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Telemarketer strategy

senseless

senseless

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 23, 2008
1,890
260
Pennsylvania, USA
The do not call registry does not apply to businesses. We have been receiving foreign calls from the same "local internet directory" company about our "free listing" for a few weeks. On some occasions they call 4 or 5 times a day. This is after saying NO and hanging up everytime.

Is there a deliberate strategy of multiple callbacks? If you don't listen to the pitch, is this counted as an incomplete call, only to have them call back over and over? Jokes aside, what is the best strategy to prevent this?
 
Yeah I got one of those the other week. Quite hilarious. I asked them if they knew what my company does.

(Networking services for companies of all sizes, including occasionally organising domain registration :D)
 
When you pick up the phone and say hello, listen to see if there's a short delay before they start talking. From what I understand, your typical telemarketer setup includes a PC-based dialer that dials a bunch of numbers automatically, listening to see if someone answers the phone. When someone finally does, the telemarketer is alerted and the call is routed to their headset.

All of this takes time, which means there is a noticable delay from when you say "Hello?" and they start their spiel.

Learn to detect that delay and hang up before they even start talking.
 
the only other think I could think you could do to tie up resourses on the telemarkerters part is to 3 party call a cell phone, then once it is connected hang up office phone and see how long you can waste.

Personally telemarketers drive me nuts. At home if I answer the call I they start their speil I say nothing and the phone goes *click* in the first 2-3 sec.
 
notjustjay said:
Learn to detect that delay and hang up before they even start talking.
Click to expand...
The only problem with that is if they are persistent. Last summer a telemarketing agency followed me around Europe with "silent calls", and every time I picked up the phone to listen to nothing I was being charged roaming prices. On something like the 8th call I was connected to someone who got a right ear-bashing. The worst thing was that when I returned to the UK and called the company the marketers had been employed by to complain they completely denied having ever passed my details to the telemarketers. So basically they were telling me that a completely random company was ringing up their customers and selling them their products and services and they had absolutely no control over it. Yeah, sounds likely doesn't it? :rolleyes:
 
Demand to be placed on their do not call list, this almost always works. If they call back notify them you will be filing a complaint with the FCC and follow through. Be sure to get their company name first before notifying them. I'm not sure if you could file with the BBB as well I just bother with the FCC part. For those not in the US you may have an agency you can complain to.

If you are on the Do Not Call list notify them of this immediately. They will usually immediately leave you alone. Try to get their companies name and their name first before notifying them. File a complaint. Note: The registry does not include charities or surveys calling. You can not register and advertised business line.

If they are calling a cell phone notify them of this fact (this should end the call) and file a complaint. You guessed it try and get the company name and reps name first.

You can also file a complaint on junk faxes.

On a side note I wish they would expand the Do Not Call registry to include and cold calling from any organization not just telemarketers. Further that you can include business lines in the Do Not Call registry. Why is it okay to telemarket to my business phone but not my home phone? With the business line I have to pick up and my time is wasted costing me money. At home I can ignore the call and can curse the person out at the top of my lungs if so desired.

I would also like a Do Not Snail Mail registry to stop all the junk offers by mail. I just pitch them so they waste money sending offers to me. Plus trees and energy are wasted creating the paper and shipping it to me. I'd also imagine the USPS could get rid of a lot of overhead needed to sort all this low paying bulk mail ($0.11 to $0.27 is what I could find per mailing) and focus on their first class mail (stamped) and packages.

In all instances if you have done business with a company within the last either 12 or 18 months (I don't recall the time limit) they can cold call you. Though I think they have to maintain an internal do not call list for customers whom request to be placed on it.

National Do Not Call Registry
FCC consumer complaints

Edit: Upon further research I found that companies must maintain an internal do not call list for those that request to be placed on it. They must maintain you in this list for five years. This requirement applies regardless of your National Do Not Call Registry status.

Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls - FCC Consumer Facts
 
velocityg4 said:
Demand to be placed on their do not call list, this almost always works. If they call back notify them you will be filing a complaint with the FCC and follow through. Be sure to get their company name first before notifying them. I'm not sure if you could file with the BBB as well I just bother with the FCC part. For those not in the US you may have an agency you can complain to.

If you are on the Do Not Call list notify them of this immediately. They will usually immediately leave you alone. Try to get their companies name and their name first before notifying them. File a complaint. Note: The registry does not include charities or surveys calling. You can not register and advertised business line.


I would also like a Do Not Snail Mail registry to stop all the junk offers by mail. I just pitch them so they waste money sending offers to me. Plus trees and energy are wasted creating the paper and shipping it to me. I'd also imagine the USPS could get rid of a lot of overhead needed to sort all this low paying bulk mail ($0.11 to $0.27 is what I could find per mailing) and focus on their first class mail (stamped) and packages.


Edit: Upon further research I found that companies must maintain an internal do not call list for those that request to be placed on it. They must maintain you in this list for five years. This requirement applies regardless of your National Do Not Call Registry status.

Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls - FCC Consumer Facts
Click to expand...

Tell them to put you on their do not call list. If they persist, warn them the next caller will suffer hearing damage. Then, get an airhorn and open up on them. :)

On a serious note, you can opt out of snail mail offers. The FTC has an Opt Out Prescreen program to stop pre-screened offers. Check out the story here. You can find the direct link to the signup page here.
 
senseless said:
...We have been receiving foreign calls from the same "local internet directory" company about our "free listing" for a few weeks....
Click to expand...

if by that you mean calls from other countries, then there's not much you can do.......they could be scammers hoping to get some info from you by pretending to offer you this "free" listing

velocityg4 said:
Demand to be placed on their do not call list, this almost always works.....
Click to expand...

lots of good info, but unfortunately useless with foreign telemarketers who can just ignore all of the laws and regulations
 
Pick up the phone and start speaking in Spanish.

Then they switch to a Spanish speaking telemarketer...

Once they start talking to you in Spanish, talk in English...

Then, they start talking in English, you talk in Spanish...

and vice versa...

just keep this going until they realize it's a prank...It might take 5-6 minutes, but at least it's funny!
 
Illuminated said:
Pick up the phone and start speaking in Spanish.

Then they switch to a Spanish speaking telemarketer...

Once they start talking to you in Spanish, talk in English...

Then, they start talking in English, you talk in Spanish...

and vice versa...

just keep this going until they realize it's a prank...It might take 5-6 minutes, but at least it's funny!
Click to expand...

again not a good idea for a business. That ties up the like for 5-6min plus it ties up the employee from doing their job. That is a lot harder on business than the telemarketer.
now at home that is another story. When my sister was a little kid and a telemarketer called my mom would give her the phone and waste the telemarketers time.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
again not a good idea for a business. That ties up the like for 5-6min plus it ties up the employee from doing their job. That is a lot harder on business than the telemarketer.
now at home that is another story. When my sister was a little kid and a telemarketer called my mom would give her the phone and waste the telemarketers time.
Click to expand...

Well I meant it for the home...I've done it. Hilarious. The Spanish telemarketer starts cursing at you in Spanish and getting flustered...
 
Over this past summer, I pretend to be an old lady asking if they (the telemarketer) was my son or daughter returning from the war (WWII for example).

The marketer will usually call back becasue they think they can scam an old senile woman, but I pretend to be the old lady's son and send them on a moral guilt trip for trying that. I've gotten patched all the way up to a senior calls manager who gave me the whole speech on their policies and rules for insuring no scamming takes place. Needless to say, they never called back.
 
Illuminated said:
Pick up the phone and start speaking in Spanish.

Then they switch to a Spanish speaking telemarketer...

Once they start talking to you in Spanish, talk in English...

Then, they start talking in English, you talk in Spanish...

and vice versa...

just keep this going until they realize it's a prank...It might take 5-6 minutes, but at least it's funny!
Click to expand...

I had a prof in college who had a Japanese wife. She spoke perfect English, but could really lay on the "Engrish" if she wanted. She also spoke (I think) about 5 other languages. She often switch to Engrish or one of the other languages she knew just to mess with telemarketers. When she did speak English to them, she would make up off-the-wall stories about being a mail order bride, not being allowed in the master's office, say he would beat her if she disturbed the master, etc.

We always told him he should record her conversations and sell them.
 
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