Phone Solicitors Have Reached a New Low

[MrBRulzOK]

I just picked up on the phone a few minutes ago. However instead of simply trying to immediately convince me to buy whatever, they actually attempted to force me to be on hold just so I could hear whatever message they were attempting to send me. Needless to say I immediately hung up and ran far far away.

Honestly, who calls somebody and then demands they be on hold as soon as they pick up the phone? If you're calling me then I expect you to tell me immediately what the reason is. If you can afford to wait on it then obviously it's not important enough to call in the first place.

[nWoElite]

I got one like that this morning. I believe it was "Please don't hang up, this is not a collection call"

I was on hold for about a minute or two, then it was a collection call.

[willywonka666]

Saves on them from getting the phone slammed down. Why are you not on the do not call list? It's permanent now

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

I've heard of instances where they've actually made threats to the people they are calling. It's hard to top that.

[Nikki Heyman]

If It's a machine, I hang up.

If no one speaks for three seconds after I pick up, I hang up.

If I ask what company they are with and do not answer that simple question, I hang up.

Everyone else gets a chance. The moment they say something that I know is wrong (e.g. I get the occasional call to have something done for my home yet I live in an apt) I let em have it, THEN I hang up.

[Shy Guy]

i still get ones that call for my dad, who passed away almost two and half years ago. i give them an earful. anyone else get that?

[Brick Killed a Guy]

Used to get calls from candidates during election time....at 6 in the morning!! I know it's 9 on the East Coast, but really?!

One caller (won't mention the candidate) asked, "do you plan to vote this year?"

My response: "Yes. I plan to vote for the candidate who annoys me the least. Your candidate just lost my vote." (hangs up)

[crash1984]

I hate those as well. Anytime I hear "Please hold for an important message" I hang up. It is bad enough when I call and have to talk to a machine. However I am not going to sit there and listen to a machine.

Usually I don't even bother answering the phone when my caller ID says
1)Private Name
2)Toll-Free Call
3)Unavailible

When I do answer I usually have fun anytime a telemarketer or bill collector calls me. A few minutes ago I acted like I was drunk. Another time I spoke in gibberish. Here is one I am thinking of trying next.

Me: Hello
After listening a few moments
Me (yelling to someone in the background):Get back in the cage you bitch
Listening a few more moments
Me (yelling to someone in the background):Get that collar back on.
At that point make a nice smacking sound and have someone say oww.
Listen a few more moments
Me(to the telemarketer):I am sorry I have to let you go. My wife is misbehaving and needs some discipline and it is hard to have a whip in one hand and the phone in the other.

[Brick Killed a Guy]

This next example wasn't a solicitation call...but it turned into one:

When I moved to my new apartment a few months ago, I started getting calls from Geico...telling me I was late on my insurance payments and needed to make an arrangement with them.

Just one problem...I've never used Geico.

So I called back one day and explained the problem. They quickly realized one of their users had given them the wrong number.

I mentioned jokingly, "at first I thought you were calling to sell me car insurance."

Then.....(wait for it)....


......


....they tried to sell me car insurance!!!

[emoney3265]

I'm waiting to do this but I am on the Do Not Call list.

[Brick Killed a Guy]

May 4, 2011 14:41:12 GMT -5 emoney3265 said:

I'm waiting to do this but I am on the Do Not Call list.

Nice! Got another one for you.

[Turd Ferguson]

I try to see how long I can keep them on the phone with whatever bizarre scenario I can come up with. Great improv exercise.

As of the past week, I've been working on this ONE bit where whenever a male telemarketer or collector called for my wife, I'd act the part of the overwhelming jealous husband (where I am normally pretty laid back) and took everything he said as innuendo and thus an affront to my marriage and my masculinity. I didn't threaten or anything.

Also, I know toying with them is bad, as it's their job. I know better than most as it was one of my Mom's jobs while I was growing up.

[woowoowoox]

Whenever those people call, my dad slams the phone into the dryer / washer as loud as he can. Rude, but effective.

[bibboid]

I get BS phone calls at work all the time.

I never push buttons when a recording asks me to. All that does is let them know that someone actually answered the phone. I just put it on speakerphone and let the message play until it gives up.

If there is dead air when I pick up, I put it on speakerphone and a) wait to see how long it takes them to pick up and b) to see how many times they say "Hello?" before they give up.

I occasionally get phone calls asking for the person who had my job before me. I tell them that he has not worked for the company in 15 years and hang up.

Recently I have been getting recorded calls from a collections agency that give their name, their 800 number and asks someone to call them back. They call two or three times a week. I'm debating calling them back because I know it isn't me they are looking for and I just want them to go away.

[Brick Killed a Guy]

Three words: Arnold Schwarzenegger Soundboard.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

May 4, 2011 14:10:56 GMT -5 Shy Guy said:

i still get ones that call for my dad, who passed away almost two and half years ago. i give them an earful. anyone else get that?

Not phone calls, but my grandfather still receives loan offers and such in the mail, and he's been dead for 31 years.

[Kash Flagg]

I just get these indian scammers (I use that term because they are in fact indian) saying they are from some made up company (usually with USA or American in the title) and that the caller (who despite the very strong accent uses an obviously phony american name) claims to be a lawyer who needs my info on a loan I never repaid.

Problem is, I've never gotten a loan in my life. And I know nobody's stolen my identity. I've had some fun conversations with those people.

[Sir Woodrow]

May 4, 2011 16:23:23 GMT -5 Kash Flagg said:

I know nobody's stolen my identity.

...Yes..."nobody".


<_< >_>

[rapidfire187]

May 4, 2011 13:28:18 GMT -5 MrBRulzOK said:

I just picked up on the phone a few minutes ago. However instead of simply trying to immediately convince me to buy whatever, they actually attempted to force me to be on hold just so I could hear whatever message they were attempting to send me. Needless to say I immediately hung up and ran far far away.

Honestly, who calls somebody and then demands they be on hold as soon as they pick up the phone? If you're calling me then I expect you to tell me immediately what the reason is. If you can afford to wait on it then obviously it's not important enough to call in the first place.

Yea, that's happened to me before. It's incredibly stupid, and I feel bad for anybody that is so lonely that they actually wait on hold to find out what the telemarketer wants. To be honest though, I prefer when that happens because I don't feel guilty for hanging up on a person.

[rapidfire187]

May 4, 2011 16:23:23 GMT -5 Kash Flagg said:

I just get these indian scammers (I use that term because they are in fact indian) saying they are from some made up company (usually with USA or American in the title) and that the caller (who despite the very strong accent uses an obviously phony american name) claims to be a lawyer who needs my info on a loan I never repaid.

Problem is, I've never gotten a loan in my life. And I know nobody's stolen my identity. I've had some fun conversations with those people.

I once had some Indian scammers call me. They told me that I had won some sort of vacation package or some s***. When I said that I never entered any contest, they told me that I didn't have to enter, I was automatically entered because I shopped at wal-mart, or kroger, or mcdonalds...Seriously they just named off a bunch of common companies that I was likely to have shopped at recently.

Then I asked the guy how he would have gotten my information just because I shopped at one of those places. He told me that they got my name and phone number from the credit or debit card that I used for my purchases. When I told him that I only used cash when I shop, he tried to convince me that I must have used a card at some point. He then told me that in order to receive my prize I had to give them a credit card number so I could pay for the shipping. At that point I just gave them the number on an old prepaid visa card.

For the next week I kept getting calls telling me that the card didn't work. I finally told the guy to f*** off or I'd report them to the authorities. I doubt it scared him off, I think he just stopped calling because he knew they were wasting their time.