Made a telemarketer curse and hang up on me

We moved into a new home a month ago and didn't bother with a landline this time. The landline came bundled with the internet and cable at our last house and I'd say we didn't use that phone more than twice a month. I get one stray telemarketing text on my cell phone every couple of weeks; I can deal with that.

 

It's a script. His job is to read a script and get hung up on over and over again. I understand you questioning why he was reading your personal documents, but why not cut it short at the point when he tells you he was lying? That gets the point across and allows both parties to move on with life.

 

Now you're getting into hyperbole. There are many jobs more demeaning.

And, some of these folks do pretty well. If you're good at it -- and it is a skill -- you can make a lot of money cold calling.

 

Gotta forgive them. They're competing for water piques.

 

How many people here still have a land line?

 

I can't say I'm an expert because I only worked as a telemarketer for a day and a half but I would put in a plea for a bit of leniency toward my peers. Are they all trying to "steal" from you? Maybe they're just selling magazine subscriptions and want you to see the new SI redesign. They're not hacking into your computer to steal the credit card, no matter what they're selling. You do have to give up the numbers voluntarily.

Hang up, sure. But no need to be mean or cruel or funny or an asshole. They're invading your privacy? They're calling on the phone. It's okay. In the realm of things in today's world that invade your privacy, a phone call at night is probably about the 756th worst offense. When reporters call people up, they're invading privacy. Should they all be told to fuck off, belittled? (I know, it's part of the job to make those calls. Well, yeah, exactly).

And I say that as someone who quit halfway through his second day. It really is a horrible, horrible job and there are some horrible people who do it and those are the ones who are probably really good at it and make a lot of money. When I quit during my lunch hour, shortly after being forced to listen to tapes of myself fumbling through a call (people hate listening to themselves on tape? Listen to yourself reading a script and making cold calls), my boss ridiculed me and became a walking, slicked-back-hair stereotype when he showed me his "Beamer" in the parking lot and told me I'd never attain such wealth, since I was a quitter.

The only sale I made was to an Asian man who barely spoke English and I'm sure didn't understand that the concert tickets he bought were helping to benefit a group that may or may not have been helping firefighters. I still feel guilty about making that 50 dollar sale 16 years later. When I made my sale the floor leader rang the bell at the front of the room, all the while I contemplated how to call the man back and tell him to cancel the purchase.

But people really do make a living like that and even while shaking my head at them I admire their ability to pick up the phone 20, 30 times a day. There are some telemarketing crooks and shady dealers. Most aren't. And they probably hate their job much more than you hate them. Can you yell at them, mock them, spar with them for a few minutes before delivering a knockout blow that really puts them in their place? Sure. Or just hang up. It's the merciful thing to do.

 

99% of us live in the world 2.9. We're one big storm away from living in the third world.

And no its not ok to get on telemarketers, the first time , but if they call back a second or third time they are fair game. If you have a landline, just put the phone down and let them read their entire script with no response, that pisses them off more than anything. Time is money.

 

This.

 

I've been hung up on and told to fuck off numerous times as a reporter. Somehow I managed to go on living.

If I'm calling someone, I'm on his/her time, not mine. I give myself to other people for more than half of every single day - the rest is mine, so I'm sorry if I get pissed when I need to deal with telemarketers. Truth be told, I pick up and immediately hang up 99 percent of the time, but I'm not feeling bad about telling the remaining 1 percent to fuck off.

 

I am on the Do Not Call list. I also work from home and need to take calls from my colleagues in the field. Therefore I have to pick up the phone every time it rings.

Anyone calling me from a telemarketer is doing one of two things:

1) Working for a company that is breaking the Do Not Call law and likely doing it because they are selling a garbage product that nobody wants and has tons of hidden fees. They are likely preying on the poor and ignorant who are desperate to dig themselves out of debt and will flail to collect any possible life line.

2) A scam artist trying to steal from me.

Both of these groups are either criminals or working for borderline criminals. Telling them "I am on the do not call list" doesn't work. Asking for their company address so you can report them does not work because they won't tell you because they are either criminals or working for criminals who have told them not to give this info out.

Therefore being polite and taking normal measures does not work.

If you just hang up on them, they will continue to call you back because they they know your number is live. Hanging up also lets them get to the next victim who might get scammed.

I have developed a good method that gets these calls to stop and steals time from them to prevent them from finding their next victim.

I completely waste their time and make them think they are getting somewhere. Every minute they are on the phone with me stops them from calling a sucker.

I listen carefully to what the are offering and take minor steps to make sure they stay on the line. "Do you want a security system?" "Of course I do. Have you seen the shady characters around here? ... proceed with long, boring story about shady people I saw out my window." If they ask you how many credit cards you have, count them out very slowly. 1..... 2...... 3.... Does discover card count? ...... 4 ...... oh wait, that's a library card.... etc etc.

I make up various backgrounds and stories to keep them on the phone. For a while I told them I had been praying to a solution to my debt problems because if Jesus could make Tebow a playoff winning quarterback, he could solve my problems too. I actually got the person to say "praise Jesus, praise Tebow"

The goal is to drive up their handle time. String them along. You can keep them on the phone for 8 minutes or more if you just slowly drag it out with dumb stories, irrelevant questions, errors etc. Just stay calm, move things forward so they think they are going to get a sale and you will keep them on the line.

Eventually they get pissed off and hang up. Their entire livelihood is based on quickly identifying suckers and ripping them off. Getting strung along with no sale is death for them. Usually one try is enough for them to put you on the "don't call this guy" list because he is a waste of time.

You also get the satisfaction that every minute they spend on the phone with you is a minute they don't spend stealing from your grandmother.

 

I'm sorry Mr. O'Brian, I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner. I just have a very exciting offer. My records indicate that you have expressed interest in losing some weight. Well, what if I told you that I have a pill that will make you 50 pounds lighter in 5 minutes? How does that sound? Amazing right? Well, it won't be that fast, but it will--[notices camera]-- it will be that easy.

 

Cause people like to think they are better than others and treat people like shit.