Cold callers - an amusing way to get rid

[Bessieboo]

Oh these have caused me so much trouble in the past. Being such a kind soul I used to find it hard to say no and therefore, in the past, have had numberous appointments made for double glazing that I could not afford. However I have toughened up over the years and now if I am not interested I politely say so before putting the phone down.

I do feel for the people on the other end of the phone because it must be a really horrible job to do.

 

[EAST KENT]

A truly horrible job for them ..so I just say "don`t waste your time on me bye"

 

[nickslynn]

Now a days I just say Not interested thankyou very much good bye and hang up.
But a few years back at my dads we were getting 3 or 4 a day, so one day when they asked for my father I asked if it was important as I would have to undo he straight jacket first! dont know who was laughing more us or them!

 

[Munchkin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdxYfYegQSQ

 

[Lila]

I actually work in a call center (not trying to sell things i must add) but when i call people about there order its very rare for someone to question where im calling from or for me to answer any questions before they give me all their card details again.
And yes im calling them!! (im not a scammer lol)
If someone called me i would never give my details without askiing 101 questions first.

 

[nickslynn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdxYfYegQSQ

that made me laugh!!

 

[TheEquineOak]

Just for the record, not all outbound calls jobs are 'the only job you can get'. I earn a very reasonable amount of money and work for a high-end hospitality company whilst predominantely making outbound calls... I could do a job in a variety of spheres but choose to do this as I am good at it and enjoy it.

I always try to be polite to salespeople as I appreciate not all of them are as lucky as me, and probably earn very little basic salary therefore rely on commission. I'd never waste their time as some of you seem to enjoy doing - just politely say 'no thanks, I'm not interested.' and let them get on to another call, where someone might be interested!

Right back at you! When I was a student I made over 3k a month selling gas and electricity over the phone. The rude/funny responses actually made the job just as exciting as making the sale! Not every cold caller is a scam. I worked for e.on and everything was scrutinised to the finest detail in order to prove to the customer that they were saving money.

There are some classic responses on here!!

 

[gemin1eye]

I actually work in a call center (not trying to sell things i must add) but when i call people about there order its very rare for someone to question where im calling from or for me to answer any questions before they give me all their card details again.
And yes im calling them!! (im not a scammer lol)
If someone called me i would never give my details without askiing 101 questions first.

I agree - I work in a call centre (inbound, but you still have no right to be rude to me!) and customers never check I am who I say I am, they just hand over their card details! If a company calls you (and you actually want to speak to them) find the number for yourself and check that that person works there before you give them any money!

 

[irish_only]

Another one last night - Hello Mrs ........
Me - just a minute, I'll get her (It was already me)
Caller starts on speel
ME - Hello, I thought you wanted Mrs .........
Caller restarts speel
ME - Just a minute, I'll see if I can find her
Caller - clunk click, gone.

Now who's being rude?

 

[fabscd]

I completely understand that a lot of these people are just doing their jobs, and that i don't have a problem with. It's the ones who after i have said 'no thanks, not interested' then carry on with their script regardless, then get quite shirty when i say i'm still not interested. I have found quite a lot of cold callers very friendly and will just say thank you for your time and hang up when i say i am not interested/have no need of their product. The ones who carry on after this will, i'm afraid get the sharper end of my tongue (btw i am never rude, just plain and simple....and ok, maybe a bit patronising) because it annoys me that they are then wasting my time and theirs. Canteron (?) I think you are generalising a bit much to say 'no wonder no one likes horse people' I can't think of anyone i know (horsey or non) who LIKES being called at dinner time by people trying to sell things!

 

[lillith]

I work in telemarketing, business to business not to consumer but just to share some info...being rude gets you no-where.

If someone is arsish/rude/deliberately winds me up I am actualy less likely to try to work a way I can remove them from the system. I have call recording and work off a database so I cannot actualy remove people from the database unless I have spoken to the decision maker and found out why they aren't interested. I know people are busy and I do try my best to keep it short but being rude is the one sure-fire way to make me call you back every damn day untill I get the answers the brief says I need. If you are polite about not being interested then I am far more likely to try to work a way to write off the record asap.

 

[Lollii]

I have just seen an ad above with this:

* Cold Calling Courses Read the new e-book that explains why cold calling doesn't work! www.nevercoldcall.com

but being rude is the one sure-fire way to make me call you back every damn day untill I get the answers the brief says Ineed.

Is this for real?? I can't believe this is your attitude

I really believe cold calling should be banned, it is harassment of the worse kind; being constantly called on a private number being told you need something that you don't ... this is MY time, stay out of it.

My home number is ex directory and registered with the TPS, we still get several calls a week (it was several a day) I have now unplugged the phone - thanks to people like you I can now only use my mobile.

 

[elephant]

I was called one evening as I was multi tasking in the kitchen- begrudingly answered the phone as no-one else would get up to answer it (grrr), suddenly then to be given a speel on double glazing, I politely said that we were not interested and the callers cold reply was " well I knew that already- I rang you remember!"


Grrr that still makes me mad to this day!!

 

[Suzie86]

I have just seen an ad above with this:

* Cold Calling Courses Read the new e-book that explains why cold calling doesn't work! www.nevercoldcall.com



Is this for real?? I can't believe this is your attitude

I really believe cold calling should be banned, it is harassment of the worse kind; being constantly called on a private number being told you need something that you don't ... this is MY time, stay out of it.

My home number is ex directory and registered with the TPS, we still get several calls a week (it was several a day) I have now unplugged the phone - thanks to people like you I can now only use my mobile.

If you read lilliths post she does B2B cold calling not B2C - completely different!!!

And yes it does work - otherwise companies wouldnt bother paying people to do it!!!!

Yes scam calls from abroad etc different thing but not what the post is about!!!!

 

[Brontie]

Loving the youtube video one! Some great replies. We had one phone up the other day asking for my father, he was out and we told them. They then asked for his mobile number, and we said that he's a lorry driver, he wont answer he'll be driving. Then for the next five minutes, said caller was sat on the phone demanding his number saying he might answer, and that we don't know that he wont. Rude.

 

[Lila]

Its suprising how many people say sorry mr or mrs... isnt here right now can i ask whose calling i say yes QVC and they say hold on there just walking through the door or just pulling ontot he driveway lol. Always makes me laugh as i know they are usually sat next to them.

We only make our calls between 4-9 weekdays as the contact rate is to low during the day which im sure is why most of us get calls around tea time.

I usually polite to people who cold call but iv hada few recently same person calling same time EVERYDAY asking for someone else. When i say they have the wrong number they try to sell me things t which i tell them im not interested but they still call back everyday.
In the end i got ratty with them and they havent called since

 

[Katikins]

My sister ended up in doing cold calling for about a month this year as she was between jobs and had to pay the rent, it was the only thing she could get on short notice (she has now moved on to a job she loves). But knowing the amount of crap she used to get even though she was always polite was awful. I will always be polite and say that I'm not interested politely.

However, I don't get these calls anymore as I don't have a landline (plus if they bothered calling me here it would be in Dutch so I can play my 'I don't speak Dutch' card). I'm actually surprised at the number of people who still have landlines... I can only think of one person I know who does (though I suppose there might be signal problems if you live in the sticks).

 

[Lollii]

If you read lilliths post she does B2B cold calling not B2C - completely different!!!

I did read the post - thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is not different at all, business or consumer - it is still harassment !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And yes it does work - otherwise companies wouldnt bother paying people to do it!!!!

If they didn't pay them, we wouldn't have to put up with it !!!!!!!!!!!

Yes scam calls from abroad etc different thing but not what the post is about!!!!

Of course it is what we are talking about - see title of thread 'Cold Callers an amusing way to get rid!!!!! they are a pain in the ar*e - ban em!!!!

Is this enough explanation marks now? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Flibble]

I tend to divide cold callers into groups.

The obvious scam - you are having problems with your computer deserve all they get. They are a source of entertainment

The foreign unsolicited calls offering a prize for a competition entered deserve all they get especially when you can tell they are reading from a script..

We are on TPS so the others get a why are you calling me I am registered with TPS and I am generally not rude to them as I recognise they are just doing a job. I had a lovely chat with a lad one day who was offering me a deal on 0% interest Credit Card balance transfers after all its not his fault that is what the Company who employ him want him to do.

 

[blackcob]

If they can sit in an office bothering people on a phone all day they could do other things, working in a supermarket is a good, honest job, not what these plonkers are doing!

Thanks for calling me a plonker.

I did cold-calling for eighteen months to fund my first year at university. It was horrible, horrible work, I used to cry when I got home at night because of the stress of being forced to make x calls per hour and having your toilet breaks timed up on a big screen for all to see.

However, the money was excellent - £2 an hour more than supermarket work - and after six weeks I was 'promoted' to rewarming instead, i.e calling people who had already shown interest in what we were selling. It didn't happen often but I saved quite a few people thousands of pounds a year. One sent me a bunch of flowers in thanks.

You only have to say 'no thanks' and put the phone down. If you're registered with the TPS, tell them, though it's likely that they have your number completely legitimately - our databases were regularly cross-checked with the TPS and most of the leads we had were people who had voluntarily given their number, even if this was by forgetting to tick a box on a sister company's form or something.

 

[AprilBlossom]

Of course it is what we are talking about - see title of thread 'Cold Callers an amusing way to get rid!!!!! they are a pain in the ar*e - ban em!!!!

Is this enough explanation marks now? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And what is it you do to earn a living Lollii?

 

[Ladyinred]

Even a light hearted thread such as this one can quickly turn into a bitchfest on H+H..

 

[sash]

so, would you all be the same when H&H cold call you then!?

 

[natalia]

H&H ALWAYS cold call me! AND I'M *********** FED UP WITH IT! NO I won't use them to advertise my horses as they are too expensive, and not very good at getting numbers right in adverts. Today I had a lad from H&H on the phone and despite telling him this in my first sentence, he kept on trying! They must call me at least once a week and horse deals are similar!

 

[Nickijem]

Hehe - we have just had some cold caller on the phone! It was an international number (we are on the tps list so shouldn't get cold calls) but I know they do still call people on the tps list.
My husband just did the replica of the 'murder scene' that is on you tube! (someone posted a link earlier)
He pretended to be a police officer at the murder scene and got this poor chap really worried that he was going to have to give evidence in court
He soon hung up

 

[Megan_T]

Dear oh dear - this thread has made me laugh.

I do feel sorry for the people who are genuinely cold calling, it must be an utterly shite job and not one I would ever do myself.

Having said that, the ones who call my 87 year old Grandmother who has to get up of her chair to answer the phone, for them to then try and sell her a new kitchen or double glazing, deserve to have a sharp stick poked up their do-da. Even when she politely declines and they... just... keep... on.... and ..... on... at.... her. I'd happily give them a darn good speaking to and wouldn't feel even slightly bad about it. She's old and vulnerable and that is why they call her.

I also have an issue with being called in the evenings when I'm trying to sit down and eat my tea or wind down. I try not to be rude, but sometimes I don't always manage it. I've never tried any of these ideas you guys have come up with, but that's just because I'm just not smart enough

My mum suffers from unbearable migraines... and one day, as she had finally managed to get to sleep after being sick all day and not being able to open her eyes... the phone rang (she has one phone in her bedroom), late in the evening... it was a sales call.

I swear to god I nearly hit the ceiling, I was RAGING.

I'm afraid to say that the nice asian man on the phone got one hell of an earful.

And no, I wasn't even a little bit sorry.

 

[Ladyinred]

I find the three worst offenders on the cold calling scene are:

BT themselves.. 'No. I do not want to change my internet provider. Like I didn't want to change it last week or the one before.. oh and to save you calling, I won't want to change it next week'

AOL.. I hate you all. Please go away. AOL is rubbish.

And last but not least, Sky. 'No I do not want a free trial upgrade to Sky Movies. I do not have time to watch movies. And neither do I want Sky Sports. Yes, believe it or not, I am perfectly happy with the channells we have now.'

 

[natalia]

I've just had YET ANOTHER cold caller from horse and hound despite yesterday telling them not to call me again! H&H are certainly persistant but driving me nuts as I have no intention of advertising with them!

 

[irish_only]

I've just had another one. Told them is being discussed on this forum, so I think they are going to have a look.

 

[canteron]

Dear Irish only so they are going to look on the forums, well I am going to stick up for those cold callers.

If life is good to you - as clearly it has been to You - then you can afford to be nice and 'up your nose' middle class. However believe it or not some people have to work out how to make life work for them and if you go into any call centre you I'll find people trying to make sense of life and find a way forward - the sort of thing the more privileged among you take for granted.

So if you think it is cool to be ride to people who may not have your sophistication and luck, then fine, but I just th ink it makes you rather a rude cow.

How do I know this, because I have worked in one and seen students trying to find their way through uni without huge debts, disabled people who are good on the phone but have limited keyboard skill and also single mums trying to have some work ethic - and some ot the Nicest most fun people.

So that's why I think most of you come across as rather unpleasant snobs and far more irritating than the cold callers. After all this forum is mean to be about horses not a competition on how beastly you can be.