Tips for Handling Telemarketers

I received the following as an E-mail last month. I am posting it as a public service. I do not necessarily endorse these methods and don’t actually know if they work or not. I post it for your consideration and information.

I did not know the reason behind the “no one there” calls although I have received them. I don’t know for certain if it is true but it does seem plausible. Can you imagine the number of spouses who may have thought that an affair was going on because of a call and then no response on the other end of the line? I believe a song was even written about such an occurrence in the 1960’s, 19970’s, or sometime in the past before the modern wonder of self dialing machines.

Anyway, here are the:

Tips for Handling Telemarketers

Three little words that Work!!

1) The three little words are: “Hold on, Please”

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt. (The problem with this, of course, is that the telemarketer is not at fault. He is just trying to make a living. It may not be the greatest method to make a living, but it is legal and they can’t help that it is an annoyance to most consumers.—my addition)

Then when you eventually hear the phone company’s “beep-beep-beep” tone you know it’s time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a “real” sales person to call back and get someone at home. (This should be illegal!—my addition)

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. What a shame not to have your name in the system any longer!

3) Junk Mail Help:

When you get “ads” enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these “ads” with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those “pre-approved” letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return “postage paid” envelop. It cost them more than the regular 39 cents postage “IF” and when they receive them back. It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelops.

(The problem with this is that we have a pretty effective postal system which is much cheaper than most of the rest of the world. Part of the reason for that is all the junk mail that goes through the system. If businesses stop using junk mail, it may result in higher postage prices for all of us. We may end the inconvenience of junk mail and end up paying more because we stopped that inconvenience.—my addition)

(If you return a blank application with your name on it, make sure you write on the application that you do not want their product and to not send any more applications. Make a copy of it for your record.—my addition.)

THIS JUST MIGHT BE ONE E-MAIL THAT YOU WILL WANT TO FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS.