More fun playing with telemarketers

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolRich59 I once put a sign on my front door that read: Welcome to my home. Before you break in, please be aware that I have trouble sleeping and often sit here in the dark with my shotgun next to me.

A couple of my favorite "keep away" signs, from windows in a residential part of Brugge, Belgium:

Chien.jpg
Warning: Very bad tempered dog

Pas Op.jpg

Beware Stray German Shepherd
When the dog comes, lie flat on the ground and wait for help.
If no help comes, be strong.

[CoolRich59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Attachment 28992 Warning: Very bad tempered dog

I love this one!

[FIYes]

I am glad that some of you are sympathetic to the telemarketers trying to make a living. There is enough lack of civility in the world. However, I would caution you that with the Do Not Call list these folks are criminals and scam artists. Remember burglars are just trying to make a living too. Best to just not answer.

[youbet]

Our approach:

1. Door-knockers - Our town has a strictly enforced ordinance requiring door-to-door bag draggers to have a permit and to display that permit on their upper body plainly visible. I answer the door if I'm home. If the bag dragger has no permit, I warn him/her that our town requires one and shut the door. I then call the police who are remarkably attentive to this issue and who generally respond within minutes. They don't just give an on-the-street warning. They put the violator into the squad and take him/her to the station. It's real entertaining. If the person does have a permit, my response depends on who they are. A neighbor dad and his cheerleader daughter selling raffle tickets funding uniforms get $20 and a big smile. For people I don't know and who are selling anything I could find/do without them accosting me at my door, I politely shut the door and call the town officials and tell them they're issuing permits to the wrong people and to please stop it. We get very, very few door-knockers in my neighborhood and I like it that way.

2. Telephone jerks - I don't answer calls from unidentified numbers or numbers I don't know and just wait to see if they leave a message. At one time, I would answer just to tell them off then realized there was zero upside to me for doing this. They didn't care, they listen to it all day, and since they already know my number might call back just for revenge. So, my priority is to not answer and, if I do (very rare), just hang up as soon as I realize it's a sales pitch.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwraigty We have one on our front door. People pretend they didn't see it all the time. Then, when I point it out to them, they pretend they're not soliciting. A couple of weeks ago, a young woman said that it was OK, because she had a permit to solicit. I told her it didn't matter. If the homeowner has a No Soliciting sign, she can't solicit there. She made no move to get off my porch, so I shut the door in her face. On a rare occasion, I see someone approach, swear, then walk away. I guess it does help, but only minimally.

I put "No Solicitors" and "No Flyers" on my door, partly because I didn't want to be bothered, and partly because I traveled a lot and didn't want flyers stuffed in my doors for days advertising my absence. I did see some of the flyer guys approach my door and then move on when they saw the sign.

Had one lady, either from Mary Kay or Avon come to the door. I pointed to the signs and she said "Most people actually want us to come anyway." I told her to get over herself and to never set foot on my porch again, and slammed the door.

[Walt34]

I read a story about a house that had a sign on the front reading "I shoot every third salesman and the second one just left". The lady of the house was cleaning up after the kids when the doorbell rang. Carrying a toy cap pistol she answered the door. The salesman looked at the gun, blanched, and ran.

So maybe that would work.

[ychuck46]

I have the Mr Number app on my Android phone (we haven't used a landline phone in decades). Won't answer any # that I do not recognize, or comes up as a business I recognize. If important it can go to VM.

Have had some innovative ones comes through, though, which give me a laugh now and then (I still don't answer them, they are just amusing at times). Many masquerade as local TN or Verizon calls when they are not, many will come through as just a first name like "Ted", and once I got one from "Mom". That one was great since my Mom passed away six years ago. Those long distance charges must be a killer, no pun intended.

[The Cosmic Avenger]

This is why we use our Google Voice number for all nonpersonal matters (businesses, services, etc.) now, and even a lot of personal contacts, too. I have the default set for all calls to go directly to voicemail, then email both my partner and me the message immediately. Even if the transcript is somewhat garbled, I can tell enough about it to know if it's important or not.

And as I add friends and family to my contacts, I set up GV so that their incoming number rings through to our home and/or cell phones, depending on the person. It's as easy as assigning them to a list/group in Google Contacts. But even for calls that go to voicemail, I get notifications on my cell phone of any messages anyway, so I can always call back within a minute or two if I'm not busy.

[CoolRich59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I read a story about a house that had a sign on the front reading "I shoot every third salesman and the second one just left". The lady of the house was cleaning up after the kids when the doorbell rang. Carrying a toy cap pistol she answered the door. The salesman looked at the gun, blanched, and ran. So maybe that would work.

I put this on my front door the other day. The DW was not amused, so I don't think it will stay.

[Clone]

I saw an interesting sign a couple weeks ago. 'Owner has guns and a backhoe. Knows how to use both.'

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clone I saw an interesting sign a couple weeks ago. 'Owner has guns and a backhoe. Knows how to use both.'

My favorite so far!

[tessaduncan]

Grew up in a home with my polish Grandmother who didn’t speak much English. I know a few phrases and have the accent down. When I get a call from a number I don’t recognize, I answer a slightly accented “allo”. If it’s a telemarketer or survey group, I say, in Polish, “I don’t understand. Do you speak Polish?” . They usually get flustered and hang up. Been doing it for years and so far no one has spoken Polish back. My husband cracks up when I tell him “pani” is gonna take the call. Lol

[brucethebroker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIYes To the op, thanks for keeping these scam artists tied up for a few minutes. I just don’t have the patience to do that.

Try shouting out "what was that, dear?" at the beginning of the sales pitch, then ask the caller to "hold, please". Then put the phone down and walk off. Callers usually figure out what is going on after a couple of minutes.

If everybody did that, or something similar to stall the callers, the number of people called would be greatly reduced, as well as sales made (sales is a "numbers game").

To those who think the callers "are only trying to make a living"-well, that could apply to many "occupations" that prey on the elderly, confused, and people to meek/polite to say no. "Real jobs" don't use annoying and unethical sales pitches/scams/etc.

[brucethebroker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessaduncan Grew up in a home with my polish Grandmother who didn’t speak much English. I know a few phrases and have the accent down. When I get a call from a number I don’t recognize, I answer a slightly accented “allo”. If it’s a telemarketer or survey group, I say, in Polish, “I don’t understand. Do you speak Polish?” . They usually get flustered and hang up. Been doing it for years and so far no one has spoken Polish back. My husband cracks up when I tell him “pani” is gonna take the call. Lol

Well done!

[RASAP]

I used to not answer my phone very often if I didn't recognize the number. Not so much any more. About a year ago, I got a call from a number I did not recognize but answered it anyway out of curiosity. Turned out it was the fraud department for one of my credit cards. Answering this call put a stop to a spending spree by someone who had managed to steal my card number. Guess you never know when it might be important.

Another telemarketer that never seems to give up is one that wants to lower my credit card rate. I have asked on numerous occasions to be removed from the calling list (both verbally and by pressing "5") but it does not stop them. So now, subsequent calls go like this...


Them: Would you like to lower your interest rate on your Visa?

Me: I sure would!

Them: How much do you owe on that Visa card?

Me: About $8000. (Big lie - I pay them off every month )

Them: Great! Can you tell me the expiration date of the card?

Me: Yes, hold on while I get that card.

Them: OK, take your time.

I then put my phone on mute, put it down and go about whatever I was doing at the time. They usually hang up 1 or 2 minutes later.

[CoolRich59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethebroker To those who think the callers "are only trying to make a living"-well, that could apply to many "occupations" that prey on the elderly, confused, and people to meek/polite to say no. "Real jobs" don't use annoying and unethical sales pitches/scams/etc.

Agreed.

I politely say “No thank you. I’m not interested.” Some telemarketers will ignore me and keep going; some even get aggressive. I didn’t ask them to call, and I was polite. At that point, I’ve satisfied the obligations of common courtesy and hang up.

[FIYes]

I just don’t answer if I don’t recognize the number. However, a few years ago I did play with one of the “Microsoft” scammers. I told them okay but I need to turn the computer on, a couple of minutes later I pick the phone back up and tell them it is going through it’s start up and I thank them for calling. A few minutes later I tell them it is having trouble starting and I am so glad they called because something must be really wrong. I strung them along for about 20 minutes. I ended the call telling them I had kept them from bothering someone else.
These days I just don’t answer.

[jollystomper]

I have a software program that will answer the phone after I blacklist a number and play a recording. I make a recording sounding like someone answering the phone and giving "generic" replies to a question, or asking them to repeat the question. The recording loops, and it is funny to hear them trying to interact with it.

[RockyMtn]

I answer...(insert city name) police department, fraud division. May I help you?

[Walt34]

Most of the time if we don't recognize the number we simply don't answer, and we use a call blocker that has greatly reduced the number of calls. Being retired from law enforcement my sense of humor can be a bit warped to some. But if I do answer and it's a live person I'll ask what color their underwear is and the call goes downhill from there. DW is appalled. It seems to work though. They don't call back.