Telemarketer Fun

[KellyHabersham]

But then they get all kinds of creative.

Like calling your sister's house (who's number is in her husband's name) or somehow getting your boyfriend's cell phone number and constantly calling it.

My sister in law had a collection agency calling her for a debt she paid. They were pissed when we told them she didn't & had never lived with us, and we had no way of contacting her.

Well yes, there is that........I had one collection agency who kept calling my mom's house looking for me, and while I don't know if they were ever asked to stop calling that number, they WERE told that I didn't live there, and were given my home and cell phone numbers. However, the collection agency still insisted on calling for me at my mom's house.

[katie kaboom]

However, the collection agency still insisted on calling for me at my mom's house.

They tried that with my my mom too. It got to the point where she had to tell them that if they called her again she would file harassment charges.

That's what it took to get them to stop calling her.

[KellyHabersham]

They tried that with my my mom too. It got to the point where she had to tell them that if they called her again she would file harassment charges.

That's what it took to get them to stop calling her.

Well, part of the problem in my case was that I do use my mom's address for some mail, so I can understand why a collection agency might think at first that I still lived there. However, once they were given my actual contact info, they shouldn't have continued to call my mom's house multiple times a day looking for me.

[katie kaboom]

However, once they were given my actual contact info, they shouldn't have continued to call my mom's house multiple times a day looking for me.

Well in my case these people already had my contact info and they still proceeded to call my mother until they were told in no uncertain terms to stop.

[EricKei]

At our office, we have almost zero legit TM's (we do tell them "this is a business, so we're not allowed", and they generally cheerfully comply); but we have a few repeat (TM Scammer) offenders...

- the guys who want to sell us toner for 2-3x what we normally pay

- people claiming to be calling from the yellowpages and "want to update their listing for us"

- AT&T -- no less than 5 times in 2 hours, this happens at least one day every month. For the last NINE YEARS. I realize it's technically not a scam in their case, but you'd think having the office manager verbally rip them a new one every time would get to them after a while (we just got tired of asking them to remove us from their lists...they don't seem to comprehend that more TM calls = LESS chanmce of us going back to them)...

They don't listen to us when we tell them "no", or "I'm not putting you thru to the boss, you can listen (note: not "talk") to me", etc.
One of our recent faves for dealing with the scammers is to tell them they need to talk/go to "Helen Waite"...

My personal preference is to tell them - truthfully - that the boss would be happy to speak to them, we just need a visa or MC number first...Why? Well, he's a CPA with 25+ years of experience, and he charges $200/hr to talk to people all the time...

[spark]

ATT would call our family a lot too, at one point. It was hilarious though, because our last name is a REALLY common Korean last name, except that's just coincidence, we're as white as white can be. But they'd always have somebody who spoke Korean call us up and try to pitch their phone service at us in Korean! And got really confused when we only spoke English.

I don't think they ever actually got a brain cell in their collective heads and figured it out, because it kept happening all the time until we moved and changed numbers entirely.

[Imogene]

I've been getting a ton of answering machine messages recently entirely in Spanish. I do not answer the phone if I don't explicitly know the person who is calling me... I guess it went on so long that one of the companies that calls to leave messages has decided I must speak Spanish, as I don't respond to their ambiguous calls.

[Mr_Bandwagon]

Still waiting for them to call back

I was actually kind of confused by this, but it worked. Mrs Bandwagon kept getting calls on her cell phone 2 – 3 a night for a couple of days in a row. She answered it the first time realized it was a TM and hung up. After that she would just ignore it. Now Mrs Bandwagon has a gender neutral first name but it has gone to about 98/2 female to male in the last 70 years so it is rare but not unheard of to meet a guy with the same name. Finally they called again when I was near her cell phone so I answered it.

ME: Hello (deep, obviously male voice)
TM: Is this ------?
ME: Yes
TM: (starts long rambling thing about us winning a contest through out credit card and starting to fish for CC info)
ME in best command voice (Deep, slow, clear, firm no nonsense tone): What do you want?

They hung up and never called back.

[EricKei]

ATT would call our family a lot too, at one point .

If you use a residential phone, you can sign up for the Do Not Call Registry. If they call someone whose number is on the list (I think there's a grace period of a few days while they're processing your signup), I do believe it becomes a felony to call you with any non-solicited calls. TM calls from companies you've never done business with definitely fall under this aegis, not sure how it works if you "used to be with them" (I think it applies to them, too). Doesn't work for collection calls tho >_<

Keep in mind that you need to renew it every few years.

Note that this supposedly doesn't apply to cell phones...but I signed mine up anyway and it seems to be working...and it *definitely* does not work for businesses...tho I can't say why...you'd think all that extra dosh they spend on phone service would get them some sort of proactive blocking...

PS, For those who get mail spam, there's also a list out there which keeps you from getting credit card offers, too. Iniital signup blocks you for 5 years, you need to send in some sort of affidavit after that to kill them for good.

[SilverOrb]

I was bad again...

This time?

As soon as my coworker transfered the call to me (all my coworkers do when my "favorite" company calls), I came out with a booming evil laugh.

I think my coworker may have soiled herself slightly...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

To the person who asked if you can sue them for harrassment if they call after you tell them not to.

Yes, you can sue them, but you would sue them for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, not harassment. Calling after they have been specifically told not to is in violation. You can technically sue them up to 500 dollars per violation, and violations can range from calling after they've been told not to to not giving their name or a company phone number or such upon request.

It's difficult, becuase you frequently have no idea who you're dealing with, but it can be done. I've done it.

The harassment comes in if a judge finds their violations in repeated calls to be excessive...a judge can then opt to tack harassment onto the award to the plaintiff in the form of tripling the amount you can sue for.

Start paper trails, folks. The law says they must send you copies of their do not call policy. Most companies can also be strongarmed into sending an agreement to stop calling on their letterhead, dated. These papers will help you sue them if it comes to that.

[Andara Bledin]

You can charge harassment, too.

I actually had to threaten AT&T with harassment charges before they'd stop calling to pester me with long distance offers.

Then they bought out my local carrier, and I had to tell them again, "You people at AT&T do not call me, ever." Haven't heard from them since.

^-.-^

[EricKei]

Yes, you can sue them, but you would sue them for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, not harassment. Calling after they have been specifically told not to is in violation.

Does this apply to businesses, or just Residential lines (see my first post in this thread)? I suspect it's the latter.

[Ironclad Alibi]

If you use a residential phone, you can sign up for the Do Not Call Registry.... Keep in mind that you need to renew it every few years.

When the Do Not Call Registery was started, you had to renew your registration every five years. That was changed so that you do not have to renew your registration. It's good forever, or until you remove it.

As for the OP, I suggest talking to stubborn telemarkets very slowly, asking them to repeat things slowly so your can understand them.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Does this apply to businesses, or just Residential lines (see my first post in this thread)? I suspect it's the latter.

In all honesty, I don't know the answer to that. I think you'd have to read over the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which is available online. I'll see if I can find it.

I imagine if you tell them to quit calling any line, and they continue, you might have some case, but don't take my word on that. I only really am familiar with the residential end of it.