Cold callers selling telecoms

ronbyrne2005

How can i stop all these people calling from India trying to sell me telecom services, I'm getting several calls a week and even when I say I'm not interested and hang up the company gets a person of opposite sex(to original caller) to call back . Is there a do not call list for these telesales people?

Zapp Brannigan

Yup there is. Just tell em that you want to be removed from the list where they got your number.

stovelid

Keep an air horn or a loud whistle beside the phone.

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

How can i stop all these people calling from India trying to sell me telecom services, I'm getting several calls a week and even when I say I'm not interested and hang up the company gets a person of opposite sex(to original caller) to call back . Is there a do not call list for these telesales people?

Zebra3

A bloke I work with one day told them to 'stop harrassing' him and he never heard from them again.

Ruu_Old

Airhorn would do the job alright. You can make a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner by reading up what it says here.

liamo

1. First of all, you need to identify the company. If the caller doesn't identify the company initially, ask the caller very politely and pleasantly for the name of the company. Don't be unpleasant to him; remember, it's a crappy, low-paid job where lots of the called parties tell him to F*** right off and he's only trying to earn a crust.

2. Tell him politely that
a) you don't wish to avail of his company's services
b) you would like to be removed from the company's marketing database
c) you will be making this request in writing.

3. Make a note of the date/time of the call and the fact that you made this removal request.

4. Write to the company requesting - per the Data Protection Acts - that they remove you from their marketing database. Remind them of their obligation under the Acts that they must respond to you in writing within 60 days (I think it's 60 days) acknowledging that they have carried out your request. Don't forget to keep a copy.

5. If you have identified a valid email address for the company, email them with your request. Each time you get a call, send a further email. (This is in addition to the written letter, not instead of). Keep copies of your emails.

6. If you keep getting calls from them after all this, write to the Data Protection Commissioner informing him of the letter, the emails and the spoken requests and the failure of the company to abide by the Data Protection Acts.

I've done this a few times (not always getting to the point where I have to contact the Data Protection Commissioner) and I honestly can't remember the last time I got a Telecoms cold call.

This thread contains the most recent communication to me with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. You might find it interesting.


Regards,

Liam

Hagar

Does the Data Protection Act cover calls originating in India?
I have my doubts.

liamo

Hagar wrote:

Does the Data Protection Act cover calls originating in India?
I have my doubts.

The company has to be operating in Ireland, otherwise what's the point in trying to get Irish customers? If they're operating here then they're subject to Irish law. It doesn't matter where the call originates from, the call is being made on behalf of the company.

Hagar

What if the call list is not and was never in Ireland?
Suppose the Indian company only passes on sucessful sales leads to the Irish company?

nlgbbbblth

I seem to get cold called every few days from various phone companies.

While it's obviously easiest to hang up as soon as you can, there is a certain satisfaction to be gained by engaging in this discussion:

'Did you realise that we can save you........'

'I'm sorry but my existing telephone provider won't like it if I move to yourselves'

'But we can save you €xxxxxx€xxxxxx'

'Yes, but they won't like it.'

'Who is your existing provider are you with?'

'XXXXXX. They said there would be serious implications and lots of trouble if I moved to another company'

Next say 'I'm sorry but I have a feeling that they could be bugging this call' - and then hang up.

pH

No way these calls are great - here's some games you can play:

'The hang on game'
Ask the caller to hang on a bit (won't take a sec and you'll listen to them), rest phone and on a regular basis pick it up and say 'just a couple more secs' Keep a record of your longest - try and beat 4 minutes.

'Want to buy my car?'
Act dumb, tell them you're glad they called about the car and try to sell them something.

And finally the surreal - this one takes practice
Deny you have a phone - tell them you got rid of your phone a few weeks ago - this can lead to a great conversation.

mdebets

I don't know, what you have against these calls, I always find them amusing.
The last time, I told the caller, that I can't have any savings with my phonecalls, as I don't have a phone and she was only imagining that she was calling me. It took her 5 minutes to cop on to this and finally hang up.:D

hoody

nlgbbbblth wrote:

I seem to get cold called every few days from various phone companies.

While it's obviously easiest to hang up as soon as you can, there is a certain satisfaction to be gained by engaging in this discussion:

'Did you realise that we can save you........'

'I'm sorry but my existing telephone provider won't like it if I move to yourselves'

'But we can save you €xxxxxx€xxxxxx'

'Yes, but they won't like it.'

'Who is your existing provider are you with?'

'XXXXXX. They said there would be serious implications and lots of trouble if I moved to another company'

Next say 'I'm sorry but I have a feeling that they could be bugging this call' - and then hang up.

Or just tell them, "No, I'm sorry, I don't have a telephone". Shuts them up pretty fast.

mdebets

pH wrote:

No way these calls are great - here's some games you can play:

'The hang on game'
Ask the caller to hang on a bit (won't take a sec and you'll listen to them), rest phone and on a regular basis pick it up and say 'just a couple more secs' Keep a record of your longest - try and beat 4 minutes.

'Want to buy my car?'
Act dumb, tell them you're glad they called about the car and try to sell them something.

And finally the surreal - this one takes practice
Deny you have a phone - tell them you got rid of your phone a few weeks ago - this can lead to a great conversation.

So I see, I'm not the only one who enjoys it.
My best one was the guy who tried to sell my skyTV. I kept going on to ask him how I was to get to my TV in the sky and if I the trip into space was included in the subscription.

Flukey

You could take these more light-hearted approaches:

When they ask "How are you today?" Tell them! "I'm so glad you asked because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my dog just died."

If they say they're John Smith from the Flibblepenguin Company, ask them to spell their name. Then ask them to spell the company name. Then ask them where it is located. Continue asking them personal questions or questions about their company for as long as necessary.

Cry out in surprise, "Laura! Is that you? Oh my God! Laura, how have you been?" Hopefully, this will give "Laura" a few brief moments of pause as she tries to figure out where the hell she could know you from.

If a phone company calls trying to get you to sign up for their family and friends plan, reply, in as SINISTER a voice as you can, "I don't have any friends... would you be my friend?"

If they want to loan you money, tell them you just filed for bankruptcy and you could sure use some money.

Tell the telemarketer you are confined to your house under a court order and ask if they could bring you a case of beer and some chips.

After the telemarketer gives their spiel, ask them to marry you. When they get all flustered, tell them that you could not just give your credit card number to a complete stranger.

Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment and ask them if they will give you their HOME phone number so you can call them back. When the telemarketer explains that they cannot give out their HOME number, you say "I guess you don't want anyone bothering you at home, right?" The telemarketer will agree and you say, "Now you know how I feel!"

Insist that the caller is really your friend Katherine, playing a joke. "Come on Katherine, cut it out! Seriously, Katherine, how's your family?"

Tell them to talk VERY SLOWLY, because you want to write EVERY WORD down.


Plenty of nice ideas there.

crosstownk

Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment and ask them if they will give you their HOME phone number so you can call them back. When the telemarketer explains that they cannot give out their HOME number, you say "I guess you don't want anyone bothering you at home, right?" The telemarketer will agree and you say, "Now you know how I feel!"

Nice one! I'll try that next.

Usually I tell them that my employer pays for my phone as I'm on call (a complete lie, thankfully) - that usually gets a "er.....ok, sorry to bother you"

liamo

Hagar wrote:

What if the call list is not and was never in Ireland?
Suppose the Indian company only passes on sucessful sales leads to the Irish company?

Why don't you find out and post the results of your research? That would be helpful.

Hagar

If I was as clever as you I'd give it a try...:p

J.R.HARTLEY

you could save yourself the bother and just ring 1901 ask for a customer service rep and ask them to ban unsolicited phonecalls i did this about 4 months ago, it takes a week to set up but i haven't had a single poxy call since

Zaph

I actually got a call yesterday, for the first time in ages. The guy calling was Indian, but he identified himself as calling from Talk Talk in Cork, as have previous Indian callers. I only really use the house phone for broadband, so whenever I get a call telling me how they can save me a fortune on my calls I usually tell them that the call amounted to €3 on my last bill, but if they were willing to give it a shot by all means go ahead. They usually just thank me for my time at that point. I asked the guy yesterday to take me off their list, so it'll be interesting to see if I get any more calls in the future, although they're rare enough so as not to be a real nuisance.

Caco

You could always try this...
http://crazytelemarketer.ytmnd.com/

kinda long but hilarious!

liamo

Hagar wrote:

If I was as clever as you I'd give it a try...:p

/Me withdraws in the face of Hagar's superior repartee.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Flukey wrote:

Tell them to talk VERY SLOWLY, because you want to write EVERY WORD down.

That one made me lol.