Please!! do not be rude to a telemarketer for your best interest . Just say thanks but you are not

[ArnoldLayne]

Last edited Thu Jan 16, 2014, 06:24 PM - Edit history (1)

interested then hang up. They use a script, just politely cut them off and say good by I am busy now. If you are really nasty they will enter into their computer one of the following options. Call back at a better time, not sure need to ask spouse or partner, schedule me at a following date and time like (5:00 PM-6:00 PM) especially for the really rude people. And for the polite people we would enter the 4th option NOT INTERESTED, it's that simple.

[redqueen]

1. I would never retaliate by ensuring the rude person got more calls.

But truly it is just not necessary to be nasty to people. It's much easier to say 'no thank you, please take me off your list.'

[MH1]

228. Unfortunately I often forget the second part of that.

And some days, it's just too friggin' much when I get the umpteenth call from some organization in which I have not (to my knowledge) ever expressed the slightest bit of interest.

If they didn't always catch me at a bad time, I would probably be asking these folks how the hell I got on their list in the first place, do they know where that list came from?

But as it is I tend to just try to get out "not interested" as quickly as possible without being too rude, so they can get on to the next number on their list. Who knows, that next person might actually be interested. So I am doing them a favor by ending the call quickly.

I really, really wish people weren't put in the position of having to take such a suck-ass job. If I thought they had choices then I'd probably be pissed at them for choosing to do a job where the whole day involves annoying the shit out of others.

[Ms. Toad]

240. Unfortunately, that is never enough.

I very politely wait for the first breath, and then say, "I am not interested." The response, 99% of the time, is "I understand, but {pitch continues}"

In the first place, I should not be called at all - all of our numbers are on the "do not call" list.
In the second place, the instant someone says, "I'm not interested" that response should be respected. If they do, I'm find with not being nasty - even though the call is - the vast majority of the time - illegal.

When the caller persists after I have interrupted whatever it is I am doing to answer the phone, listened patiently for the first breath, and politely said, "I'm not interested," that should be the end of it. If it is not, I do get hot under the collar - and I ask immediately to speak with a supervisor.

I know you're just following a script - but my hope is that if enough supervisors hear that the script is inappropriate from someone who is angry that their wishes are not being respected - the script will change.

(Aside from being abrupt with any caller who refuses to respect my "not interested" response, I don't get rude - unless the caller refuses to get a supervisor - because by that time I'm really ticked off.)

[liberal N proud]

2. If only the person on the other end of the phone would take a NOT INTERESTED

It's like they don't know the meaning or wont take NO for an answer.

How many times do I have to say nicely before I just hang up or get rude?

[angstlessk]

6. You are in control of your phone..hang up if they don't take no for an answer

I always say I am not interested and if they persist, I simply say I am going to hang up because I am not interested..then I hang up.

[polly7]

10. I had one person actually call me back after I hung up.

He was pissed!, so I hung up again.

[ArnoldLayne]

18. Automatic computer dialer does the dialing not them.

[polly7]

22. Well, the same man called me back, and

angrily asked why I'd hung up - so obviously, there must be some sort of redial option or number display they see.


And ...... I hadn't been nasty, I always politely tell them I'm not interested - he kept talking over, me so I finally just set the phone down.

[polly7]

81. Three of us, so far ... I'm sure there are more.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8916483

Angry telemarketer calls back, berates man after he hangs up
Posted: Aug 28, 2008 1:03 PM
Updated: Sep 05, 2008 1:00 PM

AUSTIN, TX (NBC) - Randall Whited got quite a surprise when he recently hung up on a telemarketer.

The telemarketer called the Austin, Texas resident back and unleashed a tirade of verbal abuse.

"If you don't want to get contacted if somebody wins, then don't put your name in it. That was just such a girl thing to do. Wimp," the telemarketer yelled.

"I just couldn't believe that, that would be tolerated in the work place. The message was pretty offensive to me," Whited said.

[pnwmom]

97. That doesn't matter. They still have to push the button for "do not call"

or otherwise inform their employer to take the person off the list. Any automatic dialer should be programmed to not include numbers on the Federal list.

[Ms. Toad]

241. Theoretically.

But if they were paying attention to the law, I wouldn't have received the call in the first place - all our phones are on the federal do not call list.

[Gormy Cuss]

191. Not all calls are the result of automatic dialers.

As you noted above, the telemarketer often has the option to schedule a callback.
That's the way it worked when I ran a CATI interviewing center too.

[City Lights]

44. That's happened to me too!

And he starting yelling (and swearing) at me! I couldn't believe it!

[polly7]

47. It's a bit shocking, isn't it?

Apparently he was having a bad day ...... he had to make mine bad too.

[City Lights]

52. Indeed! My heart was racing when I finally got off the phone.

Definitely put me in a funk for a bit!

[TroglodyteScholar]

186. When that is your job...

...every day is a bad day.

That's my conclusion, anyway, based on a few different friends I have who were telemarketers at one time or another.

[polly7]

187. We've all worked at jobs we disliked at one time or another.

I'd never abuse someone just because I was having a shitty work day.

[TroglodyteScholar]

188. I'm sorry, I missed the part where I voiced approval of telemarketers abusing people.

Maybe we should both read my post again.

[polly7]

189. My apologies, I'm obviously missing your point then. nt.

[antiquie]

100. I've had this experience, as well.

I politely said, I have not entered anything, please put me on your do not call list (I am already on the national registry which does nada). Got a really nasty call back explaining how stupid I am. I just hung up.

If you can't take the heat, don't be a telemarketer. Sure, I know jobs are tight, but don't be nasty to people whose home you are invading with your unsolicited phone call that I tried to avoid in the first place.

What a bunch of asses to mark for call back.
No sympathy from this old lady, I get a lot more verbal abuse than I've ever given.
(Sorry, pushed my anger button.)

[polly7]

105. It's a weird feeling.

If I hadn't been so surprised and a bit creeped out, I'd have reported him to someone.

No sympathy from me anymore either ..... I don't even listen longer now than the two seconds it takes to figure out who's calling. I just hang up.

[Boomerproud]

114. I had a guy calling me about an insurance plan and I wasn't interested

because it wasn't any better than the plan I already had. After going on and on and not taking no for an answer he actually called me a dipshit and hung up on ME. I have no sympathy for cold calls anymore. EOM.

[pnwmom]

78. And you, as a telemarketer, are required to follow Federal law.

Here's the official Federal government site that applies to you. You should enlighten yourself.

https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov

[angstlessk]

85. I do not think the telemarketers need to memorize

a list ...the company they WORK FOR...should have that list on the computer the WORKERS use....

[pnwmom]

88. When someone tells you they are on the list, and you do NOT push the button

that says "do not call" -- because they are rude, or because your boss will fine you, or whatever -- then YOU are breaking the law, as well as your boss. You are required to push that button when a customer informs you.

[angstlessk]

101. Fine...I am sure most do...and some don't...what about those bankers....

telemarketers are the problem in Amerika...

[redqueen]

12. They have a script that they have to follow.

Supervisors walk along the rows listening, and they listen in on the calls. They aren't given any options.

Just hang up after saying no, and be sure to say to take you off their list.

[ArnoldLayne]

20. I want to thank you because you are correct.

[redqueen]

23. I've done it before so I'm very familiar with how it goes. nt

[liberal N proud]

31. I could use this script

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024339927

[blogslut]

30. Most telemarketers are required to keep pressing after the first "no".

They follow a script provided by the company they are promoting and those scripts usually contain pre-written responses for when the potential customer says "no". When I did the telemarketing thing, it was pretty common to require the sales person to continue with second and third trys after an initial refusal.

[LiberalAndProud]

43. Three.

It's basic training for sales, scripted or not. They will always push to the third

No.

[AAO]

158. You need to hang up

If you say "I'm not interested", they will just skip to the "Not Interested" part of the script.

Just say, Thank you, but I'm not interested - AND HANG UP! FAST!!

[Ms. Toad]

239. When that happens (always)

I request to speak with a supervisor.

If someone is going to call me on by "Do Not Call List" number and then, on top of that, persist when I say I am not interested, someone is getting a piece of my mind.

They shouldn't be calling (by law).
They nearly always interrupt something - at a minimum I don't keep my phone beside me when I am working, and it is a hassle to extricate myself from the surrounding books and computer.
Then when I wait for the first breath, and very politely say, "I'm not interested," the response (99% of the time) is "I understand, but . . . {pitch continues}"

No.

[angstlessk]

3. I agree...they too are just trying to make a living..and they don't make much

unless they are really good....most are not...I tried my hand once...and thought I was very articulate...I may have sounded more condescending than articulate...cause I don't think I made any sales in two or three weeks of trying

[pnwmom]

62. But they're breaking the law when they call people who are on the Federal list.

And they have no excuse when they know that the list is full of people who have asked to be taken off.

[Daemonaquila]

116. Big wah.

If you do a job that's a nuisance and unethical at best, and illegal at worst, don't whine that you're "just trying to make a living" when someone makes you regret your decision.

[angstlessk]

170. Maybe those heartless debt collectors fill your definition..but telemarketers

are simply selling a product...HAVE YOU EVER BEEN FORCED TO PURCHASE A PRODUCT FROM A TELEMARKETER??

[Ms. Toad]

242. No - but my number is registered on the Federal Do Not Call list for a reason.

I don't ever want to buy anything from a telemarketer - and I don't ever want to hear from one. Merely calling me is violating the law.

[NCTraveler]

4. Way too many people are looking around the corner for something to get angry about. nt

[Egnever]

5. I am on the do not call list

if a telemarketer calls me pleasant is not what he/she gets. I already indicated I was not interested when I put my name on that

[angstlessk]

7. It's the owner of the company...not the individual who is calling

who is in charge of the no call list....just state...I am on the no call list and I can sue your company if you continue to call me.

[pnwmom]

53. I've tried that. They say fine and then call me back the next day. nt

[Ms. Toad]

243. Yup. Over and over and over again.

If it is on my cell phone (with caller ID), they are reported. On our land line, unfortunately, we can't even report them because we don't have caller ID.

[marybourg]

279. You don't need caller I d

Just - in a neutral voice- ask them to repeat the name and location of their company and report them using the name. I never had caller I d and have cut down on the #of illegal calls I got to practically 0 except for robocalls. Those I generally only hear the last few words of since I have a long outgoing message which requires callers to self I d before I pick up the phone

[Ms. Toad]

286. Your experience is very different than mine.

Nine out of ten refuse to provide the information.

[marybourg]

289. They don't tell you the name

Of their company but they expect you to buy something from a secret company? Maybe when I ask, I sound like a potential buyer, because they' were always happy to tell me the company name and location. Of course, as I said, a lot of callers don't get that far because I require them to identify themself or I don't pick up. But all the carpet cleaners, air conditioning people and hearing aid centers have told me who they are and have been reported jut by their name and no longer call. Robocalls, as I said, are not deterred either by my outgoing message or the gov't, but I just hear the last few words which I erase

[Ms. Toad]

290. Nope.

They make up some fake prestigious or realistic sounding name for purposes of the call, and their entire purpose is to extract your credit card number (for real charges to purchase a trash object or fake charges as a scam). When questioned for more details, they typically hang up - often to call back the next day, and the next, and the next.

[marybourg]

292. Huh! Those calls must get

Filtered out by my outgoing message; I never heard one like that. Mine were illegal, but legitimate. Now just about all gone. Only hear occasional word at end of robocall

[joeglow3]

8. And the minimum wage caller is the one fucking you over

Way to give it to this grunt who obviously knew about the list and wanted to screw you over.

On a serious note, take some courses on managing you emotions.

[Egnever]

14. No sale

Doesnt take long or many calls to figure out you are calling people on the do not call list. Claiming ignorance is bs.

[joeglow3]

21. I worked that job and call your excuse pathetic

Rationalizing being a dick still doesn't make being a dick okay. A minimum wage telemarketer is most likely working to barely scrape by and do not know that the call list the computer is using is full of people on the do-not-call list. But continue ripping into them because it is clear you need it to boost your self-worth.

[Whisp]

38. +++++

well done and well deserved.

[MattBaggins]

98. Fuck the people who take jobs as telemarketers

I know you don't want to hear this but fuck them.

That is the one job where I have exactly zero sympathy, concern, empathy or or tolerance for the people who take that job. Find another fucking job and stop calling my fucking house.


Don't care one fucking wit about them.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

113. This right here.

I have more respect for the homeless guy panhandling for change than I do the asshole that calls me at 7am. Or 9pm. And my cell phone has been on the Do Not Call list for a LONG time.

[joeglow3]

200. And fuck their kids who go to bed hungry every night

They need to panhandle so your life doesn't have one ounce of disruption. THIS mentality right here is what is wrong with the right. Everything is ME ME ME ME. But, like the poster above, hopefully this allows you to look down on someone and maybe feel good about yourself for a second.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

227. I'm far from the right, sir...

Take your accusations elsewhere. Unwanted solicitation is just that: UNWANTED.
I treat telesolicitors the same way I treat the door-to-door religious cults.

[joeglow3]

237. Yeah. They should pull themselves up by their boot straps

You tell 'em.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

274. Words I have never

And would never say. Take your attacks elsewhere.

[joeglow3]

278. Oh, is poor Dr. Hobbitstein being attacked

Maybe I should just go tell some single mom working as a telemarketer to feed her kids to "fuck off." Is that better?

[Dr Hobbitstein]

280. I told your mom to fuck off last night. NT

[joeglow3]

287. Wow

This explains why you justify extreme anger issues related to phone calls. I hope you get help before going off on a spouse of child.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

288. I thought you smelled familiar...

&noredirect=1

Back under the bridge with you!

[pintobean]

291. I thought it was funny.

Only because you had it coming. You badgered and insulted him, then tried to use his reply to justify insulting him again. Are you a telemarketer?

[joeglow3]

201. Spoken like someone from the right

Who gives a fuck if their kids go to school every morning hungry and their parents have to make the decision on who gets how much food when everyone is starving at night. They inconvenience you and make you hang up on someone once or twice a day. THAT is more important. If your life is disrupted for 15 seconds a day, toss them to the fucking wolves. And people wonder why the right refuses to do what is the humane thing. It is all on display right here (on DU, nonetheless).

[Ms. Toad]

245. Nonsense.

No one has the right to intrude into my home, against my expressly stated wishes (all our phones are registered with the Do Not Call List).

[Dr Hobbitstein]

275. Exactly...

But this little toady doesn't see things that way. He'd rather defend predatory business practices.

[Daemonaquila]

125. Then I'm proud to be "a dick."

I'm also a dick to the pimps and drug dealers who used to populate my block. I'm a dick to companies that spam and telemarket. I'm a dick to collections agents who've tried to call my workers on the job. I'm a dick to LOTS of people who do shitty things to other people, then want to whine about how they're just earning a living, poor them. They can make a choice to take a different job, and if they're just that hard up that it's telemarketing or getting evicted, that's still making the choice to be a scumsucker and they know what they're getting into. I'll stop being a dick about it when the last telemarketing company closes shop because we're all proudly being such complete dicks to them

[joeglow3]

204. And republicans are dicks to people who disrupt their life one ounce

Yeah, it REALLY sucks to spend 15-20 seconds a day hanging up on someone. Who gives a fuck if that job provides someone with a run down home? Who gives a fuck if their kid may get an old breakfast bar before going to school? Who gives a fuck if they can have a small meal before bed, instead of going to bed starving? So long as Daemonaquila doesn't have to have his precious little life disrupted, who gives a fuck about that poor mother struggling to get by?

To those who cannot understand the mentality of the right, it is on display right here, in all its glory.

[Ms. Toad]

246. It is not just 15-20 seconds a day.

When I am answering the home phone, it is because I needed to be available in case of an emergency - or because my spouse was expecting a critical business call. Despite the interruption it causes to my work (because I don't sit anywhere near the phone and when I am working it is not convenient to get to the phone), I do that on those occasions because my family needs me to - not for the convenience of telemarketers.

We have taken all the steps we can to shut off the calls - we are registered with the Federal Do Not Call list, and have filed dozens of complaints. So when you call me, in violation of the law, on one of the rare occasions when I have agreed to respond to the phone because my family has a specific need which others are unable to fill and - as has happened - I'm on the phone with you when that emergency or business call comes in - I'm pissed. You won't hear about it unless you ignore my "not interested" response, followed (when you continue your pitch) by ignoring my request to speak to your supervisor. But at that point you will hear about it.

[joeglow3]

252. Fine. So you are saying your first response is NOT to tell the person to "fuck off?"

Thus, I am not addressing your concerns or method of handling it.

[Ms. Toad]

254. My first response, at their first breath,

is "I'm not interested."

Unfortunately I can count on one hand, with fingers to spare, how many times the caller accepted that response.

[joeglow3]

268. I just hang up.

Takes me less than 5 seconds to handle it. And as someone who has worked that profession, I prefered that. I HATED the fact that I needed 3 "no's" before ending the call. Blame the company, but don't take it out on the minimum wage worker struggling to get by.

[Ms. Toad]

269. That's why I ask for the supervisor

if they persist past the first "no."

The call violated the law (not initially your fault - but you have to know they are not complying with the law if you are getting more than a handful of recipients telling you that they are on the do not call list, and you should not continue to make calls when you know they are using a bad list).

Second, I said no. It is my phone - and when it is my cell phone I am paying per call. It is my time you are interrupting. When I say, "no" that should be respected. (I know you're on a script, which is why I ask for the supervisor.)

The company (and the supervisor is the closest I can get to the company) needs to be put on notice that they have a bad list (and if you reached me on any of my phones it is a bad list since they have all been registered for YEARS - long past the mandated 30 day refresh the company is required to do. I also want to put the company on notice that I (and from this thread it is clear I am not alone) expect that when we say "no" that will be respected.

Hanging up does nothing to stem the calls - it just gets redialed later, over and over again.

[Egnever]

138. More Bullshit from you

I tell them every time they do it and I am quite sure I am not the only one, how many times do they need to hear it before your pathetic excuse becomes just that?

I have worked that job also and it's a Bullshit job. Full of scam artists abusing their employees. It's a worthless job. If you take that job you have no compulsion about bugging people at home and you know darn well within the first week of doing it that's exactly what you are doing.

[joeglow3]

205. I have no problem doing whatever legal job I can to feed my family

But, much like the mentality on the right, if it disrupts our life one bit, toss 'em to the fucking wolves. Be careful not to get too light-headed on that high horse of yours.

[Egnever]

211. and the garbage continues

you say the same of the banksters or the people who dump chemicals? After all they are just feeding their families who cares who they screw over.

Lots of jobs out there that are legal technically but harm others, a guy has to eat though amiright?

And just to repeat it one more time I am on the do not call list, have been since almost the day it started. Calling me is not legal.

If anyone is on a high horse its you with the poor worker schtick. These people know what they are doing they aren't ignorant.

[joeglow3]

218. You are comparing the need to hang up on someone to spilling chemicals?

Drama much?

[Egnever]

219. I would call drama

The idea I need to be nice to someone calling me in violation of the law because they need to eat drama.

But don't let that stop you from your crusade to save the poor telemarketers booho

Drama lol

[joeglow3]

222. The question is what NEED is being fulfilled by being an asshole

Typically, I find those people to be very unhappy individuals. I feel sorry for them.

[Ms. Toad]

244. If you are told repeatedly by people you reach

that they are on the Federal Do Not Call list, then you know the call list on the computer is full of people on that list - in violation of Federal Law.

I buy that you don't know when you first start out - but it won't take you long to know.

And anyone who both calls me in violation of the law, refuses to honor my "not interested" response, and then refuses to put a supervisor on the line when I request one gets an earful. That's 3 strikes.

I am always polite - including waiting for the first breath to say, "not interested" - although I am brusque when I ask for a supervisor because you've continued your pitch beyond my "not interested."

You only get so much of my patience before your own actions get you an earful.

[redqueen]

15. Do you ask for rhe name of the business?

That's really all you need. I would politely ask that, then say thank you and hang up.

Then I would file a complaint against the company.

[lapislzi]

34. If they're contractors, sometimes they won't give it out.

The only time I mouthed off to one was during a call from an overseas drug company, inquiring whether my (unbeknownst to them, erstwhile) partner needed a Viagra refill. I said, "he no longer lives here, please take me off your calling list." He then persisted in asking me two or three times before I could interrupt him, "so you are not currently satisfied with your sex life?"

It was obvious he was reading from a script and that his grasp of English was tenuous at best. I didn't know whether to laugh or to teach him a few new English words.

[safeinOhio]

37. I tell them I am interested, but

I have to do something at the moment, please give me your phone # and I'll call you back as soon as I'm done. When they refuse to give you THEIR number, you can then tell them that if they can not give out their number, the call is a scam, good bye.

[redqueen]

46. It might not be.

The place I worked, we got under minimum wage, plus a commission if someone bought something. But we couldn't take incoming calls. It's possible to give the company's main number out, but then the person calling loses out, so there's a disincentive for them to do so.

[Ms. Toad]

248. And -

without the number, I can't file a complaint to get the calls to stop.

[Ms. Toad]

247. Most won't provide it.

Because the ones calling are already calling in violation of the law.

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. yeah, think about it - most telemarketers are at the bottom of the pay scale only trying to scrape

out of living - I'm sure it is not the vocation of their dreams or the life of their choice

[redqueen]

19. Thank you. I did it before I had as an alternative to fast food service.

You take a whole lot of shit from a whole lot of people in return for not much more than minimum wage.

[Douglas Carpenter]

33. I can't imagine threads praising rudeness to fast food servers - but we see them and probably

for that reason tend to identify with them a bit more

[Dr Hobbitstein]

109. When McDonald's knocks on you door

and repeatedly asks you to buy a Big Mac, then we'll hear lots of rants, too.

I tell every solicitor (whether it be phone or at my door) to fuck right off (sometimes I'm harsher).
I am rude as hell to them. I don't give out my phone number publicly, it shouldn't ring
I prefer my phone and doorbell not to ring.

[Daemonaquila]

121. We're not mean to fast food workers because they do an HONORABLE job.

Feeding people may not be glamorous, but it's honest and useful to society. Telemarketing is useless, a nuisance, and dishonorable, even illegal. Slight difference. There's no mystery why telemarketers get abused, and they deserve every bit of it.

[Bette Noir]

91. At least fast food service is honest work.

Seriously, get into a different line of work. Collecting welfare is more honorable than telemarketing.

[redqueen]

96. I will give your opinion all due consideration. nt

[bullwinkle428]

51. Being rude to someone on the phone doing an honest job is equivalent

to seeing someone working in a place of business sweeping or mopping a floor, and saying to them "You missed a spot!", just to get a rise out of them. There's no need to be a dick.

Of course, I understand that there are situations when people are clearly scamming ("I'm from Microsoft...&quot , or they're calling from a collection agency and are resorting to hyper-aggressive, slimy, underhanded tactics like threats to call your employer. All bets are off at that point.

[MurrayDelph]

145. Incorrect premise in your argument

First of all, violating the do not call list means the telemarketing company is not doing an honest job.

Secondly, even if you ignore the first premise, those telemarketers trying to convince me they are Microsoft Windows who want to fix my computer remotely are there to commit fraud.

Earlier this week, we got a telemarketing call trying to get us to subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. Now, overlooking the fact that the one time we did subscribe, they automatically renewed the subscription (despite having told us otherwise) and sic-ing a collection agency on us when we refused to pay for what we hadn't ordered (so, please drop the "honest job" crap), the very act of phoning us again for the purpose is not only illegal from the DNC viewpoint, but we live in OREGON!

And, for the record, I used to work in the IT department of a phone sex company. THEY were an honest phone job.

[Daemonaquila]

147. Wrong on so many levels.

First, no telemarketer is doing an "honest" job.

Second, your comparison is laughable. You don't come into a telemarketer's place of work where they're minding their own business - they barge into your living room or cel phone unwanted and uninvited, then do the verbal equivalent of crapping all over your floor. So yeah, they're going to get a nasty response.

[frazzled]

11. Wrong

First, you shouldn't be getting calls from telemarketers if you are on the Do Not Call registry. But even then, you will be able to get calls from charities, political groups, and companies with whom you've done business in the past.

Yes, you shouldn't be rude. But if you say "not interested" they will just keep calling. You should say, "Please put me on your do not call list." They have to do it, by law, and not call you back (or face penalties).

[Ms. Toad]

249. So you really think a company already violating the law by calling me

Is suddenly going to decide to be a good citizen and put me on their own personal list? (I'm addressing the companies which do not fall into one of the permitted to call exceptions, here.)

Not a chance.

[frazzled]

255. Nothing you can say, including "Not interested" will help with those

Just don't answer (if you have caller ID). Honestly, when the guy with the thick foreign accent calls saying you reported a problem with you PC, you can say "I'm not interested" and hang up—but you'll still get more of those calls. I just try to look at the caller info and then not pick up if I don't recognize the number or name. It's still annoying to have to hear the phone ringing, but picking it up doesn't do a thing.

The "please put me on your don't call list" does work for legitimate businesses, charities, or political calls you do not wish to hear from. And if they don't comply, at least you have grounds for taking action against them with your state AG or whatever. I was just trying to say that "not interested" doesn't really help anything.

There's an article in the NY Times today about how phone scammers can now, from their home computers, autodial millions of numbers at once. We are screwed, just screwed. There's nowhere to hide.

[Ms. Toad]

265. On the home phone -

No caller ID.

On the cell phone - the volunteer work I do means I often get urgent calls from people I don't know, so letting it drop to voice mail isn't a good option.

And - I've been on the Do Not Call list since day 1. Anyone who calls me (aside from the permitted exceptions) is already breaking the law. I don't need a second call to take action (and I always do when I have the information necessary to do so). Unfortunately, companies which are breaking the law aren't really eager to provide information (like their number or company name) so I can report them - which means that there is nothing I can do about most of the illegal calls I receive at home.

[Johonny]

13. If you make your living bothering other people on purpose to pressure them into giving away money

you should receive exactly what you should expect. Anything short of F you I hope you and all your children die horribly is polite in my opinion. Seriously you know you are bothering people unnecessarily and wonder why they are rude. LOL.

It may sound harsh until you hear the stories of elderly people pressured by phone bullies into giving away the money they need to eat, pay rent, and medicine. It is a disgusting profession and I have no respect for those that do it. Period.

[liskddksil]

24. So they should be unemployed

because you don't like their profession (i.e. only job that's probably available)?

[Johonny]

27. They harm people. Robbery and bullying are not a profession anymore than bank robber

Go listen to the countless elderly that have been harmed by the pressure tactics of these people and tell them it is just a job. You live in a fantasy land if you think the good telemarketers are just doing a job. They are leeches that once they find a victim, they will suck out every last penny from the person. There are countless horror stories of lives ruined so unlike you I can't pretend their just doing a job. I laugh at that idea.

I don't like a lot of professions but accept they are needed. I don't accept sanctioned criminal behavior and pretending it is somehow bad manner to call them out as the criminals they are.

Have a nice day.

[CBGLuthier]

57. I am with you. I do not understand why some other person's need to make a living

Means I have to spend my day answering calls from people I do not know. I think the whole industry should be banned. I do not have a phone so assholes I do not know can call me.

[frylock]

135. how many hours in an average day do you spend fielding unsolicited calls?

[Daemonaquila]

149. One minute is too much.

I'm dedicated to putting the entire industry out of business. Yup, that means tens of thousands will lose their jobs. That's fine in my book.

[frylock]

175. well good luck with those windmills

[joeglow3]

206. Is that Mitt Romney?

Once again, for those who struggle to understand the mentality of the right, there are many right here on DU who share their mentality. They just do a better job of hiding it. Disrupt them one bit, and they will not hestitate to throw them and their families to the street.

Using this GREAT logic, there have been many cases of people using panhandle money for booze, so fuck every homeless person.

[bluestateguy]

271. I never hear much compassion on this board for rank and file employees at health insurance cos.

Paper pushers who might make $50,000 or less, and with little authority to change rules and policies. Not big executives or even middle management, mind you. Whenever I gently raise the issue of how we should handle the dislocation these folks would face if we instituted single payer health care, I always get a lot of angry responses and people who wish unemployment and poverty upon them.

[abelenkpe]

26. Do you apply that to all salespeople?

Or just the ones on the phone?

[MurrayDelph]

137. Just the ones on the phones

who have demonstrated (or the company that they represent) that they have no interest in obeying the do not call law.

If I go into a store where someone is deliberately selling, it's my choice.

[ArnoldLayne]

16. No Air Horns, No Whistles, No Toilets Flushing my favorite and I don't want to know

what you and your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend or sexual partner are engaging in right now. People actually wanted me to listen to them while they were having sex in detail. Politely say you are Not Interested we don't have a list or do not call list...remember NOT INTERESTED good by and hang up. Don't let them keep giving you their 2 rebuttals which they required to do.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

17. one of my best friends is a telemarketer (jobs are scarce here). I asked her what was her preference

Hang up, she said. just hang up.

[FreeJoe]

25. I had a telemarketer hang up on me

She called me and started in on some script about how I could get a hotel in Branson, MO for some low rate. I interrupted her and said "Ma'am, I think I'd rather spend a weekend in Hell itself than in Branson." She hung up. I don't know if it was because she was offended or realized that I was unlikely to buy what she was selling.

[MANative]

28. better yet...

Take advantage of ubiquitous caller ID and don't answer any number you don't recognize. On the few occasions I've answered while on personal auto pilot, I've been subjected to some pretty horrible, nasty people. They get it right back if that's what they dish out.

[dickthegrouch]

90. Utterly unrealistic if I'm looking for a real job

I cannot choose to ignore numbers I don't know.

I am incensed by businesses/employees with so few ethics that they can't abide by the Federal DNC list. I couldn't care less that t hey are in a different State, different country. They are all crooks if they don't abide immediately to my request that they do not call again.

They figure out in minutes that their operation is illegal. The telemarketer's best bet is to sue the employer for providing an environment in which they are being continually harassed by the people they are (supposedly inadvertently) harassing. If a few employers paid out significant damages not only to the consumers, but also to their employees, maybe something would change.

My answer to these calls is "I will start swearing if I get another call from your organization. Do not make yourself complicit in this illegal call and put your colleagues at risk by keeping my number on file. Threaten to file suit against your boss about the negative feedback you are experiencing".

[msongs]

29. start telling them about jesus over and over. nt

[Whisp]

32. of course, unless you have some teabagger/publican DNA

I can't see how it's 'fun' to torment someone having to do a shitty job at shitty wages.

barf.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

35. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Douglas Carpenter]

48. you R Right

[baldguy]

127. +1000

Apparently, DU has several nascent Teabaggers hanging around.

[Daemonaquila]

151. They're tormenting you. Playing right back is fair game.

If you take a job where you know you're doing something unethical and hated, and possibly illegal, you know what you're getting into and that you deserve a swift kick in the behind.

[Whisp]

154. what utter revolting sickening bullshit.

feh.

[Starry Messenger]

192. Wow. x(

[treestar]

210. It is none of those things, however

[Ms. Toad]

250. It IS illegal to call me.

I am on the Federal Do Not Call list - and have been since the day it opened. So unless you fall into one of the exceptions which do not have to abide by the list, calling me IS illegal.

[treestar]

208. True.

Seeing the humanity of that person is the first step, not just seeing their actions as an annoyance!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

36. this may be true of reputable telemarketers

however, there are VAST numbers of telemarketers who are NOT reputable and don't care what you say... the problem is there is no way to distinguish between the two during the call. If the industry (and gov't) policed itself better this might not be such an issue. Until then, rude will be the order of the day.

sP

[hedgehog]

39. The odds are the person calling you is some poor schlub reduced to taking that

job because the unemployment ran out. A simple "Not Interested" and a polite hang-up lets you both go about your business.

[reddread]

104. that would be the compassionate liberal consideration

not the one taken by many who cant think beyond their own interests.

[hunter]

40. I'm nice to everyone, even debt collectors.

This really unnerves the debt collectors who actually enjoy harassing people.

Collecting medical debts has got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. Anyone who would enjoys that kind of work is sick.

It makes me laugh if they try to guilt me or shame me or ask if I have any friends or relatives who could help out, or threaten my "credit rating" which is well past the toilet and into the cesspool. I used to care but that would have killed me so I stopped.

Sigh. If I lived in a first world nation I wouldn't have any medical debts and my wife and I never would have been uninsured, underinsured, and uninsurable in the first place.

The ACA would have been very helpful to us during times we were running inadequate, very expensive COBRAS out to the bitter end...

[tabbycat31]

173. I was a collector at one point

At that point I decided I wanted to work in the finance industry (that stopped abruptly in 2008) and help people with debt problems. The job was listed (in the local classifieds) as a 'bankruptcy specialist' where I would be counseling customers on budgeting techniques and getting out of debt. When I interviewed for it, HR also made it sound like that.

It was not until the first day that I realized it was a collection agency and my job would be (inbound and once a week outbound using a predictive dialer) collection calls and pressuring people to give us their checking account information on the phone (whoever collected the most every month would get a $100 Best Buy gift card).

Our calls were recorded and once a week we had to sit in the 'coaching room' with our supervisor and he would tear apart our phone calls. He was not the nicest person in the world and most people would rather be sworn at over the phone than deal with the coaching sessions. He would never say what we were doing right, just what we were doing wrong.

I lasted from September through (early) January there. The pay was ok for call center work (12/hour) and I actually lasted more than most people did. Never before was I so micromanaged (I was questioned why I had to go to the bathroom frequently and eventually had to ask permission to use the bathroom). My official reason for leaving was 'the abuse I am taking from customers is affecting my personal life.' My last straw was when someone called me a word that rhymes with hunt (I was just the person answering the phone right after I said the standard greeting). I was afraid of repercussions from these customers (to the point where I would not give them my last name).

The industry is a dirty one, and in my opinion, people taking things out on the poor worker bees is not the solution. Often they don't know what they are signing up for (the help wanted ads are often misleading). The proper protocol is to find out the name of the company they work for and contact the higher ups within the company (who authorize the telemarketing, collecting, etc). I can't speak for telemarketing firms, but collection agencies have laws they have to adhere to when it comes to ceasing contact with customers (the customer must initiate the cease and decist in writing) and if customers asked not to be contacted by us, I would explain the procedure for that.

So in the telemarketers case, it is probably a case like mine, where the advertised job description is completely misleading and they were mislead into taking the position. Or it could be a rural area where the 'call center jobs' (as they're pitched as) pay better than McD's or Walmart and are the only in the area.

[Ms. Toad]

253. Well - I've had experiences with how well that industry follows the law, as well.

I kept getting calls at work from someone who left messages with my staff like, "She knows who I am, and why I am calling." After receiving several calls which I refused to return because it was clear they were not business calls - and I had no clue who they were, one of my staff members took matters into her own hands and managed to extract information from the caller about the call. The caller told her it was about a debt I owed - which, as I am sure you know - is illegal.

Because I have had insurance screw-ups which threatened my credit rating, I returned the call. Had I not been aware the call was from a debt collector - and been concerned about the consequences of another screw-up I didn't know about - I would not have returned the call.

On the call, the individual insisted that the hospital they were collecting for gave them my work number.

Problem is - the debt wasn't mine. It belonged to a person with a similar name - but a social security number and medical record number were not even close to mine (they gave me both - also a violation of the law once they knew they had the wrong person). They had to have done a google search and found my work number - and, in the context of work, I always use my middle initial so they knew (or should have known) that they were calling and harassing the wrong person.

I filed a complaint with the state, which investigated. The complaint was closed when the company lied about having revealed information to my staff member which it is illegal to reveal, and about where they got my work information in the first place.

So - unfortunately - in these dirty industries, laws don't seem to mean much.

[Go Vols]

41. I ask them if they are in prison

after I saw a show on the subject,some laugh,some not.Then I hang up.

When you call a company or government agency for help, there's a good chance the person on the other end of the line is a prison inmate.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/01/12/10140493-inside-the-secret-industry-of-inmate-staffed-call-centers?lite

[Blue_In_AK]

42. I don't answer my phone.

Nine times out of 10, I get a hang-up. I figure if they want to talk to me badly enough, they'll leave a message.

[City Lights]

45. "Not Interested" doesn't stop them from calling back.

They just keep calling and calling and calling and calling. Even the DO NOT CALL list doesn't stop them from calling.

[ArnoldLayne]

49. One time I talked to a real nice elderly lady. She said "Oh honey I'm not interested about having

Caller Id but thanks anyways". I entered option 4 into the Computer Do Not Call. A superviser came over within 5 minutes and asked me why did I enter Do Not Call to that lady. I said she wasn't interested and was polite. Supervisor said maybe she didn't want it because of you but Heather, John, Nicole or Joe at another computer could have convinced her. I got a written warning for that and I only made $9.00 an hour compared to $21.00 an hour I was making in the Steel Mill.

[pnwmom]

58. But it's not our fault if you're unfairly penalized. You're breaking the law when you call back

using a list that you know is full of people on the registry -- because they have told you.

Why isn't one of the options: "person is on Federal do-not-call list"? You should ask your boss.

[pnwmom]

50. When you're breaking the law by repeatedly calling someone on the Federal do-not-call list,

what do you expect?

[ArnoldLayne]

60. I wasn't breaking the law her name just came up on the screen UH excuse me!! There is no

so called list and if their was one obviously wasn't on it. Who are you to accuse me of breaking the law the Telemarketer Police. Did not not read my post I entered her name DO NOT CALL and got in trouble....Done!!!

[pnwmom]

71. "There is no so called list." You couldn't be more wrong. When a name comes up on the screen,

and that person tells you she's on the do-not-call list, and you don't permanently remove her from your list, you're breaking Federal law. And when your employer passes the name to another employee, they're both breaking the law.

Here's the Federal list that your employer isn't telling you about. Telemarketers are legally required to take anyone who has registered their name here, at this government site, off their lists. If they call a customer who informs them they are on the list -- whether rudely or not -- the telemarketer is legally required to remove the name from their own list.

So who am I? I'm a person on the Federal list who knows the law. You, as a telemarketer who repeatedly calls back "rude" customers, are breaking the law.

https://www.donotcall.gov/

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

Attention sellers and telemarketers: Go to https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov to access the National Do Not Call Registry.

[jeff47]

86. They aren't breaking the law.

A lovely fluke of our telecommunications system is Canada and the US share a telephone network. Routing the calls through Canada means the Do Not Call list doesn't apply - US laws don't apply to Canada. And since it's the same network, the "international" call is very cheap. It's also how they get around laws against spoofing caller ID.

(If it's any consolation, Canadians are pissed about telemarketing calls routed through the US so that their laws do not apply)

[pnwmom]

93. You're wrong about that. International calls from U.S. companies ARE covered by the law.

From the FAQ's at the Federal Do-not-call Registry site.

Are telemarketing calls from overseas covered?


Yes. Any telemarketers calling U.S. consumers are covered, regardless of where they are calling from. If a company within the U.S. solicits sales through an overseas professional telemarketer, that U.S. company may be liable for any violations by the telemarketer. The FTC can initiate enforcement actions against such companies.

[jeff47]

162. And as soon as we have the ability to arrest people in foreign countries

we can do something about it.

[pnwmom]

165. We have the ability to fine the US companies that pay people to do this. n/t

[jeff47]

166. And it's trivial for the US company to hire a foreign company

that hires the telemarketing company.

[pnwmom]

168. We can still fine the US company involved. But you're right.

They should massively raise the penalties.

[HockeyMom]

54. Do Not Call List

Don't know how many states have this, but it is the easiest solution.

[Fla Dem]

61. Even with DNC list, I still get telemarketers. I have caller id. If I don't recognize the number

I don't answer. After the caller hangs up, I call the number shown on the missed call list. I call the number and usually(although not always) a recording answers and gives me the option to be taken off their call list.

[Ms. Toad]

256. It is federal.

And it cuts down on the calls, but does not eliminate them.

[Ganja Ninja]

55. Telemarketers are people too

And people need to support themselves. I've known some people who were telemarketers. One of them was blind and it was one of the few jobs she could do. She was born blind and handicapped and her life was not a happy one to begin with. She barely made anything doing it but at least it was something.

So do try to understand that the person on the other end of the line is only trying to make a living and is not necessarily enjoying what their doing either. And they don't need you to add to their misery.

[Nye Bevan]

56. I would never be rude to a legitimate telemarketer.

When a criminal is targeting me, however, I reserve the right to be less than polite.

[Egalitarian Thug]

59. Sorry dude, that may be how it works in whatever company you get a check from, but

out here in the real world, "not interested" is about as effective as running away from a bullet.

Hell I just spent almost three hours with Sears so-called customer service trying to fix their delivery issue and the slaves in whatever country spend all of their time trying to sell me something even though they can't get the first sale right.

I have nothing but pity for anyone that has to work in one of these operations, but my pity does not extend to accepting abuse.

[FSogol]

65. If only there was some way for people to hang their phone up!

[Egalitarian Thug]

70. If only that worked.

[FSogol]

74. It does work. Hanging up the phone ends the conversation. Try it!

[Egalitarian Thug]

79. So how much do you make stealing from the gullible and protecting corporations from their customers?

[FSogol]

84. I'm a mechanical engineer. No phone sales from me or my company.

If you are going to be that enraged over a phone call you can end at any point, I'd recommend caller id. Just don't answer the phone if you don't recognize the number.

There is also this: https://www.donotcall.gov/

I seldom get the type of calls you are describing.

[MADem]

283. Caller ID is expensive for people on a fixed income.

You need to first, have a "calling plan" and second, pay three or four bucks extra a month for it.

For some people it is the difference between a twenty dollar a month phone bill and a fifty dollar a month phone bill (owing to having to have "a plan" in order to get caller ID).

[Daemonaquila]

130. It ends the convo, not the harassment.

Hanging up the phone doesn't stop them from calling you again, and again, and again, and if you put up with that crap it's pretty sad.

[FSogol]

148. From what I've seen the "do not call registry" works pretty well.

Sorry you're getting harassed, but I haven't experienced any problems the way people are describing in this thread.

[Ms. Toad]

258. I've been on it since day 1.

It decreases the frequency of the calls but - guess what - the companies who are already breaking the law by calling me are less likely to respect the law in other ways, which makes the calls more **challenging** shall we say, including verbal abuse and harassing call-backs.

[ArnoldLayne]

66. This was 5 years ago I'm back in the Mill..Alright!! Is that a more respectable job?

I value your worthless opinion so much are you pleased now that I am a Steelworker once again. I'm concerned that I have now redeemed myself, what do you think?

[Egalitarian Thug]

76. So you got nothin'...

BTW, I've been USW for many years.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

63. Telemarketing is rude; I'm afraid I think it's entirely acceptable to be rude in return.

Personally I try not to be rude to telemarketers - it's not worth getting my blood pressure up - but I certainly don't condemn those who are. The bad guys are the cold callers, not their victims.

If you enter such an obnoxious and unethical profession, I think you have to accept that some people won't forgive you for it.

[ArnoldLayne]

67. But you forgive an animal abuser or thief. Cast yee the first stone of someone who has never sinned.

In other words kiss my Italian behind.

[redqueen]

233. Did they actually say they'd forgive an animal abuser?

But they won't forgive a telemarketer for bothering them on the phone?

[Bobbie Jo]

212. Agreed.

They're bringing an unsolicited sales pitch into my home.

If I want or need anything, I'll do the asking.

[gcomeau]

64. I will do that the *first* time.

Same organization calls back, or telemarketer won't take a hint and stop reading their script even after being told I'm not interested and I get rapidly less polite.


That happens often.

[ArnoldLayne]

68. Hang Up!!

[gcomeau]

82. Because hanging up in someone's face isn't rude either... right? -eom

[ArnoldLayne]

69. I want more

[Kurovski]

72. I wish I could pin this to the top for a week.

Political and charitable organizations that we may be interested in also call.

It seems easy enough to just hang up.

K&R

[Initech]

73. We can curse at and hang up on robo dialers though, right?

I'm convinced that there's a special place in hell for the guy who invented the robi dialer.

[pintobean]

75. It's extremely arrogant for marketers

to think they have a right to use my equipment to come into my home uninvited to waste my time. I politely tell them I'm not interested, I'm on the do not call list, and please don't call me again. That usually works, but when they ignore me and keep pushing, they're the one being rude. All bets are off then. I don't need an etiquette lesson on how to deal with rude, unwanted people when I'm sitting in my living room.

[JoePhilly]

77. They clog up my answering machine so much, I almost never listen to it.

Friends and family are constantly telling me that they can't leave a message ... because the machine is full 2 days after I empty it.

[pansypoo53219]

80. i love playing w/ push pollers. and usually talk w/ the poor poller who is trying to read the

garbled questions written to get the answer they want.

[Bette Noir]

83. Get in a different line of work.

Unsolicited calls to people on the "Do Not Call" list are CRIMES.

Now, leave me alone.

[jeff47]

89. Three unemployed per job opening.

Yeah, gonna be real easy to get into a different line of work.

[Bette Noir]

107. Selling drugs or turning tricks are more ethical lines of work than telemarketing.

For your info, I'm disabled (no pensions or SS), and hubby has been out of work X 3 years. That's probably permanent, given his age. Neither one of us would lower ourselves to telemarketing, which is crooked on its face.

[jeff47]

161. Some people feel that eating is a necessary activity. Especially for their children. (nt)

[CBGLuthier]

180. They are far more ethical. People WANT their services.

In a decent, less money-oriented society telemarketing would be illegal.

[ArnoldLayne]

92. I did I am a Steelworker again..!Am I redeemed now please let me know. I will be anxiously waiting

for your response. It is really bothering me now wondering if you approve of my 30 years as a Steelworker. Please reply soon I have to lay down for awhile being I am on Midnight. Have you ever worked shifts at all even in a Mill? Probably not since we are dirty greedy Steelworkers. I doubt you would lower yourself to our level you know what I mean?

[Cleita]

87. I've never been rude. I hang up, which is a bit rude.

I have permanently hung up as I got rid of my phone. When phone companies decide to address this issue, which is abuse of what is a vital service to some people, then maybe I'll reconnect.

[fredamae]

94. I ask to speak to their supervisor

then ask the supervisor for the corp mailing address. When they ask why-I explain that they've asked for my time, without invitation. My time has a value also and I need to know where to send the bill for my time for reimbursement.
I'm removed.

[ThoughtCriminal]

95. Telemarketers are harassing my elderly parents

Being polite and hanging up does no good. Do not call lists do not help. Saying not interested does not help.

I've watched as the same idiots call back SECONDS later. And continue to do this hour after hour, day after day.

I'm ready to buy them an air horn.

[Daemonaquila]

132. A whistle works just as well.

More painful, actually - higher frequency.

[progressoid]

198. Usually doesn't work. They have volume suppressors.

Anything beyond a certain range is blocked.

[Orsino]

99. I would prefer them to believe that the number's no good...

...but try not to hate the poor sap whose only crime is dialing your number.

[ArnoldLayne]

102. Next!! Who else wants to critisize me for taking a 4 month job as a

Telemarketer while we had a Big Steel Strike in 1998-1999. Instead of selling pot, crack, Vicodens or whatever in my city..What say you?

[Johonny]

117. You got to do what you got to do

I know people that had to telemarket. There's a difference in doing what you have to do and accepting that people aren't exactly going to be welcoming to you. There is also accepting that the really good telemarketers engage in harassment, extortion and worse. Most telemarketers are bad, hate the job and long to leave it as soon as possible. If you didn't like the job why on Earth would you expect people to possibly LIKE getting those calls?

People were rude, likely for good reason, accept it and move on to hopefully brighter jobs.

[ArnoldLayne]

157. It was years ago. It beat delivering heavy furniture for Value City at 40 years old. Plus I wasnt

married and 75% of people working there were females in their late 20's and 30's. I worked afternoon so take a guess what I was doing after work. Partying, picking up women and 4 threesomes with girls in their 20's and 30's or carrying furniture for 10 hours, what would you do?..Oh the good old days.

[treestar]

209. No problem

I had a summer job doing it for a charity. That was admittedly a bit easier, as some recipients were supportive of the charity. It was to ask them if they'd walk the neighborhood collecting for it. Many said they just had a baby and were too busy! They really wanted to, though. There was a baby boom that summer!

[santamargarita]

103. I use software that if your not in my directory, you can't get through...

no even to my voicemail. That plus opt-out, I'm never bothered.
The telemarketer is just trying to do job.

[ArnoldLayne]

106. Thanks I appreciate you supporting me and backing me up. Geeze I only did it for 4 months.

[santamargarita]

110. Hang on there...

[ArnoldLayne]

133. Thanks

[kelly1mm]

108. My phone is for my convienience, not anyone elses. If you bother me uninvited,

which I consider extremely rude, don't get pissy when I am rude back.

[taotzu]

111. Just don't answer calls from numbers you do not know.

I just do not answer the call if it is from a number I do not know. If it is someone that I do know and they are calling from a number I do not know they can leave a message after the beep and I will return their call.

[Daemonaquila]

112. Bwahahaha! I will ALWAYS be awful to telemarketers and spammers.

See, I really don't care. My phones are all cel phones - illegal to call in the first place. They also are on the Do Not Call list - illegal to call as well. I happily abuse anyone who calls me, and if it continues (and sometimes even on the first shot) I do my best to make their whole company miserable.

Of course, I'm about to get flamed because "OMG, these are just workers doing miserable jobs! They have to feed their families! It's not their fault!" Oh, cut the crap. Crack dealers also are feeding their families. So are cops who beat disabled folks to death, bankers who needlessly and sometimes illegally foreclose on homes, unethical debt collectors, the guys who throw people's belongings out on the street when the banks take over a house, spammers, and other assorted scum. If you choose to do the dirty deed, you take the dirt your victims dish right back in return. I have ZERO pity for telemarketers.

[ArnoldLayne]

139. I have no pity for you either since your so open minded go back to Free Republic.

[drmeow]

115. Get caller id, use voice mail

and be selective about what you pick up. I don't answer if I don't know the number unless the caller is properly identified and it is someone I want to talk to. If the call is legit, they will leave a message!

I also don't answer the door unless it is someone I know, the police/fire dept, a Girl Scout selling/delivering cookies, or a shipment I'm expecting.

[tazkcmo]

118. Telemarketer for several years

Don't say anything. Just hang up. If you say something, the marketer is required to give a rebuttal and they are recorded and heavily monitored. Do the both of you a favor and just hang up w/o saying anything.

[Rainforestgoddess]

119. I am always polite initially.

I generally say something to the effect of 'If this is a sales call, I'm not interested'. They usually deny it's a sales call. So I will tell them that if and when I find out it is in fact, a sales call, I will hang up without warning. I usually end up hanging up.

Once (before the do not call list was a thing) my daughter was an infant and at the time of the call I received, crying her head off in my arms. I tried very hard to get a word in edgewise simply to tell him that it was a bad time. He didn't even pause in his spiel, so I put the phone up to her mouth for a good 30 seconds. When I put it back to my ear, he was still talking, so I hung up (I couldn't hear a word over the crying anyway).

You guessed it, he called right back because 'he got cut off'.

[baldguy]

120. Too much hatred for working people here.

They'd much rather abuse & harass you for doing your job.

[bluestateguy]

272. Rank and file employees who work at health insurance companies

Paper pushers who might make $50,000 or less, and with little authority to change rules and policies. Not big executives or even middle management, mind you. Whenever I gently raise the issue of how we should handle the dislocation these folks would face if we instituted single payer health care, I always get a lot of angry responses and people who wish unemployment and poverty upon them.

[Zorra]

122. So, I take it that saying, "If you ever call me again, I will hunt you down and find you, and make

your life such a living hell that you will curse the day you were born" is not the most effective approach here?

[steve2470]

123. I'm on the federal Do Not Call List and I rarely get calls

I check my caller ID and I don't answer if it's a 800 or 877 number. I also say I'm not interested very firmly. I hang up if they don't take no for an answer.

I really feel bad for the people desperate enough to do that line of work.

[dorkzilla]

129. I'm on the Do Not Call list and I get calls ALLLLLL the time

Like seriously 5 or 6 a day. They're getting worse because the FCC has never prosecuted one telemarketing company for violating the law.

If I don't recognize the number, I don't pick it up.

[steve2470]

131. wow I feel bad for you !

Do you have a landline or a cell phone ? I don't know if it matters but I only have a cell phone. I also have gotten to the point where I don't feel guilty simply hanging up and not even saying one word to telemarketers. I figure they're used to it.

[dorkzilla]

150. This is on my landline, don't think I've ever gotten one on my cell

I'm assuming that there must be some legal nuance between the two--maybe because incoming calls are free on a landline?

For a while I was amusing myself with the calls by knocking on something when I got the calls, mimicking my door being knocked on, thus driving my 2 VERY LOUD dogs to go insane. I'd put the phone near their barking mouths and just let them go to town. Then the calls got too numerous, and i thought it would be animal abuse to continue.

[Ms. Toad]

262. I've gotten a bunch on my cell phone -

and recently they have been faking their number, so caller ID shows a non-existent number (often starting 000)

[Ms. Toad]

261. They may not have reached the court stage -

But at least two of the ones we reported have been fined because of the volume of complaints.

[dorkzilla]

266. That's encouraging!

I stopped reporting because I thought it didn't do a thing; I shall start doing it again! Thanks!

[Ms. Toad]

267. I was really pleased when I read the first article

about one of the companies I had reported. The second one followed shortly after.

[SeattleVet]

124. If I see an obvious telemarketer or scam call on the ID

I turn on the scanner and answer "North Precinct; fraud division. Please clearly state your name and your company name for the record" with police calls going in the background. If I can, I get their name and company name (those are *supposed* to be the first words out of their mouths), tell them to stop calling, and file a complaint with the FTC and FCC.

I have not gotten a actual, *legitimate* telemarketing call for several years. Since I am on the Do Not Call list, any call that I get is someone that is already breaking the law by NOT having their numbers filtered through the DNC list every 30 days. (Not counting polls, political, or charities in that.) What other laws are they willing to break?

The minimum-wage person at the other end is working for a criminal enterprise, and I let them know it.

If it's a charity call I always tell them that we NEVER make any donations based on telephone cold calls, please take us off of your list, thank you, goodbye.

Between doing these things and using the Ooma VOIP phone blacklist feature I am down to about 1 call every 2 weeks or so, instead of the 4 to 6 per day that we used to get, and that a friend still gets (we just gave them an Ooma for the holidays).

During election season I started getting illegal robo-calls to my cellphone. I contacted the campaigns involved and put a stop to that really quickly (they can be subject to a huge fine for autodialing or robo-calling cellphones without specific prior permission from the owner).

[MynameisBlarney]

126. I am polite enough during the first few calls

But I do get mean and nasty after repeated calls.
And keep in mind that telemarketing is a predatory business. They prey on the elderly and take advantage of them.
So being overly gracious to them is something I just can't do.

[FailureToCommunicate]

128. I used to worry about all the calls my mom started to get after a move to different state...

She said for me not to worry: "Every time they call and miss pronounce my name I know they are telemarketers, and when they ask me how I am...I start to tell them! I'm SO glad you asked. Oh my bunions hurt, my leg infection is worse, my cramps...Oh honey, they hang up REAL fast... and don't call back!"

Yep, she figured them out. No rudeness, just honest response to their "inquiry"

Dear ol Mom.

[Shadowflash]

134. I'm never rude to telemarketers. The first time.

After multiple calls and multiple requests to quit calling, all bets are off.

[oldhippie]

136. No. And don't tell me what to do.

Jesus. Where are all the authoritarians coming from?

[frylock]

140. please put me on the "do not call list." thank you..

*click* what a burden that is.

[SeattleVet]

142. But I'm *already* on the Do Not Call list...

that they are legally supposed to filter their numbers against. They are breaking the law.

I shouldn't have to tell every illegal telemarketer, scammer, schemer, and fraud to not call me.

[frylock]

146. that's when you ask to speak with a supervisor..

ask the sup for their name, the name/address of their company, and a call back number. it's not going to stop unless it gets reported.

[Ms. Toad]

263. I do -

Since the supervisor already knows they are breaking the law by calling, I rarely get any useful information when they call my land line.

[barbtries]

141. personally i think

telemarketing is rude. i do try to remember that the person on the other end is just trying to make a living.

[1StrongBlackMan]

143. Having once worked as a tele-marketer/Surveyer ...

I ask the caller:

"Are you paid by the sale or by the completed call/script?"

If they say the sale, I tell them (politely), "Thanks but no thanks."

If they are paid by the completed call/script, I will (even if inconvenient) let them do their thing. These calls are designed to take about 5-10 minutes ... I can spare that time, so that someone can eat.

[steve2470]

144. That's very kind of you, truly nt

[get the red out]

152. That's what I've always done

As politely as I can. No reason to be rude to someone who happens to have that job.

[noamnety]

153. "Just get caller ID" is not a solution.

I have caller ID. I don't answer calls I don't recognize. The result: I've had telemarketers call at 8:21, 8:24, 8:28, 8:35, etc.

on and on, 10-20 times an hour. If I'm sick or am on a different schedule than 9-5, it prevents me from sleeping at ALL.

[sharp_stick]

155. Nomorobo is a godsend

If you have a VOIP line it works really well. It uses "simulring" to call the nomorobo servers at the same time as your house, if the number matches a robo call scam site like Rachel it hangs up.

Often I don't even hear the one ring that they say you might hear.

http://www.nomorobo.com/

[Kingofalldems]

156. If they are not on the line when I answer they will be hung up on.

I didn't call them.

[hamsterjill]

159. If YOU don't want to be rude, you might preface your post with a "please"

Your first line is a demand. I don't take kindly to demands. If you want me to be nice, you start by saying "please".

[ArnoldLayne]

163. I'm not telling you please I just said don't be rude.

Who are you to tell me to say PLEASE?

[pnwmom]

169. Giving orders to people you don't even know is rude.

The polite thing to do would be to tell them about the Do-not-call registry, in case they're not on it.

[MurrayDelph]

160. I have a friend who is a telemarketer

He found it preferable to working as a lawyer.

However, he only once called me (socially) and identified himself as "your favorite telemarketer." After I informed him that it was equivalent to calling himself a favorite venereal disease, he never did it again.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

164. I typically do that, except for Dish Network

If those motherf*ckers call my house one more motherf*cking time I'm going to crawl through the motherf*cking phone line and rip their motherf*cking lungs out.

Seriously. I was polite the first three dozen times they called me. Or bush-whacked me at the home improvement store.

[pintobean]

181. Holy shit

You're whining about how people react to your intrusions, and you said that to a woman?

[pipi_k]

194. Yeah dude...

What Pintobean said

We're supposed to be polite to people invading our homes because "they're only trying to support themselves and their families", but your female supervisor, who is also, BTW, only doing her job gets talked to like she's a nasty pig?

Ugh

[pintobean]

273. Did you see his post in the related thread?

It was hidden too.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024339927#post328

I hope he was at least 28 at the time. Of course, I strongly suspect bs.

[RebelOne]

167. I always say thank you and no thank you, and hang up.

Usually, the caller gets the message. If it is a robocall, I always hang up at the beginning of the spiel.

[1monster]

172. I did that once. A telemarketer would not take a polite no for an answer...kept

trying to brow-beat me into flipping my phone service, so I hung up after saying I wasn't interested again. She called me right back yelling at me, "Don't you f***ing EVER hang up on ME!" and made some sort of threats, and then s hung up.

I was unnerved enough to call the company she was telemarketing for and asked if she was in the area I lived as she had my name, my phone number, and my address. They told me that yes, she was within a fifty mile radius of me...

Thirty minutes later, she called back, screaming at me, "You BITCH!!! You F***ING BITCH!!!"

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was a bit scared of this woman. She seemed unbalanced.

Fortunately, as far as I know, she never followed up on her threats, implied or spoken... But sometimes politely saying no and hanging up just doesn't work.

[ArnoldLayne]

174. Where I worked I had no option of calling them back I had no phone just a headset. Dialer was

a computer that would call once and then the next person would appear on the computer screen. That person that called you names must have wrote down you name and phone number real fast and called you on a regular phone. That's all I figure out because as soon as a person hangs up about a minute later another person pops up on you're screen. She must have been a Psycho I hate to say.

[countryjake]

176. Normally, I opt to be friendly and matter-of-fact...

since here at home, we rarely ever get those kind of calls. I've even had long, non-business type conversations with salespeople, asking them what part of the country (or world) they are sitting in, how long they've been stuck working at a call center, how's the pay, family to support, and my favorite question...ever been to the beautiful state of Washington.

One guy sitting in India, Hasit was his name, ended up thanking me for the call...we had a fine conversation about life in our respective locations, politics, the plight of poor working people all over the planet and he even managed to collect his commission for the call. It was an enlightening discussion to discover what sort of folk actually sit at those phone banks for so many tedious hours. So, on my own phone, I remain polite.

However, I found myself needing to shed my usual sociable demeanor last year, when it was necessary for me to spend time at my ancient mother's home. I found that her old rotary dial phone never stopped ringing, day after day, call upon call, and there were no "buttons" to push in order to signify "not interested" or "do not call".

The first thing we did was to make sure that both her name and my deceased father's name were on the national list of numbers not to be contacted (they were) so then I began making a list of all the various businesses and organizations who were plaguing our phone number with telemarketing solicitations, robo-calls, and pleas for donations. I tallied up more than 200 of the bastards who had targeted a poor, sick old woman for daily harassment.

It took me months to get them to understand that they did not have a right to call that phone number. I spoke with supervisors, call center managers, complaint departments, even big bosses, and it was necessary to get extremely sharp-tongued with most of them, just to get it thru their fucking heads that my mother was NOT a person to be taken advantage of.

As a rule, politely saying "not interested" may work for most, but that often does not apply for the thousands of elderly folk who answer their telephones in good faith.

[ArnoldLayne]

178. Not Intersted and hang up

[Omaha Steve]

177. I was an outbound Telephone Sales Rep for two years

With all the calls I made, chances are I called somebody on the DU. I was TSR of the month twice in my career there BTW.

OS

[madinmaryland]

179. I just tell them I am on the Do Not Call and say goodbye. If I answer the phone.

If I don't recognize the number, I normally don't answer it.

[tosh]

182. I always tell myself

that this is some poor soul who just needed a job.

And then I do as you suggest.

[ArnoldLayne]

185. That is good

[KentuckyWoman]

183. My number is on the do not call list - I will not be nice. I will also not be rude.

Telemarketer employees have to know they are a menace when they take the job. It's like stippers, garbage collectors, whoever cleans the stuck stuff out of the sewage system or cleans up dead animals off the freeway.

It's a crappy job. You know it going in and make a choice. If they get someone at a bad time and get rude in their ear that's part of what they signed on for.

However, I will not be rude. I tell them I'm on the do not call list and they are criminals. Please get me off the list. If I get another call I've been known to tell them I think we asked for no more calls but let me get my husband. Then I put the phone down and go on about my business ...... and they wait and wait. Usually I get about 5 minutes out of them before they give up.

[ArnoldLayne]

184. After 5 minutes they already forgot about you. The automatic dialer has already dialed about 4 other

people since you. Don't anyone understand its hang up and in 30 seconds it is a different person you are talking to. You just have your phone off the hook for 5 minutes for nothing.

[Gormy Cuss]

190. I'm not going to be polite just to avoid their assholish behavior.

I'm also not inclined to be rude if they're professional and listen when I say "put this number on your do not call list."

[99Forever]

193. My phone, paid for by me.

Call me unsolicited and you'll get what you get. Don't like it? Don't call me. Problem solved.

[freshwest]

195. They are people desperate for a job. Really, who wants to be a telemarketer?

I immediately tell them cheerfully:

Good luck on your next call, goodbye.

Then I hang up in a normal way. I know that is another human being, who needs a job that I'm glad it's not me doing.

Being abusive would say a lot about me and nothing about them.

[sibelian]

196. I don't even say I'm not interested. I hang up instantly.

I don't think I've spoken a single word to a telemarketer for about 5 years.

I don't know if our value as a target has gone own on some book somewhere but the telemarketing calls have dropped slowly to nothing.

[NutmegYankee]

197. Nope.

I am on the do not call list. If you call me, you are a criminal. Frankly I consider it criminal, no call list or not as you are using MY phone for your business without my permission. If you want to rent my phone, then pay me. But instead you use it without my permission. You are a thief! And I will treat a criminal as they deserve.

There was once a time when I might have had compassion to phone operators, but a decade ago I got a new number that belonged to some guy who was in debt. I was called incessantly at terrible times, accused of lying and covering for the the guy in debt. The people calling cussed me out, yelled at me, and routinely insulted me. And I wasn't even the right guy. I was left with a true impression of phone operators as soulless despicable scumbags.

I eventually stopped arguing with them and just resorted to a 120dBA whistle. I don't care if they put me on a call back. The whistle solves all. And the calls soon stop. Haven't had one in years.

[kcr]

199. I agree. I think it's pointless to advocate being rude to them.

They're a nuisance, and I'm not going to judge anyone for being rude in response. We had to give up and disconnect our landline because it was rendered useless by so many telemarketing calls. But the people calling aren't the ones who make the decision for the company to exist and call. Harassing them won't make the problem go away.

[Zorra]

202. Telemarketing is a rude and *unwarranted invasion of privacy for profit* and should be illegal. nt

[antiquie]

203. +infinity ~ nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

207. When I was in college, I took a job soliciting alumni for donations.

It wasn't always fun, but I needed the money. It helped pay for my future wife's engagement ring.

So with that people experience, I can't support the idea that people need to assholes to telemarketers. Even when I'm forced to hang up in midsentence for one who doesn't get the hint, I'm never unduly rude or overly aggressive in doing so.

[noamnety]

215. I'm not convinced about that tradeoff.

"I needed the money" doesn't match, in my opinion, with "I used it to buy an engagement ring."

In my value system, if a person wouldn't marry me because of a small or nonexistent ring, that's not a marriage I should be in. And I wouldn't do it if the tradeoff was that I need to intrude on random stranger's lives over and over, not knowing if I'm ruining their sleep, waking their baby that was just crying for an hour before it finally drifted off, etc.

It's one thing to sink to that level for basic survival - if you won't be able to eat if you don't fuck people over. But for jewelry? Heck no.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

216. Whatever.

It was for some spare cash, which wasn't all that ample in my college days, and it wasn't type of the thing I wanted to hit up my parents for, but rather that I wanted to earn myself.

That's really beside the point though. The bigger point is that I realized that the people on the other side of the phone are human beings, and just because I'm not interested in whatever they are asking for doesn't mean I have to act like an asshole about it.

[duhneece]

214. I say, "You have a tough job, I appreciate your efforts

BUT I'm not at all interested. I've lost my job..." Their response is so worth it.

[seveneyes]

217. Card services, viagra scams, microsoft claimed bot scams and many more illegal scams

Most of it from overseas and spoofed numbers. No way will they ever be treated with any respect.
If anything, they will hold on the line until the nonexistent person comes to the phone or they hang up. They have used all my patience up.

[WillowTree]

220. I only get calls from scammers. "Hello. This is _______ from 'Card Services'.

And they're going to get me better interest rates on my credit cards. As if they know what my interest rates are to begin with. And the calls always come from different out-of-state toll-free numbers. They're calling to get credit card numbers from me. I don't think so.

And they're not just poor souls trying to make a living. They're criminals trying to steal from me. So yes, they get the very loud air horn on my computer in their ears and I don't feel the least bit sorry.

[pipi_k]

231. I'm always tempted

to give them a bunch of made-up numbers, but I'm afraid I would give a number that's actually valid and end up screwing some innocent person.

Anyway, those card service places keep telling me it's my last chance to take advantage of their fabulous offers.

So far I've had about 30 "last chances".

[WillowTree]

236. They've called me dozens of times.

As I said, it was obviously a scam from the beginning because they have no way of knowing what cards I have or what interest rates they carry. I foolishly tried telling them that I'm on the DNC list which never stopped the calls. The one time that I spoke to a fella and told him that I've asked them to take me off their list repeatedly, he got all snarky with me.

Makes me sad, though, to know that this must be working on people because I've been getting such calls for two years or more so they must be having some success.

.

[pipi_k]

238. Yep, that's the

scary/sad part about it all.

If it didn't work, at least a small percentage of the time, they wouldn't keep doing it.

And it's probably mostly the elderly who fall for it.

I'm glad I'm married to a skeptical old curmudgeon who still possesses the capacity to smell bullshit.

[ronnie624]

221. Being rude to a telemarketer

isn't really the same thing as not caring about whether or not they have a job or that their children are going hungry, as some here are claiming, nor does rudeness necessarily equate to being a Republican. What an incredible failure of logic. I can't help but notice, that a lot of the posters who claim concern for someone's bruised feelings, tend to be some of the rudest posters here, using straw man arguments and ad hominem attacks to make their 'points'. A lot of them are also the same ones who express support for policies that result in so much death and misery in other countries. What a bizarre discrepancy that is. A lot of people simply pay the concept of concern for their fellow humans lip service when it serves their political views.

I'm never overtly rude to telemarketers, however, even though, at times, they cause me problems on my job. I just hang up on them and go about my business. I understand that they are members of the working class, and like me, they are simply making a living. I have known many, and they have been good people for the most part.

[Ino]

223. This is me politely putting you on ignore

because I'm tired of reading your "Be nice to me for bothering you or I WILL GET EVEN" posts.

[pintobean]

224. Before you go

read his hidden post up-thread to see the hypocrisy.

[Ino]

225. I don't need to read any more

I know an abusive bully when I see one!

[pipi_k]

229. Actually

it would be a good idea to read that post upthread that was hidden.


People are not supposed to verbally abuse telemarketers, but it's OK for him to verbally abuse a female supervisor. And probably in a way few here have ever spoken to anyone...telemarketers included.

[Ms. Toad]

264. Agreed. n/t

[bravenak]

226. I worked one of those telemarketing jobs for three months and I was really good.

After three months I figured out it was a scam. I quit that day and filed a police report and never received my final paycheck.
I felt so bad about ripping people off. My fellow employees laughed at me when I quit, they thought I was naive, and everybody else knew it was a scam.
They(management) took the credit card numbers from the order forms and used those peoples credit to buy cell phones in bulk to resell, and anything else they could order over the phone.
I got a call from a client out of state saying somebody used her credit card number all over the place in my city.
So in closing, most telemarketing is a scam.
Be rude to the person who is trying to rob you blind and ruin your credit.

[Shoulders of Giants]

230. I usually just hang up.

I know if I say not interested, they will try to argue with me. I am Asperger's, so I am bad with conflict. I know many of the telemarketers probably took the job because they had no other options. I feel bad for them, but hanging up is my easy way out.

Door to Door salesman are harder to with it. I had one guy who wouldn't accept the 4th time I said "not interested" for an answer. I couldn't get him off my property. I actually shut the door on him and locked it. I know he is doing what he has to do to get by, but god damnit, this is my home. Show some respect. Since then, in the Spring and Summer, if I don't know who is coming to my door, I don't answer it.

[DFW]

232. Someone once told me the best response

"Before we go any further, would you please tell me YOUR name and home phone number?"

(caller, not expecting this, says no and asks why)

"Because I'd like to call you up at home and sell YOU some stuff you neither need nor want."

[redqueen]

234. Just wanted to thank you for this thread.

A very effective way of revealing character.

I've never put so many people on ignore at one time.

[pintobean]

235. I wish we could put telemarketers on ignore.

Did you read the OP's hidden post?

[bluestateguy]

251. I will say I am not interested

I cannot promise that I will be nice about it.

If they call again, I will be even nastier.

[Lint Head]

257. I think telemarketing should be outlawed. Just my personal opinion and of course will not happen.

I am on a Do Not Call List for a reason. If I want a product I will go to a store or buy it online. When someone calls I ask, "Who's calling?" simply because proper phone etiquette is that the person doing the calling must identify themselves first. When "I" call someone I say, "I am (enter any name) may I speak to (enter name of person being called)". Not, "Is (enter name&quot there may I speak to him or her?" It is rude and subversive to hide who is calling. Unless of course you're "trying" to hide something. When I ask for the person who is calling's name is is always a phony name and they just give you the first name. Why is that? Is it because they know who you are and want to hide who they are? What are they afraid of? Retaliation for something? The person being "called" should be more afraid because the person calling will not divulge "their" full identity.

The mail is a different thing. Solicitation by mail is obvious in it's content. You can look at it at your leisure and not be confronted by a sales person. Of course telemarketers are just doing a job and they are just human beings. But so am I and I simply don't have enough minutes left in my lifespan to constantly listen to sales jobs. When I go to a store I can actually see the sales person and speak to them. I know their intentions from the get go.

OK lame away.

[hobbit709]

259. Unsolicited calls when I'm on the Do-not-call-list get whatever I feel like dishing out.

[Vashta Nerada]

260. Telemarketers call me and interrupt my time with my family.

And you have the gall to tell me to be nice?

Um, no.

Your post sounds like this:
"Be nice to me or we'll harass you later."

[Blue Diadem]

270. Some new rules as of 10/2013 for robocalls

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/robocalls

The New Rules For Robocalls

The FCC’s new rules impose additional requirements for how a business must obtain your consent before it may make a prerecorded telemarketing call to your residential phone number or make an autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing call or text to your wireless number. The new rules require that telemarketers first obtain your written consent to receive such calls or messages, on paper or through electronic means, including website forms, a telephone keypress, or a recording of your oral consent.

Another change is that telemarketers will no longer be able to make telemarketing robocalls to your landline home telephone based solely on an “established business relationship” with you. You may establish such a relationship when you purchase something from a business or contact the business to ask questions. Businesses must now have your prior express written consent before making telemarketing robocalls to you, even if they have an established business relationship with you. (Note: Telemarketers have never been permitted to make robocalls to your wireless phone based solely on an “established business relationship” with you).

The new rules also require telemarketers to allow you to opt out of receiving additional telemarketing robocalls immediately during a prerecorded telemarketing call through an automated menu. The opt-out mechanism must be announced at the outset of the message and must be available throughout the duration of the call. This new requirement means that you will not have to hang up and make a separate call in order to stop further telemarketing robocalls.
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I found this interesting:
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/unwanted-telephone-marketing-calls

If you have caller ID, a telemarketer is required to transmit or display its phone number and, if available, its name or the name and phone number of the company for which it is selling products. The display must include a phone number that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. This rule applies even if you have an EBR with the company, and even if you have not registered your home phone number(s) on the national Do-Not-Call list. Before these rules took effect, the words “private,” “out of area” or “unavailable” might have appeared on the Caller ID display.

[MADem]

276. No offense, but that is the dumbest, worst advice I've ever seen on DU.

If you're polite to them, they don't want to tell their bosses that they failed, so they kick the can down the road.

Best option for someone victimized by those assholes--and they are assholes-- is to say you need to switch to a different phone, and then go about your business for twenty minutes or so. If you come back after 20 minutes and they are still there, tell them that this number is on the Do Not Call List and you'll sue them if they ever call again.

Or there's always the Air Horn.

Telemarketers are a scourge on society. They are rude, intrusive and offensive. NO one wants to buy the shit they are selling. They make their money by scamming old people; and they should be outlawed.

[OldEurope]

277. This works for you and me, but

my elderly mother who has Alzheimer's was talked into some strange and expensive contracts. I do not call this annoying, I call this criminal. Too many of those telemarketers do not care at all. What you are defending is, IMHO, not the ones at the telephones, but their employers. They are, at least a huge part of them, criminals. Who is working for criminals (and knows this) is a criminal, too.

[Historic NY]

281. Lots get snagged in enforcement

http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/do-not-call-registry/enforcement

[arely staircase]

282. better yet, get rid of your land line and never speak to one again

I realized a few years ago I was paying 40 bucks a month just to pestered.

[kentauros]

284. The responses to telemarketers on the following site are priceless,

and I'm going to have to remember some of them for the ones that simply will not take NO for an answer

http://notalwaysworking.com/tag/telemarketing

[spin]

285. I just don't answer the phone unless someone leaves a message of importance to me. ...

A telemarketer can waste weeks calling my number and never get an answer, and they do.