Are they ethical? Methods of dealing with telemarketers. 1

[SantaMufasa]

Should I be worried about ethics here?...

The phone rang as I was sitting down to my anticipated evening meal, and as I answered it I was greeted with, "Is this William Wagenhoss?"

This didn't sound anything like my name, so I asked, "Who is calling?"

The telemarketer said he was with The Rubberband-Powered Freezer Company or something like that and then I asked him if he knew William personally and why was he was calling this number. I then said off to the side, "Get really good pictures of the body and all the blood."

I then turned back to the phone and advised the caller that he had entered a murder scene and must stay on the line because we had already traced this call and he would be receiving a summons to appear in the local courthouse to testify in this murder case.

I then questioned the caller at great length as to his name, address, phone number at home, at work, who he worked for, how he knew the dead guy and could he prove where he had been about one hour before he made this call.

The telemarketer was getting very concerned and his answers were given in a shaky voice. I proceeded to tell him we had located his position at his work place and the police were entering the building to take him into custody. At that point, I heard the phone fall and the scurrying of his running away.

My wife asked me as I returned to our table, why I had tears streaming down my face and so help me, I couldn't tell her for about fifteen minutes. My meal was cold, but oh-so-very enjoyable!!!

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[

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Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.

 

[sleipnir214]

Have you ever heard of a fellow named Tom Mabe?

http://www.tommabe.com/

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[CajunCenturion]

Priceless!!!

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[WZUP]

Excellent!!!.... Mind if I use that

 

[LadySlinger]

That's the best one I've heard yet.

I would always play the daughter of my telemarketing phone calls. Then it would get to the point of where "MR." is and I start crying saying that my mom says he's a good for nothing son of a **** that ran to New Mexico with his new wife. Then say "I miss my daddy". I would get so emotional that I would have TMKRs hang up on ME

 

[Phil5673]

Mufasa, that's the best one I have heard yet. I am going to use that on the next TMKR that calls me.

 

[SteveGlo]

Several years ago I had a telephone number that was very similar to that of some hospital unit that dealt with medical emergencies to do with poisonings and overdoses.

I was often woken in the early hours of the morning with wrong numbers calls.

Initially I would just explain that it was a wrong number and put the phone down. Eventually I got so irritated by this that I would play little games like agreeing that I was the correct numbers and pretending to take down the details. Occasionally I would 'prescribe' that the victim be dosed with a mixture of salt water, mustard and vinegar.

Eventually the calls stopped so I presume that either the medical unit changed its number or evolution kicked in - I wonder how many lives I saved or ......

(only kidding)

 

[CosmoKramer]

To those of us in the US:

Do you participate in the national "Do Not Call Registry"?

http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall/

I did and it made a huge difference in the number of calls I receive. Since I registered I now only get calls from "charitable organizations". No more home improvement contractors, chimney sweeps, etc.

Ironically, check out the Google ad that appeared on the top of this thread:

Telemarketing Lists
20% Off! 16 million Experian B2B Leads. Enter BMS9 at Checkout.

Ads by Goooooogle Advertise on this site

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes

 

[Stella740pl]

No more home improvement contractors, chimney sweeps, etc.
Oh yes, just your own bank offering you another credit card or special "something protection" program you don't want - at dinner time, or newspaper you subscribe to wants you to take "just 5 minutes" in the morning on weekend to answer their survey, or another invaluable offer from another company you deal with at the time when you try to rush out of the door. Of course you can take time and call all of them and ask them to not call you, but do you bother? I don't. You will forget some of them anyway.

As for dealing with telemarketers, I got to say, you guys have plenty of time to pull this off, and great fantasy. Of course it is funny and priceless, but ethical? Not so sure. Poor guy could have gotten a heart attack from this.

I would say that method of getting so talkative and emotional that the telemarketer would hang up is safe and ethical - requires time on hand and special theatrical mood, though, and they usually call when you have the least time and temper to play games.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Stella, what ever happened to your creative "Spirit of Tolstoi"? <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[

http://www.dasages.com:

Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.

 

[Stella740pl]

Stella, what ever happened to your creative "Spirit of Tolstoi"?

Ha? (And did I ever mention Tolstoy in these forums, by the way?)

My father had loved to pull a good practical joke on the phone when someone called us by mistake, and I remember appreciating them when I was a child.

Now, I am a busy full-time-working, long-way-commuting, cleaning and cooking mom and wife, and don't have time for nonsense ;-), creative spirit or not.

Seriously, though, if you posted this in "Making an Impression" or "Squaring the Circle", without questioning the ethics, you would probably get a different response. From me, at least.

 

[MDXer]

If my caller ID shows an 800 number I simply answer with "Dominos Pizza Take out or Delivery?" Did it to my wife friend once and they hung up thinking they dialed the wrong number. I also like mixing up cultures and will use Min-Woos Italian Taco Stand and things like that. but the OP is priceless.

Shoot Me! Shoot Me NOW!!!
- Daffy Duck

 

[Trevoke]

As I've read the Original Post somewhere before, I doubt that it's actually Original ;-)

What is ethical? What is unethical? I would say that ethical is saying that you don't need it, no, thank you, I don't, nice talking to you, have a good day, goodbye.
I would say that unethical is playing with the poor human being's feelings...

"That time in Seattle... was a nightmare. I came out of it dead broke, without a house, without anything except a girlfriend and a knowledge of UNIX."
"Well, that's something," Avi says. "Normally those two are mutually exclusive."
-- Neal Stephenson, "Cryptonomicon"

 

[GwydionM]

In the UK, we have a no-telemarketing list as well. I forget the details but I used to be bothered a lot and now very seldom, and just saying you are on the list silences them.

You might also want to watch the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, comic and also a bit tragic. And just the thing to show a friend or relative who might fall for such patter. It got neglected at the time but is out on DVD.

------------------------------
An old man who lives in the UK

 

[Phil5673]

Check out this site for the some useful information...

http://www.stoptelemarketing.org/

I am going to start recording the calls I get from telemarketers so I can take them to small claims court. They almost always violate the law.

Phil5673

 

[Thadeus]

As I've read the Original Post somewhere before, I doubt that it's actually Original

Just search in Google for "William Wagenhoss". You'll get plenty of hits.

~Thadeus

 

[Stella740pl]

"I am going to start recording the calls I get from telemarketers so I can take them to small claims court. They almost always violate the law."

I don't know about the law they could be violating, but in order for you to comply with the law, you should probably notify them that this call may be recorded and they have the right to refuse and hang up if they do not want to be recorded. You might try to use the line to deter them, too, even if you are not recording. Just use the right language:"This call may be recorded", or "I reserve the right to record this call", or something to that effect.

As for the companies you have a business relationship with (like your bank, your utilities companies, your newspaper), I believe they are exempt from "Do Not Call list" rules, in USA at least.

 

[Phil5673]

Stella, you are correct. However, the calls that I receive are not from businesses that I have a relationship with.

 

[CosmoKramer]

From the FTC web site:

Some types of businesses are not covered by the Rule even though they conduct telemarketing campaigns that may involve some interstate telephone calls to sell goods or services. These three types of entities are not subject to the FTC’s jurisdiction, and not covered by the Rule:
[ul]
[li]banks, federal credit unions, and federal savings and loans.[/li]
[li]common carriers—such as long-distance telephone companies and airlines—when they are engaging in common carrier activity.[/li]
[li]non-profit organizations—those entities that are not organized to carry on business for their own, or their members’, profit.[/li][/ul]

These types of entities are not covered by the Rule because they are specifically exempt from the FTC’s jurisdiction. Nevertheless, any other individual or company that contracts with one of these three types of entities to provide telemarketing services must comply with the Rule.

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes

 

[flapeyre]

Back around 1980 or so, call forwarding was a new enough feature that only one exchange in New Orleans had it. A friend of mine had this feature on his phone. He was being plagued by telemarketers to such an extent that he, in desperation, did the following to rid himself of them:

He dialed his phone number in different area codes until he found one that gave the ESSFH* and "The number you have reached - 5 5 5 2 3 6 8 - is not in service" message. Then he forwarded his phone to there. Solved his telemarketer problem in short order, but he had a couple of bill collectors frantically calling his workplace.

---
* ESSFH = Ear Splitting Shrieks from Hell, those three annoying tones at the beginning of a telco out of order message

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