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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-22-2006, 02:11 PM   #21
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

May not be a telemarketer but my father continues to get an automated phone call regarding a "personal matter" about 5 times a week. I know it's not for him. Being 95, he doesn't know how to handle such automated phone calls. Thank goodness he is usually not home. As much as it pissed me off, I called the number to get them to stop but all I got was a voice message asking to leave my name and number. Of course, that infuriated me further and I did not leave my number. I did put him on the "do not call" list.
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-22-2006, 02:12 PM   #22
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

Quote:
Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum
my mail carrier calls such practice mail fraud. don't know if she's right about that as she tends to go postal pretty easily. i've moved the mail box right to the road to keep her as far away from my house as possible.
Never heard that before. *We did that a lot with junk mail. Actually we'd switch junk mail that got stuffed back into business reply envelopes. Example: Capital One got stuff with pizza menus that came in junk mail too, or Amex stuff... and Amex would get Capital One stuff, etc. * Just depended on what junk was available on our counter that day.

FWIW, *Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes was the source where we originally picked up that idea. *Doubt they would have suggested doing something illegal.
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-22-2006, 03:37 PM   #23
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords
Jay Leno used to have a hilarious routine on his elderly parents calling his answering machine.

Now that we have both the answering machine and the elderly parents, the routine doesn't seem so hilarious anymore. I can understand why TH would spring to the phone and be so ticked off by the telemarketer...
Yep, have an uncle with terminal cancer, a nephew with probably terminal cancer, a mother in law that just broke her wrist and just got out of surgery, and a father in law that just nearly cut his thumb off the other day and also just got out of surgery. So both in-laws are laid up and on heavy pain meds. Oh yeah, and a sister in law whose husband may shortly turn to wife beating. So not answering the phone isnt much of an option.

At least I blunted the wife beating problem a bit yesterday by giving the little SOB a schwarzennegger-esque "You hit her, I hit you. Got it?". He didnt look very enthusiastic about that.

Quote:
Does *69 produce the number they're calling from and give enough info to report their abuse?
Dont need it. Their number comes through fine on caller ID. I tried a bunch of reverse lookups but none of them produce an owner.
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-22-2006, 06:04 PM   #24
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

Several years ago I was getting calls from a local carpet cleaning outfit every second night. Tried calling the company, asking for the owner and telling him 'if you're planning to call me tonight I don't want any'. Soon the secretary hung up on me.

Next call I got I said 'send you guy out, he can do every bit of carpet in my house'. When he came i let him look for carpet, my house had only hardwood and lino. Was he pissed. Calls magically stopped.

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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-22-2006, 06:04 PM   #25
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

*CFB, this is spooky. *Had a call today from a woman who didn't speak English too well claiming to be from a "Global Mortgage." She had some outdated information on our (now paid-off) mortgage. * When I told her she was violating my state's "do not call" law, she got very nervous and hung up - quick.... *Perhaps Sterling has set up under a new name.
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-22-2006, 06:41 PM   #26
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

These telemarketing calls are really bad news. I don't think there's much you can effectively do, even when they are breaking the law.

If you do speak with a real person, tell them they are on a recorded line, and that if they hang up, they will be breaking the law.

I used to harrass telemarketers, using up their time, telling them that everyone hates telemarketers, "does your mother know you turned out to be a telemarketer?" etc. But I decided the satisfaction wasn't worth the risk of making a bad person pissed off at you.
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-22-2006, 07:42 PM   #27
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

It would be too late if they have your home telephone number but there is one service that I have used a bit and has worked so far, it is called smartphone.com. Its being designed by a fellow member of my Mac users group, this gives you a free pnone number which just takes messages. You log on to the web site to hear your mail. One thing I like about it is I can send a voice attachment of the message with email.
Its a real phone number, which I regard as a "throw away" number. The free service only covers 5 call messagtes but so far its enough. So when I register for free vacations at travel shows and the like I give this number.
Not a full solution but I really think this service will last as it fills a nitche nothing else does. Not a single telemarketer message so far.
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-23-2006, 07:33 AM   #28
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

Thats what I'm using the sunrocket service for, although its not free. We have the main land line (which is the one these buttheads are calling), and the two standard sunrocket phone numbers. One of those goes directly to voicemail hell, and thats the number everyone is going to be getting. The other number is "located" in an out of town area code and forwarded to our land line. We have family in the out of town area code, so its a local call for them, so they dont have to pay any long distance to call us.

It might take years for that sunrocket phone # we're giving everyone to filter down to the direct marketers, but it'll happen eventually.

In the meanwhile, I've logged all these calls and filed a second complaint with the FTC, and I've filled out the OPTOUT mentioned above, and the paper version of the DMA's opt out form.

Since I just closed the home equity line of credit with Digital Credit Union, that might also abate the flow of "mortgage refinancing" calls :
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-23-2006, 12:03 PM   #29
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

CFB: were I in your situation I would look for a cheap cell phone that doesn't require a contract (aka-a throw away). Give your family that number and tell them that you will call them back on your land line.
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-23-2006, 01:15 PM   #30
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

Another popular technique is to start talking and then say, "hold on a second there is someone at the front door - I will be back in a minute." Then leave the phone off the hook for a while come back, repeat with, "darn, there is someone else at the door - please hold on..."
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?
Old 07-23-2006, 01:40 PM   #31
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Re: Best way to shoot a telemarketer in the face?

See if you can subscribe to Call Blocking. It allows you to enter 12 numbers that never ring on your line. They get a message saying your call cannot be connected to that number. If it is an 800 numkber you have to add it right after the number calls you. Otherwise just key in the offending numbers. Works for us. We cycle numbers through the list of 12 to get of them forever.
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