Tele-marketers

[Wongo]

Bodgy mentioned Indian tele-marketers on the other post. That reminded me of 2 stories.

Story 1:
12 months ago. This dude rang at dinner time and said (now please switch my Chinese accent to a strong Indian accent:D ) “Congratulations MR Wong, you have won second prize of …blah, blah, blah”

“Sorry mate, not interested” and I hang up.:mad:

The dude, a bit more aggressive this time, called again in 2 minutes. (now switch back to the strong Indian accent please:D ) “Don’t you want to know what you won?. I was just doing my job… blah, blah, blah.”

“You can do your job somewhere else mate” and I hang up again.

Story 2:
5 years ago. This dude called

“Hello” (sorry, please switch back to the Indian accent again:D ) “join our new telephone service and you can call Hong Kong for 5c per minute… blah, blah, blah”

“Right, send me some info and we will think about it.”

A month later we received a different phone bill:mad: and a letter from Telstra asking why we switched to a new company:( .

The bastard did all that without my permission.:mad:

[Clinton1]

Get an answering machine and screen your calls mate.
I don't like them either, and when my machine picks up, their calling machine hangs up. Good hey?

[bitingmidge]

The current response from us, and the rude buggers never seem to wait..... is to immediately say " Oh, there's someone at the door, could you please hold on a minute,"

Then we put the phone down and walk away for half an hour or so.

With a bit of luck, we'll get black listed.

P
:D :D

[CameronPotter]

You know, that is a VERY good idea...

Cam

[Lignum]

The current response from us, and the rude buggers never seem to wait..... is to immediately say " Oh, there's someone at the door, could you please hold on a minute,"

Then we put the phone down and walk away for half an hour or so.

With a bit of luck, we'll get black listed.

P
:D :D

I done that eight months ago for about six weeks of constant calls, and all of a sudden it stopped. Apart from the odd local nuisance i havnt had any Indian calls since. Mabey im blacklisted:)

[Iain]

We have caller ID and I never answer private numbers, people who want me leave a message, telemarketers don't.
One day they may just get the message.
I'm a better man than you Gungha Din (or however you spell it):D

[craigb]

I can always tell when there's an Indian telemarketer on the line because usually there's a long pause after I say hello. So if I have to say hello twice I just hang up.

Works for me and saves time.

You still have the interuption of having to stop what you are doing and answer the phone though. :(

This is especially a bugger if you are in the shed with muffs, safety glases and respirator on.

[Wongo]

The current response from us, and the rude buggers never seem to wait..... is to immediately say " Oh, there's someone at the door, could you please hold on a minute,"

Then we put the phone down and walk away for half an hour or so.

With a bit of luck, we'll get black listed.

P
:D :D

Scumbag:D but I like it.:D

Hey I have a better idea. I can pretend that I don’t speak English.:cool:


“Sorly, sorly I don spit ingish”:D :D

[bitingmidge]

I can pretend that I don’t speak English.:cool:

YOU SPEAK ENGLISH???

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

When did that start??

P
:D :D

[rrich]

The phone rings one evening and I answer with a pleasant "hello"
TM - "Were taking a survey about gasoline stations. Would you participate?"
Me - "Sure, why not?"
{Keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "I need to talk to a licensed driver."
Me - "I'm a licensed driver."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "I need to talk to a licensed driver over 18 years of age."
Me - "I'm over 18."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "Good, we'll continue. What type of vehicle do you drive?"
Me - "A pick up truck."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "Who performs the maintenance on your pick up truck?"
Me - "I perform most of the maintenance on my truck."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "Who performs the repairs on your pick up truck?"
Me - "Usually for repairs, I take the truck to the dealer."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "Do you have more than one vehicle in your household?"
Me - "Yes"
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "Who performs the maintenance on the other vehicles in your household?"
Me - "Usually I do."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "Who performs repairs on the other vehicles in your household?"
Me - "Usually I take the other vehicle to the dealer for repairs."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "There are two types of gasoline stations. Those that sell gasoline and those that have a small convieninece market. Which is your preference."
Me - "It doesn't matter."
{Tentative keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "What is your prefered brand of gasoline?"
Me - "I do not have a favorite brand of gasoline."
{More keyboard clicking in the background.}
TM - "Do you perfer a clean, well maintained gasoline station or a gasoline station that is close by?"
Me - "It doesn't make any difference."
{Slow keyboard clicking with a few rapid bursts in the background.}
TM - "Thinking back to the last time that you purchased gasoline, was the gasoline station clean and well maintained?"
Me - "I don't know. I don't buy gasoline."
{Slow keyboard clicking followed by more furious keyboard clicking in the background.}

TM - "I need to talk to a licensed driver."
Me - "I'm a licensed driver."
TM - "No. I need to talk to another licensed driver over 18."
Me - "Do they need to purchase gasoline?"
TM - "YES!" Obviously starting to get irritated.
Me - "Well nobody in this household purchases gasoline."
{Silence, thoughtful silence.}
TM - "How can you drive a vehicle and not purchase gasoline?" with a bit of frustration in his voice.
Me - "The vehicles are diesel."
TM - A loud groan followed by the sound of the phone disconnecting.

[Shannon]

i'm with craig B, if there is a longer than normal pause between when I say hello and when the caller would normally say hello, then I hang up quick smart. I think on the TM phone they have auto dial to filter out answering machines, so when they get a real person it takes them about a second to answer your hello. Doesn't sound like much, but it is noticable. Hang up quick.
If U get it wrong the "real" caller will ring back and ask why the heck you cut them off ;). That scenario has only happed to me once though out of about 100 hangups.

[journeyman Mick]

...........
TM - "I need to talk to a licensed driver."
Me - "I'm a licensed driver."
TM - "No. I need to talk to another licensed driver over 18."
Me - "Do they need to purchase gasoline?"
TM - "YES!" Obviously starting to get irritated.
Me - "Well nobody in this household purchases gasoline."
{Silence, thoughtful silence.}
TM - "How can you drive a vehicle and not purchase gasoline?" with a bit of frustration in his voice.
Me - "The vehicles are diesel."
TM - A loud groan followed by the sound of the phone disconnecting.

:D :D :D

Mick

[Clinton1]

I think on the TM phone they have auto dial to filter out answering machines
Thats my theory, and it seems to work.

Now if I was a smart computer literate sorta guy (like Wongo) I could set up a website like the "dob in an idiot driver" one that allows you to post the details of the company that is using the TM or Door-to-door people. Use it to shame and 'blacklist' the companies that use these gooses.

Too bad I'm not IT edumakated...

Name it www.myhomeisnotyourbloodybusiness,andnowI'mnotusingyours.com.au (http://www.myhomeisnotyourbloodybusiness,andnowI'mnotusingyours.com.au) or something :p

[Wood Borer]

The delay is caused by software called a Predictive Dialler.

It works out how many agents are idle or are about to become idle and then sets up calls which are only transferred to agents when the call is answered. Busy tone etc are not presented to the agents in order to save time.

Like everyone else, I hate being pestered by these people, it is an invasion of my privacy and time, both of which are very important to me.

[Wongo]

Clinton the link doesn't work.:eek: :D

[doublejay]

I hate being pestered but try not to blame the poor bugger who is on the other end of the line. As soon as they start speaking, I say "I'm not interested and I'm hanging up". The way I see it, the more sales they make the better it is for them, so the less time I take to disconnect, the quicker they can get on to their next call.

[craigb]

I hate being pestered but try not to blame the poor bugger who is on the other end of the line. As soon as they start speaking, I say "I'm not interested ..".

Yeah I do that too for those TM'ers who aren't Indian.

What I figure is I'm just wasting my time abusing them or playing games with them.

[bitingmidge]

Yeah I do that too for those TM'ers who aren't Indian.
Personally I don't like talking to the Cowboys.

Cheers,

P
:D :D :D

[Clinton1]

Wongo, I give you that domain name free of charge....
just do me a favour and put me on your email list of people to send $1 to. :D

[kiwigeo]

A month later we received a different phone bill:mad: and a letter from Telstra asking why we switched to a new company:( .

The bastard did all that without my permission.:mad:

Wongo,

Do yourself and other victims of this scam and follow it up with the approriate authorities. These telemarketing scum are going to far with sort of carry on.

Ive started taking calls at lunchtime where I end up listening to a pre-recorded spiel about me and my family heading off to the east coast for an all expenses paid holiday. So far Ive hung up after 30 secoinds of this cr*p but next time Im going to let the message run and the poor sucker who picks up after the message has finished is going to find out how loud a referee's whistle sounds over the phone.

Cheers Martin

[kiwigeo]

I done that eight months ago for about six weeks of constant calls, and all of a sudden it stopped. Apart from the odd local nuisance i havnt had any Indian calls since. Mabey im blacklisted:)

I thought that but last week the calls started again. if you dont get called for a few weeks its just pure luck.

[kiwigeo]

I'm a better man than you Gungha Din (or however you spell it):D

Gungha Din working as a telemarketer these days.

[kiwigeo]

Too bad I'm not IT edumakated...

Name it www.myhomeisnotyourbloodybusiness,andnowI'mnotusingyours.com.au (http://www.myhomeisnotyourbloodybusiness,andnowI%27mnotusingyours.com.au) or something :p

Clinton, the link doesnt work!!

[bitingmidge]

I thought that but last week the calls started again. if you dont get called for a few weeks its just pure luck.
Did you notice a correlation between the calls starting again, and you actually arriving home from your stint at work??

Just a thought! :D :D

P

[Clinton1]

OK - the link is not mine... its just a thought.... you know, one of my 'good ideas'.

Wongo, being the IT dude that you are, I give you the link and the website idea.... go on, there's at least two attempts to open it, thats more hits than the Democrats Tassie branch's website has gotten:p

You could work on the site while at work.... you know, on a barely open screen like the one you are reading this forum on.... the one that you got busted using and they thought "if he can waste time on the net, then we will get the next project out quick smart now he knows we are onto him"

[Wongo]

Clinton dude, it is a no-no to include Comma, space and single quote in the URL.

Imagine not knowing that!!:D :D

[Wood Borer]

Clinton dude, it is a no-no to include Comma, space and single quote in the URL.

Imagine not knowing that!!:D :D

That's why Clinton approached you Scott - because of your intimacy with such details and of course cats.;)

[silentC]

Wongo is intimate with cats? :eek:

[Wongo]

According to Bull-Da’s teaching, "you must love your enemies as much as you love your friends.":D

[Clinton1]

then I don't wanna be your friend either :eek:

[kiwigeo]

According to Bull-Da’s teaching, "you must love your enemies as much as you love your friends.":D

Telemarketers are worse than enemies.....at least my enemies respect my privacy and talk to me in person rather than playing me recorded messages.

[kiwigeo]

Did you notice a correlation between the calls starting again, and you actually arriving home from your stint at work??

Just a thought! :D :D

P

No correlation.....SWMBO gets the calls while I'm away working.

What I might do is get SWMBO to tell the telemarketers to ring me on the satellite line on the rig. That should run their phone bill up a bit.

[Iain]

We went one step further, we had debt collectors.
Our place was a rental for several years before we bought it and a few tenants had skipped off, they started phoning me, abusing me, sending letters and even gave me a summons even though I told them it was not me.
The final straw was some prawn who 'demanded' to see my drivers licence.
He got a very short shove.
They even paraded around town and saw all the real estate agents to see how much rent we paid.
That really is intrusive and I became extremely unco operative.