Tips for Handling Telemarketers
Are you sick of receiving calls from telemarketers?
You should be aware of the law.
Telemarketers are limited to calling potential customers between the hours of 8 A.M. and 9 P.M. local time of the consumer.
Also, federal law requires telemarketers to keep lists of consumers who have requested not to be called. These are called "Do Not Call" lists.
It may not work at times, but if you haven't signed up with The Do Not Call Registry,
I suggest you not hesitate to register EACH of your phone lines...and that includes CELL PHONES.
Have a question about the National Do Not Call Registry?
Then click on this link:
Want to register EACH phone number you have?
Then, click on this link.
The law is the law, but just how many of these organizations follow it, and how do
you enforce it?
Unfortunately, MANY DO NOT, and in reality, there is little you can do, short of
filing a complaint...
BUT...
...there are some ways you can utilize to essentially create your own...Do Not Call List.
You might have seen some of these suggestions before, but at times it bears repeating.
Here are a few tips you might wish to try in order to relieve yourself of some of these pests.
First, when you get the call...AND A REAL LIVE PERSON IS ON THE LINE....make sure you memorize these words after you answer the phone:
"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.
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.
It's called "beating the buggers" at their own game.
Besides, they'll have less time bothering other people, so, one way of viewing this is to consider it a community service !
Now, this second scenario bothers me even more than the first !
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...and IS SOLD to other telemarketers.
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 dials the number,,,and kicks your number out of their system.
My third idea is the most obvious if you have "Caller ID".
Any number that appears without a name or an area code you are not familiar with...DON'T ANSWER. Let your recorder answer for you.
If it's someone you do want to speak to, merely pick up the phone while they are recording their message.
If it's a telemarketer, chances are, they won't leave any message at all, and they won't be able to track the time of day calls are answered in order to provide that information
to OTHER TELEMARKETERS.
These are just a few of the ideas passed on to Anthem Opinions from two of our valued readers, Don & Mary Lee Duley.
Got another one?
Let us know...so we can let others know !
Dick Arendt
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