Telemarketer rudeness

[Setsunaela]

So yesterday I get this phone call from unknown name, unrecognized number. I normally ignore these, but my Justice of the Peace is due to call me to arrange final plans for my wedding, and warned me her number comes up this way.
On the phone is a man with a light accent, which I recognized. I've spoken to him before, twice, while working at two different businesses, and I know his deal, but I am unfailingly polite to telemarketers, so I listen to his spiel anyhow.

He claims to be calling for an internet education service, offering deals and plans to further your education. He then asks all kinds of questions to "customize your plan", seemingly innocuous questions like what date you graduated from high school, what city you graduated in, if you transferred schools at any point.. Unfortunately for him I already know this is a phishing scam designed to get your bank account security question answers, so I politely inform him after the first question,
"I'm sorry, I really am not interested in furthering my education at this time, as the economy is tough. Please have a great day, and good luck with your next call!" and I hang the phone up. This is usually the end.

This man calls me BACK! I pick the phone up unthinkingly as it rings in my hand, and he DEMANDS to know why I have hung up on him! I begin again my polite statement, and he yells over top of me that he is not selling anything, why did I hang up, he is not selling anything, and I am so rude. When I get to the "have a great day" part, he violently slams the phone against his desk to make loud noises, and then hangs up. I was left in a bit of shock. I tried dialing the number back, but all you get is a recorded statement that all agents are busy, and please leave your name and cell phone number. I get these phone calls every week or so, sometimes this man, sometimes a lady. Next time they call, and I get this man, should I immediately ask for a supervisor? or should I just hang up until he doesn't call back anymore?

[ditchdj]

I find it pretty pathetic that some of them feel that they have a Constitution Right to be on MY phone line that I PAY FOR!!!!

Uh no you do NOT have a RIGHT to be on MY phone line that I PAY FOR. Of course I dont have to worry about enforcing that because I no longer have a regular phone line. We just use cellphones.

BTW Nice to see that the "Do Not Call List" put the telemarketers out of business like they said it would.

[friendofjimmyk]

If you did answer and asked for a supervisor...I highly doubt you would get one.

[Icelator]

every now and then we get telemarketers calling us, some accept the no and drop it but I have seen them call right back multiple times resulting in my dad screaming at them until they stop calling, I have no pity for them.

[Akasa]

I live in Hawaii, 5 hours behind CST. I have been called at 3, 4 and 5 am from telemarketers and after a few repeats called the FTC and then called their number, WAITED for someone to answer and politely but firmly demanded a supervisor who I informed of the early morning calls and the reporting of them to FTC. They stopped calling after that.

[ArcticChicken]

Wait...if it's a phishing scam, what makes you think you'll get a supervisor? Or that they'd care?

[Setsunaela]

they try really hard to make you believe it's a legit company. I've gotten a "manager" from someone else, just never this guy.

[bainsidhe]

Yeah, telemarketing is annoying. I used to do it and it's annoying from the other end as well. This guy isn't a telemarketer and it doesn't do justice to those who are. This guy as a scammer and a rude twit.

Hmm, it'd be nice if you could somehow talk to a supervisor, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Same deal as those people calling to confirm the model of copier you have. It's a scam.

[protege]

Lemme get this straight... he called *back?* Seriously, there's one thing in being firm, and telling the caller that you're not interested. However, if they call back, and attempt to bust my balls...I'm no longer nice

Case in point, not long ago, I got several calls about wanting to extend my car's warranty. First call, I told the guy I wasn't interested. Didn't realize he'd call back later. He wasn't too happy when I said that I wouldn't be extending the warranty. Why, exactly, would I want to get a warranty...for an 8-year-old Mazda with 120,000 miles on it, that was going to be traded in soon? The car had just failed its state inspection (twice, in fact ), and I wasn't about to spend more to fix it. Traded it in, and let some other sucker fix it

[Dips]

If you believe them to be operating outside the law AND they called you back to harass you (which is also illegal), report the call to your phone company. If you have a time stamp, that will help.

Just because YOU can't trace the call doesn't mean the telephone company can't.

[Setsunaela]

If you believe them to be operating outside the law AND they called you back to harass you (which is also illegal), report the call to your phone company. If you have a time stamp, that will help.

Just because YOU can't trace the call doesn't mean the telephone company can't.

it never occurred to me to call the phone company.. >.< I'll do that.

[MadMike]

I'd like to remind everyone that bashing telemarketers in general is not OK here, since we have members who are currently working or have worked in this particular field. Discussion about whether telemarketing is harrassment or a legitimate line of work is better suited for Fratching.

HOWEVER, scammers such as the ones in this thread are fair game, much like the spammers we catch on here. I do love to taunt them when I catch them.

Also, if any of them call you back to harrass you after you politely declined, then all bets are off.

[Mr Hero]

HOWEVER, scammers such as the ones in this thread are fair game, much like the spammers we catch on here. I do love to taunt them when I catch them.

Also, if any of them call you back to harrass you after you politely declined, then all bets are off.

Exactly. There are good telemarketers, bad telemarketers, and scammers. The 2nd two groups give the first group a bad name, though they do provide some entertaining stories.

I used to get recorded calls about a factory warranty on my vehicle about to expire. I'm pretty sure it was a scam call as opposed to telemarketing. What's funny is that I don't even own a car, nor can I even drive one.

[Misanthropical]

Mr Hero, my 16 year old son gets those calls on his cell phone. He doesn't own a car, he is still learning how to drive.

We get those scam artist sending stuff to us about my car, which went out of warranty a long time ago.

[protege]

We get those scam artist sending stuff to us about my car, which went out of warranty a long time ago.

When I get those things...I'm *so* tempted to ask them about a warranty on my 1969 MGB GT It would be hilarious, since they haven't been sold in the US since 1980 ('79 was the last full model year), and MG's parent company (British phlegm-sucking Leyland) went out of business years ago. I'm sure it would be funny as hell to see them squirm!

Seriously though, MadMike is right. Not all telemarketers are scammers, nor are they all rude. I reserve my fury for the assholes. Most of the time it like this: "Not interested, thanks" and they hang up. A very small *minority* of them insist on forcing their product/service at me, and that's when I get pissed. I've already told them once (and possibly multiple times) that I'm not interested. Those fools are *exactly* the ones that I go out of my way to screw with. I'm no longer nice to them.

Lately though, I've been getting the copier scam at work. As soon as they start asking for the copier's serial number, I either ask why they need it, or ask what company they work for. 99% of the time, they hang up. The 1% of the time, I already know that they're trying to get the number...so they can then sell me overpriced supplies, and attempt to bill me for them. They're hoping that I'll cave, and won't notice how expensive that crap is. I've already had one of them get nasty....when I asked what he was trying to sell me. *Excellent* job of trying to get me to buy from you...