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Aspies dealing with telemarketers

It's when the telemarketers are deliberately evasive, when I ask the name and phone number of the company, that annoys me. If they are from a company that genuinly values their customers, they should have no problem sharing there contact details.

If I only got a telemarketer call once in a blue moon and they were willing to hang up upon my telling them that I'm not interested, they wouldn't bother me. But it's the frequency of the calls and the rudeness of the callers that annoys me.
 
Dirtdigger said:
Don't you know a scam when you hear one? And who are you to tell me that I'm being rude when I tried to tell them on the first call that I'm on the Do Not Call Registry which goes in one ear and out the other. But, the relentlessly call, anyhow. You need a reality check and I will continue to be rude to those who hide their names and hide their telephone numbers so they can try to scam gullible people out of their hard earn cash. So get over it.

Just one more thing, if you live in the US there are laws against robocalls and nuisance calls. Don't you ever watch the news about these telephone scams?

It is people like you that makes me not want to post on Aspiecentral, because some of you attack me and you don't even know what's going on.
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Hm. I didn't understand Suzanne's comment as an attack. I just saw data.
 
I see a huge difference between telemarketers just doing their job and scammers.
Telemarketers I will try to get rid of politely, and if that really fails, then I feel free to hang up on them.
For scammers, it depends on my mood and how much time I have. I might just hang up, or I might string them along as long as I can. At least then they aren't annoying someone who might actually be caught out by it.
 
I don't answer my landline because all I get are telemarketers on it. The few people who call me use my mobile. I don't answer calls from numbers I don't recognise on my mobile and I'll google the number if there is one. If other people have reported it as being a telemarketer the number gets blocked.

zurb said:
I see a huge difference between telemarketers just doing their job and scammers.
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Definitely. I have some sympathy with telemarketers as I attempted to do it myself years ago. After being sacked 3 times, I had to admit it was not my forte. I can still remember the script I had to use 20 years later. It's a horrible job. Too many companies these days ignore the Telephone Preference Service. Scammers deserve everything they get though - those Microsoft bastards conned my auntie.
 
I don't have a land line, and it's currently illegal here in the US (unless the regulations have changed since I last checked) for sales calls to be made to mobile phones. Regardless, I screen all of my calls. If it's a number I don't recognize, I let it go to voicemail.

And zurb nailed it - telemarketers are just regular folks doing their jobs. I feel the same about debt collectors, and I try to be as polite as possible in conversations that I would rather not have.
 
Blasted idiots were calling me twice a day for a month recently. Then the last time I got one on the phone, I prattled off something rather offensive and hung up on them before they could respond. And it was ten days before they called me again.

And then the DNC and FTC get my long log sent to them online because I really wish they'd get off their lazy ass and do something about these robocallers. The only robocaller I've had and didn't mind was some company sending an automated to tell me my order had shipped that I placed a few days ago. Those are fine, they serve a real purpose. These "medical alert devices for seniors" and other garbage I have no patience for.
 
I put my name on the Do Not Call Registry, and I also have script to read back to them explaining why I can sue them in small claims court for calling me when I have registered my number. I also make them mail me a copy of their do not call policy so I can prove that they know what they are doing when they call. They usually do not call back after that. I also used to get pesky calls from bill collectors who had the wrong number but harassed me anyhow. I once sent a certified registered letter to the C.E.O of a bill collection agency explaining that if they contacted me one more time asking for some guy I didn't even know, and demanding that I pay his bills, I would take them to court. I don't promise that lightly, believe me. I did my homework and it is possible to sue telemarketing firms if you firmly ask them to remove you from their list and they continue to call. You can get up to five hundred bucks if it goes to court.
 
If you don't answer after one hello I hang up but I enjoy doing surveys and polls so I always will happily do that. If it's a charity I will donate to certain ones and say 'sorry not this time' to the others and if it's a real telemarketer I say no once then if they keep going I hang up on them. I use to feel bad but after a few rude ones I don't anymore.
 
garnetflower13 said:
You can get up to five hundred bucks if it goes to court.
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In the case of debt collectors, double that amount under the provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act plus attorney fees. Of course it only works in the case of legitimate debt collectors as opposed to criminal scams posing as legitimate debt collectors. Either way though, it's shocking to think of how many people can be pressured into paying debts they don't owe.

Yeah- it pays to know the laws that regulate such practices. Tragic though to see how so many legitimate businesses are either circumventing or outright violating the federal DNC registry and FTC regulations. Just another reason why I don't even bother connecting to such callers. I owe them nothing.
 
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We don't have caller ID so I answer the phone whenever it rings (unless I am half asleep, then I sometimes let it ring off) If it is automated I hang up straight away.

If it is a person, I will try and intersect at the soonest possible moment, explain that I am not interested but thank you for calling. If I am unsure how they got my number I will ask.

I think it is law in the UK that if you ask to get taken of a registry they have to do it. So I ask as nicely as I can if they would kindly take my number off.

Then I will end the call by wishing them a good day/ evening etc. My mother can't fathom how I remain polite to telemarketers/ cold callers, but I don't think being rude is necessary (to anyone). As demonstrated on this link, they seem to get quite a bit of abuse, I don't want to add to that. It is just a job and they are only trying to earn a wage.
 
I don't usually pick up the phone if I don't recognise the number of the caller, and especially not if their identity is hidden. But if I do and it's a telemarketer, I hang up before they get too far into their spiel so I don't waste any more time on them, and they don't waste any more time on me.
 
I used to have a prepaid phone which seemed to heavily attract telemarketers, mostly for various "all-expenses-paid vacations". I usually waited to get connected to a real person, said clearly "Put me on your Do Not Call list." and hung up.

Some listened, some didn't.
 
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