Annoying Telephone Calls

[LancsLad]

LIFE INSURANCE!?

There is nothing more annoying then a life insurance sales person. Never give your number to one of these guys. You think your getting lots of calls now... just wait. These guys just never go away. They even show up in person sometimes. Like a wet T-shirt they are all over you... never giving up... till you sign on the dotted line just to make them go away. Who ever invented life insurance anyway? Somebody should shoot the SOB.

I alternate between offering them life insurance and telling them about a great time share scheme I'm offering. Most just hang up right away but if I do it well enough some tell me to f**k off. They don't call again.

 

[TheNiteHwk]

A lot of folks are so polite and so unassertive, that you could probably sell them chocolate-covered horse balls and they wouldn't complain 'cause you don't talk with your mouth full.

Then too, old folks are suckers for all sorts of sales pitches. "Oh, a nice young man told me it would help..."

I don't think you can judge the morality of your actions by your sales successes.

And as for the guy who would just yell some profanities and then hang up... That was me!!

jwm

I hear you and I in fact agree with you. There are a lot of scoundrels and scam artist out there that take advantage of old people or unassertive or naive people.

There are also some major corporations that sell totally useless products that just because of their name people will buy it.

Having said I have never and will never judge my morality of what I’m doing by number of sales. It’s whom your selling to and what you are selling that tells that story to me. For example I worked ½ a shift one time here in GTA selling useless credit card insurance. As soon as I realized what this company was all about, whom they were selling to and how useless their product was etc I walked out. I could give you more examples but I sure you get what I’m saying.

I don’t think telemarketing as bothersome as it is to some is immoral by its self. If you are selling a rip off product to vulnerable people yes it is. But like I say… there are more that are legit then there are that are scams.

ALL the telephone companies for example have phone rooms to up-sell you or ask you to join them or switch over to them. All the major newspapers have sales rooms to sell subscriptions. All the major banks also have rooms of people to call and ask you if you like to upgrade your card or switch to them. All the major dept stores also have phone rooms that sell various products. Are all these companies immoral?

 

[TheNiteHwk]

I alternate between offering them life insurance and telling them about a great time share scheme I'm offering. Most just hang up right away but if I do it well enough some tell me to f**k off. They don't call again.

<LOL>

If you ever did that to me when I called I would hang up. BUT... then I'll call back when your not home and sell something to who ever answers. Fake gems or something, anything. As soon as I have your CC # then I order pizza for the whole dang phone room. Then we all go to the nearest SC and spend a small fortune. And I would not be bothered at all... because I know how much money life insurance guys make. Too much.

 

[jwmorrice]

ALL the telephone companies for example have phone rooms to up-sell you or ask you to join them or switch over to them. All the major banks also have rooms of people to call and ask you if you like to upgrade your card or switch to them. All the major dept stores also have phone rooms that sell various products. Are all these companies immoral?

I treat them just the same as I do Boris the roofer, Boris the mover, or the bums who are peddling time-shares. My phone was not intended give entree to intrusive types with a product to sell. Bell, Rogers, CIBC, The Toronto Star, etc., I impolitely tell them all to f*cking go to hell and never call again.

jwm

 

[LancsLad]

For the record , I don't sell life insurance or time share I'm just a shit disturber who hates those annoying telemarketer calls.

As a side note I always loved those London Life Freedom 55 ads. Did they ever stop to think that jaundiced members of the public ( example me) looked at those ads as telling us public sheep to buy more insurance so their agents could live in luxury and retire at 55. I am twisted but thats what I saw. Same things with those porno drawings that guy Rorshak did. Interpretation.

 

[Never Compromised]

I heard that Canada will be getting a "no call" list implemented in the near future, such as what they ahve in the U.S. The Canadian Marketing Association is apparently trying to block the passage

The CMA has a do not call/e-mail list on its website. Also, Bell can put you on a do not call list that is good for 2 years.

Now, if someone has a toll free number to call, I call it. I then ask as many good questions about the company and the product as I can. I then tell the guy/girl "hold on for a moment please" and leave the room, make a sandwich, go to the john etc. If the clown is still on my phone, I start to ask questions that are a little more strange. Finally, I will ask them to mail me more information and give them an address of either someone I dislike or a large company that sends out lots of junk mail (like the damn credit card company).

Why do I do this? Because it ends up costing that company money. I am hoping that enough people will force them to spend enough money that they will find another way to market.

As for the unsolicited faxes, they arrive at my computer (no wasted paper). Those I can fax back to the pricks. Only I send them 100 copies, with a request that they take my number off their call list. If some jackass thinks that he can "get back" at me by sending me lots of different fax spam, I return the favour by sending multiple pages of solid black graphics. They get the message and stop.

 

[ThePunkPanther]

tactical options;

I've found over the years two methods for halting these calls that are very effective but take some effort.

There is a CRTC process by which a complainent [ie: the person getting the calls] must register a complaint with bell security several times, then it is handed off to the CRTC who investigate and either a: tell them to stop, or b: [if they dont] DISCONNECT the telemarketers telephone lines.

Taken far enough, I've been able to have a number of junk faxers and telemarketing types BANNED from having telephones in Canada. [this can put a serious downer on a telemarketing con-artists day].

the second and slightly less effort intensive method involves initiating fonesex with the operative. [they usually go away and stop calling entirely after that].

enjoy

 

[LancsLad]

The CMA has a do not call/e-mail list on its website. Also, Bell can put you on a do not call list that is good for 2 years.

Now, if someone has a toll free number to call, I call it. I then ask as many good questions about the company and the product as I can. I then tell the guy/girl "hold on for a moment please" and leave the room, make a sandwich, go to the john etc. If the clown is still on my phone, I start to ask questions that are a little more strange. Finally, I will ask them to mail me more information and give them an address of either someone I dislike or a large company that sends out lots of junk mail (like the damn credit card company).

Why do I do this? Because it ends up costing that company money. I am hoping that enough people will force them to spend enough money that they will find another way to market.

As for the unsolicited faxes, they arrive at my computer (no wasted paper). Those I can fax back to the pricks. Only I send them 100 copies, with a request that they take my number off their call list. If some jackass thinks that he can "get back" at me by sending me lots of different fax spam, I return the favour by sending multiple pages of solid black graphics. They get the message and stop.

We have the same evil mind. We were early adopters of having faxes go to the computer before printing. Saved tons of waste paper. I also would send out muliple black sheets to the offenders. My faves were the unsolicited travel agent specials and guaranteed term life offereings. Sometimes being petty is fun.

 

[Mao Tse Tongue]

i get those damned calls from rogers....they keep asking me to switch my phone from bell to them. since i have caller id i just never pick up calls from any number that starts with 1 888 or 1 800 or whatever.

Except they fucking phone again and again. Fido's been doing that with me. I just gave up and answered the bloody thing.