How do you handle cold calls for donations on phone?

[jIMOh]

Home phone? Who still has those?

We had a land line about 2 years ago
we had a private (unlisted number) and sales people still called
we blocked unknown numbers thru phone company and calls still made it thru

so we just dumped the phone company

now our only numbers are our cell phones and the sales calls went to 0

 

[Westernskies]

Here's a money-making opportunity for someone a lot smarter than me...

Offer a service whereby when a unwanted call is received, you could press a # or * number sequnece and the call would automatically and silently get routed to the FCC do-not- call registry. It could be instantly compared to the forwarding number's do-not-call status, and handled appropriately, ie fines, warnings, whatever. In lieu of a reply from you, the caller would hear a message indicating that their call had been routed to the FCC and they were now now offficially in violation of your do-not-call request... might take care of some of those expiring vehicle warranty calls with bogus number displays we went thru a while back. Could turn into a big moneymaker for someone- maybe even the FCC...

 

[freebird5825]

...do share!

Let my fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages...things like Septic Pumping Service, Exterminator, Cash for Gold, Escort Service...

 

[Texas Proud]

I wait until the caller pauses to take a breath, and then I say: "Not-interested-thank-you-goodbye" and hang up promptly.

In almost 62 years, I have never given to a charity, bought anything, or signed up for anything as a result of a cold call over the phone (or snail mail advertising, or spam e-mail...). I try not to be rude and in a sense, it's more polite to end the call promptly and firmly, and not waste their time.

I am close to this... but don't wait for them to breath... and sometimes don't waste the 'thank you goodbye' words...

That is IF I even answer the phone.


Now, I have started to save even the 'not interested' words...


I have thought about some people who say they just turn on the phone and wait until the other sides gets tired and hangs up... I have not done that yet... but might if I get a hair up my butt....

 

[Independent]

Charities do not have to abide by the national do-not-call list:

If I register my number on the National Do Not Call Registry, will it stop all telemarketing calls?
No. Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most telemarketing calls, but not all. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would still be permitted, as would calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom you’ve provided express agreement in writing to receive their calls. However, if you ask a company with which you have an existing business relationship to place your number on its own do-not-call list, it must honor your request. You should keep a record of the date you make the request.

However, it seems to me that any reputable organization would maintain their own list of "asked me not to call back" numbers.
In some cases with automated calls, if you stay on the line you'll get an option like "press 9 if you want to be removed from our calling list".

 

[akck]

My sequence is to not answer until the third ring. That way if it's a computer call, usually someone else picks up and I get a dial tone. If there's silence after a hello, I hang up before it switches. If a person answers the hello, I wait for a break, say no thank you and hang up. If they don't take a breath, I silently hang up. Of course, if it's obvious from the caller ID, I don't answer.

 

[Hershey102]

"Campus Escorts . . . will this be VISA or Mastercard?"

 

[Midpack]

• I almost never answer the phone, if it's someone I want to talk to they'll leave a message and I will call them back, almost immediately usually.
• I have no problem saying "no," especially these days when it might be an ID theft issue as you correctly point out.

However, I did have the presence of mind to use this ruse a few times many years ago when I used to answer cold calls:

Caller: Can I speak to Mr. Smith?
Self: Oh my, you've called at a most inopportune time, Mr. Smith died last night. This is his brother-in-law.
Caller: (usually silence)
Self: But the widow stopped crying a few minutes ago, would you like to talk to her?
Caller: No, that's OK...click.

Short and sweet. And it's not like they'd dare risk questioning your story...

 

[ls99]

I think someone else wrote: Click. Not bothering to reply at all.

 

[Rascal]

It used to be, "Ohhh, I'm sorry, but we're vegetarians"
Nowadays it's call screening.

A friend was fond of snarling, "Your bed is filled with broken glass" and hanging up.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Fortunately do not get many phone solicitations - the "do not call" program generally works well.

I ask the caller, "can I call you back later at your home while you're enjoying your evening to talk about this more ?"....

I got a kick out of this one. I wish I were clever. I just say "sorry, not interested" and hang up quickly. I used to try to be polite but finally learned that it is a losing proposition.

 

[mountaintosea]

I screen my calls. If I happen to pick up, I hang up.

 

[WM]

My sister worked for a telemarketer briefly while she was in high school, and really hated the work. She much preferred people just hanging up on her than going through the whole spiel with them before they said no.

Side story - we used to get calls for some kind of disabled veteran's organization and I usually sent a few dollars in the envelope they mailed afterward. Then one day I got tired of sending money out of guilt for saying "no" and called the number on the back of the form to get us off their list. Some guy answered, definitely the same guy who always called, and I swear it was his home phone. No idea if he was actually donating the money (or some minimal percentage) but he was really flustered and of course never called again.

 

[bssc]

I don't answer unblocked calls. And I doubt that it was a real charity (like the people hanging out at the malls offering to take your money for hurricane Katrina).

If I do get solicited (like by the cashiers in stores), I tell them that I give through MegaCorp since they match all donations.

 

[travelover]

I think most telephone solicitors would rather be doing anything else if they felt they could find a different job. As such, just hanging up lets them get on with their next call, which is how they make their money. The only ones I ever unload on are the deceptive ones, like the fake cops or firefighters.

 

[scrabbler1]

A friend of mine many years ago worked for a bank and would call their CC holders to offer special deals for using their cards. She told me they have a list of replies to the most common negative responses from their customers.

I recalled what she told me a few years later when I got one of those calls from Discover, a card I had at the time but had never used because Sears did not take the major CCs at the time (early 1990s) but did later on. Anyway, I told the Discover rep that not only had I not used the card recently (which she happened to mention in the phone call) but in fact I had NEVER used the card in all the years I had it.

This uncommon response flustered the rep and she quickly said "Okay and thank you," and ended the call.

Remembering what my bank rep friend told me, I thought to myself, "I guess THAT one was not on her list!" LOL!

 

[growing_older]

Some years ago, there were a lot of cold telemarketing calls for cable TV and satellite TV. Apparently our neighborhood was the focus of a marketing struggle between the two. I used to tell them that I did not have a TV, but found it stopped only half of them. The others gamely struggled on with their script, suggesting that I would enjoy all the new shows and programming if I ever got a TV.

 

[disneygirl]

I just never answer the phone. When I used to address them, I advised them that I never agree to anything over the phone - you would need to send it in writing. Ironically, I would never see the correspondence in the mail.

 

[Rustward]

I just never answer the phone. When I used to address them, I advised them that I never agree to anything over the phone - you would need to send it in writing. Ironically, I would never see the correspondence in the mail.

The communication technique might be driven by economics.
The phone call (even with a human on the line) is probably cheaper than mail.

Edit to add: The phone/mail decision might also have a bias toward the more effective technique.

 

[kcowan]

Sometimes I will string them along and try to put them off their script, i.e. no I don't care about
-religion
-charity
-politics

If they call too often, I ask them to hold and then go out.

 

[akck]

I wish I could pull this off:

Telemarketer Prank Call Murder Scene Hilarius - Video

 

[Walt34]

I love it! That one's a howl!

 

[Cattusbabe]

I have cordless phones that allow you to chose the ring-tone you want to use per caller. All friends, family, anyone we want to talk to have been assinged one type of ring tone and those are the only calls we pick up. Every one else goes to voicemail. Saves us the bother of stopping what we are doing and walking over to the phone to look at the caller ID.

 

[HsiaoChu]

Caller ID. I don't answer any one with "UNKNOWN NAME, UNKNOWN CALLER" or any that I do know that are bothering me.

Took several years ago from a police organization and gave every six months. Then they gave away my number and now I don't give to any of the police organizations.

BEFORE CALLER ID, I used to get calls from this dude who was selling precious metals. He would start on this long spiel, and I got tired of him. So one day I looked up every disgusting insulting phrase that I could think of, and when he called like clockwork, I started to call him these names. Unfortunately I realy did get completely out of control yelling at him, and foaming at the mouth. In the end he asked me if I was alright,a nd i said no, and hung up. A week later he called again. So I used a technique that caused him never to call back. I encouraged him to tell me everything and sounded like I really wanted the metals. Then..... I put the phone down on a pillow and walked away. When I came back ten minutes later he was still talking. As I listened he suddenly realized he had a dead line. Then he use some of the phrases that I'd used. but he called me back 10 minutes lated to cuss me out for walking away. The good thing? I never heard from him again.

But now its caller ID, unless I'm especially ornery and and then I go into curmudgeon mode and actually talk to them.

Z

 

[mickeyd]

"Take me off of your list" and hang up.