I was an SC on purpose. (weeklong thing)

[unholypet]

To the telemarketer employees out there, I am terribly sorry you have had to put up with me when I've been in a bad mood, I understand you are just doing your job, and from reading on here understand most of these calls are basically recorded.

I try to always be polite, and quick to the point to save us both time, but this is one week-long instance I have turned to anger with.
--
Monday;
My sister has a dance magazine which has recently lost its subscription, and after three years of loyal service, the company calls us and asks if we'd like to continue subscribing. I politely say, no thank you (in place of my sister who works until so very late that I imagine no one would be working), and we end the phone call with a cheerful good bye.

Tuesday;
I am home alone all week it looks! Oh, a phone call from them again, maybe the person didn't take us off the list.
"No, I do not want to continue subscribing. I talked to Chick just yesterday and confirmed this, could you take me off the calling list?" Guy replies with a yes, he's sorry for the inconvenience, and we leave in good moods.

Wednesday;
I was in the shower, expecting a call about how my mother's (non-major, but worrisome) surgery was going, and surely I hear the phone and rush out of the shower to answer without looking at the number. Girl says,"Hi there, (name), I see you've recently not resubmitted for a yearly subscription to (magazine), etc." I reply," Ma'am, I have told Chick and Guy that I don't really want this anymore. Please, would you remove my name from the calling list? I have finished with needing (magazine)." No no no, that's fine. We'll stop calling you, promise!

Thursday;
I am sitting at the tv with the phone in hand, and it rings, of course... I answer, Woman starts her spiel, I wait until she has finished speaking. "Ma'am, please listen, I am having a problem." She says,"Okay, hun, what's wrong?" I say," Everyday since Monday a different person from (magazine) has been calling here asking the same thing. Twice I have been asked to be deleted from your call list, and do not want any further subscription. It's nothing bad against you all, I just have no need anymore." She was very apologetic and we leave with a sigh of relief from me. She was extremely nice sounding..

Friday;
The usual call time passes, and I exhale happily. Family is all home, everyone's feeling great. Dinner comes along, and the phone rings.

I turn to the family,"It's them.." Dad and Mom ask for the phone, I say no no, I've got it.

Me: Hello.
Chick (from Monday): Hi this is Chick from (magazine), I'd like to talk to you abou--
Me: This is the last fscking time I ever want to hear from you people. I have been nice about this everyday this week. You all keep calling EVERY DAY and I have told ALL of you to take me off. I talked to you Monday!
Chick: Its true I did work Monday, I take a lot of calls so you will forgive me for not remembering.
Me: No no, you were just doing your job. I asked each of you all week to take me off this calling list.
Chick: Did they have you (the confirmation and thank you such)?
Me: Yes.
Chick: I don't understand why we'd keep calling then. Do you want to talk to a supervisor?
Me: I don't want to pull the management on you, I just don't want anymore calls.
Chick: Let me get one anyway.

I wait and finish eating in the intermission.

Man: Hi this is Manager and Chick tells me you have had some excessive calls from us?
Me: (explains what happened all week)
Man:I see on the transcript that everything was supposed to be taken care of. I do not, however, see a reason why they kept calling.
Me: I just don't want any more calls..
Man: Let me tell you about (a million magazines like the one I had, different specials I will be missing out on, etc. I interrupted)--
Me: STOP CALLING MY HOUSE OR I WILL FILE HARASSMENT. It's in your transcript, and I want off the list!
Man: We just don't want to lose a valued--
Me: I SWEAR TO THE HOLY MOTHER OF ZEUS WILL YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE SO I CAN EAT MY YOGO'S.

And I hung up.

I don't actually eat the Yogo's, I swallow em whole. I really shouldn't've lied

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't actually eat the Yogo's, I swallow em whole. I really shouldn't've lied

Yes, lying is bad. Very, very bad!!! Don't do it again.

Oh, man, they had it coming, though, didn't they. I had such high hopes for the supervisor, too...:le sigh:

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Yeah, they totally deserved it. Don't beat yourself up over it.

[Fawn]

OMG thats horrible! I would've prob done the same thing in the end. They can only touch your patience so much.

[ReverendBSB]

You were not an SC. I would have been cursing them out on the third day.

[Crazeyal]

Oh, you were actually a SAINT. There's being persistant, there's being a good salesman, and then there is being ABUSIVE. Those people need a call from the Better Business Bureu and the State's attorney office!

Part of the REASON telemarketing is such a suck job is people like this! Most anyone gets a call like this, and they let it color the rest of their interactions! I would just LOVE to call this idiot at home and make him accountable for his actions.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Look, Hon, compared to what I have done, you are a saint.

I sued someone for calling me.

And won.

I was in a local newspaper for giving a telemarketer a good dry cornholing. If you go to my website, you will see a very pretty little gypsy wagon that I tell fortunes out of. My "stop fucking calling me" money paid for that sweet little toy.

Basically, someone did the exact same thing to me. I charged them...gosh, I can't even remember, it's been a while...200 to 500 bucks per violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. I didn't get all I sued for, but I got some. The violations were:

1. One violation for each time they called after the first time I requested they stop. There were something like 4 violations.
2. One violation for telemarketer's failure to immediatly give me their name, their phone number, and to immediately disclose the fact that they were selling.
3. One violation for the fact that they did not immediately send me by mail a copy of thier do-no-call policy and a letter stating that I would no longer be called (I had to get the Dept Consumer Affairs involved to get said paperwork.)

Suing these people takes a little effort, but hey, free money is always great. And it was a lot of fun, too, actually. The laws might be different now due to the NDNC Registry, but you can still sue for telemarketing law violations. I do know calling after you say to stop is highly illegal.

[unholypet]

hehe

Thank you all for your words!

I just feel generally bad for saying anything negative, though lol

[powerboy]

I would have been cussing them out the second day.

[Gravekeeper]

I don't even answer my phone anymore to be honest. I just let the answering machine get it. My phone rings at least 1-3 times a day with just dead air on the message because its one company or charity or another calling to harass me. Charities especially are really starting to piss me off. Yes, you're a charity, good for you, but you whine, upsell and guilt trip more then most of the telemarketers I've talked too and I have to say no at least 4 times to make you go away. Then you try and make me feel like crap for declining. Bite me, donation boy.

The Province (newspaper here) STILL calls me once a month to see if I want a subscription again. I had a subscription for a few months before I decide it was too much crap to recycle and we get it at the office anyway. Now they won't leave me alone. Its like I tried to leave the mafia or something.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm wondering what kind of an asshead goes into a spiel about magazine subscriptions after being told his company has been calling you all week, especially after you complained about them doing it when you told them not to.

Me, if I get telemarketers, I don't even give them the courtesy of listening to their spiel. I just hang up on them.

[JustADude]

Me, if I get telemarketers, I don't even give them the courtesy of listening to their spiel. I just hang up on them.

Actually, as someone who's suffered through that hell, being hung up on is a FAR cry better than wasting our time listening to the whole thing and going 'sorry, I never buy over the phone' or, worse yet, ripping into us because you think all telemarketers are con-men and thieves. I may have mentioned it already, but one female human (not dignifying her with 'woman') tore me up one side and down the other because HER SECRETARY was too STUPID to screen her calls before dragging her out of a meeting. Not my fault, lady.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Thank you all for your words!

I just feel generally bad for saying anything negative, though lol

This place was taking advantage of your niceness. They refused to leave you alone, and then left you not much recourse than to be nasty in order to get them to take you seriously.

Why on earth would you feel bad about sticking up for yourself? You did nothing wrong. In fact, I'd say you went above and beyond the call of niceness.

[Emrld]

I have to agree the Charity calls are the worst. Since they are not selling the Do Not Call apparently does not apply to them.
I am so tired of getting the call asking for my money so some underpovished child can go to the movies. Personally life has gotten better over the last few years . . . but when money was so tight and they would call I loved asking them why I would want to send some child I didn't know to the movies when I couldn't afford to go myself? Some of them would even start listing things I could give up in my life to give money to them . . .it was kinda shocking. I have a new reply now - "if you believe in ________ charity so much - take the time you are using for phone calls and work at McDonalds - donate the money you earn instead of annoying people."
Honestly if I believe in a "charity" I will have done the research and if I chose to donate I will find them . . .but call me at home during dinner of Ramman Noodle and tell me to give something up!?!?!?!?!?!

I now return this thread to its intended subject. You were not out of line. It is supposed to only take one notification of asking to be removed from a list . . .after that it falls under the title of harrasment.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

"It is supposed to only take one notification of asking to be removed from a list . . .after that it falls under the title of harrasment."

Yes, it does. And under the TCPA, a judge might charge the offender triple the maximum amount per violation if you can show that you were being harrased.

In this case, yes, I'd say you had a case for severe harrasment.