how to put telemarketers out of business....

[susieq]

Forget the "do not call" lists..... We have our numbers registered with the National list and the State list. They still call


Last year, I started using a new tactic. You need caller ID and an answering machine or voice mail that you can customize your greeting......

Your greeting should get right to the point.....don't bother with hello or telling them they've reached the home of (your names) No friendly greetings.... they hang up as soon as they realize it's the voice mail so you have to make your point in the first half dozen words or so.... mine says:
"we don't answer if we don't know who you are, leave a message".

We recognize most numbers of friends and family so if they call, we pick up....most of the time. grin. If it's a business we have a relationship with or a doctors office, we answer. Anyone else has to leave a message. Most live callers, don't. Some recorded messages do continue until we pick up and hangup in quick succession.

The voice mail on my cell phone says the same thing. If you really want to make telemarketers go away, this would do it....if everyone practiced this.

Of course, they make most of their successful calls to elderly, lonely and vulnerable people.... check on your older relatives often, to make sure they aren't victimized...

[Tom-H]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

I prefer the message, "you have reached a number that has a Federal Communications Commission wire tap connected".

Tom H

[susieq]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

Good one....LOL
I think anything that is short and to the point. Lets them know they're wasting their time.

If they can't get anyone on the line, they can't make any money..... you can't stay in business if you don't make money. Caller ID is the best thing ever......

[rickm]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

it seems when you get older you get calls for Viagra, reverse mortgages, harp, alarm systems blah blah everyday. I am on the do not call list as well and basically its worthless as far as I can tell.

[Paul_Guraedy]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

My youngest son is a software engineer. He says there is only one surefire solution to this type problem. He has told everyone, he never answers his ringing phone unless the ID shows up (taken from his phone list). His phone message says, "Leave a message." That's it. If they don't leave a message, they don't get a return call.


Those of us who know him also know that he seldom even bothers to look and see who is calling when it rings. If it tells him he has a message, then he will check. I have learned to always leave a message. He does not bother with the missed call numbers very often.


Works for him. Works for me most of the time. We have disconnected our home phone and after three decades of being on an electronic leash (carrying a park radio) I refuse to carry my cell phone unless Diana demands it. Usually, so that she can locate me when we are shopping.

[DiLeon]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

he never answers his ringing phone unless the ID shows up (taken from his phone list).

This is what I do and I never get calls from anyone I do not know. They leave messages if they need to contact me. This works major....zero telemarketing calls

[Merle Rice]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

I started telling them that I don't live their anymore or I died. Seems to be slowing down a bit. Merle

[pallin]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

They're usually selling home improvements like new windows or solar panels. We just say "we're renters." They hang up immediately.

[Wayne L]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

My Dad always started trying to sell them a competing product, I also like idea of keeping them on the line as long as possible ask all kinds of stupid questions anything to waste their time. Then there is my personal favorite, get an old fashion phone that you can really slam the hand piece down on that makes a real statement.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

We don't answer any phone calls. We use our answering machine to screen all calls and that is exactly what the message says. " We screen all calls. Leave a message and we'll call you back as soon as we can." It's long enough so that we can get near the phone and pick up if it's family, friends or an important call like the doctor or hospital. What really tick's me off is the political and pharmaceutical adds that somehow by-pass the machine and end up running total time, eating up all of the answering machine memory. I'm so sick and tired about hearing from Rick Scott and Charlie Chris I don't even want to vote!

[susieq]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

There used to be a machine on the market, that plugged into the first phone jack on your line... you could program a number code into it and then give the code to family, friends, doctors, pharmacy, etc.... if someone called, it went to the machine and asked for the code. If you didn't have the code, you couldn't get through.

I don't know what happened to it. Maybe the industry lobbied to get it killed off.
This was back in the late 70s or 80s.

There is something new out, that is supposed to be free. It isn't available everywhere yet but it's called "NomoRobocall".....not sure about the spelling.
If you have cable-based phones, like Fios or Brighthouse, it's available. You sign up for it and it blocks robo calls. I've been thinking of doing that.

[SteveK]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

I've started getting these calls on my iPhone. I don't answer on numbers I don't know and then it is easy on iPhone to block these numbers for the future.

[Steev]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

Well here's a different thought on the matter. I don't like telemarketer calls anymore than the rest of us, but, that person on the other end probably hates making those calls just as much. However, it is a job and earns them an honest wage at a time when unskilled work is not too easy to come by. If there's a real person on the line, I treat them as such, politely but firmly telling them no.
If it's a machine, well I just hangup on them.

[susieq]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

it may be a real person on the line but they work for a company that puts heavy quotas on them to deliver.... creating a tendency to use high pressure tactics or take full advantage of seniors who might not realize how predatory the person on the other end of the line is...... often times they are scammers.

We used to get calls telling us we needed to contact them because we'd won a cruise..... gave us a deadline to call them back. Funny, after that deadline passed, they were still trying to call us.

I don't want to know anything about the person calling. I don't want to talk to them. My answering machine message is not rude but it is to the point. Leave a message. I'm not going to pick up and talk to you.

I suspect that genuinely nice people, don't last long in that profession because they wouldn't be successful. Only the hard nosed, cold blooded types, are successful at this line of work.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Re: how to put telemarketers out of business....

If you do talk to a live person and you tell them you are not interested..they ignore you and keep right on talking.......!then I get rude!!