Tele marketers

[Jack Bennest]

Everyone has to make a living but I am getting sick of tired of rushing across the house to answer a phone for citi bank and ATT security etc.

Anyone else wont to join me on the rant

I am now using a technique offered up by a board participant....


ask the guy/gurl his home phone number - when he/she says that is against
company policy just hang up.

Any suggestions for a telus block - I am think about it - all calls from other than
604 - 250 etc are blocked.

I dont get overseas calls.

[Mike Cleaver]

Answering Machine on speaker so you only pick up the calls you want.

[Russ_Byth]

You can try signing up on the Canadian Marketing Association's do not contact list. (Right side of the linked page) make sure you put your name and any versions thereof. Most reputable companies in Canada adhere to it, I'm told. I signed up and hardly get any calls or addressed junk mail. And remember to re-sign up, if you subscribe to any magazines etc, after your initial sign-up.
Russ

http://www.the-cma.org/

[jon]

"Don't say 'Hello', say 'I listen to JOE'."

Well, almost. We don't get a lot of telemarketing calls because I've spent years answering the phone with just my name (first and last), just like I do at work. One of three things happen:

• "Is this a business?", I say "Yes", receive an apology, and apparently am crossed off some list somewhere;
• I hear a click, indicating they hung up;
• I hear silence over that white noise sound we all associate with many long distance calls, and I hang up, because I know I've fooled one of those telemarketing screener machines that tries to save the real people time by detecting answering machines.

Occasionally, none of these work, or I accidentally say "Hello", but I'm always a hard sell, don't play along with contest wins or surveys (unless I know the survey firm and trust it), and again seem to get crossed off one of those sucker lists.

If you exclude calls from companies we actually have accounts with (CIBC, The Bay, etc.), we probably only get one telemarketing call (including charities) every two weeks or so. And someone is home 70% of the time.

[jon]

Answering Machine on speaker so you only pick up the calls you want.

If I'm wandering around the house (which I will be a lot more when I retire in less than 3 weeks), I carry a portable phone in my pocket. If telemarketers become a problem, I'll subscribe to Call Display, look at my pocket phone and see if I recognize the name/number. If I don't, I'll let it go to TELUS Voice Mail (I prefer it to answering machines, mainly because people can leave messages rather than listen to a busy signal if I'm on another call, but also because I have had a lot of bad luck with answering machines messing up). If they care enough to leave a message, the little red Voice Mail light on my portable phone will light up.

[Stn Brk]

God bless Call Display. Any # I don't recognize, I don't pick up. If it's important, whoever is calling will leave a message. Telemarketers never leave a message. Also if a charity harrasses me with telemarketers/junk mail, I write them a letter saying they're never getting another cent - and they don't!

As for junk mail, a friend told me about his method of dealing with the stuff. He calls it 'garbage in/garbage out.' He saves up the flyers and other crap and then if a piece of junk mail has a postage paid return envelope, he crams it full. Overloads it, in fact, so the receiver has to pay extra postage. I've tried it and I've noticed I get a lot less junk mail.

[tuned]

When they call and there is a human on the other end I interrupt them as soon as they start their pitch with "can you just hang on for a sec" and leave the phone on my desk. I leave it there until I hear the beep beep beep that tells you your phone is off the hook. If it is an automated dialer I punch the pound key a few times which apparently messes up the dialer and disconnects you. A pox on all their houses.

[Jack Bennest]

My phone is my phone - it's not the phone of companies wanting to milk me.

There ought to be a law - and any party that advocates my wishes gets my vote.

" A pox on all their houses"

[johnsykes]

This is funny - Sykes is a common English name.....but the tele-marketers these days are not from that part of the world. 99% of the time..someone will call and ask for Mr. or Mrs. Seekess....or Skyes or something. I simply say either you've got the wrong number.....or get irate and tell them to learn the correct pronunciation and hang up. I'm getting less and less calls.

[radiofan]

I'm getting less and less calls.

They are dialing 1-800-JOHN-WHO and they get a "This number is out of service" message.