New telemarketing Gimmick

[Stimw]

They never give up!
My cell phone rings, I check the number, it's an 800 number, before I can answer it it stops ringing.
I think maybe the call got cut off, maybe it's a LEGITIMATE call from a company trying to reach me?????
I call back and they go into their sales pitch! I was so mad I forget what they were selling!!
Telemarketing IS NOT A JOB! It's phone harassment.
Older people still remember- The telephone is not a toy! Stop playing with it!
Way back when the phone and phone manners was taken seriously.

 

[hawkeye08]

X2, agree

 

[teg]

I always press "talk" and just listen... usually it's a computer waiting to hear "Hello?" If no sounds, it will hang up but it gets charged for the call with the phone company! That and I hate to hear a ringing phone...

On the rare times it was someone I know, they usually call back, on the second call I say Hello!

What IF everyone that gets these calls would actually answer them and screw with them for a long time?? Sooner or later they would all give up. I'm still screwing one guy in the Philippines that hacked into a friends AOL account. Sending a message from her that they need $1950 loan and that "she'll" pay me back.

That reminds me, need to check into that spam account to see how Betty is doing in the Philippines...

 

[PILOON]

In Canada, answer RCMP, how may we help you?
In USA, FBI, may we be of assistance?

= click followed by a dial tone.

 

[MacLawn]

I absolutely NEVER (there are times you can use that good word) answer phone that I don't know who it is. That's what leaving message is for. Jerks don't leave message, it scam.

 

[Grumpa Wally]

I have my plumbing company landline calls forwarded to my mobile. Like you, I am bombarded with incessant phone rings from telemarketers and robocallers. One important tool that has helped me is the HIYA app. It is a mobile phone screener that blocks previously reported spam callers. I have several blocked calls each day. The app also lets the user report and block calls that make it through the screening. I constantly renew our phone numbers on the Do Not Call registry and it is worthless waste of time. Go to the Google play store and check out the app. It has saved me time and stress from these bothersome leaches.

 

[kcflhrc]

If it's important they will leave a message. I get calls all the time I don't answer. They spoof the numbers to make it look like a local number. You gotta be careful. Now these idiots with nothing better to do are making bogus 911 calls. We have 1 from California sitting in a Kansas Jail right now because the call he made resulted in a resident getting shot and killed by Police in Wichita.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Since I run a business off of my phone every number gets one chance. I've found that spammers etc basically use the same numbers so I have a list of about ten numbers in my phone that all have the same "Do Not Answer" name. If one of them calls me again I know not to answer.

The other thing I have done if I have time is to listen to the pitch. When it comes time to pay I double the amount they want and give then my lawyer's phone number. It's amazing the sputtering you hear when the caller realizes they no longer have control of the call. I just calmly tell the caller that they need to leave a security deposit with my lawyer before I can do business with them. Most times I get a very satisfying click and then that number gets added to the Do Not Answer list.

I used to get about 8-10 marketing calls a month. Since I started doing these two things I don't even get one a year.

Samsung also has a free service that you can apply to incoming calls. People report a number as spam and when it shows up on your call display it's marked as spam. Even some government phone numbers have been reported.

 

[Bird]

Samsung also has a free service that you can apply to incoming calls. People report a number as spam and when it shows up on your call display it's marked as spam. Even some government phone numbers have been reported.

I've never known how they got reported, or by whom, but my wife and I do get those calls that show to be "spam" on our cell phones, so we don't mind missing those calls.

 

[GaryM]

I have "AT&T Call Protect" on my cell phone. Like others it has a database of reported telemarketers and suce, but you can add your own numbers as well. Most of the time the phone doesn't ring, but sometimes it does and shows "telemarketer". I'm down to maybe one or two calls a month.