A mean trick on telemarketers

[cleveramerican]

The cabinet refacing people haunted me for years
They call I tell me no thanks and please take me off your list,put me on the no call list.
It never worked, the calls would stop for anywhere from a few weeks to a few years
But they always called again, I even tried screaming insults and mumbling crazy shit at them


FInally I reached a breaking point.... and did something mean to someone I've never met.

" Yes I'm very interested can I make an appointment for Saturday at 8am?"
When the salesman arrived I met him at the end of the front walk and told him clearly and forcefully to never ever contact me again or I would do the same thing again and again.
I later found out he had driven nearly 100 miles to my home, which I now fell rather bad about.

No calls for quite some time ... I think it worked

[Fla Dem]

1. Actually, I think that was a creative way to stop the calls.

It was unfortunate that the salesperson drove 100 miles. But maybe he'll send the message out that their phone spamming techniques are a problem.

I often feel guilty when I lose my patience with a customer service rep on the phone. I get aggravated at the poor connection, the difficulty in understanding the person, the 5 times I have to give my name, phone# , product information and reason for the call, the horrendous background noise and just the scripted way they process calls. So usually by 5 minutes into the call I am forcefully talking to the person and probably being somewhat rude and condescending.

I try to pull myself together and say to myself, "it's not this person's fault, they are only trying to earn a living at a thankless job," and try to end the call civilly by thanking the person for their efforts. Of course that depends on whether or not the call resulted in any resolution.

[csziggy]

3. It depends on whether it is a legitimate call or a scammer

Legitimate businesses no longer call me unless I already have a relationship with them. I'm on both the national and state Do Not Call lists which do work well for that.

Scammers, such as the fake IRS guys or fake Microsoft Security assholes, deserve every bit of abuse I can throw their way. How I hassle them depends on my mood. I am very disappointed that the fake IRS calls are robocalls - it's had to treat a recording the way it deserves.

Survey callers are treated with respect and I love doing their surveys. Unfortunately often too many of my answers fit into their "none of the above" or "Other" categories so they can't use my results.

Callers from Democratic campaigns are treated with respect and I thank them for their service.

Callers from Republican campaigns are told to remove me from their lists and that every time they contact me I will make another donation to their Democratic rival - that tends to get me off their lists immediately!

[lindysalsagal]

2. Do not feel bad. They had it coming.

Cold callers should get a real job.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. I used to feel that way

But real jobs aren't as easy to come by as they once were.

[auntAgonist]

5. Unfortunately the one who was punished was the innocent one. He drove 100 miles

at his expense for nothing.

I doubt seriously that anyone at the company cares and you'll (maybe) receive calls again

Being in sales is a hard job. I wouldn't/couldn't do it.

He was probably on commission.

Phone calls over and over again are so annoying. I understand that. I am to the point that if I don't recognize the number calling, I don't answer. If they don't leave a message it wasn't anything important.