20 Ways to Play With the Mind of a Telemarketer

http://www.bankrate.com/nsc/news/advice/20031107a1.asp

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We are supposed to be on the national "DO NOT CALL" list, but we get calls for surveys sometimes. The most recent time, which was a few days ago, I just hung up on them.

One time the same telemarketer called my mom twice at odd times. The second time, she got fed up and said, "Why don't you people just get a real job." I found this funny at the time. So, one time I picked up one of those telemarketer calls and said the same thing my mom said. Of course, she got mad at me and said the only reason that she said that was because they called back twice at weird times; after she said she wasn't interested the first time.

I have my own phone number in my room. I had to have gotten at least 1 or 2 calls a day from AT&T a few days in a row. I don't even have AT&T phone service...don't even know how they got my number since I never gave it out, except to few friends, and it was fairly new. Anyways, the last time I said, "This is about the fith or sixth time you've called. Please stop calling me!" and hung up and I never heard from them again.

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When a telemarketer tried to sell me phone service, i was like, "Well, i kinda live in a box." His response was, "well, is it comfy?" haha and then he just hung up.

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I feel bad for the people who actually make the calls- it's not a very fun job. And it's really not their fault their companies are so damn annoying. Usually I just hang up and save everyone a lot of trouble.

Well, finding a job isn't easy nowadays. But they should avoid calling in the evening, as that is when people eat dinner. 98% of the telemarketer calls I have gotten in the past were made in the evening around dinner time. I understand you can't predict when someone is eating dinner, but why not just stop making calls after 5 pm?

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i usually play out the "is it safe" scene from marathon man or calmly explain that the person that they are looking for is out of the country and not due back until late 2009 and if they'd call back then it would be helpful.

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There's always the joys of Caller ID.

One of the weirdest things that happened to me last year in college was getting a phone call from a local paper asking me to subscribe. I was so surprised I actually tried to convince them that calling me was pointless.

"I'm a college student; I have no money."

"But we have this great discount deal..."

"My mailbox is 3 inches wide."

"But you should still subscribe..."

"I read three other newspapers."

"What's the harm of adding another?"

I hung up at that point.

Sometimes they talk so fast. All I hear is, "HellowearecallingonbehalfofsoandsoandIwanttoofferyouthisnewrugforonlythirtybucks...."

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I didn't send you any money!

CLICK!

911. CLICK!

Back when I got a lot of these calls, I would just immediately hang up. Then I decided it would be more fun to play with them. I would express interest in whatvere they were selling then say, can I put you on hold for just a second? I had awful elevator type music cued on my cd player and would turn it on and set the phone next to the speaker.

I would sometimes explain that iw as inetrested but, I ma having truoble with my phone. If we get disconnected, please call back. Then keep hanging up after letting them talk a few minutes. They would call back only once, twice at the most. I had persistent person who called back five times before I said "I've had fun playing with you but, I really have to go now. The game is over, thanks for playing."

Another fun thing to do is to pretend interest but be confused. "So, if I subscribe to this service, you're saying I get a year free?"

"Could you explain the terms again? I don't get it but it sounds interesting."

I've never had to do telemarketing, but working in the box office once led to me phoning subscribers to our theatre. My only task was to verify their credit cards, because they had failed during the subscription renewal.

These people had subscribed to the theatre, and provided a credit card already...

I was abused, hung up on, etc.
My skin isn't thick enough. I needed a stiff Maker's Mark that night.

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