Ways to stop overseas sales calls discussion

Azari

Bombay_Cat wrote: »

Spam calls. I leave the 'phone off the hook to disable their line

Diddlums wrote: »

If I get one of these nuisance phone calls, I leave the phone off the hook before the caller puts their phone down. This prevents them making another call to anybody for as long as I leave the phone off the hook - usually about ten minutes.

Waste their time like they waste ours!

(From post #137)

I'm afraid that's wrong.

It is the caller who can keep the line open, not the person called.

It's very easy to demonstrate his for yourself if you get a friend to all you.

(Incidentally, some scammers make use of this by telling the less tech savvy person that if they don't pay they will cut their phone off. They then invite the victim to hang up and make a call. Of course, they can't as the scammer has not terminated the call.)

lyster101

Shantiji wrote: »

My daughter Roop had a job in the summer holidays, before going to Uni, working in a call centre. She had to make cold calls to people offering goods and services that nobody really wanted.

All day long she had to put up with people swearing, abusing her, doing long elaborate wind ups, making her think that she might just have a sale for once, or deafening her by blowing a whistle in her her ear.

She stuck that job all summer long to earn money for her uni fees, but at the end of the day, she would come home and and cry on her bed, just from the sheer weight of peoples unkindness.

I know the calls are annoying. But there is a human being on the end of the phone, they are probably a badly paid youngster trying to make college fees or someone in a developing country whose family depends on their income.

They have feelings just like you.

Please think twice before trying any of these mean tactics. People seem so ridiculously pleased with themselves when they have thought of a particularly creative way to waste the callers time, hurt their eardrums or spout rubbish to them - its really not such a victory.

its just a few moments of your time, yes it is annoying if they persist, but just imagine how it feels to sit there for 8 hours being creatively abused. It really, really chips away at your self esteem.
They are no new insults. They have heard them all before, over and over.
Say No thank you nicely,and put the phone down .

It won't kill you. No matter how many times you have to do it.

Your post reminded me of the bit in the first Austin Powers film when they cut to the family of the recently killed henchman and show the 'other side' of their death.

It is your daughters choice where and what form of employment she seeks and carries out.

The people she bothered over that summer seemingly did not have any choice in their interaction, causing the vast majority of them unwarranted, unsolicited and unnecessary irritation and annoyance.

As a fellow 'victim' of these perenial time-wasters, your daughter does not garner my sympathy. I applaud the ingenuity and frivolous methods of each and everyone who speaks their mind.

Longtallsally

I was getting calls most days from India from a company trying to sell me something to save my computer from crashing. Eventually I tried this - and it worked like a dream - I squawked and miawed and barked, I did an over-the-top impersonation of a mad old granny, etc etc etc - whatever came into my head but without letting up - the amazing thing was that whenever I stopped, the caller would get right back onto his script, but eventually he hung up and I haven't heard from them since.
I had such a hoot doing it and laughed like a drain when he hung up. I'd go so far as to say it's therapeutic!

savemoney

I dont get any cold calls I have a device called truecall that blocks calls haven't had one single call in 2 years. Although I still get many calls the device blocks them

bargainbetty

Shantiji wrote: »

My daughter Roop had a job in the summer holidays, before going to Uni, working in a call centre. She had to make cold calls to people offering goods and services that nobody really wanted. - This may be relevant to the lack of responses.

......

its just a few moments of your time, yes it is annoying if they persist, but just imagine how it feels to sit there for 8 hours being creatively abused. It really, really chips away at your self esteem. Imagine how it feels to be pestered at home, despite your repeated attempts to stop sales people calling you. And what about vulnerable people who are pressurised by sales people? You think that doesn't constitute abuse?

.......
Say No thank you nicely,and put the phone down . Fine, but they should hang up too, and not call back. Why do so many persist in hanging on and blocking our line and wasting our time.

With all due respect, most of us are nice enough to politely say that we are not interested and ask that we don't receive more calls. However, if the person does persist, it is entirely up to us how we behave. Why should we give more courtesy to the cold caller than they give to us?

I am sorry that your daughter had problems with it. However, I have done everything possible to avoid sales calls, so when someone calls me and I've asked them to leave me alone, those who don't comply will get what they get.

Shantiji

@ Lyster.
I was so proud of my daughter finding a job within a week of leaving school. She was just eighteen at the time (it was last summer). It isn't at all easy to find jobs in the current climate and she went for so many interviews in her last month of school.There is little choice for a school leaver with no experience, and the fees for university are so high now, we could not provide all the money.

She was just a youngster trying to provide for her education. The firm were incredibly unpleasant in addition to the abuse she received from so many of the people she called.

I just wanted to remind people that these are human beings on the end of the phone, and they they all have their reasons for doing this unpleasant job - its surely better than eating up your taxes in claiming benefit.

It is quite up to you how you treat them, but being nasty in any one of a thousand creative ways may give you a little thrill of victory but it dosen't do any good, you understand? It just contributes to weight of human misery.

Be happy that you do not have to do such a job.

pjaj

Sorry folks, but we've been registered with both TPS and MPS for years. Last year we complained to BT and all they could suggest is that we went ex-directory. But nothing stops 2,3,4 calls a day. We have caller ID on our phone and there are four possibilities:-
1) A number is displayed - this can be reported to TPS - rare
2) "Number withheld" - from an ex-directory number - we let it ring.
3) "Out of area" - a special business line often used by companies that don't want to be identified - we let it ring.
4) "International" - we let it ring.
We only have one friend who is ex-directory and we phone them.
When our children travel abroad they are trained to email us rather then phone.

I'm afraid TPS and BT are a joke - they can't stop these pests.
As for junk mail - ignore, return to sender "gone away" or send to MPS for investigation.

Shantiji

@ Bargain Betty You are asking why one should be polite and kind, if the caller is not. You are right, it is always up to you how you behave. But if you are a little kind, even if they are not, then you can be happy in the knowledge that you have done your best to treat a person humanely.

This is a much happier feeling than the one you get when you feel you have succeeding in hurting their ear with a whistle or just making them feel sad and desperate - remember, for some there is little choice of employment, it is this, or the benefit system.

We live in a very challenging world but it is up to us how we react to it. These phone calls are a small irritation in the scheme of things really.

WickedAunt

My elderly parents have regular nuisance calls, usually from Indian-based call centres. They're registered with TPS.

Unortunately blocking anonymous calls won't work as Social Services withhold their calling numbers for some unknown reason.

If the nuisance caller doesn't say something immediately, I hang up. If they ring back I ask them to delete the number and any associated personal data from their database, and not sell or transfer the number. To the ones who pretend not to understand (or even tell me they don't speak English!!) I simply say not to call the number ever again and put the phone down.

My father neatly sidesteps the 'problem with your Windows/PC' calls by saying his runs Linux!

If they ask to speak to my father or mother I say no; if they ask for my father by the wrong name I say 'Mr X Surname' is dead - true, as that was my grandfather (my father does the same) - and put the phone down.

Sometimes asking sharply 'where did you get this number' has resulted in an exasperated sigh and the 'click' of the disconnect. To those who say 'he asked us to call' I state confidently that he didn't and go through the 'delete this number and don't call it again' routine.

It's time consuming and very irritating, especially if waiting for a call from the doctor. However, it avoids being rude to anyone, and hopefully keeps the line free for important calls.

Mr_Ejog

The calls claiming that you have malicious software on your PC are a scam.
I used to get lots of them but I found a solution.

I found a phone number for the Police internet fraud department and next time I got one of these calls I told them that my PC was next to my other phone and asked them to call back on my other number (the fraud squads number)

I have no idea if they actually called it but I stopped getting these annoying scam calls.

:rotfl: