Is telemarketing only getting worse?

[matt819]

I'm on the do not call list - have been since the beginning. But I think telemarketing is on the increase, and there's no way to make them stop. Nothing much more to say. We all hate telemarketing for all the same reasons, and I maintain that it's getting worse. When I had Verizon for my phone service, you block up to 20 numbers or so using their iobi service. When Verizon sold to a two-bit telephone company, that service was lost, and so I can't block numbers. I have server based spam filters for my business, and my personal e-mails come through a reasonably good service as well, and, of course, gmail has excellent spam control, I'm told. Sure, some gets through, but the bulk is stopped. You would think "the phone company" could employ the same concepts and comparable programming to do the same once the customer has given approval for the blocking. I can go on a further rant, but it's kind of pointless. It's just been on my mind, so I thought I'd mention it.

[mreilly]

1. Yes it is

... and that's why I don't answer the phone unless caller ID shows that it is someone I want to talk to (even then I usually let it go to voice mail and return calls). "Unknown caller" or "Private Number?" Fuck you, I'm not picking up. Even still, I can always be guaranteed that a telemarketer will call us if we're trying to do anything important. Sit down to dinner? Ring. Put the kids to bed? Ring. Trying to spend some quality time with the wife? Ring. Just got a DVD I've been dying to watch? Ring. And on and on.

It's even worse at work - I'm an IT guy and salesmen are all over my number (not sure how) I've had to forward my extension to voice mail and leave it like that for days just to get some work done (if they had their way I'd do nothing but talk to them and hear their sales pitches endlessly) - and I am seriously considering leaving it like that for good.

At this point the phone has become an annoying device that interrupts me whenever I'm trying to concentrate or do anything significant. And that's what I resent about the damned thing - it serves the convenience of others, not me. It is a leash, a nag, and a stalker, all rolled into one.

[Roon]

11. I used to ignore the "out of area" and "unknown caller" calls too

until I started realizing that someone was trying to call me. Now I worry about someone being in trouble and trying to call me from a strange phone number so I started answering ALL my calls.

If I don't like what is being said on the other end, I just hit that little red button on the phone and they instantly go away!

[pitohui]

2. how can it be?

no one answers the phone any more, what would be the point of telemarketing? when is the last time you answered the phone? i never do, unless it's someone i know and a call i'm expecting -- if it's someone i know but not a call i'm expecting i listen to the voicemail or look at the text message first and then get back to them at my convenience

if it's an unknown/private number it is never responded to or acknowledged

i can go days at a time w.out getting a call, i guess i've got everyone trained

the whole point of telemarketing was to prey on the very old and the very suggestible, and if you fall into the first category (very old) you might still have a landline w. a traditional "do not call" block on it, if you're v. suggestible it just makes no sense to ever answer the phone unless you know who it is -- i'm surprised there would be any telemarketers in business, doesn't seem like they'd ever get a fish on the hook.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Been noticing that, myself.

Not only are the telemarketers finding me, I'm also being inundated by calls from bill collectors who are looking for someone else. I don't know if these dumbfucks aren't listening to my answering machine to notice they've been dialing the wrong number, or what. I'm getting really sick of it. I tried putting a call block on them, but ATT won't allow out of area calls to be blocked. Why the hell they have such a service when they won't let you block half the calls you want to block is beyond me.

I'm also getting at least one call a day from Bank of America, who, inevitably, are trying to sell me some bullshit insurance or warranty. Or, they're trying to sucker me into something that will cause more fees on my account. Time to close that sucker. Meanwhile, I'm another who won't pick up the phone if I don't recognize the number on the caller ID.

[tigereye]

4. we get all these calls since we got Caller ID - and when we pick up no one

is even there. IT's really weird. And we are on the Do not call list, too. :shrug:

[siligut]

5. Automated dialing systems

No one is even on the line until you pick up, then the call is connected to an agent, but there is a delay.

[tigereye]

6. yeah, but this delay is extreme- I've done automated phone banking for

candidates before and there really! isn't anyone there.

[Paper Roses]

7. Rachel from card services is calling me again. Been a little

quiet with the telemarketing pestering calls. I hang up quickly, I don't know if there is an option to not receive the calls in the future. Anyone ever listened to the whole recording?

I wish there was a button on the dial that you could press to terminate the call and block the number forever.

[peekaloo]

8. That reminds me, I need to call about the Cadillac I won

in a contest I never entered. Or was it a Navigator?

[hobbit709]

9. you have to renew the do not call list every few years.

Just because you signed up once doesn't mean you are still on it.
I renew mine every two years and I get maybe ONE call a week.

If you're getting that many calls, it might be a good idea to check your status on the list.

[Archae]

10. I just renewed my no-call list.

Here in Wisconsin we have a rather strict no-call list law.

[bikebloke]

12. Much worse.

I still get them though I'm on the Do Not Call list, which I renewed. So I let my answering machine take the calls. And I let the machine's generic greeting take the call too.

I noticed when I've had days off, they call throughout the day. Probably trawling for retirees with landlines. I refuse to be leashed to a mobile.