Post what you do/say to telemarketers (ie. people who call you to sell you something).
I usually just ask them nicely the first time, if they persist, I will speak in a louder, more angry tone. I will NEVER be the first to hang up unless I have something urgent to do elsewhere. I like to get the "DONT CALL ME AGAIN" message across. :D
For those of you who are telemarketers, plz dont be too offended, I'm really talking about telemarketers who don't know when to quit and are really obnoxious, which I'm sure none of you here are like that...
TELEMARKETING IS THE TOOL OF THE DEVIL HIMSELF! WE MUST KILL THE TELEMARKETERS!!! GAAHHH!!! :mad:
Before they can get the words Hi! How are you today? out of their annoying little mouths I hang up on them. They really piss me off.
they ask "is Mr. or Mrs." then they mispronounce our last name "there" and I say "not interested" because I know that they wont be and then I hang up so its nothing special but sometimes they call my dad on his cell phone and he gets kinda upset "What the hell are you doing calling me on my cell phone get the hell off of here" nothing much
I get a call from them about once every 10-15 minutes. How annoying is that?
Anyway, they usually ask for my dad, and I tell them he isn't here. Then they ask to leave a message, in which I say "sure, I have pen and paper in hand, go ahead, I'll take your message."
Then they leave a name and number and all that stuff, then they ask who they are leaving the message with. I usually say something like "His gay lover" or "the president of the united states" or something along those lines. I mean, they're telemarketers, they deserve to be screwed with.
Originally posted by Lunatic Jedi
TELEMARKETING IS THE TOOL OF THE DEVIL HIMSELF! WE MUST KILL THE TELEMARKETERS!!! GAAHHH!!! :mad:
I found out that small company telemaketers are mostly teens.
What I would say?
me: "Hello"
telemarketer: "Is so and so there?"
me: "No he is not here, may I take a mesage?"
telemarketer: "No I'll call back later. Have a nice day.":mad:
I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that job. I mean really, what are these people thinking when they apply for the position. They have to know that they will become some of the most annoying people in America once they clock in.
Since I have a cell phone only now, they haven't been able to call me.....but I have a feeling that they will find a way. :rolleyes:
Anyways, my favorite one is the recorded message that says "please hold for an important message." Then they put on the elevator music and that's when I say a few choice words and then hang up the phone. :D
I'm usually not too busy wheh they call, so I'll let them get to the part where they tell you what they're selling. Then I say I'm not interested. Then they give it "Let me just speak to my supervisor and see if we can give you a better discount*". Which I let them 'do'.
Then they try again, and I decline again.
Then they start to 'bundle' other stuff into the deal. By now the deal could be looking alright, but it doesn't matter because my plan has almost come to fruition...
Finally the line "Look, you may as well hang up. You're wasting my time and your own." is followed by a curt "okay goodbye" from the tele-saler.
:D The point? It gives me great amusement to know they they're pissed off at having wasted 10 minutes of their time on a non-taker. Time that could have been spent earning a commision on another call. :p
I know this sounds cruel, and yes; admittidley they're only doing their jobs but hey: they choose to do those jobs. It's like traffic-wardens and ticket-revenue-inspectors. They don't do the jobs thinking people will like them for it.
Big peace :D
B.
*which is b******s, I know from friends how busy the call centers are.
*has been a telesurveyor/telemarketer for 2 years now to pay his way through college*
Screw you all. We're persistant because that's what we're paid for. Supervisors listen to our calls from time to time, without our knowing, so it's not like we have a choice. It's a productivity-based environment. You don't meet the quota, you get sent home... Getting sent home sucks, cause you don't get paid for time you don't work.
How would you like it if I gave you **** about your job?
It's because of *******s like you guys that 90% of call center employees have stress issues, and 83% smoke.
Originally posted by Nitro
[i]it's not like we have a choice. It's a productivity-based environment. You don't meet the quota, you get sent home... Getting sent home sucks, cause you don't get paid for time you don't work.
Surely that is why 90% of call center employees have stress issues.
If you're happy in your work then fair play to you but it doesn't sound that way from here.
B.
I don't do it cause I like it. I do it cause it's the only way I can afford college and get a better job.
It wouldn't suck quite as much if people weren't dicks about us calling 'em. You think you'd get good service if you came into a resturaunt and called the waitress a slut?
People who aren't interested, and are polite about it, I let go after a rebuttal or two. The ones that act like 3 year olds are the ones I try and try and try with, because it pisses 'em off. Then put 'em on the callback list.
Probably my worst experience I've ever had was the day after my girlfriend was almost killed (and was still out cold in the hospital) in a car crash. The guy said I sounded like I was stressed out, and I said, "Ahh... My girlfriend--" and he cut me off with, "Ahhhh, yeah. I can still smell her on my fingers." If I could of jumped through the monitor, I would of. The supervisor sent me home and forced me to take a week of paid stress leave.
It's been about a year and a half, and I've still got his name address and phone number, and the anonymous threatening calls from payphones halfway across the country haven't stopped, and won't stop until I meet the guy and cut his balls off.
Never, EVER, cross a telemarketer.
This thread reminds me ALOT of the Jehova's Witnesses thread.
I don't get any calls from them. If I did I'd say "Sorry but I am on a really tight budget and can't afford things right now" just to be polite. :)
Originally posted by Nitro
I don't do it cause I like it. I do it cause it's the only way I can afford college and get a better job.
I can understand that, and it's a necessary evil to make your way in the world.
It wouldn't suck quite as much if people weren't dicks about us calling 'em. You think you'd get good service if you came into a resturaunt and called the waitress a slut?
You see...now we're coming to the crux of the problem. If someone walks into a restaurant...it's because they want to be there.
If a telemarketer rings me up on the phone and tries to sell me something...I didn't ask them to, nor did I want the intrusion into my privacy. If I'd wanted their products, then I would have contacted them, and not the other way around.
People who aren't interested, and are polite about it, I let go after a rebuttal or two.
That really, really annoys me, I have to say. You get someone ring you up on the phone while you're having a pleasant half hour to yourself, they try to sell you something, and you politely tell them 'I'm not interested'...and then they start throwing a load of bull**** down the phoneline at you, just to annoy you. That, IMHO, is just plain childish and spiteful. I get better behaviour from my kids.
I had a major problem with one company...they not only had telemarketers calling me nearly every week, but they even had door-to-door salesmen on the prowl every month. You never spoke to or saw the same person twice. In the end, I had to ring the managing director of the company and actually threaten them with a law-suit for harrasment.
That is the reason why I cannot sympathise with telemarketers. I'm just grateful that in the UK they introduced a database where you could register if you don't want to be contacted by telemarketers. I'm not saying I don't still get them (it's not 100% fool-proof)...but it is up to them to check that database, and if they don't, they are at fault and are liable if they call me.
Damn, I wish they had a database like that in the US.
I say something like "Hey this is Mustafa, we got the shipment coming in tonight, the guns and the ammo are gonna be late but the missiles are coming."
and then they say
"Uhhhh...What?"
and I say
"AAAHH!!!Infidel! !! You will be ruined!
abd hang up:)
Originally posted by Lunatic Jedi
Damn, I wish they had a database like that in the US.
I believe Congress is in the act of passing a bill that will put certain restrictions on telemarketers.
Originally posted by StormHammer
That really, really annoys me, I have to say. You get someone ring you up on the phone while you're having a pleasant half hour to yourself, they try to sell you something, and you politely tell them 'I'm not interested'...and then they start throwing a load of bull**** down the phoneline at you, just to annoy you. That, IMHO, is just plain childish and spiteful. I get better behaviour from my kids.
The rebuttal or two is just enough to keep my job, not to annoy people. If they only try once or twice to keep you on the line, it generally means they like you. I, personally, have no problem with people who aren't interested.
Be nice to telemarketers. It's a ****ty job as it is, and your politeness could make someone's day. Honestly! One person being polite about refusing makes me happier than making my quota does. A lot happier. Remember that.
And remember this: It's not the telemarketer's fault. If you had a problem with a cashier at McDonald's, do you yell at them, or their manager? Don't get mad at us. Find out who the telemarketer works for, and ask for a contact number, or you could start getting strange phone calls at 3 AM.
Remember - We called you... We already have your phone number. With the internet, I can find just about anyone in the civilized world with just their phone number. Not a threat, just something to keep in the back of your head.
If all goes well, they could be fined 11 grand if they call you when you are on the FTC's new "do not call" list.
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=37971)
I like that, actually. It'd cut down on the number of *******s I'd have to deal with.
Well, my caller ID identifies Telemarketers as unknown always, so if i pick up the phone and they don't answer right away, i know i was computer dialed and i hang up before they answer
However, if they do start talking and ask for my dad, I say that I am him, as I sound like him. So they give me their speech of what they're selling, and I let them speak it. And then I start in with the questions. If they're selling siding it often goes like this.
"So...you're selling siding?"
"yes"
"For my house?"
"That's correct"
"This siding would go on the SIDE of my house?"
"Yes it would"
"The OUT-Side? or IN-side?"
"The outside"
"Well crap, I dont need any outsiding. Just the insiding."
Sometimes they hang up there. Other times it's like a stunned silence. Then I say sorry I wasted their time, and we part amicably, at least I think it's amicably...hmmmm......
I always thought that telemarketers got paid by the amount of time they spend on the phone. It's on COMMISSION? Do you EVER sell anything?
I generally just hand up when I hear that pause as the computer connects me to a free telemarketer. Although my parents simply request for them to be taken off the list, and now they barely get any calls.
Although I understand where you're coming from Nitro, you have to understand that it gets incredibly annoying when you receive three phone calls during dinnertime or your 45 minute lunch break from people trying to sell you insurance or credit cards. I'm sitting here trying to enjoy what little free time I get, and you are basically coming into my home and trying to sell me stuff. It's very, very rude, even if I dont attack them personally. I equate it with spam mail and pervasive pop-up ads.
If you need a job to get through college, why dont you take one that is less stressful and makes people hate you less?
Cause they pay me $14.00 an hour. The next best wage I could pull is $6.10 (provincial minimum wage) working fast food.
Those are all canadian $, btw.
Well, most of the time, there's a 3 second silence before the telemarketer connects or whatever, so I just hang up... but if they ever manage to say something before I can hang up I ask why they're calling and then the moment I hear, "I'm calling on behalf" or "This is a courtisey call" I hang up. If I ever feel bored, I toy with them and give them false info. I'm thinking about getting a fog horn and when A telemarketer calls, I'll just blow the horn right up to the reciever thingy...
I wonder why we don't see anymore door salesmen? :devburn:
You drove them all to insanity!
I think it has to do with the fact that they'd probably get some new holes ripped in them...
Telemarketers are always interrupting me when I'm doing something important... I'll have my dad look into that FTC thingy
one thing about telemarketers here is that people who call my region are either from the United States or from Toronto. In other words, where the chances that the telemarketer is french are slim to none.
So when they try saying either my last name (Jacques) or my mom's maiden name (Lйvesque) they have trouble.
I just answear: "I'm sorry there is nobody here by that name. There IS however someone by the name of Jacques/Lйvesque"
OR
"You want to talk to my parents? Sorry cant help there. I myself would like to talk to them, but I havent seen them since the left for their vacation four months ago. they said they would be back. so if you do reach them... can you tell them jimmy cant find his pants."
one of my friends was a telemarketer. he didnt care it was a job. he said at the work place there is a note in every cubical which says you are NOT allowed to joke around or modify your voice.... obviously he didnt care. He talked with a JFK accent or made up some stupid things. once a girl tried switching the conversation into an adult chat phone line as a joke. My friend played with it and she hanged up right away!
Oh, we've got interesting ways of keeping the boredom away.
"Ja, hello? My name ist Wolfgang (pronounce Vulfgaaang), und I'm cauuulling from zee BBM Buerau of Mezurment, zee raaadio raaatings companie... Zees is just a qvick nunty seconde cauuul vunderingk if you vere interesteed in participating in our raaadio raaatings sourveh."
I've perfected 12 different accents and dialects (russian, german, scottish, french [and not a corny accent... A legitimate one I've had frenchman switch to french on me and left me a bit messed up before my 12 years of advanced french kicks in... I usually save it for calls to the States], aussie, english, and horribly canadian (eh?) just to name a few.
I spent a night calling myself "Wolfcock" (used with the german accent, sounds like "Vulfcaulk") on a bet. Easiest $500 I've ever made. You only had to say it once per call, and and once you moved past the first 10 seconds (and into the final 80), it was forgotten. Great cash, great fun. Enumerations are the only projects I actually enjoy. The calls really do only take 90 seconds, though we tell the new kids to say two minutes until they can consistantly break 80 seconds. I set a company record by averaging 45 seconds per call over 12 hours.
I think $14.00 an hour is damn good, if all you have to do is call and anoy people. Where can I sign up?
nitro,
i can do a lot of accents too. Both in french and english.
in french i can do:
italien, german, mexican and american.
in english i can do:
southern states, quebecer, spanish, russian, scotish, british and arabian.
i only use them for commical situation thought. i've herd people use them as insults and slurs which is just annoying. I'll ask my friend if there are any other funny stories that i could pass on here.
Originally posted by Mandolorian54
I think $14.00 an hour is damn good, if all you have to do is call and anoy people. Where can I sign up?
http://corp.aol.com/careers/)
Oh, and a quick warning to all you would-be telemarketer harassers...
A girl at my call center got a guy charged with harassment, and sued for emotional damages, and the cost of therapy because he called her a "f**king ****" when she called him. Total cost to him: Jail time, $125,000, and fun trying to get a decent job (lost his old one) with harassment on his criminal record.
I'd like to go on record as being against this, though. At least the sueing. However, the harassment charge I agree with completely.
So next time you feel like telling off a telemarketer, ask yourself, "Can I afford to pay for their therapy?"
Yeah, I agree with Nitro we shouldnt resort to calling them profane names.
you kidding me? Sued the guy? I agree you shouldn't call anyone name period... but she sued the guy?
I think that's close with that guy sueing McDonalds because he got fat...
Not really. I was encouraged to pursue legal action after that guy made the comment about my girlfriend, but I didn't, because I find person revenge is much more satisfying than money.
It's the industry's way of protecting it's workers. I don't like it, but if *******s start losing money and getting jail time for bugging telemarketers, then maybe people won't be such SOB's to us.
Well, telemarketers are the one bugging us. What do you expect... but I haven't gotten a call from one in 4 days and that's a record for me, maybe I'll try to politly say... no and hang up :D
I usually say, "now is not a good time, could I get your home phone number and call you back around dinner time?"
Yes, I lifted that from Seinfeld, because Seinfeld is God!:D
The one that really busts my chops, is when a recorded message calls you and puts you on hold, those I hang up on right away.
The call center I work at doesn't use an auto-dialer. The number comes up on the screen, and we dial it outselves. I like it better that way.
Yeh, my parents treat them nicely them. They need to be evil, like me. When I get my own place, I'm gonna mess with the people's minds... :evil3:
Yes, I lifted that from Seinfeld, because Seinfeld is God!
Amen to that. :D