Really annoying solicitation calls

[Sheryl]

Okay, we are on the "do not call list" which has reduced the barrage of unwelcome calls to a much smaller trickle. Tonight I got a call from an anti-abortion rights group who were calling to share "information." In the end it was a request for $100. Not trying to start an debate about abortion, but isn't it just annoying to get called by any kind of solicitor at dinner time??? Just becuase they aren't selling a product or service, but rather seeking a donation means they can harrass by phone and the telemarketers can't.
Sheryl

[linda]

Sheryl, You are far too nice. Tell them to put your name on their "do not call list", tell them thank you, and hang up the phone (don't slam it, just hang it up). In most states, there is a large fine for calling someone again once they have specifically been told to take that number off their list.
Linda

[Kit]

My dad talks to the people. Asks them all kinds of questions about whatever they are calling about.
Then depending on what they are selling, he tells them he just had that done/replaced, or whatever.

[lesfire]

Once, years ago, my mom kept getting calls from a siding salesman. She kept telling him she had a brick house and he kept telling her well do you want siding for your eves and overhangs? She kept telling him no and hanging up. But this guy was persistent. Finally out of frustration she told him I don't need any siding I live in a hot air balloon. And believe it or not he quipped, well ma'am do you need siding for your balloon?

[Mary Ann]

The ones that really make me crazy are the ones that are recorded. You don't even get a real person to hang up on! And you can't tell them to put you on their Do Not Call list because there's no one to tell!

We're on the National Do Not Call list, and that's helped a lot, but we still get local sales calls. Those I do ask to remove me from their list, but I wonder if they really do, regardless of what the law says.

Man, those calls annoy me!!!

[Littljoe]

My older daughter Heather worked as a phone solicitor for two days ( ;D) once when she was desperate for a job. Well, actually, she went through a week of training, then worked for two days and had had enough. Anyhoo--

--what I learned from her is that the kindest thing you can do to a phone solicitor is to hang up on them! If you don't, they are *required* to keep hassling you according to the script, or they'll lose their job (and believe me, the supervisors monitor all calls and know exactly what all their employees are doing). If you hang up, however, they can breathe a sigh of relief and go on to the next. They're not to blame because you haven't bought anything.

I used to try to let phone solicitors down easy with nice conversation and polite refusals, because I felt sorry for them. But that's the worst thing to do, because it requires them to keep trying to sell you something you have no intention of buying. And it makes them look bad because if they talk to you for a long time and you *still* don't buy anything, they must be doing a bad job.

Also, part of how they are paid is related to their sales/call ratio, and if you keep them on the line without buying you're making that worse. They should be spending their time with people who actually might buy something.

Since the "do not call" list we don't get many solicitation calls, but when we do, as soon as I hear the spiel starting I just hang up.

--LJ

[tricia]

The one thing that I have found that really works is my V-Tech phone with a Tele-zapper built in. If they call you using a computer to dial the phone (and 99% of them do), when the phone is picked up, it beeps out that tone that you get when you dial a number that has been disconnected. The computer dialer hangs up and records your number as dis-connected. I can tell a drastic difference in the amount of calls that we get. It even works when the answering machine picks up.

[Mary Ann]

I really thought that once the national Do Not Call list went into effect, that the calls would dry up. I still get one every day or two.

I might have to get a TeleZapper. It'd probably be worth it in the saved aggravation!

[ExLibris]

I actually got one yesterday who started out by asking me all sorts of weird, unrelated questions as if he knew me personally..."How are ya? Didja have a good Christmas? How was your New Years?" Sheesh! It took him several minutes to get around to mentioning he's with some cheesy insurance company...

[AmberC]

I always tell them that I don't do business with companies that telemarket, then I hang up.

Once I got a call that started out "Hello! Do you have an automobile with a cracked or broken windshield?"
I replied "No, but if I did I'd look in the phone book and call somebody to fix it." and hung up. I can't stand people calling me! I don't mind junk mail, because I already had to get up and get my bills and mail that I want. But nothing bugs me more than having the phone ring, taking me away from whatever I'm doing, and it's just someone trying to sell me something!

Amber