3 little words for phone solicitors...

[Mickey's sunshine]

I suppose some degree of commerce would grind to a halt if telephone solicitors weren't able to call people at home during the dinner hour. But that doesn't make it any more pleasant. Now Steve Rubenstein, a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle,
has proposed three little words - based on his brief experience in a telemarketing operation - that would stop the nuisance for all time. The three little words are;

"Hold on, please."

Saying this while putting down your phone and walking off instead of hanging up immediately -- would make each telemarketing call so time-consuming that boiler rooms would grind to a halt. When you eventually hear the phone company's
beep-beep-beep tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task. This might be one of those articles you'll want to e-mail to your friends.
Three little words that eliminate telephone soliciting!

 

[Girls Scout Leader]

How annoying for them!

Gotta try that....just to be annoying to them for once...

 

[dianeschlicht]

I have tried that and a myriad of other things, but the best is to talk to them and tell them to remove your number from their list. We have a new state law in Minnesota to help. We can have our name put on a "don't call " list, and all solicitors in the state MUST purchase the list. If they call someone on the "don't call" list, you can get them in trouble. Big fines, I think.

 

[RHONDALEE]

That could backfire. It might make them so mad that they call more often and at any hour of the day or night. Even if you have caller id, the calls come in as "unavailable" so you don't know who's calling so you wouldn't know who to report.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Sounds funny but telling them to put you on the "no call" list does work.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Telemarketing has gotten such a bad rap that it's hard to do part of my job.

As a service company, we call ALL our customers after a job has been done to make sure that everything was satisfactory. We make these calls in the evenings and on Saturdays because that is when people are home and we truly want their input. However, people are so "in tune" to telemarketing that half the time I (or whomever is making the call) can get out "Mr/Mrs ___, this is _____ from Quality Assurance at _________, we were at your home last week for a _____ and I was wondering if you had a moment to answer a few quick questions regarding the service you received." We get hang ups, not interested, etc. All we're trying to do is make sure the customer is happy!

 

[aahmom1]

I can't even put on this site what a telemarketer told me to 'go do' when I told her 'no thank you' the other day. She really made a mistake though, because my caller ID picked up the #, and I called the main office and told them what she said.

 

[shep]

Originally posted by RHONDALEE
That could backfire. It might make them so mad that they call more often and at any hour of the day or night. Even if you have caller id, the calls come in as "unavailable" so you don't know who's calling so you wouldn't know who to report.

I got reveal for my phone so they'd have to enter something..

 

[DocRafiki]

What is Reveal? That sounds interesting.

That's a shame, A&H'sMom. I've heard that tone of "what now" when I call to check on patients, too, but never a hang-up or "not interested."