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Telemarketers Finding Loopholes In The Do Not Call List
from the because-pissing-off-people-is-so-good-for-business dept
Back when the federal "do not call" list law passed in 2003 there was some fear that there were enough loopholes in the law that telemarketers would quickly sneak their way through. Surprisingly, it appears that many didn't immediately do so. However, in the last few years, it seems that a new crop of companies are filling in that space, exploiting loopholes to start calling people again, even if they're on the DNC list. The big loophole, of course, is the "previous business relationship" loophole. Apparently, it's now big business for companies to set up various contests and sweepstakes whose sole purpose is to get you to sign away your DNC protection from the company and its "dozen or so marketing affiliates." These companies set up shops in malls and shopping center and try to entice people to sign up for their contests. The fact that it's all a scam to get you on their "call away!" lists is hidden way down in the fine print that most people never bother to read. Another scammy move is to pretend that the calls are really surveys, when they're really designed to sell you something. Of course, now that these firms are starting to get away with it, expect bigger, more well known companies to start doing similar things as well. The depressing thing about all of this is that these companies should recognize that the people who are on the Do Not Call list are more likely than not to be pissed off, rather than prospective customers. You would think that telemarketers would be happy to know who doesn't want to hear from them, so they can focus on those who are more receptive to calls.
Reader Comments
(Flattened / Threaded)
And this is why...
I have no regrets about rudely hanging up on someone in the middle of those marketing calls.
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Re: And this is why...
this is why, this is why I'm hot. I'm hot cuz I'm fly, you ain't cuz you not
Sorry, I just had to.
A better way is to get caller ID and have some fun pranking them. It's how I cope :(
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Re: Re: And this is why...
Pranking them is an idea but the only reason I don't do that is because its a known fact that companies will record and edit your words to use as "evidence of your consent".
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Re: And this is why...
don't hang up. Talk to them for as long as posible. That way they don't make anymoney with you and they have less time to call others. lol
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Re: Re: And this is why...
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Re: And this is why...
I used to do that to all of them, but I realized that the poor schmuck on the other end of the phone was just trying make their hourly pay. I give them one shot politely.
If they keep talking then they catch hell.
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I got some fun for every one...
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Re: And this is why...
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Congratulations, Mr. Smith
"You've been selected in our random drawing to receive free home security system."
...
"So would you like to sign up for 3, 5 or 7 years of monitoring at $27.99 per month?"
Yeah, it's crap. Luckily, I've been using VoicePulse, which does a pretty good job of blocking telemarketers on its own. That, and I don't answer my home phone anymore, so that helps too!
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Re: Congratulations, Mr. Smith
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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My baby needs a heart lung transplant
When a telemarketer occasionally gets my cell phone number, I tell them 'This is a special cell phone. My child is waiting for a heart transplant, and that's the only reason this phone is ever supposed to ring.'
Works every time...
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Re: My baby needs a heart lung transplant
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Re: My baby needs a heart lung transplant
Doesn't work for my problem. About twice a month I get a phone call on my cell phone which is an automated recording... in Spanish no less.
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Re: Re: My baby needs a heart lung transplant
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Who, exactly, are the prospective customers?
"You would think that telemarketers would be happy to know who doesn't want to hear from them, so they can focus on those who are more receptive to calls."
This has to be sarcasm. Telemarketers thrive on pushing "the great deal" because no one has an interest in the product itself.
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Re: Who, exactly, are the prospective customers?
This isn't entirely true. I used to work for a telecommunications vendor and worked with predictive dialers and all the fun software and hardware telemarketers use to run their businesses. You are right that there are the dodgy companies that try to push the hard sale, but most of them realise that you can't sell to someone that doesn't want to talk to you. In fact, most of my clients told their reps that if they didn't get a positive reaction in the first 1 or 2 questions to thank the callee for their time and move on to the next call. It's the same as any other business in that some companies have the right strategy, and others don't.
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I have worked for a few companies that were involved in telemarketing and have a slightly different outlook on the subject.
when the DNC List was first proposed, it was amazing that only 7 or 8% of the population wanted to be on it., the reason was that they were charging $5.00 to put you on the list.
only when it became free did you see the masses begin to take a serious look at being on the list.
IMO, if it wasnt worth $5.00 to get your name on the list, it couldnt have been that much of a problem.
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Re:
excuse, me, what?
i should pay $5 to prevent you from calling me??
um, how about you pay me $5 to get through to my line, cant be much of a problem, now can it?
You admit the masses want it...but you'd rather ignore and bother them because they didnt pay for the privilege of having their voices heard? theres a word for that.....i cant recall it right this second...
A-hole
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Re:
The reason I never signed up was because I never believed it would actually reduce telemarketer calls. I always figured the telemarketers would find a loophole and people being on the list would actually get _more_ calls.
After a few years, it does seem to be working somewhat, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
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Re:
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Re: Reply to Anonymous Coward
We should not have to pay "bribe" money to be on a "list" in order to be left alone. I repeatedly tell telemarketers to remove my cell phone number from their list. The telemarketers continue to harass the **@@## out of me and my family. SO, with that said, don't be telling me what "couldnt" be MUCH of a problem. Obviously, you are one of those telemarketers and have nothing better to do with your time other than harass people who have a life. Why don't you GET A LIFE and quit attempting to suck the life out of everyone else with your bogus calls!!!
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Telemarketers
I have no problem ripping the telemarketer a new exit hole. The number of calls I receive DROPPED after I signed up. The few that do call now are the "survey" type. I kindly ask for company names, addresses, if I can, and then tear them apart ending with "This number is on the Do Not Call List. You have violated Federal law. I am going to file a complaint against your company and you". Most are so flustered they hang up, one or two try to argue. But, I file a complaint against each. That may be helping cut the numbers as well.
I have never understood though why they, or any advertiser for that matter, would want to force themselves on a person who has clearly stated they do not want the advertising. I'm gonna change my mind and buy some piece of crap because I have heard the ad for the 500th time (499 not being enough)??
The transplant idea though, absolute Genius!
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Re: Telemarketers
Yes ROn, I mean you. Idiot.
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Re: Telemarketers
You have to remember that marketing people are usually too stupid to actually do something productive, which is why they are in marketing. The actual schlubs calling on the phone are just folks who are trying to eke out a living, and probably can't do anything useful either. I suppose it's marginally better than having them living on the streets. Think of it as a private welfare program.
Of course, if you are going to try to survive by pissing off people for a living, you need to accept the consequences.
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Re: Telemarketers
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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New Tactics.
For about a year where I live, and possibly elsewhere, there was a telemarketer company that preyed only on the Spanish-speaking community. You received a recorded calls (illegal, if I'm not mistaken) in Spanish, making some sort of offer, with numbers to press if you are interested.
They finally stopped calling, which may mean they've either given up, or been forced to stop. I hope the later.
I actually get very few telemarketers calling my number, most of them disguised as charities. I hang up on them all.
EtG
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Anyone stupid enough to sign up for a "contest" in a shopping mall deserves whatever crap comes their way!
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Hang on, I'll be right back
I have received many of these calls. I always, very carefully and VERY slowly (slowly being the operative word) explain to these folks that I am on the state and US do not call lists. They ALWAYS say that they are unaware of this. I reply, again VERY SLOWLY, explain that this is a government program of which they are required to blah ... blah ... blah and try to keep them on the line for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. I spout platitudes, decry the state of telemarketing these days, patiently explain how they need to be cognizant (and I try to use BIG words like "cognizant" whenever possible, legal terms get you double points), explain that the US and state do not call lists are not optional. I make up possible fines that they are subject to, I ask for their name, company ID, business address, telephone number, mother's maiden name (well, maybe not that), but ANYTHING that will keep them on the line.
The point being that they make money calling MANY people in the shortest time. By holding them on the line you are STOPing them from calling the NEXT victim! It is my understanding and experience that they MAY NOT HANG UP ON YOU. So I make the entire experience SO BAD that they MUST hang up ON ME! Once I run out of rhetoric I just leave the line silent. I do NOT hang up.
It's a WONDERFUL thing to have a "fish on the line" and they can let go of MY hook but they are NOT allowed to. Hang up, bastard, I'm not going to!
;-}
Bill W
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Re: Hang on, I'll be right back
My favorite thing to do was to tell them to hold on while I got the person responsible 'for the money stuff'. Then I'd put the phone down on a table and wait for them to hang up (usually about 10 minutes or so). That said, I haven't gotten a telemarketing call in ages.
Chris.
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Re: Hang on, I'll be right back
That dosent work for me i have had a few companies who immediately hang up on me. I am getting very annoyed. As soon as i ask questions about what company and where they are they hang up. I even had one that as sooon as they hear me start to say take me off your list hang up on me.
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Re: Hang on, I'll be right back
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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My phone company does that. Apparently, since I'm a customer, that gives them license to keep calling me and trying to sell me crap.
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on a boring day in the past before "do not call" lists, I used to love to just keep these telemarketers on the phone. they are not allowed to hang up on you, so you can have very long conversations about weather or whatever. my roommates and I used to have contests on who could keep these guys on the longest. I had this one roommate that would keep these guys on the phone for 90+ minutes until a supervisor would come on and explain to him that they would be hanging up now. i would just be hilarious. and the best thing about it was that these guys would be stuck BSing with us instead of being able to make sales.
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a few of my favorite ways to deal with telemarkete
1. kindly interrupt them, and then ask, "do I owe you money?"
most often they will say "no", then I'll say "thank you very much" and just hang up.
2. my fav.....put the phone down and let them talk....they are being paid to talk, but I am not being paid to listen to them....check the phone in about 2 minutes.....that should do it
3. ask them to hold..check the phone in about 2 minutes..... that should do it
4. verbal abuse works but usually requires more energy than I am willing to expend
it all depends on my mood at the time and what I was doing before I was interrupted to answer their call
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the hold button and why it should be used
I use the hold please and the hold button with the speaker on. The record so far is 57 minutes before they hung up. I'd like to add annoying music but my phone doesn't have that feature. Paying someone to not work has to cut into their bottom line, and I also make a list of the companies and stop shopping with them.
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the hold button and why it should be used
I use the hold please and the hold button with the speaker on. The record so far is 57 minutes before they hung up. I'd like to add annoying music but my phone doesn't have that feature. Paying someone to not work has to cut into their bottom line, and I also make a list of the companies and stop shopping with them.
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AHT
All of these places keep track of an all important metric in call centre world, its how long it takes for the agent to get off the phone and on to the next call, staying on the phone is the BEST way to piss off a phone saleman, I will put them on hold several times, make them repeat themselves, anything to annoy, then I ask for their home numbers, which leads them to tell me that they are not allowed to conduct business from their home phones... heh irony, you are calling me at home douchebag!
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Some ideas to mess with the telemarketers
Augusten Burroughs wrote a series of short pieces in MAGICAL THINKING. One called TELEMARKETING REVENGE had some classic ideas. Burroughs is a marketing copyrighter and critiqued one caller's script saying it didn't focus on the product enough.
With another, he pal-ed along with another finally agreeing to call the guy right back after spending 10 minutes on the phone. The telemarketer stupidly gave Burroughs his direct line contact info. Burroughs did call him back and say "Look, I'm really interested in your product and would be glad to try it out if you send me a picture of your dick. It doesn't have to be hard or anything, just a picture." That company (and the telemarketer) never called back.
With a woman telemarketer, he asked her about his upcoming male-to-female sexual reassignment surgery. He was especially confused about the types of vaginas he had to select. Would she go with the "self-lubercating" or regular kind? That company and person never called back.
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Marketeers
For starters, I don't accept calls from unknown numbers. I have only a cell phone, so if you call me and your number isn't in someone's contact list, then you either have a new number, or I don't know you. Since they are my minutes, and since calling to retrieve voicemail is free, you can go to vaoicemail! (On the odd chance I do know you and you just happened to get a new number, well, it'll only happen the first time you call with the new number!)
Secondly, my OGM clearly informs anyone who is selling something I did not contact them about, they are directed to discontinue calling me and place my number in the do not call list for their firm. They are further directed to place my mailing address, if they have it, on the do not mail list.
If for some reason the number continues to come up, well, I do have a soft key for "Ignore".
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Re: Marketeers
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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i do my best to entertain them while my patience and free time lasts, requiring that they explain in understandable detail why i need their product and then proceed to do my best to explain why they're full of crap. if i can't, i either ask if i can call them back on their home phone when i'm not busy or repeadedly ask for reclarifications or retarded questions until they find out they're just wasting their time. but only if i'm just sitting around watching tv or something. either way, getting their hopes up by getting their information and them dashing them on the rocks is loads of fun if you're bored.
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.
I guess I'm lucky, I usually get telemarketing calls trying to sell me shit I already have and/or can get ahold of quite easily all by myself. That way I can just knock my penis against the phone while they talk and eventually go "nah, already have one/some, thanks for your time though, you've been talking to my penis for 13 minutes. bye." What I'm REALLY waiting for...
"HELLO MR. A.! HOW'RE YOU TODAY?! GOOOOD, I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CURRENT MARIJUANA MARKET, DID YOU KNOW THAT KUSH PRICES PER TON DROPPED 34 DOLLARS OVER THE WEEKEND? OH YOU DIDN'T?! WELL THEN LEMME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT..."
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Re: .
nice
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More fun with em
I had an experience with a relentless mortgage company. They would call once or twice a month. Nothing we said worked... so I started making appointments at odd hours, 7am, saturdays, etc... they showed up 3 times before figuring out it was better just not to call anymore.
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Re: More fun with em
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Sell things back.
My favorite thing to do with a telemarketer is to try to sell them the item they are trying to con on me.
"Hi this is Mike from So-and-So Insurance, Mr. --- are you happy with your home owner's insurance?"
"Wow...Mike...what a coincidence...I work for Blah-and-Blah Insurance and I was wondering....are you happy with YOUR home owner's insurance?"
This usually gets a pause and then a just silence on the line.
Or I tell them I'm dead.
"Is Mr. --- home?"
"Nope, he died tragic accident."
But then I get the one asshole who decided to ask... "I'm sorry to hear that...is Mrs. --- home?"
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10 ways to stop them...
10 ways to stop those credit card sales, cellphone sales,
insurance calls etc ... (no offences PLz)
1. After the telemarketer finishes speaking, ask him/her to marry you.
2. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment, and ask him/her
if he/she will give you his/her home phone number so you can call
him/her back.
3. Ask them to repeat everything they say, several times.
4. Tell them it is dinner time, BUT ask if they would please hold.
Put them on your speaker phone while you continue to eat at your
leisure. Smack your food loudly and continue with your dinner
conversation.
5. Tell them that all business goes through your agent, and hand the
phone to your five year old child.
6. Tell them you are hard of hearing and that they need to speak
up...louder...louder...louder!
7. Tell them to speak very slowly because you want to write every word down.
8. If they start out with, "How are you today?", say "I'm so glad you
asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these
problems............"
9. Cry out in surprise, "Helen, is that you? I've been hoping you'd
call! How is the family?" When they insist they are not Helen, tell
them to stop joking. This works especially well if the telemarketer is
MALE.
10. Tell the HSBC call center guy to call on your office number. - and
give him the ICICI call center number.
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sorry, must vent
Okay, I'm a college student, I work for a little comapn that does surveys. I need to vent a bit. I'll say it slowly so that stupid people can understand it too. The Do Not Call List Does Not Apply To Market Research. So when I call with a survey, don't just stupidly say "Don't you know this number is on the Do Not Call List and you're violating federal law", (funny thing is, people actually say it with capital letters) because I'm not, and I can call you, so shove it up your nose. If you don't want to take a survey, say so, we'll thank you and let you off the line and not call back. Don't quote laws that don't apply. It's really annoying. And you sound stupid and full of yourself and like you've got a stick up you a$$. I'm sure you don't really. But if you do, that's cool. I'm fine with alternative lifestyles. Just don't tell me you're on the Do Not Call List. I don't care.
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Re: sorry, must vent
I can understand feeling like that. I personally hate pushy sales associates in mall stores and I have also been one of those pushy sales associates.
But I'm not going to waste my time wondering if the Do Not Call List applies to you, I'm just going to hang up on you.
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Re: sorry, must vent
While I hate telemarketers with a passion I'm happy to participate in markets or political surveys, perhaps more so because my interests are so off-center that they probably skew the results, although I will answer honestly. Anyhow, they are usually short and kind of interesting. The problem is that too many companies are trying fool people they call into thinking they are doing what you are doing, which is, IMO, legitimate. Anyhow, good luck in the job. Not all of us will hang up on you.
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Re: sorry, must vent
Go "Cheney" yourself. Like hell you stop calling.
The same damned "research" place has called my house every day for two weeks. I don't take telemarketing, whether it is open or disguised as research or anything else.
You want my opinion you will pay for it, just like all my clients.
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Re: sorry, must vent
Well then, Dialer, get a LEGITIMATE job! You know what they say, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
It's sort of like people bemoaning the fate of the poor coca growers of South America... well TOUGH CRAP!!!
Go work at the local pizza place, or wash cars, or pump gas or any other legitimate means of making income, but if you just can't stand all us "stupid people" being upsat you are calling on OUR phones, which WE pay for, NOT you, then don't get into that line of work.
Oh, and despite your protestations, you are no more a bottom feeding scum sucker than the telemarketer, because YOUR "survey" is going to be SOLD or given to one of THEM, and you bloody well know it.
Not very bright for a college student....
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Re: Re: sorry, must vent
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Re: sorry, must vent
this is what happend to idiots like you that are so called surveyors.. I am going to start posting every annoying phone number that I get here and then its up to god who calls your low life self, so first idiot of the day goes to .....the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Re: sorry, must vent
I did not ask you to call me. But you do it anyway?? Some nerve. You don't pay my phone bill, so what gives you the right to use my phone to make money?? Also, you are wasting your time calling me. Unless you love the voice on my answering machine. If that turns you on, call all you want. LOL. Surveys. Stick them, and get a real job.
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I hate Telemarketers I used to have phone line, man was a constant fcking calling man so I just got rid of the line and got cell.. another annoyance is open the mail box all ton of paper in my mail box poor trees.. only thing I want to get in my mail box is the shitty bills and a real check if not leave me alone.
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As much as I understand peoples issues with telemarketers, most of the people that work there are college students trying to earn beer money. When it come to that stuff with me I usually stop them early and tell them to put me on there DNCL. Why give them a hard time for doing their job?
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Re:
if someone paid me to fling dog feces at you as you walked out of your house each morning, would you have the same opinion, after all, its just my job? I realize the example is ludicrous, but the point is still valid. Whether or not its someones job to do something is completely irrelevant to the act taking place is right or not.
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No Phone Sales Please
I like to tell anyone who calls me that I do not do business over the phone, put it in writing, mail it to me, and then I can make an informed decision. I hate how they talk so fast. Most of them say, I can't do that. If they really wanted to sell something they would be happy to mail me the offer.
Speaking of mail, I got a junk mail post card yesterday (08-21-2007). When I asked to be removed from their list, they wanted to charge a dollar and only remove me for 5 years. Another company that is stupid for advertising to people who are not interested. I didn't pay the dollar and this isn't over.
freak3dot
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Re: No Phone Sales Please
Try this -- if they send a postage paid envelope for return mail, shred the offer and stuff the enevelope full with anything you can find. Get it up to 2 or 3 ounces and send it back. Post Office charges by weight.
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Re: Re: No Phone Sales Please
do it all the time
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Re: No Phone Sales Please
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Usually works
Tell them, before they start to talk:
"I'm not [goddamn] interested, [please] take me out your [fu&#$@] list [or I'll sue your ass off]".
Then hang-up.
NOTE: The use of above optional parts depends on your mood when the phone rings ;-)
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quick way I found (UK) to get round the companies why try to get round our version of DNC..
step one, don't answer withheld numbers, ok its annoying most government agencies also withhold their number.. if they need to get hold of me write.
step two.. record all calls you do take, and tell them this. strange many will hang up at that point. the calls dropped off after a while, well from UK companies anyway.
*anything* flagged as international is ignored anyway which cuts out most of the rest.
my mobile number is my own, but I can record on that as well which works pretty well.
amazing how many companies want to talk to you, but don't want you to have any evidence as to what was said...
mobile contract due up in december, so I expect a glut of sales calls again about that. O2 & orange both swore blind they didn't release my details so how these people know the contracts due is anyones guess... yeah whatever.
I gave up pranking these people, they are just doing a job. but record the call and log a complaint for every call you get. eventually you will get on a blacklist of somesort as too much trouble to call.
as a rule I don't buy anything from an unsolicited offer, I don't care if I did once buy something in a shop.
oh and any company that wants your phone number, that doesn't _need_ it either gets told I don't have one or gets given a false one, typically with a dud area code, or a 0870 number (10p/min to call type number, which the marketing people avoid).
amazing how much effort it can be to avoid this rubbish.
but before I registered my land & mobile number I was getting on average ten such calls a day. it got annoying.
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Fun things to do, but they don't work
All of the ideas listed above (such as putting the phone down for minutes at a time or "ripping the person a new one") sound fun, but they don't work. In fact, you may just make the person on the other end angry enough to put you on the "call me all the time" list.
Most us hate telemarketers, but do try to remember that there's a live person on the other end- some of which are only trying to pay their bills.
The real way to stop these calls is to use a little patience:
1) Whenever someone calls, get their full information: company name, person's name, address, and phone number. Sometimes people will call "on behalf of" another company: try to get both companies' names so you can complain about the caller and company hiring the caller.
Write this information down in a log with the date and time.
2) Politely tell the person on the phone that you are on the Do Not Call list. Tell them to place you on their own company's Do Not Call list. And, yes, in a strange twist of logic, you have to ask to be *placed* on a list for them not to call you.
Ask to speak to their supervisor if you have to. Write down the supervisor's name and if they said they would add you to their company's Do Not Call list.
3) If the company calls again, you can report them to your state's Public Regulatory Commission for violating the federal Do Not Call list and their own company's Do Not Call list.
You can also report the company to your state's Better Business Bureau, and possibly the FTC (the people who started the federal Do Not Call list).
The key is to make sure you have an accurate log of who called, what they called about, and when.
And, yes, this process works: Back in May, Washington Mutual continued to call me wanting to "talk about my mortgage". (This was a month after I talked with one of their reps and told them I was perfectly happy with my existing mortgage.)
I logged every one of their calls, some of which occurred literally 2 days in a row when two different reps called me with the same sales pitch. 2 and 3 days in a row. After I had enough (6 calls over 3 weeks), I finally complained to the Florida Regulatory Commission.
The Commission sent me a letter saying they were looking into the letter, then I received an apology from Washington Mutual, and then a letter from the Commission saying the matter was closed.
---------------
The second way to stop telemarkers from calling is to get a device called the "Telezapper". This device hooks into your phone line and sends out the "line is disconnected" tones. When one of the telemarketer's computers calls your phone, the telezapper sends the tones and tells the computer that your line has been disconnected.
Since your line has been disconnected, there's no point in them calling you anymore, so the computer begins to delete your number from the system- after all, the telemarketers only want "live" phone numbers.
Yes, this has worked for me as well. When I first moved into my house, I got tons of calls from telemarketers. After I hooked up the Telezapper, calls dropped off very quickly.
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Re: Fun things to do, but they don't work
Well, actually, yes, some of them do work VERY well.
On night when I was particularly bored I received a call from a very local telemarketing center known as "The Dills Center". This showed up on the ID, as well as the calling number.
I answered the phone and the telemarketer asked for me by name, so I simply said, "Please hold while I get X", then covered the mouthpiece and listened.
When I could hear him becoming fidgety, I got back on the phone and said, "I'm sorry, to whom did you wish to speak?", and again, he asked for me by name. Again, I asked him to hold.
I did this several times, alternately pretending to be someone else picking up the phone and asking who it was or pretending to come back to say I was still looking for "X".
Finally, when I could tell he was about to give up, I came back on the line saying, "This is X, I understand you wanted to talk to me? Well, actually, you've been talking to me for quite some time. I was the person who ansered the phone initially, and the person who picked up the line to see who was on it and the person who forgot who I was supposed to be fetching... you see, I wanted to be sure I wasted as much of your time as you people waste of mine, so you have a good evning", and I hung up on him.
Seconds later, the phone rang again, same number, so I answered it and was greeted by the same man who only suggested that I had impropoer sexual knowledge of my mother, then hung up.... but we were not done...
Again the phone rang, again the same number and the same marketer... I simply sat and listened as he said nothing, then suggested I perform a sexual act on myself which I am fairly certain is physically impossible and hung up again.
When the phone wrang the next time, I did not answer, but instead got out the phone book and looked up the number for "The Dills Center". I called the main contact number and asked to speak to the shift supervisor. When she came on the line, I gave her the phone number that had called and the times of the calls, as well as a colorful retelling of the whole tale, including my tormenting her salesman. I suggested that, if he could not take it, perhaps he should find another line of work. I concluded by letting her know that, if that number, or in fact ANY number from "The Dills Center" should show up on my caller ID again, I would not waste my time calling her back, I would instead call the local police to report harassing phone calls.
The supervisor had me stay on the line while she went to get the offending salesman, had him make an apology to me, then fired him on the spot and assured me that I would not see another call from their agency.
That was about 7 years ago, and I have, indeed, never had another call of any type from the Center...
So, sometimes, "playing" with them does, indeed, make an impact... and a GREAT story as well :)
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Re: Re: Fun things to do, but they don't work
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Political Calls are also exempt
Did you know that politicians are also exempt?
Did you know that according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project 64% of all US voters received automated robo calls in the 2006 election?
Citizens for Civil Discourse (CCD) is a new non partisan non-profit (501 C3) organization whose mission it is to elevate the political discussion in the United States by giving you, the voter, control of the political discussion.
Starting with a national political do not call registry.
Learn more at:
CCD website: http://www.StopPoliticalRobocalls.org/
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social research
I work for the research department of a non-profit foundation. A large part of our work is telephone surveys (not market research, not political polling, and definitely not telemarketing). Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand the difference between surveying and telemarketing. It doesn't help that so many for profit businesses use phony "surveys" as a lead in to a sales pitch. What a lot of people don’t realize is that we WILL stop calling if they ask us to. We keep an internal do not call list, even though we are not required to. Often we are looking for a specific demographic such as parents of teens or families with preschoolers or people under a certain income level. The majority of households we reach don’t even qualify, but they don’t stay on the line long enough to find out what we want, so we have to keep calling and calling until the project finally ends. The endless calls are frustrating for everyone involved and so easily avoided.
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Re: social research
Why should I HAVE to tell you not to call me? Did I ask you to call me? Would you like it if I disturbed you in your own home?
Before you answer, consider this. You are not the only one calling. There are many, many more. Would you like to have a phone ring everytime you got ready to eat, go to the bathroom, or have sex? You don't know how annoying it is. You don't have any idea how annoying and disruptive it is. You care making the call, on your time, when you are ready. You are calling a lot of people that are doing things, but have to stop because you want to take a survey. That is really rude.
When the phone rings, it's hard to ignore it. You wonder if it might be important, so you check your caller ID, and find out you were interrupted by an uninvited caller.
Put yourself in other people's shoes. I would do any job besides doing a job that interferes in people's private lives.
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You are all so wrong
so telemarketing is a scam and nobody ever buys their product. than how come after 30 years it is still around and triving? tell me that geniuses. i cant belive you sick people get off by ruining someones day. i dont screw with you at your job. i dont knock the squeegie out of your hand or knock over your buskett. I let you get all the cars.
I manage a telemarketing call floor and these people work good paying jobs with benifits for full time employees and they make between 8 and 25 dollars an hour. i could let you listen to over 100 calls each day where people thank us so much for selling them a product they use anyway at a discounted price. and you know what? most of these people said they were not interested the first one or two times they were told about the offer. NOT INTERESTED meand I AM NOT LISTENING! this girl quit the other day who was only 16 because of some very very rude and dirty remarks. this could have been your daughter. I bet that makes you feel hot.
Truth is marketing always has been and always will be the number one source of capitalism and a great way to stimulate the economy. people are fickle and hate to spend money so they need to be pushed to create jobs that earn revenue. anyone with a business degree will tell you the same thing or they are a stupid hypocrite.
Where else can these people make this kind of money while putting themselves through school, supporting a child, or just earn a decent living with no experiance and no formal education?
next time you want to mess with a telemarketer just remember how cruel you are being to an actual REAL person. sure you may have a great personality, meaning you are nice to the people who matter most to you. But your charicter sucks a big one. Thats how you treat people who don't personaly matter to you.
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Re: You are all so wrong
This is comming for you .. Mr Super telemarketer...lol... go F your self and make sure you justifiey it in your own mind them when you tell your self no I don't really want to F my self then try to annoy yourself into doing it any way, telemarketers prey on the elderly and people that do buy well then you are idiots anyway.. point is you people including you sir are bottom feeders and really dont care about that girl trying to make a living either so cut the sympathetic crap of hiding behind who theese morons are, it says to me you and your crew cant hold down anything better than a job talking on the phone, and also probably are 300+ lbs so you cant get your nasty fat arss out of a chair.. so to every one upset about telemarketers heres a number that you can play with at 3 am *67 cloaks your number so you can do it at 3am lol....the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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Re: You are all so wrong
You know typically after working a 12 hour night shift (at a real job) I dont like to be woken up after 3 hours of sleep for utter bull(Thats ****ing cruel, and TA-DAH I'm a REAL person too).
Matter of fact why don't help your cause and post your home phone so I can call you at 3:30 at night. I'm sure you'd like that. According to you my character sucks so it's in my nature to do so anyway.(although my Patients would have to disagree{HELP people, not annoy})
You people make me sick. The part worst than you actually doing your job is feeling some disgusting sense of pride for doing it.
You want to earn some money. Work. Labor. Sweat. Work a couple jobs. Anything that doesn't invade the privacy and solitude of my home.
If I need a warranty on my car, a trip to Vegas, lavender scented dousche, whatever it is..... I'll search it out myself when its convenient to me not during sleep or when I'm enjoying time with my friends and family or sitting down to dinner.
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In response to Daniel Droege
I understand that you have positive views of telemarketing because you manage a telemarketing floor so you can't easily understand how much of a nuisance you people are to us. I started to receive telemarketing calls on my cell phone a few weeks ago, many repeat numbers too. Obviously you ignore people who say they are not interested because (and this is how you come across to me) you are a filthy pig who thinks we (the consumer) should give us our money for a piece of sh** (generally). Just to let you know, I STOPPED watching tv mostly because of commercials (Yes Levitra & Cialus + Dora the Explorer = $B$I$G$). Those of us who have backbones want to to keel over and die (or preferably get a new, PRODUCTIVE job).
You generally scam people for a living, from what I've observed. As far as that 16yr old girl quitting, horay for us getting rid of a telemarketer, and hopefully she will do something honest and PRODUCTIVE. There are better ways to sell your product that don't involve p***ing a good number of people off.
As far as fueling the economy, boo hoo, inform me that your product is out there and if I want your product, I will come to you. Don't force it on me.
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Re: In response to Daniel Droege
the number is 1-864-582-1003 or the guys personal cell phone which is 1-864-266-8902 and his name is Vincent and he is with a company called E-local they call every day and harrass business owners and try to sell you their products, when you tell them no you are not interested they are extremely rude and call you 3-5 times a day from different numbers, I figured pay back is hell so have fun and dial dial dial.. also when you tell them to stop calling you they do it even more
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get a life
Some of you are seriously disturbed from what can be seen here. Some valid points about hole-in-the-wall,"Boiler Room" style call centers, but for the vast majority of telemarketing agencies you folks are way off base and are speaking about something in overwhelming generalities that you don't have even the slightest capacity to understand. Get a business degree. Learn how the system works. Telemarketing is not just a weapon against the elderly, it is a viable sales tool for any organization. There was someone else in history that made gross overgeneralizations about large groups of people... What happened to him? Let's teach our children about compassion even for those whose ways you may not understand.
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Re: get a life
Wait a minute, Telemarketer... Are you comparing people who think telemarketing calls are bad to HITLER? Do you think telemarketers are a persecuted minority by the EVIL average person who doesn't want to get calls from high-pressure salespeople?
The reason call centers pay $25/hour and give benefits to people with no formal education is because otherwise no one in their right mind would work there. Being a salesperson is a job where you WILL take abuse. You spend your whole day trying to talk people into buying something they don't want. Can you blame them for thinking you're a swindler? Can you blame them when you keep calling again and again with the same tactics? PEOPLE WILL HATE YOU. IT'S PART OF THE JOB. You're getting compensated--even a child could call people on the phone, so every dime you get above minimum wage is for tolerating getting yelled at. Put up with it or get a job where being insulted isn't in the job description.
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telemarketer mafioso
One of my favorite scumbags is a guy named Richard Salvador aka Richard Dunbar of Great Northwest Advertising (www.penslinger.net). Richard spoofs his caller id using spoofcard.com. Richard served 5 years (was sentenced to 9) for his part in one of the nations largest telemarketing scams in U.S. history. He was targeting and ripping off senior citizens. The FBI sting operation was called "operation disconnect". Richard routinely threatens to kill people. Customers, competitors, empolyees etc. He likes to record himself doing so. Richard recently put his 14 year old daughter in the hospital. His ex wife and daughter are now in hiding. He uses methamphetamines and steroids. Don't believe me? Check this out: Great Northwest Advertising customer service policy: http://youtube.com/watch?v=hvnzXviks3A Richard threatening his competition with a bullet to the head: http://youtube.com/watch?v=azEFPdMKP7E
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mafioso
One of my favorite telemarketer scumbags is a guy named Richard Salvador aka Richard Dunbar of Great Northwest Advertising (http://www.penslinger.net). Richard spoofs his caller id using http://www.spoofcard.com. Richard served 5 years (was sentenced to 9) for his part in one of the nations largest telemarketing scams in U.S. history. He was targeting and ripping off senior citizens. The FBI sting operation was called "operation disconnect" and another called "senior sentinal". Richard routinely threatens to kill people. Customers, competitors, empolyees etc. He likes to record himself doing so using spoofcards recording features. Richard recently put his 14 year old daughter in the hospital. Apparently he considers himself a big martial arts action hero with over 4 MONTHS of extensive training. His ex wife and daughter are now in hiding. He uses methamphetamines and steroids. He was kicked out of the U.S. Marine Corps for selling dope. Check out Richard threatening to bash peoples skulls open and shoot his competitors in the head: Great Northwest Advertising customer service policy: http://youtube.com/watch?v=hvnzXviks3A Richard threatening his competition with a bullet to the head: http://youtube.com/watch?v=azEFPdMKP7E Richard lives at 4149 Ridgewood Ave. Bellingham, WA Home:360-714-0038 Cell:360-820-8220 He is currently a felon with an extensive stolen firearms collection. If there was an award for stupidity, this guy would be the world champion.
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Rubbish
I never leave my real phone number with people I do not know.
In contests, I'll provide my address, but that's all.
If it require a valid phone number, I'll use my DSL number. I never have the ringer on anyway. I have voice mail, in case it's important.
However, I feel violated by telemarketers. Why should they have the right to disturb me? They do not pay anything on my phone bill. If it wasn't for caller ID and an answering machine, I would either leave the phone off the hook, or turn off all the ringers. I should not have to do that to have peace. Telemarketers that call people without explicit permisssion are pests. We need pesticides against them.
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AC Services
Watch this one...it is just a fund raiser. They claim it is for "cancer services"... Don't buy it. 866-311-7847 is their number
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Re: AC Services
Got a call from them today. Because caller ID was shown as unknown and the pitch I was given sounded fishy, I decided to get to the bottom of this. These people are NOT the American Breast Cancer Society which is a legit organization. These people are: The Breast Cancer Society, Inc.
10506 E. Obispo Ave., Mesa, AZ 85212-1818, which is a FOR PROFIT corporation. Hence, if you are on the Do Not Call List, they cannot call you. Thus, if you get a call, file a Complaint with the Do Not Call List web site and also file a Form 1088 Complaint with the FCC on their web site.
Also, for all those who are NOT on the Do Not Call list but complained that when you picked up the phone or the machine answered they hung up, these are called "abandoned calls" and are also illegal. Therefore, file a Form 1088 Complaint with the FCC at their web site. The more complaints filed, the more the gov't is required to respond.
Those are the facts as best can be proven without having inside information, but that is enough to file complaints with the gov't to have them stop. I mention this, because after doing my research on them, the whole outfit and their web site, and their pitch, and the toll free number they used, etc., tells my gut that they are a front for some kind of scam. But that cannot be proven at this time. So just file your complaints as mentioned above.
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Re: Re: AC Services & Breast Cancer Society fake charity
I got one of these calls today. They now claim to be in Michigan and would not give me a phone number to call unless I pressed them. Finally they provided 800-600-9030 and a website for breastcancersociety.org which is down right now and just parked at godaddy.com
It is insulting to legit breast cancer charities.
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telemarketing
If we were to do away with telemarketing, then think about all the single mothers going back on wellfare. I dont want to pay for that. Also think of the people who would be robbing your home if they didnt have a job. Telemarketing always gets a black eye, because the certain companies scam the public. If you are in business and you say you havent used telemarketing in some way you are either lieing or out of business. How lucky we live in such Moral times. Hang the phone up and get on with your life.
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800-600-9030
Woman hung up on me after I asked for her to remove me from their list. She said she was with the Breast Cancer Society also. Accused me of not caring for other breast cancer victims in the state. I had breast cancer! Can't be a legitimate organization!
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800-600-9030
This woman also claimed to be in Michigan...see above.
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800-600-9030
To issue a complaint about the practices of this company file a complaint at: https://www.donotcall.gov/
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Calls From 800-600-9030
See also Re: 248-655-2400 and 800-600-9030. See the information at http://www.secstate.wa.gov/CHARITIES/search_detail_cfr.aspx?cfr_id=396. Apparently this is an operation located in Clawson, Michigan.
Caller phones our home and asks if we would like to "reduce our credit card interest". When we ask from which company they are calling, they hang up.
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