Call Centers...the Last Straw!

[Xtjohn]

Originally Posted by Renato1

The Do Not Call Register works very well in stopping local commercial telemarketers.

My brother has an interesting strategy for discouraging the foreign callers. He feigns interest and then says something like - "Can you please just wait a minute - I need to get something off the stove/ call my wife etc"
then he puts the phone down on a table, walks away and watches TV or eats.

He figures that the 10 or so minutes that elapse before they finally hang up, is 10 minutes that they aren't annoying someone else.
Cheers,
Renato

This is the tactic I used to use when I had a telephone. One time I went back to hang up the phone after 20 minutes and the guy was still on the line so I said "I'll be with you in a just a moment" and left it for another 10 minutes by which time he'd got the message!

[AndrewJ]

Geez you lot are lucky.
About 80% of the time, I get calls where there is no one on the line when i say hello. If i say hello 2x and get no response i hang up.
If they respond after 2 hello's, i remind them how rude it is not to be on the line when i pick up ( considering they called me ) and hang up before they can say anything more.

Andrew

[rat156]

There's always the Seinfeld approach...

Jerry: Hello.

Telemarketer: Hi. Would you be interested in switching over to TMI long distance
service?

Jerry: Oh, gee. I-I can’t talk right now. Why don’t you give me your home
number, and I’ll call you later.

Telemarketer: Uh, well I’m sorry. We’re not allowed to do that.

Jerry: Oh, I guess you don’t want people calling you at home.

Telemarketer: No.

Jerry: Well, now you know how I feel.

Jerry promptly hangs up.

At least you'll get a laugh.

Cheers
Stuart

[BPO]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

Geez you lot are lucky.
About 80% of the time, I get calls where there is no one on the line when i say hello. If i say hello 2x and get no response i hang up.
If they respond after 2 hello's, i remind them how rude it is not to be on the line when i pick up ( considering they called me ) and hang up before they can say anything more.

Andrew

Precisely this!

Even the worst telemarketers suck less than people who lack sufficient brainpower to respond the moment you answer their call.

If they are eating or taking a swig of coffee, I hang up. If they are chatting to someone near them, I hang up. If they hesitate for any reason at all before responding when I've answered their call, the 'phone gets hung up.

Or at least it did when it was still plugged in. Now it's not.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I don't bother with clever answers or anything.
Identify who they are.
Unwanted Y/N ?
Hang up
End of story.
Why bother wasting time with them.
Sky calls us weekly, one day they will get the message ...maybe.

[xelasnave]

I hang up if there is no response to my first hello.
In the past I have had fun if I take the call.
One of my responded was...I,m a good boy I can tie my own shoelaces...they started off again I repeated my line. They ,he, then says "Oh you are a retard" and hang up.
They would call asking to speak to my father in law...you want to speak to cc...yes please..are you sure..yes me cc..oh I am sorry he is dead..an uncomfortable silience would follow..if they mentioned their produce I then said...he probably won't need that...then hang up.
Or after their presentation I say I am just the caretaker you need to speak to the owner..and hang up.
But the best bet is to hang up if someone does not answer right away.

[chiaroscuro (Luke)]

I've occasionally responded by saying "Hang on, I'll just get my credit card..." and put the phone on the table, checking every 5-10 minutes if I can still hear them on the end of the line. I feel at least I'm saving some other person from being interrupted during dinner.

[GrahamL]

I am deaf pretty much these days and whenever they call I tell them that . ,,downside I won't observe with anyone really anymore as I'm such an annoying PIA to communicate with .


funny stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7OgWcwgB50

[sharpiel]

Originally Posted by GrahamL

I am deaf pretty much these days and whenever they call I tell them that . ,,downside I won't observe with anyone really anymore as I'm such an annoying PIA to communicate with .


funny stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7OgWcwgB50

Sign language is hard in the dark too isn't it?

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by Xtjohn

This is the tactic I used to use when I had a telephone. One time I went back to hang up the phone after 20 minutes and the guy was still on the line so I said "I'll be with you in a just a moment" and left it for another 10 minutes by which time he'd got the message!

Clearly, such callers are selected on the basis of their perseverance.
Cheers,
Renato

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

I don't answer my phone if it's a number I don't recognise and am not expecting a call. I found that is the best way, here I get a number of debt collection agencies hassling me for debts associated with the old owner of the phone number and they are quite aggressive and rude and don't seem to care it's not you, threatening court action and such.

And that is on top of various phone companies ringing for god knows what, I just let them ring. It's surprising how persistent these fools can be ringing up to 6 times a day for a few weeks then I guess they give up for a bit.

[sharpiel]

My phone is my business contact so I really can't ignore incoming calls. And sometimes when I'm busy and distracted these insidious telemarketers catch me out.

[pgc hunter]

I don't pick up my home phone anymore. Literally 99.99% of the time it is telemarketer scum. Sometimes, the phone rings out, then it rings again a few seconds later, then I pick it up, could be a family member or an otherwise important call..... but no...telemarketers spamming me... that's when the 4 letter words come out to play.

Anyone important has my mobile number. Speaking of mobiles, these telemarketer trolls have somehow gotten hold of my mobile number over the last few months, ofcourse I put all their numbers on reject and have been left alone since. touch wood.

[cfranks (Charles)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

The Do Not Call Register works very well in stopping local commercial telemarketers.

My brother has an interesting strategy for discouraging the foreign callers. He feigns interest and then says something like - "Can you please just wait a minute - I need to get something off the stove/ call my wife etc"
then he puts the phone down on a table, walks away and watches TV or eats.

He figures that the 10 or so minutes that elapse before they finally hang up, is 10 minutes that they aren't annoying someone else.
Cheers,
Renato

Very similar to my method. They ask for Mr Franks and, very politely, I say " Just a moment please", put the phone down and walk away. I hang up about 1/2 hour later. Once though, the phone rang about 5 mins later and it was the same girl asking why I hung up on her!!
They very seldom call now and I've got no-one to talk to.

Charles

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by cfranks

They very seldom call now and I've got no-one to talk to.

This could be a new form of paranoia - when you get anxious because even the tele-marketers don't want to talk to you!

[The_bluester (Paul)]

My mother is (Or would be) quite profoundly deaf, she has two Cochlear implants and for some reason, finds speakerphone easier to understand that the normal handset. We live in the same house and her work area is in the main lounge/dining room.

The single best response we have made was the entire family and a couple of friends bursting into riotous laughter when we heard the "I am calling from Microsoft security" They hung up quite quickly.

At our own end of the house the most effective approach has been to unplug the phone permanently, the only wanted calls we ever got on it were my wifes parents and we weaned them off that one onto our mobiles. We only have the phone line at all for a DSL service. Anyone who happens to call one of our mobiles goes on the ignore list.

[icytailmark (Mark)]

ring the telecommunications ombudsman and tell them you are being harassed by Real Insurance company. You could also ring your phone provider and tell them about it.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

I have found the following works: State up front (just talk over the top of them if u feel it necessary) that u have no intention of purchasing anything from them, and that the more thery call the more determined u r to go elsewhere should u ever want the product they are selling.
Then, and this seem to be the bit that stops them, tell them you will talk tyo them for hours about any subject that takes you fancy. U will not buy from them but are happy to waste their time so, if they are on commission then perhaps they might like to think about that. While they think ask them if they like Ice Hockey, or some other subject.
Just be as annoying as possible.
I don't get these calls any more thank fully, and I hope this helps you.

Good Luck - Trev

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by Regulus

State up front (just talk over the top of them if u feel it necessary) that u have no intention of purchasing anything from them, and that the more thery call the more determined u r to go elsewhere should u ever want the product they are selling.

That's unlikely to have much effect in most cases - the people doing the calling are contracted call-centres, not employees of the actual insurance company (or whatever the product is).

The call-centre operators get paid piece-rate for completed calls (or paid for minutes per hour while they are actually on-line with a victim), plus perhaps a commission / bonus for successful sales. Their decision to terminate a call depends on the thickness of their hide (how much abuse can they handle?), as well as a trade-off between their assessment of the likelihood of closing a sale versus terminating the call now and starting a new one. Your view of the ethics of the situation, or the reputation of the insurance company they represent, doesn't enter into it - unless it's covered by their script.

By the way - one of the reasons you get those calls where nobody speaks to you when you pick up (or empty messages on your answering machine) is because they use pre-emptive diallers, which know the typical time to complete a call once a particular stage of the script is reached, and the typical time taken for a victim to pick up. (It wouldn't do to waste a whole five to ten seconds dialling the next victim AFTER actually completing the previous call!) The next call is already queued, and dialling starts before the previous call is actually completed. If the previous call extends by a couple of seconds ("Oh ... one more thing ..."), the next call will connect to you before the call-centre operator has finished talking to the previous victim. Anyone who would program such a system doesn't deserve any consideration or politeness, in my opinion!

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

I have found...complaining to the DNC register people about cold calling from Australian companies....does nothing. They do nothing about it.

The DNC register is a croc!