*** !!! Telemarketers can call your cell phone now????

Pats300zx · 05-02-05, 06:33

OMG is this nuts...???? I have gotten 2 stupid calls today alone...

TW85 HHI · 05-02-05, 06:43

Put every single personal phone number you have on the DO NOT CALL list. Cell phone numbers are accepted by the do not call registry.

https://www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx

perry · 05-02-05, 09:34

I got a phone call from an 800 number today too! Didn't answer because I know that's what caller ID shows when telemarketers call landlines. Figured someone just didn't properly clean their list of cell phone numbers.. I'll answer the next one I get and start cursing at em. Unacceptable to get telemarketers calling me when I'm paying for the minutes.

Just verified my number on the DNC list..

Quote:

Your phone number with the last four digits 3271 was registered in the National Do Not Call Registry on 7/10/2003. Most telemarketers will be required to stop calling you 31 days from your registration date. Your registration will (or did) expire on 7/11/2008.

Scottwax · 05-02-05, 10:03

I haven't received any on my cell phone but I just reported a company that keeps calling my home/business phone even though I am on the do-not-call list and have also told them so over the phone.

Pats300zx · 05-03-05, 09:12

Thanks for the link. I just put in all my cell phone #'s to stop this madness....

Spilchy · 05-03-05, 09:58

Quote:

Originally posted by TW85 HHI
Put every single personal phone number you have on the DO NOT CALL list. Cell phone numbers are accepted by the do not call registry.

https://www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx

I did this a few months ago.

Plus, I have Call Intercept. Any number that does not show up on my caller ID, gets thrown into a recorded message asking to identify themselves. Then I get a ring and answer and decide if I want to talk or not.

Telemarketers have stopped calling cold to my home except a couple of local guys like the chimney sweeper

Scottwax · 05-03-05, 12:02

Just reported two more numbers today.

https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.aspx

SpoiledMan · 05-03-05, 02:11

Quote:

Originally posted by Spilchy
I did this a few months ago.

Plus, I have Call Intercept. Any number that does not show up on my caller ID, gets thrown into a recorded message asking to identify themselves. Then I get a ring and answer and decide if I want to talk or not.

Telemarketers have stopped calling cold to my home except a couple of local guys like the chimney sweeper

Same here. For us it's called "Privacy Manager."

Jngrbrdman · 05-03-05, 02:21

The solution to this is very simple. Create a DBA called "hello" and make all your phone numbers business numbers for that business. In order for a number to be considered a business number you have to answer with the name of the company. That's why you name your company 'hello'.

Your new company needs to be a consulting firm. It costs $3000 per hour to talk to you, or $50 per minute. As soon as they start talking you can cut them off and explain that they have reached a consulting firm and you will need to collect billing information from them before you proceed with the call. If they truely want to discuss anything with you, then you can bill it out as a consultation. You can legally send them a bill and legally take them to task if they don't pay it.

I've been saying this to telemarketers for years but I've never sent them a bill. I just like messing with them. Technically you could really make life miserable for a few people. This will work on anybody who calls you, by the way. Bill collectors, telemarketers, election polls, etc. Just cut them off and tell them you need some billing information before you proceed and listen to them sputter.

kompressornsc · 05-03-05, 02:35

We could actually put all telemarketers out of business within a couple of months very easily. All we would have to do is get enough people to keep them on line as long as possible when they call. Would it be a PITA? Yes, but only for a month or two-then they would all go under.

Telemarketers rely on people hanging up or saying no thank you-they just move on to the next call. Let's just make up an example: If they know that it takes 180 calls to make one sale, and it takes 20 seconds to make each call if people say 'no thanks' or hang up, that's one sale every hour. Now...

If we can keep them on the line for say 5 minutes (fairly easy to do), and they are only making one sale every 180 calls, that's one sale every nine hours. If you can do it for 10 minutes, that's one sale every 18 hours! It becomes ineffective for them to use telemarketing to sell their product.

I'll do it occasionally just to mess with them. My record so far is keeping someone on for 22 minutes-I just kept asking her to go over everything again and again, then explained to her how I was just wasting her time.

Jngrbrdman · 05-03-05, 02:50

LOL Another fun way to mess with them is to express great interest in what they have to say and then ask them to "hold on a second" and put the phone down. That way you can go back to what you were doing and they get however long of a break they needed.

Scottwax · 05-03-05, 03:07

When my kids were younger, I'd just hand the phone to them. Within seconds I'd hear "Daddy, they hung up".