Great 'Best Cold Caller Rebukes' Hunt

amgard_2

Orlaith85 wrote: »

Why does everyone get so annoyed at getting calls?

I am usually very polite, and if I want to answer their questions or complete their survey then I will.

BUT if I do not want to participate, I say politely that I am not interested; it is at this point that some telemarketers will not take 'NO' for an answer. These are the ones that I will be firm with and end the conversation with less politeness.

redux

euterpe13 wrote: »

I used to use several of the above techniques until a few months ago, when I lost my job and had to work in a call -centre to pay the bills, because it was the only job I could find ( and the comment about finding a "real job" is certainly the nastiest thing that you can say about call-centre employees) - it's one of the most soul-destroying jobs there are : you have a script to follow, obligatory questions, a quota of calls to reach and all your calls are monitored. Trying to talk to someone who does not want to hear from you is hard enough, having them waste your time or be rude is worse. And doing this 8 hours a day, and being upbeat for every call is a real challenge.

Some of these companies are just as abusive of the customer, or train their staff to be.

For example, they are calling an ex-directory phone number, but lie that they found it in the phone book.

Or it's ex-directory, but they don't know where they got the number from.

Or they pretend that you gave them your details and asked them to call. But they don't know your name

If asked if they use a TPS database to screen against making calls to people who don't want them, some either don't know what it is, or falsely claim they are exempt from it.

About those exemptions: market research is supposedly exempt from the restrictions, but unwanted sales calls are not supposed to be allowed. So some sales firms pretend it is market research, like: are you interested in this product, and can I get someone to call you?

Some play pre-recorded sales info, especially those random-diallers pretending to be debt management companies (but seem more likely to be fishing for identity theft or other types of fraud), then ask people to press a key to speak to someone. That person then blankly refuses to name their company, or its a general sounding made-up name, or they even hang up instantly without saying anything.

They make a quick call and hang up, expecting the person to call back the missed call number. Which happens to be premium rate.

They pretend to be calling on behalf of a certain company, but aren't. It's about the Halifax account. I see, which Halifax account would that be? Your Halifax account. Which one? How many have you got? If you're actually from the Halifax, you can tell me the answer to that question. By the way, what's my name? [caller hangs up]. Then later I check with the Halifax, and they never called me.

They use a fake caller ID, which doesn't ring when called back.

A call centre in another country spends 10 minutes trying to persuade me to open a credit card account with them, and interrupts everything I try to say. Eventually I get put on to a supervisor and say I'm sympathetic to the fact they don't know English first names well enough to realise they are using a woman's first name while addressing a man. What's more, coincidentally I actually already do have an account with them, and I strongly doubt the woman wants an account with them too, but in any case she isn't here at the moment. What's more the number is ex-directory, and I wonder where they got the info from in connection with this other person (my mother). Perhaps they could train their staff to listen more carefully and not interrupt the other person so much they don't get a chance to say any of these things for several minutes ...

The call comes from abroad and plays a pre-recorded message that is about 10 minutes long. Even if you hang up, it is still tying up the line, and prevents you making an outgoing call until it ends.

Or the caller asks for the wrong name, and when you truthfully point out this number was last used for that person at least 12 years ago, when they lived about a mile away from here, and would then have been out of use for about 5 years until it was allocated to you, and suggest they delete the out of date record, they aggressively accuse you of lying.

And there are plenty of other types ...


So whilst people will be sympathetic to your fate, and recognise the low self-esteem that such jobs can drag people down to, try to remember that their intolerance is bred from dozens or hundreds of such unwanted calls, and actually you don't have any right to speak to them at all.

amgard_2

WestonDave wrote: »

Now I'm registered with TPS the only phone calls I get tend to be recorded ones which I just leave to run so it maximises the cost of their bill

Trouble is most of the overseas callers are using Voice-Over-Internet lines and the cost is then pretty much zero.

MisterK

Upon being asked “can I speak to the home owner” , or “can I speak to Mr So and So”, I’ always say…. “I’ll just go and get him… could I ask what the call is in relation to”… just so that I know it’s a useless sales call…..

Then I just put the handset on the table right next to the TV or computer whatever and just continue with whatever I was doing before the inconvenience.

Normally they’ll hang up within a minute or two, but there was one foreign call centre fellow that called telling me that I’d “Won” a kitchen….. I left him on hold through about half an hour of top gear before going to switch the handset off…. I got the phone and said “Hello?” just to check…. And immediately he said “Hello sir!”…. well I was shocked at how long he’d been on there, but just said “I don’t want your bloody kitchen!” and put the phone down.

So some are persistent beyond the realms of normal human behaviour…. Maybe I should have bought a kitchen off him?

Lets put it to the poll shall we?

Would you have? ;-)

George1

brandedcentaur wrote: »

What is the point of being rude to some poor wage slave who is just trying to earn a living? YES, we all hate receiving these calls and NO they should not be allowed.

I hate them as much as anybody else, but I always remember that, at the other end of the line, there is someone who has had the guts to go out and find a job (ANY job!) rather than sit in the house or pub, moaning about there not being any work!

Either say "No thank you, sorry" or buy a trueCall. There is no need to be rude or waste their time. Those people are paid commission and you are just breaking their will to work at all.

I agree with this. It's the unscrupulous managers we need to get to, not the poor person at the sharp end who probably earns a pittance having to to do this awful job. I usually politely tell them about the TPS and hang up.

Except, of course, for the boiler room guys, for whom I have no sympathy. If I have time I will happily engage them in extended conversation, ending up with: "Please could you switch of the background recording of a trading room as I can't hear you very well."

baddebtbob

The simple answer to anyone trying to sell you a mobile deal is to tell them thatg you don't have a phone and never ever use one as you prefer to speak in person. It usually confuses them as it's well off script. The other option is to pretend they got through to you on the phone in your toilet. A few grunting noises thrown in to any conversation will soon have them haning up.

stewartw46

Ask the caller to wait while you check that the person they require is an inmate of this instatution

wurley

Never use your home number when buying off line (or any other time really)

Use your mobile number if you must give a contact number - this will cost the marketing companies so they don't bother cold calling.

Register with TPS.

:beer:

A friend ordered something off line and gave her home phone number. It was passed on to a marketing company - she averages 5 calls a day from debt agencies, finance and mobile phone companies :eek:

Most of these companies don't subscribe to TPS, so your up the creek if they get hold of your home number. :mad:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~egbg/counterscript.html

This is funny so use this link if your one of the 'Up-the-creek' people

Blobby8_2

Simples.
If I dont have the time - hang up
If I do have the time I feel it is my duty to keep the on the line as long as possible, therefore saving someone else having to listen to their drivel.:money:

Skintslimmer

I used to work for a call centre too. To those of you who are rude & agressive, you're not getting to the people who are really causing you the problem - just their minions. The person on the other end of the line probably doesn't want to be calling you either, but has to to find some money, so perhaps you could be polite if only for their sakes?

Whilst I love some of these, and the polite but funny ones would have brightened up a dreary day in the call centre, if you really just want to get rid of the caller and have them not ring you back, it really is as simple as:

"Thank you but I'm not interested, please can you remove my details from your database and don't call me again"

90% of the time the caller will be polite back and you won't hear from that company again.

Telling them you're on the TPS also works, even if you're not, and most callers get really concerned thinking how you've got through the screening, and wondering if you'll escalate it. Taking their name and location should act as double insurance, nobody wants a rollocking from their supervisor for failing to remove you from the database (the company is liable for a fine if they don't comply)

IF the caller is rude, or calls back having been politely told no thanks, then IMO they are fair game. However, do remember that the call back might be from someone totally different. I had one instance where I repeatedly had a company trying to sell me a new mobile contract, and the usual first attempt for no more calls failed. Second attempt was from another person, and so was the third. Fortunately for me the third girl actually listened to my polite-ish rant (I kept on re-iterating I knew it wasn't her fault, but stressed how upset I was that I was still receiving calls from them) and I haven't heard from them again.

Politely and systematicaly getting yourself removed from databases is far less stressful for you too, and much more effective. Whilst I was never rude or innappropriate to customers, some of my colleagues were, and if they had just been sworn/ranted at, they might have been known to be devious in their revenge, and ensure that person got calls for all sorts of things...