"Sir, this is not telemarketing."

[gsdx]

I won't even try to duplicate the accent of the guy who phoned me yesterday. I oculd barely understand it let alone reproduce it.

It was one of those computer dialled calls where you have to wait for the operator to connect. I knew immediately that it was a telemarketer. (They always ask to speak to me by my initial 'N' because that's how I'm listed in the phone book.)

Anyway, he proceeded to tell me he was from some 'ACME' Marketing thing and said I had won a free Microsoft Windows something-or-other. I don't know what it was because I cut him off and told him that this was a telemarketing call and that I wasn't interested. "No! No, sir! It is not 'TELE' Marketing. It is 'ACME' Marketing, and you have won a free Microsoft Windows something-or-other." I still don't know what the 'something-or-other' is. I hung up on him.

I hate it when other countries don't have to obey Canadian laws when it comes to telemarketing.

 

[borg69unimatrix]

I think all Tele-Marketers and those Robo-Callers should be strung up by their balls.

 

[Ram]

I hate it when they fight back and say "no". I remember this telemarketer selling cookbooks who called me. When I said "no, I am going to hang up now", he cried, "no, no! if you don't buy this cookbook, how are you going to eat?". I put the phone and have been starving ever since. Shouldn't have done that

 

[Sam Blum]

I tell them they have called an Australian Government banned number and that if they call this number again, they will be involved in a messy investigation.

My friend tells them all about his parrot that died recently and how dreadfully sad he's been since that fateful day and he's sooo glad somebody has rung him up so that he can share the grief finally... They apparently hang up first.

 

[Taz]

I always just say, can you hang on for a sec? then put the phone down and go back to what I was doing.

 

[roadtripboy]

^Me too...I quietly put the phone on the table and see how long they'll talk before they realize I'm not listening.

 

[Asenath]

People who work in telemarketing are just doing their jobs. They are low-paying, usually, with lots of rules & restrictions about when you can or cannot hang up. You are literally -required- to be persistent, even if you know it will do no good.

The kindest and easiest thing you can do is just to say, "No, thank you," and hang up.

 

[star-warrior]

Something for nothing? Methinks beware.

 

[Ram]

Isn't the point not to give up? If you're still on the phone, he/she still has your attention. So saying "I'm going to hang up" is pointless. It meant nothing until you actually did it.

That's how it works. The person on the other end of the phone will keep selling until they can't anymore. You may thing "Ha! Who does that work on?" Well, if they get only nineteen out of twenty people to reject them, they're succeeding.

So the quickest way to get rid of them? Simply hang up.

Oh sorry. It's my cultural/dialect/linguistic thing. Surely, we say "I am putting down the phone now" before we put down.

 

[gsdx]

People who work in telemarketing are just doing their jobs.

I understand this, but the guy who called me didn't seem to realise that he was working for a telemarketer. He thought I had told him that he was working for the 'Tele Marketing' service when he was working for 'ACME Marketing'.

 

[roadtripboy]

I'm still not changing how I handle these calls.

Think of my laying the phone down as a small break for the poor person on the other end. If I just hang up, the system with dial them another call.

 

[Swellegant]

I get a lot of calls like this at work; many of our clients will list our phone number if they don't have their own, and are very fond of signing up for freebies. Most of the robocalls can be discontinued by pressing 7 when they start. Having Caller ID is a godsend... if the area code is 800, 866, or 888, I just don't pick up. I have this at home, too, and it has saved me a lot of time and effort to just not answer the phone if it looks like a sales or soliciting call.

But I always keep in mind, if there's a human being on the other end, that this is a human being and therefore deserving of courtesy and respect. Even the ones with the atrocious accents. They're doing a job, and ringing someone's phone is not a calculated insult... it's just one of those annoying little quirks of modern life.

I got a call yesterday at the office that was very similar to what gsdx describes: he said he was not a telemarketer first thing, and told me I qualified for something... a Ford Explorer, I think... I informed him he had called a business rather than a home, and he was not put off by that; so I answered a couple of questions for him, basic demographic questions... when I told him I made less than $34K a year (which, sadly, is true) he ended the call in a hurry.

The whole experience took about two minutes of my life, I was able to go on with my data entry while he talked, and nobody had to be rude to anybody else.

 

[Georgiadude]

I know they are just doing their jobs and trying to make a living but it really irritates me when I politely say "no thanks" and they keep going. I'll usually just hang up after that. have a couple of funny stories to share.

1. My last name isn't the easiest to pronounce. It starts with 4 consonants, a vowel and then 2 more consonants. I got a call for a guy and he just butchered my name. he either was calling from a foreign country or English was not his first language. I said "sir you have 1 more chance to say my name right or I'm hanging up. If you get it right I'll listen to everything you have to say." I have to give him credit. He tried but it was even worse the second time. I said, "sorry, you lose" and hung up.

2. I got another call and I just hung up. The guy CALLS ME BACK and said "oh, I'm sorry. We got disconnected." I said "yes we did, and it's going to happen again right now." click. He called back again. I saw the number on caller ID and just ignored it. What an idiot.

Steven.

 

[Efrackalecki]

If I pick up the phone and hear a telemarketer on the other end, I just immediately hang it up without a word. I don't feel particularly bad about it... especially when they don't speak a lick of English (my last name sounds Chinese, so we often get calls from Asian telemarketers).

 

[hylas]

People who work in telemarketing are just doing their jobs. They are low-paying, usually, with lots of rules & restrictions about when you can or cannot hang up. You are literally -required- to be persistent, even if you know it will do no good.

The kindest and easiest thing you can do is just to say, "No, thank you," and hang up.

yeah, this.

im currently working at a callcenter. im looking for another job but we all know how it is these days. the company i work for mainly makes money by bothering people and stealing their time, so yeah, "we" are bad people, and i understand that people get angry with "us". but all the callers are low payed students and people trying to stay afloat somehow. if you treat us badly, your anger misses its target. i wish i could directly forward all the anger i get directly to the people who are actually making money in this company.

just yesterday, somebody actually asked me: "dont you have anything better to do?" well, what the fuck do you think, that im doing this for fun?

anyway, just say 'no thanks im not interested, please dont call again' and hang up. if youre feeling charitable, let them say their pre-scripted intro and then say 'no thanks im not interested, please dont call again'.

 

[hylas]

2. I got another call and I just hung up. The guy CALLS ME BACK and said "oh, I'm sorry. We got disconnected." I said "yes we did, and it's going to happen again right now." click. He called back again. I saw the number on caller ID and just ignored it. What an idiot.

that guy wasnt being an idiot. he knew exactly what was going on. where i work, we are actually required to do that, too, and we are under constant supervision. i dont do it, because its stupid beyond believe and only causes frustration. but every now and then, i have my supervisor complaining that im not being persistent enough. luckily, my performance is generally good enough that i can allow myself to disregard protocol every now and then without losing my job.

 

[Georgiadude]

that guy wasnt being an idiot. he knew exactly what was going on. where i work, we are actually required to do that, too, and we are under constant supervision. i dont do it, because its stupid beyond believe and only causes frustration. but every now and then, i have my supervisor complaining that im not being persistent enough. luckily, my performance is generally good enough that i can allow myself to disregard protocol every now and then without losing my job.

I can understand the second try, just in case we got disconnected. but a third call??? is anyone really going to say yes after they have hung up twice?

Steven

 

[TheOscar]

Eww, who would want something from Microsoft Windows, anyways?



And yes I hate telemarketers, but I always feel a little guilty since it's their job and all, though they can be pushy.

 

[Singularity]

Wait... ACME as in Looney Tunes ACME?

Next time ask if they could send you a catalog for the latest road runner traps, and if they can't say "that's disappointing!" and hang up.

 

[hylas]

I can understand the second try, just in case we got disconnected. but a third call??? is anyone really going to say yes after they have hung up twice?

Steven

yeah youre right, that was kinda stupid.