbers every time he calls somewhere or uses a credit card. If I encounter an online form that will not go through without a phone number, the good ol' 817-555-1212 goes in and that's that. Hey, Deckman, good to see you back online! I hope you're feeling better. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: MudGuard Date: 17 Jan 04 - 05:16 PM For us non-US-readers: whose number is 817-555-1212? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Peace Date: 17 Jan 04 - 05:31 PM One could try, "Psychic Hotline!" There is usually a stunned silence. I then go on to say that their call will cost them $3.99 per minute. Now the bleeders hang up on me! Gotta love it. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: jaze Date: 17 Jan 04 - 09:49 PM Mudguard,it's the national "information" number-first three digits are the area code. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Jan 04 - 09:52 PM It's my area code (817) with the universal number for "directory information" in the U.S.--that would be 555-1212. It's a number you frequently see people dial in movies when they don't want viewers to latch onto someone's real phone number and inundated them with calls. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: JohnInKansas Date: 18 Jan 04 - 02:32 AM Since the "Do Not Call" list confirmed my number is there, I've found that: "Do you realise that a call in violation of my listing on the do not call registry may result in a fine of ten thousand dollars? May I have your name again please?" ... is quite effective. John |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Dave Hanson Date: 18 Jan 04 - 05:24 AM Here in the GB I simply tell them I am unemployed and then no sales people want to talk to you any more. eric |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Donuel Date: 18 Jan 04 - 06:47 AM If the party calling does not say hello first I am now answering the phone with " Please hold for an important message " If I have time I answer marketing calls with only yes or no. Be sure to exagerrate your voice for Nooo or Yeeees. It really is a lot of fun. Should the caller seem persistant ater a half dozen yes' or no's you can end the session with "yes this is a recording and no we can not answer the phone right now." |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Dave Hanson Date: 18 Jan 04 - 07:04 AM I'll try that next time Donuel, sounds like fun. eric |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Jan 04 - 07:49 AM If someone invades my privacy I get rid of the call immediately. A bright plastic voice starts saying "Hello, this is Mary/John from X" & I hang up. Maybe it's would be more polite to say I'm not interested, but I didn't ask them to interrupt my dinner, or my reading or whatever I'm doing. I don't get many calls as I don't buy stuff over the phone, nor do I enter competitions sandra |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Leadfingers Date: 18 Jan 04 - 09:01 AM I usually try to be polite,knowing that it is some poor bastard who is just trying to make a living, but when I got a call from B T at five thirtyfive pm on a Saturday with a B T Business Line offer , I must admit I was a bit rude.After all I am NOT nor ever have been a B T business subscriber on my home phone. Another nasty trick is the - Just a minute I will get him for you- then go and put the kettle on to make a cup of coffee. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 18 Jan 04 - 09:24 AM The advent of widespread caller ID has resulted in a change in the way telemarketers place calls. Since it's more likely that a call will be screened than just picked up, many telemarketers use dialing programs that dial several numbers at once. When someone answers one of the calls, it's picked up and the others are disconnected. You can tell when a call is coming from such a system because it takes the operator about a second to connect to the live call. If I answer the phone and have not had a response within one second it's probably a telemarketer so I just hang up. If it turns out to have been a tongue-tied friend, he can call back. Bruce |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Jeanie Date: 18 Jan 04 - 10:04 AM I heard people discussing this problem last week on BBC radio. One of the suggestions there was to say "I'm 87 years old" over and over again or, as Otken has suggested, to let them know you are not the home owner (and therefore not the person who would pay for the double glazing, or soffit boards. - I am often asked if I would like soffit boards. What the blazes are they ???). I think it's always as well to be polite (because these kids doing the phoning have one hell of a job) and just say, really early on, before they launch into the 'spiel' that you are sorry but really not interested. Best solution I found happened by accident, and I've never yet been able to repeat it. My daughter and her friend were making such a racket when the phone rang, that I had no idea who was on the line. I called out to them to keep the noise down, and said "I don't know who it is...sounds like a Scotsman on the phone." It turned out to be someone from BT (and *not* Scots) launching into one of their marketing spiels, asking me all kinds of questions about the phone line - Just as I started to reply, I caught sight of something out of the corner of my eye: two little girls doing very energetic mock Highland dancing and bagpipe impression of Scotland the Brave.... Total collapse into incoherence on my part.... tried to reply....BT man eventually saying "I see I have called at an inconvenient time" and hanging up to get away from the lunacy. Never had any calls them since. - jeanie |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Amos Date: 18 Jan 04 - 10:28 AM Soffit boards are the facing placed over the beam ends of the roof beams -- they follow along the edge line where the roof ends and present a flat surface for 8 inches or 10 inches below the roof. Also sometimes called fascia boards. Replacing them is way to improve the appearance of some older houses, especially if they have been damaged by weather or termites. A |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: MudGuard Date: 18 Jan 04 - 10:37 AM Thanks, jaze and Stilly River Sage! To use the phone information number looks like a good idea. If a company (unnecessarily) wants a phone number in an internet form, I usually use their own phone number... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: GUEST,Boab D Date: 18 Jan 04 - 11:11 AM The one that I use is just so obvious that they hang up straight away and I love it. I just go "excuse me if I want to but something then I would go and buy it. However I do not want to but things during my evening meal nor do I think that you would good night." That has never failed to get them off the line in a hurry. You could also use the old "Hello trading standards office" I think that would work quite well too. I just think if you are in your house then you have every right to be rude to anyone who interups your evening as they know what time it is and know exactly what you will be doing at that time of night and should be prepared for the stick that thay recieve. I know they aer trying to earn a living but I'm trying to eat. Dylan |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 18 Jan 04 - 02:53 PM Since the Do Not Call lists I don't get many, but on the occasion when a commercial caller gives me a spam call, I say, "Are you aware you are in violation of the law, both State and federal? I am on both the State and Federal do-not-call lists. Please give me a phone number to call you back, so the $10,000 fine can be applied." Dave Oesterreich |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Jeanie Date: 18 Jan 04 - 06:16 PM Thanks, Amos - now I know what it is I'm saying no to ! - jeanie |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Donuel Date: 18 Jan 04 - 07:30 PM If you hang up immediately you are only increasing the telemarketers efficiency to call the next person. That is why "Please hold, the Congressman will be right with you" or any such thing that might make them actually stay on the line while you go about your business is a just and cumulative reward. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 18 Jan 04 - 10:31 PM Have a contest with friends.
Record the conversation on your answering machine....give awards for who keeps the tele-marketer going the longest, the funniest schtyck, the most gullible consumer rep, the shortest hangup by a marketer......gather for an evening of entertainment....and you will reap more than pound of flesh.
Sincerelyl, |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: JennieG Date: 19 Jan 04 - 12:42 AM It must be a bugger of a way to make a living I reckon - ringing up total strangers and reading some spiel from a big card to them. But having said that I will admit I am not usually polite to unwanted callers; I'm not quite rude, I'm just not polite. I usually say "no thank you I'm not interested" and hang up before they can draw breath to try to change my mind. And they always ring up as I am cooking/eating/getting ready to go out...... Cheers JennieG |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Rustic Rebel Date: 19 Jan 04 - 01:12 AM I had a call once looking for my friend. The caller said he was an owner of a McDonalds and he needed some work done. I had a hard time believing this guy because he had called several times before and I recognized his voice, so I said hold on a minute and I'll get him. I hand the phone over and the caller hung up. So then I knew it had to be the same caller. So when he called back another day and I again recognized his voice right away and I told him to take a big mac and shove it right up his ass and hung up. He didn't call back. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Clinton Hammond Date: 19 Jan 04 - 03:14 AM "I'm just not polite. I usually say "no thank you I'm not interested" Sounds MORE than polite enough if ya ask me... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: GUEST,James Date: 19 Jan 04 - 10:27 AM Isn't it amazing that we are having this conversation at all. How did these people get the right to come into our homes ? It seems to me that my phone should not be available to others in order that they may make a profit. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: GUEST,ClaireBear Date: 19 Jan 04 - 11:23 AM An idea I've fantasized about but haven't had the chance to try out yet: "Oh, I'm glad you called, I really want to hear what you have to say -- but I'm just in the middle of a particularly difficult passage and I have to get it right before I stop playing. Can you hold on a second? Thanks..." then gently put down the phone next to a cassette player, punch play and walk away as 45 minutes of pibroch starts up. I'm desperate to try this but don't have a cassette recorder. Please someone, try it and let me know if it's as satisfying as I think it would be! Claire |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Mark Dowding Date: 19 Jan 04 - 11:42 AM My name is Dowding as you will have gathered from the name above this post. It's simple enough to read and say but I get everything from Dowling, Downing, Donding, Dodling, Dowdling, etc, usually with whoever is on the other end stumbling over the pronunciation. If they don't give the correct pronunciation I just say that nobody of that name lives here - goodbye. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Bob Hitchcock Date: 19 Jan 04 - 11:57 AM I too have noticed that these calls have stopped since I signed up for the Do Not Call List. My usual response to telemarketers was to say, "I am so glad you called, have you ever considered the benefits of owning a fine set of Encyclopedias". They would either hang up or just sit there in silence for a few seconds then I would hang up. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Raptor Date: 19 Jan 04 - 12:08 PM My wife would pick up the phone let them go through thier spiel than in a kiddy voice say "I'm not wearing any pants" and when they'ed ask to speak to her parents she tell them in the same kiddy voice that she lived alone and that would mess them up compleatly! I miss her. Raptor |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 19 Jan 04 - 03:55 PM John Dowdling, I have one of those names they stumble over, too. It's "Oesterreich", the German word for Austria. My family pronounces it "OH-strich", and in German it's something like "AY-strike". So (before the lists) when I'd get a call and hear, "Good evening, Mr....... Oh.... O'Ester-rich!" or similar stumbling, I'd immediately say, "Good evening. What are you selling?" "Oh, I'm not selling anything!" "That's good, because I'm not buying anything." Dave Oesterreich |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: GUEST,John Gray in Oz Date: 19 Jan 04 - 09:55 PM I try and turn these calls into a positive - just for a laugh. Telsol - could I speak to Mr John Gray please. Me, in an agitated voice - Ummm-er-ummmm, he can't come to the phone right now he - he - aw shit, there's blood going everywhere! I didn't mean to hit him that hard but he wouldn't stop belittling me. Oh geez, what am I going to do - he's stopped breathing. I gotta ,gotta .................( and hang up ) Sometimes the phone rings right away but I don't answer it of course. Let them think they phoned a murder scene. A couple of times the cops have arrived about 30 minutes later. They ask who I am and I tell them. Then they ask if they can have a look through the house - no problems. They leave shaking their heads, and it gives the neighbours something to talk about. I didn't make a hoax phone call, someone called me. JG/FME |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Neighmond Date: 20 Jan 04 - 01:08 AM I tell them I am just stepping to the bath. Then I like to tell them what "I do in the bath". With whom. I seldom get past the rubber duck and the neighbor and the line goes dead. A'la Benny Hill! Chaz |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Deckman Date: 20 Jan 04 - 01:33 AM John Gray ... I've done the same thing in elevators. It takes another person in on it. As the elevator fills up, you turn your back to the crowd and start speaking to your partner in an agitated and intense whisper: "I didn't know what to do. I mean, she'd told me she was pregnant. The knife was right there. Gawd ... it was so bloody!" Then as it dawns on others what you're saying, you both leave the elevator. CHEERS, Bob |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 20 Jan 04 - 03:49 AM Like Uncle Dave I found these folks usually mispronounce my surname and I either follow his line "What are you selling?" or just say "no thanks" and ring off. Since joining the telephone, mail and computer preference services in the UK, junk mail & cold calls have virtually disappeared. RtS |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: JennieG Date: 20 Jan 04 - 11:31 PM Clinton, There are ways of saying "I'm just not interested" that are definitely not polite! Had another call last night, "What are you selling" I asked as he was launching into the spiel; as he was muttering something he got the "No thank you I'm not interested" and I hung up in mid-sentence. His, not mine. Then I went back to cooking dinner. Cheers JennieG |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: Clinton Hammond Date: 21 Jan 04 - 12:41 AM Again... sounds more than polite enough to me JG... A chum of mine talks to them... and gradually talks quieter and quieter until he can tell that they've turned thier phone reciever volume WAY up... Then he blows a ref whistle as loud as he can into the phone... No one ever calls back.... again... more than polite if ya ask me... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 21 Jan 04 - 01:19 AM Re "A chum of mine talks to them... and gradually talks quieter and quieter until he can tell that they've turned thier phone reciever volume WAY up... Then he blows a ref whistle as loud as he can into the phone..." Sounds like an urban tale to me, but if it's true, it's really ignorant and nasty. You can destroy part of a person's hearing that way. Tell the a**hole to say "Put me on the do-not-call list." |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telphone Solicitors From: SINSULL Date: 21 Jan 04 - 07:23 PM I recently had a hilarious conversation with a collection agent named Jim who was obviously calling from India. To back up a step- my phone number was used on an application for a credit card possibly by the previous owner of the number. So - they a number, no name, no address, etc. i called their 800 number to straighten out the mess, gave them the phone number and asked who owed how much and for what and why were they bothering me about it? "jim" claimed they had no record of my phone number. I replied "Good. Then the calls will stop" Him: "Well no. If you could just give me your address and Social Security number, I can find your account. Me: "You are calling my number, you don't know who I am or where I live but you are going to insist that I pay you money that I don't owe you?" JIM: With well practised feigned indignation "We operate within the Federal guidelines." Me: "But what Federal government's guidelines are you using?"? Jim: uh duh uh CLICK The calls have stopped at least for the time being. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telephone Solicitors From: GUEST,Santa Date: 22 Jan 04 - 12:13 PM I'm waiting to try saying "Please ring back when I'm out" but none have called since I thought of it. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telephone Solicitors From: Folkiedave Date: 22 Jan 04 - 04:42 PM In the Uk it is possible to register with the telephone preference service and that does help a lot. I have used various techniques (for fun) to get rid of callers the object getting them to put the phone down not me! Best one I have found is to tell them that if they wish to continue speaking then that will form a contract and I shall be invoicing them for my time. Ask for the number/adderess and tell them it is £60 per hour minimum 3 hours. That's what "solicitors charge".....etc.... Dave www.collectorsfolk.co.uk |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telephone Solicitors From: Clinton Hammond Date: 22 Jan 04 - 04:48 PM "Sounds like an urban tale to me" I can see where it might, but I've been there when he's done it... "it's really ignorant and nasty" That's as may be, but it keeps the b@stards from ever calling back... At least he claims to never have recieved calls from the same place twice... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Questions to ask Telephone Solicitors From: Don Firth Date: 22 Jan 04 - 06:20 PM Last night. We're about to sit down to dinner. The phone rings. "Hello."And everything I told him is true. Don (debt free) Firth |
