Telemarketers

We get a lot of calls from them and I've done any number of things from playing along bizarrely to tie them up, putting them on hold and leaving them there to telling them that under Section XX of Federal law we are notifying them to take us off their list and never call us again.

But I've been having more success with this "canned" presentation as if I'm reading from a company policy sheet.

"This number is on the Do Not Call list and your phone number has been captured and will be forwarded to the FCC where the appropriate fines will be levied."

For some reason that has been cutting calls faster and better than anything else I've ever done.

File the FCC complaint. It is quick and easy.
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

$30 Million fine levied last week.
http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=ffc6fbb2-78fb-4787-9f1d-1dfb5f5e5d16
Complaints are needed to make these stick.
This case was about "robo-calling" that offered gov't grants to be used for starting business or paying off debit. Just go to website and give your details for enrollment - Scam.

Still allowed even if you are on the do not call list is:
Political
Charity - even if thinly disguised
Surveys - often also thinly disguised.

Another tip that worked for me. Before I would say something very similar to what you said Carguy, I'd ask for their operator number. These slackers don't care if the company gets fined. They are just working there because they can't get anything else, heck they might even delight in seeing the company get fined. But, if his/her number can be dies to the infraction....

Air horn into the mouthpiece?

Callerid. If your name isn't programmed into my phone, or I don't know it by heart, you get voicemail. Easy enough for me.

Making cold calls is a bitch, even if you are totally legit. As a salesman, it is a necessary evil. One of the main reasons that I started dealing with Caribbean customers was that I could normally get through to the boss, and they would not only talk to me, but thank me for the call. BIG difference.

mndsm wrote: Callerid. If your name isn't programmed into my phone, or I don't know it by heart, you get voicemail. Easy enough for me.

Ditto. That with the do not call registry has worked pretty well.

Of course I'm interested in your __ . Leave me your number and I'll get back to you.

Sure, we can be reached at 1-800-555.......

No, no, you home number.

I can't do that sir.

You called me at home. If you want me to have this product, give me your number.

Click.

cwh wrote: Making cold calls is a bitch, even if you are totally legit. As a salesman, it is a necessary evil. One of the main reasons that I started dealing with Caribbean customers was that I could normally get through to the boss, and they would not only talk to me, but thank me for the call. BIG difference.

That's just 'cuz we haven't been subjected to this crap until recently. Still it's nowhere near as bad as in North America yet.

I get no cold calls. I'm on the no call list and that seems to work.

I put myself on the Do Not Call list, and then ditched Bell. No more calls, ever.

We stopped answering our home phone after we kept getting calls from some Jamaican scam. At first I just played with the guy, then told him I knew he was trying to scam me and what a shiny happy person he was and hung up. He called back and started yelling at me for hanging up and he was only calling for my benefit. I hung up again and he called again, this tim I didnt answer. We called the police and they said there was nothing they could do, to call the phone co. phone co. knew all about the scam and said they were most likely calling from Jamaica using those pay per minute cell phones which are untraceable. phone co. said best to just not answer and they will eventually give up cause if you talk to them they think they can talk you into whatever they want from you. To this day we still get 3-4 hangups on the answering machine each day.

Look up Tom Mabe on youtube - he has some SERIOUSLY FUNNY ways to handle sales phone calls

AND ANOTHER ONE...

I do file complaints. I file them on the phone calls and the faxes I get.

Unfortunately they require you to have asked to be removed from the Fax lists which always prompts even more faxes as they sell your name repeatedly.

Every so often I get a check from the govt for $50. That is my share of the fine they levy.

I told a guy that I wasnt interested and didnt have time for the call and hung up. He called me back and called me a Bob Costas and hung up. He might have been out of a job shortly after that...

carguy123 wrote: I do file complaints. I file them on the phone calls and the faxes I get. Unfortunately they require you to have asked to be removed from the Fax lists which always prompts even more faxes as they sell your name repeatedly. Every so often I get a check from the govt for $50. That is my share of the fine they levy.

People still send faxes?

Otto Maddox wrote:

carguy123 wrote: I do file complaints. I file them on the phone calls and the faxes I get. Unfortunately they require you to have asked to be removed from the Fax lists which always prompts even more faxes as they sell your name repeatedly. Every so often I get a check from the govt for $50. That is my share of the fine they levy.

People still send faxes?

Banks do all the time. drives me crazy when they say "just fax it over"

A few years ago we would get 10-15 faxes a night. Used up a lot of fax paper. We still have to fax stuff occasionally, not very often, though.

Otto Maddox wrote: People still send faxes?

Drivers me insane! Apparently scanning and/or e-mailing is too complex in this day and age

Fax is seen as more legit than emailed & scanned for some reason so a lot of companies ask for a fax, because of course it would be impossible to photoshop a fax...

A fax is considered legal. I guess a scanned and emailed document isn't, but we do it any way.

The faxes I receive seem to be mostly Travel company scams, Health insurance scams, and Leads scams.

We change our fax number every year due to the quantity of faxes we receive.

We always let the answering machine answer for us even if we are standing right beside the phone.

For the message on the machine I dialed a number I knew had been disconnected and wrote down the message. Then I put the same message on my answering machine using my voice.

Since my voice is somewhat distinctive people who know me don't pay any attention and just leave a message. But it got rid of a lot of the other nusiance calls.

In reply to N Sperlo:

+1

I have been using the calls to practice improv. i try to covince the caller I need help and get them off topic and answering my questions or try to find out if their product could help in the commision of some heinous crime or to satisfysome twisted preversion I have. A few weeks ago i was trying to determine if a timeshare would be suitable for hiding the bodies of people who were going to testify against my boss. I needed to know things like would my Town Car look out of place, where could buy lime in the area (gas ain't gettin any cheaper and the bodies already puta dent in my mileage, I don't wanna carry the lime to far. I can't write off my fuel). The guy must have needed to sell one because he was pretty sure I could borrow a shovel and flashlight from maintance if need be.