slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (10/12/85)
> >I often get calls between 7:30-8:30 in the evening from people >trying to sell something. They try to sell everything from >funeral plots to light bulbs. >Does anyone know how one gets on these lists, or possibly how >to get off them short of having an unlisted number? >Maureen Chew Sorry, even an unlisted number probably won't do the trick. In most cases, the salesmen are simply going through every combination of the 10,000 numbers on a given prefix. So whether your number is unlisted or not, you will get called. The only remedy I know of is an answering machine. One exception to this is house improvement salesmen. We were deluged with calls for about a year after we bought our house. The salesmen got our name and address from the sales notice in the paper. That has calmed down now, and most of the calls are random. This can happen to you if you have a baby (the birth notice), or get married, too. If nothing has happened recently to get you in the paper, then those are probably random calls. If it will make you feel better, you could blow a police whistle into the phone, or say "Just a second, I have a cake in the oven." and come back 2 hours later, or get their company name and tell them that you are going to call the BBB. But you'll probably get just as many calls, and the person calling is just an employee--probably a very poor person who really needed a job, and doesn't deserve the hassles. -- Sue Brezden ihnp4!drutx!slb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I march to the beat of a different drummer, whose identity, location, and musical ability are as yet unknown. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
essachs@ihuxl.UUCP (Ed Sachs) (10/14/85)
Perhaps the most amusing time I ever had with a telephone salesperson was one from a company in the business of waterproofing basements. It turned out that we had had some foundation cracks repaired by this very same company only 2 or 3 years earlier (obviously they were just calling randomly). Caller: Hello, I'm calling from ... company, do you have problems with seepage in your basement? (or some such opener). Me: I used to, but I had it fixed a few years ago. Caller: And who did the repairs? Me: You did! Caller (flustered): Um, er, uh,... Are you satisfied with the job? -- Ed Sachs AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxl!essachs
rjn@hpfcla.UUCP (10/14/85)
re: telephone solicitation * If the caller asks permission to speak with you, respond "Yes" or "No" as you please and add, "I never respond to telephone solicitation." I answer "Yes, but I never ..." and they always say "Thank you" and hang up. * If the caller does not ask permission to speak with you, and just launches into his/her pitch, INTERRUPT them. They have already interrupted you by calling, and this rude behaviour demonstrates that they don't care about what they have interrupted. Say something like "Stop. .... You have not asked for my agreement to listen to this. Goodbye." Many people feel compelled to attack the caller. This does not serve anyone. * By creating outrage within yourself, you are placing yourself at the emotional "effect" of this anonymous person. Don't give them such control over you. It is possible (and OK) to be assertive without getting angry. * Attacking people rarely causes them to change their behaviour. Instead of focusing on the "valuable insights" you are sharing with them, they go into defense mode, justifying to themselves why what they are doing is "right" and why you are "wrong". * 99.9763% of telephone solicitors are down and out folks who would much rather have almost any other job. Trying to make them feel bad about themselves probably won't materially affect the telemarketing biz. What will affect it is low sales. Don't buy stuff from any caller. * The other 0.0237% of solicitors are the pros who run the stock and commodity scams. The best thing to do with these folks is to share with them that you suspect that they are crooks, that you feel invaded by their call, and is that the kind of effect they really want to have in their lives.... You probably won't get the chance. They don't want to waste their time on anything but separating you from your money. So, waste their time - prevent them from calling someone else for a few minutes - quietly leave the phone off the hook and go about your business. Regards, Hewlett-Packard Bob Niland 3404 East Harmony Road hplabs!hpfcla!rjn Fort Collins CO 80525
stevev@tekchips.UUCP (Steve Vegdahl) (10/14/85)
> We were deluged > with calls for about a year after we bought our house. The salesmen > got our name and address from the sales notice in the paper. After we bought our first house, we were also deluged with such calls. After what seemed like several hundred of them, I finally developed a technique that seemed to be quite effective. At some point very early on in the conversation they would invariably ask me some kind of question, to which I'd answer something to the effect, "We have all the life insurance we need right now, thank you." All the while, I'd have my finger in the phone switch, and as I said the last word of my sentence (e.g., "you"), I would press it down. End of conversation. Steve Vegdahl Computer Research Lab. Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, Oregon
matt@oddjob.UUCP (Matt Crawford) (10/15/85)
I found that the following response derails the standard opening very nicely: caller: "Hello, Mr. Crawford? How are you today?" me: "Is this a social call or business?" _____________________________________________________ Matt University crawford@anl-mcs.arpa Crawford of Chicago ihnp4!oddjob!matt
rhoads@oasys.UUCP (10/16/85)
> > > Sorry, even an unlisted number probably won't do the trick. In > most cases, the salesmen are simply going through every combination > of the 10,000 numbers on a given prefix. This doesn't make sense to me, since most of the time I get these calls, the person at the other end says "Hello, Mr. Hollowell?", or (even worse) "Hello, Jim?". These people are not going randomly (or they wouldn't know a name) OR by the phone book, since my name is listed as Rhoads Hollowell, and to date not one person has asked for "Rhoads". (Only "Jim" -- my first name is James) -- Rhoads Hollowell {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires![oasys!]rhoads "I knew I shoulda made dat left turn at Alburqurque!!" --B. Bunny
ron@hpfcla.UUCP (10/17/85)
More junk phone calls.....
The line at our house is "We NEVER take advantage of any deals offered
over the telephone. We feel telephone soliciting is an invasion of
our privacy. Good bye."
It works in most cases. (1 at a time)
Anecdote: My wife laid this line on a female who was soliciting for
XYZ (name was known at the time) Insurance. Almost immediately there
was the phone ringing again. Answered, there was one word," Bitch!" followed
by a click.
A quick look at the yellow pages indicated there were several agents in town
for this company but we thought we'd talk to one to see if there was anyone
we could discuss this with from the XYZ company. Surprise ! The person who
answered the phone was the same one who had hurled the insult ! How did we
know ? When my wife started describing the problem, the person on the other
end fired up with , " I don't what you're talking about. I have another call
and have to go. (click)"
I then called (switching voices now) and left a message for the agent to call
me back. Just in case the message got 'lost' with the female voice, I also
called his home (they put home numbers for insurance agents) and left the
same 'please call back' message there too.
The agent called a few hours later and I explained the situation and why
we thought his solicitor was the problem. He reacted in an unexpected
manner and denied that such a thing could happen even though his 14 year old
daughter and her girlfriend were doing telephone soliciting UNSUPERVISED that
afternoon. He pointed out that 'they are trained to not do such things.'
We parted after strongly but politely disagreeing.
I then called a different XYZ agent and asked this sympathetic person who
the other agent's boss was. I then called the boss and explained the
whole story. My point was that I was looking for satisfaction,not denial.
If the agent had said he would make sure his daughter never did it again,
I would have quit then but he didn't so I didn't. The supervisor understood
and rendered the sympathetic reaction I was seeking and promised to
show his agent how he hadn't done the reasonable thing and agreed with me.
Now, picture the 14 year old girl: does naughty thing, victim calls back
and recognizes her voice (what totally random luck !!!), her father comes
down on her after talking to the victim's husband, THEN her father's boss
comes down on her father !!!! (chortle, chortle)
That's exactly the kind of thing that happens to me when I try to do
something naughty.
Ron Miller
No one has ever gone broke UNDERestimating the intelligence of the American
public !
FSD Service Engineering (Hardware Support)
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Ft. Collins Systems Div.
Ft. Collins Colorado
303-226-3800
at: {ihnp4}hpfcla!ron