OT-Does anyone else get a lot of telemarketers calling? It's annoying

[fanoftinkerbell]

Sept 30th we can sign up for a DNC list, but it won't fully take effect for 31 days... Bites, but what can you do... They "Claim" it's good for 3 yrs when you put your name on it.

 

[seashoreCM]

They always call at the worst times (making dinner, eating dinner, hustling the kids out the door, someone needs mommy's "assistance-in-the-bathroom", etc) ... I guess I could always tell them I need to go wipe my kids' butt?? LOL ... wonder if THEY would hang up or hang on for a moment?? Should try it next time i

As suggested before, ask them to please hold and then you put down the phone and "forget" about them.

We also tend to hang up One caution ... beware of those phone calls that have a cheerful woman telling you that you've won a family vacation to Florida, the Bahamas, etc. and that to claim your prize all you need to do is "Press 9" ... I think if you actually "Press 9" you start being charged a per minute rate.

Can they do that in Canada? They may not do that in the U.S.; if a call got charged to you in this fashion you simply dispute (repudiate) it and the phone company has to take it off your bill.

By the way, never press a whole bunch of numbers in response to someone's begging or beseeching on the other end of the line. This might cause call forwarding whereby someone, perhaps in prison, dials your number that is a local call for them and the call forwards at your expense to some other number of his choice, namely the sequence of digits you pressed.



Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[bgula]

Try ioptout.ca. It gets you off the lists of the organizations that are exempt from the new DNC list. You can choose online who you want to exclude.

 

[Northstar]

Try ioptout.ca. It gets you off the lists of the organizations that are exempt from the new DNC list. You can choose online who you want to exclude.

Thank you, bgula! This is what I have been looking for.

 

[starrzone]

YES; we get these all the time and it is SO irritating!!! I've gotten to recognize that "dead space" as soon as the phone rings means it's a telelmarketer, and I just hang up.

My father has the BEST method for dealing with the charities that call soliciting donations. You see, he has been and still is VERY involved with charities in our community over the years, so he knows which ones are legit and which aren't. He will listen to the spiel, and then start asking questions: What was your financial status at the end of the last fiscal year? What sort of investments, if any, does your charity have? I would like more info; can you give me an address and phone number and I will call you back? (he's a chartered accountant, by the way, who used to perform audits on businesses). This usually shuts them up REAL quick and the same one rarely calls back again!

I am never rude, though I realize that for some people this is necessary if you get a telemarketer who borders on militant harassment. I wish they realize that if we wanted the product THAT much, we would go out in person and take care of it instead of trusting some stranger on the phone!!!

 

[disneymath]

Can they do that in Canada? They may not do that in the U.S.; if a call got charged to you in this fashion you simply dispute (repudiate) it and the phone company has to take it off your bill.

I don't know if they "can" legally do this in Canada --- I do know that we have been getting those types of calls every few months or so. I've never actually gone ahead and "pressed 9" - instead I just hang up.

My father has the BEST method for dealing with the charities that call soliciting donations. You see, he has been and still is VERY involved with charities in our community over the years, so he knows which ones are legit and which aren't. He will listen to the spiel, and then start asking questions: What was your financial status at the end of the last fiscal year? What sort of investments, if any, does your charity have? I would like more info; can you give me an address and phone number and I will call you back? (he's a chartered accountant, by the way, who used to perform audits on businesses). This usually shuts them up REAL quick and the same one rarely calls back again!

I am never rude, though I realize that for some people this is necessary if you get a telemarketer who borders on militant harassment. I wish they realize that if we wanted the product THAT much, we would go out in person and take care of it instead of trusting some stranger on the phone!!!

My mom keeps track of all her charitable donations ... she donates once per year to the charities she supports. Unfortunately, some charities call back every few weeks or so - truly annoying since she had made her intentions clear. On a few occasions, she has resorted to stating that if they insist on calling so frequently, she will stop her annual donation too!

The really pushy ones are definitely the worst ... really, what part of "Sorry, I'm not interested" is so hard to understand. It's these types of telemarketers that annoy my dad to the point where he starts making up stories just to get them to stop calling.