O/T Telemarketer Called the other day!

John B. · Dec 19, 2013

On Monday a telemarketer called and I answered. Here is how it went.
Caller; asked to speak to the people in charge of paying the electric bill.
Me; they are not here.
Caller; asked if I then could answer some questions?
Me; no I can't and asked how well did you know these people? Then I pulled the phone away from my mouth and said in a louder voice, "Get pictures of the bodies we need all the evidence we can get".
Caller; I don't know them why?
Me; Well you just called a crime scene and now you are a suspect.
Caller; Me ahhhh a suspect?
Me; Yes, now I need your name and number
Caller; Ahh you don't have caller ID?
Me; You don't understand this is not my place.
Caller; My name is so & so and my number is 555-555-5555.
Me; Thank you! I will be calling your right back.

The whole time my wife is standing at the other end of the kitchen table laughing once she realized what was going on.

You have to love it.

Alan K · Dec 19, 2013

LOL....shame on you. That is funny.

Robert Major · Dec 19, 2013

Hi
Thats been around a few years have heard it before.
Had guys phoned here one day looking for someone over 18 and mentally stable to do a survey . Told them I wasn"t 18, they didn"t know I was 38 and the only other person in the house was mom , But we are having problems getting her to take her "medication".
Guy said hope your moms feeling better soon, Thanks for your time, Have a good evening Good bye.
Mom was not to impressed till I told her what it was about, then she laughed after.
Regards Robert

big jt · Dec 19, 2013

Love this one also just about on the same line but hilarious.

I have always threatened to start by asking if they knew how to clean up some blood, no a LOT of blood. etc.

jt
Tom Mabe telemarketer prank

JD Seller · Dec 19, 2013

John B: I like how you handled that. It is funny.

That is similar to the comedian Carl Hurley's routine on telemarketers.

Here is a link.
Computers/Cell Phones/Telemarkters Comedy By Carl Hurley .

Anonymous-0 · Dec 20, 2013

Comedian Tom Mabe does stuff like that.
Tom Mabe bit on the Bob and Tom radio show

RayP(MI) · Dec 20, 2013

Good one - John.

Now that we have that on the table, Is the "DO NOT CALL" thing still in force? We"re getting increasing numbers of calls. Been registered for years. Son just got a landline at his new home... Calls started within days. Went to the donotcall.gov, and the website is still up and running. Registered his number for whatever it"s worth. Seems like telemarketers are ignoring it with impunity. Last one was DISH NET. Lost any chance we"ll ever contract their services........

Dollar Bill · Dec 20, 2013

When they call, I let them get started on their spiel and soon interrupt them and ask, "[b:2a48be1198]Could I ask you to hold on for just a moment?[/b:2a48be1198]" Then I lay the phone down for awhile when I pick the phone back up there's usually a dial tone.

They normally stop calling after awhile......

gene bender · Dec 20, 2013

I am nice to them as they are just another person trying to make a buck and have a job to do.

HillsofTn · Dec 20, 2013

To me, that would be the equivalent of "be nice to the mugger who demands your wallet - he is just trying to make a living and pay his bills"!

FBH44 · Dec 20, 2013

Our late Aunt Susie used to launch off into the ozone with "Oh I'm SO glad you called, honey, you see the kitties have been getting in so much trouble, after Frank left, you see, and of course I'm home bound lately, after my leg....." and off she'd go, non-stop.

rabbit-1 · Dec 20, 2013

When they call on an opinion survey - they're told we don;t have any opinions,,,CLICK.

MarkB_MI · Dec 20, 2013

John, if that routine was used as often as it's been posted on YT, every telemarketer in the country must have heard it at least once.

jimg.allentown · Dec 20, 2013

Ahhhhh.....the DO NOT CALL registry you ask??? Yes, it is still in force - BUT.....
There are a few loopholes that telemarketers are lately exploiting. First, they insist that they are NOT SELLING anything. They are offering you something FREE. BUT... Along with that "free" item comes a monthly expense. Other telemarketers are simply boldly violating the "do not call" registry. They apparently feel that a potential sale is worth the risk of fines. Also," robocalls" are illegal unless.....there is a way to talk to a real live person. And, when you DO talk to that real live person to tell them not to call again, you have established a contact that legally gives them (and their business "associates")permission to call you again....and again.....and again....

I have filed complaints with the FCC regarding telemarketers violating the "do not call" restrictions with little result. I did speak with a representative of the FCC and was told that they will not act on a single complaint. They wait until they have a significant number of complaints and begin enforcement with "cease and desist" warnings which will finally escalate to heavy fines. It takes a while to finally shut down the violators.

Now, having said all of that, I will say that I am not hostile or impolite to the caller. As previously stated by another poster, they are just people trying to make a living - and not an easy one at that. Most telemarking callers are people that have been unable to find other employment in the more conventional workforce for one reason or another. As such, they do not deserve to be treated rudely or abusively. Their employer, on the other hand, should be taken out and horsewhipped.

Harold Hubbard · Dec 20, 2013

I had a woman call, pushing a freezer plan. She went on and on about all the great things I would get. Finally I asked her how all this good stuff was going to fit in the freezer along with the dead cow. She hung up.

oldtanker · Dec 20, 2013

(quoted from post at 06:18:40 12/20/13) Ahhhhh.....the DO NOT CALL registry you ask??? Yes, it is still in force - BUT.....
There are a few loopholes that telemarketers are lately exploiting. First, they insist that they are NOT SELLING anything. They are offering you something FREE. BUT... Along with that "free" item comes a monthly expense. Other telemarketers are simply boldly violating the "do not call" registry. They apparently feel that a potential sale is worth the risk of fines. Also," robocalls" are illegal unless.....there is a way to talk to a real live person. And, when you DO talk to that real live person to tell them not to call again, you have established a contact that legally gives them (and their business "associates")permission to call you again....and again.....and again....

I have filed complaints with the FCC regarding telemarketers violating the "do not call" restrictions with little result. I did speak with a representative of the FCC and was told that they will not act on a single complaint. They wait until they have a significant number of complaints and begin enforcement with "cease and desist" warnings which will finally escalate to heavy fines. It takes a while to finally shut down the violators.

Now, having said all of that, I will say that I am not hostile or impolite to the caller. As previously stated by another poster, they are just people trying to make a living - and not an easy one at that. Most telemarking callers are people that have been unable to find other employment in the more conventional workforce for one reason or another. As such, they do not deserve to be treated rudely or abusively. Their employer, on the other hand, should be taken out and horsewhipped.

Actually you ain't wrong but you missed a few.

A call center not located in the US isn't restricted by the no call laws. That law only applies to call centers in the US and it's territories.

If you have done any business with a company, it's subsidiaries or it's parent company they can indeed call you from any level within the chain of companies. That includes a company they may have been bought out by a new parent company.

For the really bad part. When they started closing down call centers in the US and shipping those jobs off shore there were many decent paying jobs that left the US with little fan fair. A call center in our county seat shut down because of this about 12 years ago. The city lost over 125 jobs that started at 10 bucks an hour 12 years ago and paid bonuses.

Rick

mkirsch · Dec 20, 2013

The "Do Not Call List" is there just to make the weak minded masses feel like there was something they can do about telemarketers.

The FCC has NOTHING to do with this. Congress enacted the law requiring the list, and the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, created the list and administers it.

What the law did NOT do, was provide for enforcement. They did not hire more people to investigate violations of the "Do Not Call List."

Your chances of getting prosecuted for violating the Do Not Call List are almost zero. The only way anyone gets in trouble for violating Do Not Call is if enough people get mad and complain about the same company. Like, hundreds of people. Unless, you can get a name and a face and call a TV station to do an expose on the telemarketer. Then they'll usually get nailed.

They simply cannot chase down every little violation. One 2-minute call would require months of investigative work, many hours in court, lawyers, etc., costing tens of thousands of dollars. All at TAXPAYER expense, to fine someone a few hundred dollars.

Most of you would be OUTRAGED if the Feds were blowing billions of dollars chasing down every little violation of the do not call list.

Throop · Dec 20, 2013

Any time I get one of those calls, no matter what it may be for, I just say "oh sorry but that is against my religion...."

Prawn Farmer · Dec 20, 2013

Noticed a new "avenue for revenue" from some class action type law firms that are now targeting telemarketers. Supposedly the penalty ranges from $500-$1500 per occurrence.
They apparently consolidate documented phone records from their clients - not sure how they get their successful judgements.

Billy Shafer · Dec 20, 2013

My sister in law is from Korea. She really has fun with them.

chuck41 · Dec 20, 2013

A soliciter kept calling and tho asked not to call, just kept calling. The next time when I
saw on caller id, I screamed into the phone as
loud as I could scream. That was the last of that
caller. Chuck

surfergirl27 · Dec 21, 2013

Lol! Sounds like the Tom Mabe prank. Nice one!

surfergirl27 · Dec 21, 2013

Did you get the caller's phone number? How about you give him a dose of his own medicine, too? But let others do it. Report him to http://www.callercenter.com and post his phone number there. With about 100 000 visitors who can see the number, let's see how he'd feel about getting a lot anonymous calls.

O/T Telemarketer Called the other day!

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