Oldster from the telemarketer ages

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Jan 2010 Posts: 2

Remember getting all those telemarketer calls when they just WOULDN'T take a breath to let you tell them you were'nt interested? I found a sure way to waste their time by handing the phone to my then-2-year-old who loved to talk to ANYONE on the phone. They stayed on with her for at least 5 minutes asking her to "put your Mommy back on the phone" while she babbled at them. Figured if I was keeping them from calling some other gullible person, we were just doing our civic duty :}

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:07 am

Welcome to Eater oldmom53. I'm probably not as old as you are referring to, but telemarketers still don't let you get much of a say in still today. Exclamation

However, while they are annoying, telemarketers are not quite the same as what we deal with in here as the people we deal with are scammers, but I'm sure you realize that. Very Happy

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Jan 2010 Posts: 2

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I'm older, but still peeved at the lenghts these crooks will go to to part you from your money. Good to see that the next generation is keeping watch! I've received emails and faxes at work similar to the scammers you describe. I work at a PUBLIC SCHOOL! and have received them on our fax. They've been reported to our state Attorney General via fax and have subsided significantly. We need to keep our local Legislature advised of these fools and, hopefully, let them know that not all fools are old fools!

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:08 am

Welcome to Eater Oldmom53!
I did the same trick of giving the phone to my children with telemarketing calls. My son developed some great lines at a very young age such as "I have to go there's diarrhoea running down my leg".
Recently I came home to find my 14 year old son on the phone with a telemarketer. When he finally ended the call I was astonished and extremely proud to learn that he had kept the person on the phone for an hour and 45 minutes!
Happy baiting!

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:37 am

Welcome Oldmom!

I've found it very effective to say "Hold on a second" and just put the phone down and walk away from it. Smile

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:05 am

Telemarketers always call me on my cellphone, which incurs a minimum 25c charge just for answering.

In the old days, I'd just yell obscenities at them involving all corners of the holy triad (homosexuality, incest and bestiality) before hanging up, but now I can't even do that since they call with automated messages.

Ahhhhh

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 4:16 am

When I do get telemarketing calls (doesn't happen much anymore, for some reason - I haven't gotten to do this in months) I like to answer them in foreign languages (my favorite is a broken mix of French, German, and random gibberish). They get rather confused Very Happy

Also, telemarketers are spammers that want your money, which is close enough to scamming for me to approve of any wasting of their time. Wink

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 80

I don't know about you guys, but people that get their calls make it awfully complicated. All you really have to do is tell them you do not want them to call back and that you are not interested. When they know that, they will not call you back because they will know that it's a waste of time. Do not let them get a word in, just tell them "Not interested, please do not call back."

Now, there are obviously a lot of scammers and such, but most of the time this works because they don't want to waste their time calling you back

When you start making excuses or such, that gives them a reason to call back.

Don't make it harder on yourself Razz

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 5:46 am

^^ But that's no fun and doesn't really waste much of their time Wink

Telemarketing is evil, to a lesser degree than scamming but still evil. If I want to buy something from you I am fully capable of buying it myself; you do not need to call me repeatedly to ask if I want to buy it. Therefore they deserve to be screwed with Very Happy

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8 Very Happy

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 80

^^^^
I loved that call, it cracks me up each time!

foo123 wrote:

^^ But that's no fun and doesn't really waste much of their time Wink

Telemarketing is evil, to a lesser degree than scamming but still evil. If I want to buy something from you I am fully capable of buying it myself; you do not need to call me repeatedly to ask if I want to buy it. Therefore they deserve to be screwed with Very Happy

You're right, I was just saying another quicker way to get them to usually stop. Telemarketing was once legitimate but now it's almost always scamming or just general BS.

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 6:46 am

We used to give the phone to our kids, or I'd just put it down with the television on, come back a couple minutes later, pick up and here them say my name, answer yes, and they'd start talking again, then walk off...rinse and repeat...

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 8:47 am

Welcome here oldmom53. Very Happy

My old mom is allso pretty good with telemarketers. She says she's old and doesn't understand and asks them to call back when her son is home. Doesn't matter if i happen to be there or not.

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:34 am

Pastor Frank wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8 Very Happy

That man is my hero! Laughing

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:36 pm

I must admit I'm quite fond of the telemarketing counter-script myself... you learn a lot about the people calling you. Very Happy

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 5:46 pm

I signed up for the Do Not Call list, and my telemarketing calls went down, but didn't disappear. Local telemarketers don't seem to consult the list - they seem to figure that if you're in the phone book, you are asking for telemarketing calls. And the truly scammish ones don't care about the DNC list. In fact, once when one of those "auto warranty" scammers called, I said, "I'm on the Do Not Call list." She said, "Whatever," and hung up.

I usually just say, "I'm not interested" (if it's a live call) and hang up - right in the middle of their opening spiel. There's no need to be polite and wait for a break in their talk. After all, they interrupted me by calling, the least I can do is return the favor. Wink

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:26 pm

oldmom53 wrote:

I work at a PUBLIC SCHOOL! and have received them on our fax. They've been reported to our state Attorney General via fax and have subsided significantly. We need to keep our local Legislature advised of these fools and, hopefully, let them know that not all fools are old fools!

Unsolicited fax's are a violation of federal law. You can sue the sender for damages in US Court (see http://www.keytlaw.com/faxes/tcpa.htm)

I have a cousin in Canada where unsolicited fax's are still legal (or were a few years ago). She said her office had twelve sheets of pitch black paper that they would fax back to the senders at the end of the day. After the senders' fax toner was depleted a few times the junk would stop coming. Twisted Evil

Master Baiter Joined: 31 Oct 2009 Posts: 159

Actually there is one better - if you have one of these older fax machines you only need 3 black sheets and some tape. First - tape the 3 sheets together, so they are making one long sheet of paper. Now start sending this long sheet, until the sending is on middle of second page. Now, tape both ends with tape... voila - endless black fax of death.

Of course, I cannot be blamed if your fax machine is damaged by the tape or something...

Actually it's much easier with the computerized fax systems... Once a company responcible for the support of one of the Unix servers didn't want to answer a simple question, before receiving the logs... Simple enough, all "messages" was transferred to their fax number... The guy called and said that their secretary is hysteric - and I've sent only 35-40 pages of text Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 9:10 am

I like to reply to them in chinese... a language I cannot actually speak Smile

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:02 am

There was an episode of Seinfeld once where Jerry was called by a telemarketer asking if he'd like a subscription to the New York Times. He simply replied "Yes!" and then hung up.

Now, I'm not sure if that would work on today's contemporary telemarketers, as I have a slight suspicion that they'd probably think you were serious and then keep calling back. But it would be awesome if it did work. I've always wanted to try it, but have this paranoia that I'd be inundated by even more calls. But I would certainly laugh out loud at anyone who did that while I happened to be sitting in their kitchen having an important social tea party with them.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Jan 2010 Posts: 9

I share a large home with 5 other roomates. One of the most fun things was that when almost all of us was home we got a telemarketer call. We each chatted merrily with the telemarketer and said a lot of uh huhs... and yeah... and yes how interesting... then ended our call by saying.. well no I dont think that is something I would like but you might want to talk to my roomate Dave... who then did the same and then passed it to my other roomate Ralph etc etc etc. The poor woman was worn out by the end of it I think.

The other one is great because I simply like to put the phone near my computer as I type and work away while the hapless telemarketer blabs on endlessly all the while hearing me type and move around in my chair etc. And for some miraculous reason when I pick up the phone after about 3 minutes they arent on the line anymore... hmmm...

Also why not be nice and intimate with your telemarketer friend and take them into the bathroom to listen to multiple flushes of the toilet and keep saying oh.. I am sorry I didnt hear that... and flush and again.. and again and again...

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:16 pm

A couple of years ago I had a cold call that started quite quickly with the statement that they could save me money on my car insurance. I think they were a little surprised when I responded "Oh could you ?"

They then had to ask me where I lived - they phoned me and don't know from my number where I live (from the area code). Then the sort/make/model/engine of the car and my age etc. which I expected. And lastly how much I was currently paying. I was truthful in all these things. Things then went quiet for a few seconds.

A rather hesitant voice then sheepishly admitted that they couldn't beat my current insurer.

So I wonder about all the pushy car insurance advertising going on recently.

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