How do you stop annoying solicitation phone calls?

momofmany

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I'm on a no-call list in my state of Missouri, but still am plagued with calls from "business affiliates" and non-profits. I HATE those calls as if I wanted something from a business affiliate (like a bank or credit card), I would ask for it. And I have my non-profits of choice that I donate my time and money to. I get at least 1-2 calls a day, mostly from fire-fighters and police funds, but also the occassional cancer fund, children's fund, veterans fund, etc.

I'm curious how you all handle these calls? Since I get so many, I've resorted to lieing to them and telling them I was just laid off work with nothing to give, and some have the nerve to ask for money anyway. A friend of mine gets creative with it and has gone as far as telling the callers that the person they asked for has died.

So what do you do?
 

kittylover4ever

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Well Amy, I have to say, I just say no thank you and cut them off by hanging up. May not be the very nicest way, but it gets SOOOO frustrating!!
 

rosiemac

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In the UK we have what they call a telephone and mailing preference list that you sign up with free of charge and this stops telesales people like banks and basically anyone selling from ringing you and it's the same with any "junk" mail as we call it coming through your letter box.

I'm signed up for both!.

If anyone does ring me or sends mail through then i just need to get in touch with the "preference" company and they get in touch with whoevers contacted me.
 

squirtle

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On my telephone service they have a way for you to block anonymous calls. I have that activated and it doesn't let any of those calls through. I think that helps along with my number being non-published. We are also on the do not call list, but I didn't really get those calls even before I put my name on it. I get maybe 1 or 2 soliciation calls a month.

Oh, and if you do get stuck talking to someone just say "I just spoke to someone from there yesterday and I signed up!" or you can say "I all ready have that and I am stuck in a 2 year contract"
 

annabelle33

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i don't mind freaking out on credit card companies and businesses, but the non profits always make me feel bad. I don't mind donating but I'll do it on my own time, not with someone forcing it down my throat. I understand these people have a job to do but it drives me nuts. I don't get many now though.
 

mamacat

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Originally Posted by rosiemac

In the UK we have what they call a telephone and mailing preference list that you sign up with free of charge and this stops telesales people like banks and basically anyone selling from ringing you and it's the same with any "junk" mail as we call it coming through your letter box.
That's like our no-call lists here, but there are some exemptions--if you already do business with a company, say you have a credit card with them, they are allowed to call you to try to sell you additional services, and non-profits are also exempt, so they can call you for donations. As far as I know, there's no way to block those people.
 

roundy604

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Saying that the person they are asking for is dead does work. Or, you could ask to be put on their do not call list. All companies have a do not call list and if you request to be put on it, they have to do so.
 
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momofmany

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Originally Posted by Roundy604

Saying that the person they are asking for is dead does work. Or, you could ask to be put on their do not call list. All companies have a do not call list and if you request to be put on it, they have to do so.
Does that work with non-profits? I thought they were exempt.

Maybe its just my area, but I get so many calls from them!
 

roundy604

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It works here in Maine. I used to work for a credit card company (who knows, I may have interrupted one of your dinners! lol) and we were told of the do not call list. It dosn't hurt to try, and if they don't stop, maybe you could try a little threat, such as "I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me, I recieve calls from your organization daily and honestly, I'm fed up. If I wish to donate to your organization, I will do it on my own time. If I continue to recieve calls from you, I will notify (such and such state official or organization) and I will put a stop to this." I'd see what they have to say and if they say that they have every right to call you and solicit for money, then tell them that if they're going to be that way, then you're going to do everything you can to get the soliciation to stop.

Maybe they'll feel threatened enough to drop you from their list. If not, I'd seriously take the time to call my state and see if there is a way to stop them.
 

rockcat

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I think this is cute:

Andy Rooney's tips for telemarketers

Three little words that work!

(1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."
Saying this, while putting down your phone and
walking off (instead of
hanging-up immediately) would make each
telemarketing call so much more
time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to
a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's
"beep-beep-beep" tone, you
know it's time to go back and hang up your handset,
which has efficiently
completed its task. These three little words will
help eliminate telephone
soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with
no one on the other end?


This is a telemarketing technique where a machine
makes phone calls and
records the time of day when a person answers the
phone.
This technique is used to determine the best time of
day for a "real" sales
person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there
is no one there,is to
immediately start hitting your # button on the
phone, 6 or 7 times, as
quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that
dialed the call and it
kicks your number out of their system.

Since doing this, my phone calls have decreased
dramatically. (3) Another
Good Idea: When you get "ads" enclosed with your
phone or utility bill,
return these "ads" with your payment. Let the
sending companies throw their
own junk mail away.

When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the
mail for everything from
credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk,
do not throw away the
return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return
envelopes, right? It costs them
more than the regular 37cents postage "IF" and when
they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The
postage was around
50 cents before! the last increase and it is
according to the weight. In
that case, why not get rid of some of your other
junk mail and put it in
these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.
One of Andy Rooney's (60
minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney
cleaner to American
Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you
didn't get anything else
that day, then just send them their blank
application back!

If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your
name isn't on anything
you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you
want to just to keep them
guessing!

Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will
begin getting their own
junk back in the mail.

Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of
junk mail, and best of all
they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they
are saying that e-mail is
cutting into their business profits, and that's why
they need to increase
postage costs again. You get the idea!

If enough people follow these tips, it will
work----I have been doing this
for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.
 

yosemite

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Now those are great ideas!

At work we get so many calls - I just tell them our budget for charity has been allocated for the year.
 
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momofmany

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I've been returning junk mail for years, usually stuffed with a lot of other stuff and I write a big "NO THANKS" across the solicitation. It hasn't stopped them from sending more. Do I just live in the twilight zone?

I like the idea about putting the caller on hold. I've tried telling them I'm running late for something, have no job, and "no thanks". Since I get mostly non-profit calls, I hate to just hang up on them - I volunteer enough to know how important donations are to a non-profit. The no thanks gets you back the guilt trip from a lot of them "you mean you AREN'T willing to help Vietnam vets?", or "do you want the state police to be in harms way?". My counter is usually "do you want me to eat this week?". They don't care - most are just ruthless.

Keep the ideas coming!!
 

gailc

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If its a non-profit that calls I always tell them that my charitable contributions have been spent for the year but thank them for calling (all in one breath) I then hang up.
 

sweets

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Originally Posted by GailC

If its a non-profit that calls I always tell them that my charitable contributions have been spent for the year but thank them for calling (all in one breath) I then hang up.
My reply is that I will not make a donation over the phone, but please send me the information thru the mail and I will make my donation then. Then I just rip up the info if they're stupid enough to send it. Eventually, they stop calling.
 

d'elle and beau

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I like the idea of sending them back their own junk mail. It may not do any good but will give me some wicked satisfaction!
 

carolcat

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

I'm on a no-call list in my state of Missouri, but still am plagued with calls from "business affiliates" and non-profits. I HATE those calls as if I wanted something from a business affiliate (like a bank or credit card), I would ask for it. And I have my non-profits of choice that I donate my time and money to. I get at least 1-2 calls a day, mostly from fire-fighters and police funds, but also the occassional cancer fund, children's fund, veterans fund, etc.

I'm curious how you all handle these calls? Since I get so many, I've resorted to lieing to them and telling them I was just laid off work with nothing to give, and some have the nerve to ask for money anyway. A friend of mine gets creative with it and has gone as far as telling the callers that the person they asked for has died.

So what do you do?
WELL.......while on the computer we only have one phone line and I used a service called Callwave that zapps all the telemarketers by sending a tone that tells the auto dialer that the phone has been disconnected!! This has gotten rid of many of them. The second thing we do is let the answering machine pick up the call first, my husband has a very looooooooong drawn out message on the phone so only family or someone who REALLY wants to talk to us will leave a message on it!! Hope that this helps
 

sofiecusion

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I know a guy who got sick of those phone companies always calling you to switch to their service. He was told his dad was the one who referred him to one of these companies and he simply stated "Well, my dad is te only one I talk to since I killed the rest of my family, and after being in prison all those years wiped out any friends that I had" They kept switching him and he kept re-telling his story, finally they told him that they didn't think he was in need of their service. He never got those kind of calls again.....whatever works I guess..LOL
 

cheeseface

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I guess the only thing you could do is ask the charities to take you off the list.
 

cirque

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Omg those are funny. I really like the part about sending them back junk mail. I sure as heck know I dont ask for all the crap I get in the mail and them having to pay for it or other junk mail to go back to them just cracks me up.
 
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