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Telemarketers Finding Loopholes In The Do Not Call List
from the because-pissing-off-people-is-so-good-for-business dept
Back when the federal "do not call" list law passed in 2003 there was some fear that there were enough loopholes in the law that telemarketers would quickly sneak their way through. Surprisingly, it appears that many didn't immediately do so. However, in the last few years, it seems that a new crop of companies are filling in that space, exploiting loopholes to start calling people again, even if they're on the DNC list. The big loophole, of course, is the "previous business relationship" loophole. Apparently, it's now big business for companies to set up various contests and sweepstakes whose sole purpose is to get you to sign away your DNC protection from the company and its "dozen or so marketing affiliates." These companies set up shops in malls and shopping center and try to entice people to sign up for their contests. The fact that it's all a scam to get you on their "call away!" lists is hidden way down in the fine print that most people never bother to read. Another scammy move is to pretend that the calls are really surveys, when they're really designed to sell you something. Of course, now that these firms are starting to get away with it, expect bigger, more well known companies to start doing similar things as well. The depressing thing about all of this is that these companies should recognize that the people who are on the Do Not Call list are more likely than not to be pissed off, rather than prospective customers. You would think that telemarketers would be happy to know who doesn't want to hear from them, so they can focus on those who are more receptive to calls.
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Reader Comments (rss)
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And this is why...
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Congratulations, Mr. Smith
...
"So would you like to sign up for 3, 5 or 7 years of monitoring at $27.99 per month?"
Yeah, it's crap. Luckily, I've been using VoicePulse, which does a pretty good job of blocking telemarketers on its own. That, and I don't answer my home phone anymore, so that helps too!
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My baby needs a heart lung transplant
Works every time...
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Who, exactly, are the prospective customers?
This has to be sarcasm. Telemarketers thrive on pushing "the great deal" because no one has an interest in the product itself.
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when the DNC List was first proposed, it was amazing that only 7 or 8% of the population wanted to be on it., the reason was that they were charging $5.00 to put you on the list.
only when it became free did you see the masses begin to take a serious look at being on the list.
IMO, if it wasnt worth $5.00 to get your name on the list, it couldnt have been that much of a problem.
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Telemarketers
I have never understood though why they, or any advertiser for that matter, would want to force themselves on a person who has clearly stated they do not want the advertising. I'm gonna change my mind and buy some piece of crap because I have heard the ad for the 500th time (499 not being enough)??
The transplant idea though, absolute Genius!
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Re: And this is why...
Sorry, I just had to.
A better way is to get caller ID and have some fun pranking them. It's how I cope :(
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New Tactics.
They finally stopped calling, which may mean they've either given up, or been forced to stop. I hope the later.
I actually get very few telemarketers calling my number, most of them disguised as charities. I hang up on them all.
EtG
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Re: Who, exactly, are the prospective customers?
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Hang on, I'll be right back
The point being that they make money calling MANY people in the shortest time. By holding them on the line you are STOPing them from calling the NEXT victim! It is my understanding and experience that they MAY NOT HANG UP ON YOU. So I make the entire experience SO BAD that they MUST hang up ON ME! Once I run out of rhetoric I just leave the line silent. I do NOT hang up.
It's a WONDERFUL thing to have a "fish on the line" and they can let go of MY hook but they are NOT allowed to. Hang up, bastard, I'm not going to!
;-}
Bill W
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Re: Re: And this is why...
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a few of my favorite ways to deal with telemarkete
most often they will say "no", then I'll say "thank you very much" and just hang up.
2. my fav.....put the phone down and let them talk....they are being paid to talk, but I am not being paid to listen to them....check the phone in about 2 minutes.....that should do it
3. ask them to hold..check the phone in about 2 minutes..... that should do it
4. verbal abuse works but usually requires more energy than I am willing to expend
it all depends on my mood at the time and what I was doing before I was interrupted to answer their call
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the hold button and why it should be used
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the hold button and why it should be used
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AHT
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Some ideas to mess with the telemarketers
With another, he pal-ed along with another finally agreeing to call the guy right back after spending 10 minutes on the phone. The telemarketer stupidly gave Burroughs his direct line contact info. Burroughs did call him back and say "Look, I'm really interested in your product and would be glad to try it out if you send me a picture of your dick. It doesn't have to be hard or anything, just a picture." That company (and the telemarketer) never called back.
With a woman telemarketer, he asked her about his upcoming male-to-female sexual reassignment surgery. He was especially confused about the types of vaginas he had to select. Would she go with the "self-lubercating" or regular kind? That company and person never called back.
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Re: My baby needs a heart lung transplant
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Re: Hang on, I'll be right back
Chris.
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Marketeers
Secondly, my OGM clearly informs anyone who is selling something I did not contact them about, they are directed to discontinue calling me and place my number in the do not call list for their firm. They are further directed to place my mailing address, if they have it, on the do not mail list.
If for some reason the number continues to come up, well, I do have a soft key for "Ignore".
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.
"HELLO MR. A.! HOW'RE YOU TODAY?! GOOOOD, I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CURRENT MARIJUANA MARKET, DID YOU KNOW THAT KUSH PRICES PER TON DROPPED 34 DOLLARS OVER THE WEEKEND? OH YOU DIDN'T?! WELL THEN LEMME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT..."
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More fun with em
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Sell things back.
"Hi this is Mike from So-and-So Insurance, Mr. --- are you happy with your home owner's insurance?"
"Wow...Mike...what a coincidence...I work for Blah-and-Blah Insurance and I was wondering....are you happy with YOUR home owner's insurance?"
This usually gets a pause and then a just silence on the line.
Or I tell them I'm dead.
"Is Mr. --- home?"
"Nope, he died tragic accident."
But then I get the one asshole who decided to ask... "I'm sorry to hear that...is Mrs. --- home?"
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10 ways to stop them...
insurance calls etc ... (no offences PLz)
1. After the telemarketer finishes speaking, ask him/her to marry you.
2. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment, and ask him/her
if he/she will give you his/her home phone number so you can call
him/her back.
3. Ask them to repeat everything they say, several times.
4. Tell them it is dinner time, BUT ask if they would please hold.
Put them on your speaker phone while you continue to eat at your
leisure. Smack your food loudly and continue with your dinner
conversation.
5. Tell them that all business goes through your agent, and hand the
phone to your five year old child.
6. Tell them you are hard of hearing and that they need to speak
up...louder...louder...louder!
7. Tell them to speak very slowly because you want to write every word down.
8. If they start out with, "How are you today?", say "I'm so glad you
asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these
problems............"
9. Cry out in surprise, "Helen, is that you? I've been hoping you'd
call! How is the family?" When they insist they are not Helen, tell
them to stop joking. This works especially well if the telemarketer is
MALE.
10. Tell the HSBC call center guy to call on your office number. - and
give him the ICICI call center number.
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sorry, must vent
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Re: Telemarketers
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No Phone Sales Please
Speaking of mail, I got a junk mail post card yesterday (08-21-2007). When I asked to be removed from their list, they wanted to charge a dollar and only remove me for 5 years. Another company that is stupid for advertising to people who are not interested. I didn't pay the dollar and this isn't over.
freak3dot
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Re: sorry, must vent
But I'm not going to waste my time wondering if the Do Not Call List applies to you, I'm just going to hang up on you.
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Re: .
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Usually works
"I'm not [goddamn] interested, [please] take me out your [fu&#$@] list [or I'll sue your ass off]".
Then hang-up.
NOTE: The use of above optional parts depends on your mood when the phone rings ;-)
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Re:
i should pay $5 to prevent you from calling me??
um, how about you pay me $5 to get through to my line, cant be much of a problem, now can it?
You admit the masses want it...but you'd rather ignore and bother them because they didnt pay for the privilege of having their voices heard? theres a word for that.....i cant recall it right this second...
A-hole
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Re:
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step one, don't answer withheld numbers, ok its annoying most government agencies also withhold their number.. if they need to get hold of me write.
step two.. record all calls you do take, and tell them this. strange many will hang up at that point. the calls dropped off after a while, well from UK companies anyway.
*anything* flagged as international is ignored anyway which cuts out most of the rest.
my mobile number is my own, but I can record on that as well which works pretty well.
amazing how many companies want to talk to you, but don't want you to have any evidence as to what was said...
mobile contract due up in december, so I expect a glut of sales calls again about that. O2 & orange both swore blind they didn't release my details so how these people know the contracts due is anyones guess... yeah whatever.
I gave up pranking these people, they are just doing a job. but record the call and log a complaint for every call you get. eventually you will get on a blacklist of somesort as too much trouble to call.
as a rule I don't buy anything from an unsolicited offer, I don't care if I did once buy something in a shop.
oh and any company that wants your phone number, that doesn't _need_ it either gets told I don't have one or gets given a false one, typically with a dud area code, or a 0870 number (10p/min to call type number, which the marketing people avoid).
amazing how much effort it can be to avoid this rubbish.
but before I registered my land & mobile number I was getting on average ten such calls a day. it got annoying.
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Re: And this is why...
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Re: Telemarketers
Of course, if you are going to try to survive by pissing off people for a living, you need to accept the consequences.
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Re: My baby needs a heart lung transplant
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Re:
After a few years, it does seem to be working somewhat, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
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Re: sorry, must vent
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Re: And this is why...
If they keep talking then they catch hell.
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Re: sorry, must vent
The same damned "research" place has called my house every day for two weeks. I don't take telemarketing, whether it is open or disguised as research or anything else.
You want my opinion you will pay for it, just like all my clients.
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Re: No Phone Sales Please
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Re: Re: No Phone Sales Please
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Fun things to do, but they don't work
Most us hate telemarketers, but do try to remember that there's a live person on the other end- some of which are only trying to pay their bills.
The real way to stop these calls is to use a little patience:
1) Whenever someone calls, get their full information: company name, person's name, address, and phone number. Sometimes people will call "on behalf of" another company: try to get both companies' names so you can complain about the caller and company hiring the caller.
Write this information down in a log with the date and time.
2) Politely tell the person on the phone that you are on the Do Not Call list. Tell them to place you on their own company's Do Not Call list. And, yes, in a strange twist of logic, you have to ask to be *placed* on a list for them not to call you.
Ask to speak to their supervisor if you have to. Write down the supervisor's name and if they said they would add you to their company's Do Not Call list.
3) If the company calls again, you can report them to your state's Public Regulatory Commission for violating the federal Do Not Call list and their own company's Do Not Call list.
You can also report the company to your state's Better Business Bureau, and possibly the FTC (the people who started the federal Do Not Call list).
The key is to make sure you have an accurate log of who called, what they called about, and when.
And, yes, this process works: Back in May, Washington Mutual continued to call me wanting to "talk about my mortgage". (This was a month after I talked with one of their reps and told them I was perfectly happy with my existing mortgage.)
I logged every one of their calls, some of which occurred literally 2 days in a row when two different reps called me with the same sales pitch. 2 and 3 days in a row. After I had enough (6 calls over 3 weeks), I finally complained to the Florida Regulatory Commission.
The Commission sent me a letter saying they were looking into the letter, then I received an apology from Washington Mutual, and then a letter from the Commission saying the matter was closed.
---------------
The second way to stop telemarkers from calling is to get a device called the "Telezapper". This device hooks into your phone line and sends out the "line is disconnected" tones. When one of the telemarketer's computers calls your phone, the telezapper sends the tones and tells the computer that your line has been disconnected.
Since your line has been disconnected, there's no point in them calling you anymore, so the computer begins to delete your number from the system- after all, the telemarketers only want "live" phone numbers.
Yes, this has worked for me as well. When I first moved into my house, I got tons of calls from telemarketers. After I hooked up the Telezapper, calls dropped off very quickly.
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Political Calls are also exempt
Did you know that according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project 64% of all US voters received automated robo calls in the 2006 election?
Citizens for Civil Discourse (CCD) is a new non partisan non-profit (501 C3) organization whose mission it is to elevate the political discussion in the United States by giving you, the voter, control of the political discussion.
Starting with a national political do not call registry.
Learn more at:
CCD website: http://www.StopPoliticalRobocalls.org/
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social research
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Re: sorry, must vent
It's sort of like people bemoaning the fate of the poor coca growers of South America... well TOUGH CRAP!!!
Go work at the local pizza place, or wash cars, or pump gas or any other legitimate means of making income, but if you just can't stand all us "stupid people" being upsat you are calling on OUR phones, which WE pay for, NOT you, then don't get into that line of work.
Oh, and despite your protestations, you are no more a bottom feeding scum sucker than the telemarketer, because YOUR "survey" is going to be SOLD or given to one of THEM, and you bloody well know it.
Not very bright for a college student....
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Re: Fun things to do, but they don't work
On night when I was particularly bored I received a call from a very local telemarketing center known as "The Dills Center". This showed up on the ID, as well as the calling number.
I answered the phone and the telemarketer asked for me by name, so I simply said, "Please hold while I get X", then covered the mouthpiece and listened.
When I could hear him becoming fidgety, I got back on the phone and said, "I'm sorry, to whom did you wish to speak?", and again, he asked for me by name. Again, I asked him to hold.
I did this several times, alternately pretending to be someone else picking up the phone and asking who it was or pretending to come back to say I was still looking for "X".
Finally, when I could tell he was about to give up, I came back on the line saying, "This is X, I understand you wanted to talk to me? Well, actually, you've been talking to me for quite some time. I was the person who ansered the phone initially, and the person who picked up the line to see who was on it and the person who forgot who I was supposed to be fetching... you see, I wanted to be sure I wasted as much of your time as you people waste of mine, so you have a good evning", and I hung up on him.
Seconds later, the phone rang again, same number, so I answered it and was greeted by the same man who only suggested that I had impropoer sexual knowledge of my mother, then hung up.... but we were not done...
Again the phone rang, again the same number and the same marketer... I simply sat and listened as he said nothing, then suggested I perform a sexual act on myself which I am fairly certain is physically impossible and hung up again.
When the phone wrang the next time, I did not answer, but instead got out the phone book and looked up the number for "The Dills Center". I called the main contact number and asked to speak to the shift supervisor. When she came on the line, I gave her the phone number that had called and the times of the calls, as well as a colorful retelling of the whole tale, including my tormenting her salesman. I suggested that, if he could not take it, perhaps he should find another line of work. I concluded by letting her know that, if that number, or in fact ANY number from "The Dills Center" should show up on my caller ID again, I would not waste my time calling her back, I would instead call the local police to report harassing phone calls.
The supervisor had me stay on the line while she went to get the offending salesman, had him make an apology to me, then fired him on the spot and assured me that I would not see another call from their agency.
That was about 7 years ago, and I have, indeed, never had another call of any type from the Center...
So, sometimes, "playing" with them does, indeed, make an impact... and a GREAT story as well :)
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You are all so wrong
I manage a telemarketing call floor and these people work good paying jobs with benifits for full time employees and they make between 8 and 25 dollars an hour. i could let you listen to over 100 calls each day where people thank us so much for selling them a product they use anyway at a discounted price. and you know what? most of these people said they were not interested the first one or two times they were told about the offer. NOT INTERESTED meand I AM NOT LISTENING! this girl quit the other day who was only 16 because of some very very rude and dirty remarks. this could have been your daughter. I bet that makes you feel hot.
Truth is marketing always has been and always will be the number one source of capitalism and a great way to stimulate the economy. people are fickle and hate to spend money so they need to be pushed to create jobs that earn revenue. anyone with a business degree will tell you the same thing or they are a stupid hypocrite.
Where else can these people make this kind of money while putting themselves through school, supporting a child, or just earn a decent living with no experiance and no formal education?
next time you want to mess with a telemarketer just remember how cruel you are being to an actual REAL person. sure you may have a great personality, meaning you are nice to the people who matter most to you. But your charicter sucks a big one. Thats how you treat people who don't personaly matter to you.
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Re: Hang on, I'll be right back
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In response to Daniel Droege
You generally scam people for a living, from what I've observed. As far as that 16yr old girl quitting, horay for us getting rid of a telemarketer, and hopefully she will do something honest and PRODUCTIVE. There are better ways to sell your product that don't involve p***ing a good number of people off.
As far as fueling the economy, boo hoo, inform me that your product is out there and if I want your product, I will come to you. Don't force it on me.
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I got some fun for every one...
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Re: In response to Daniel Droege
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Re: Re: And this is why...
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Re: Congratulations, Mr. Smith
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Re: Re: My baby needs a heart lung transplant
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Re: Telemarketers
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Re:
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Re: Hang on, I'll be right back
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Re: Marketeers
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Re: More fun with em
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Re: sorry, must vent
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Re: Re: sorry, must vent
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Re: No Phone Sales Please
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Re: Re: Fun things to do, but they don't work
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Re: You are all so wrong
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Re: And this is why...
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get a life
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Re: get a life
The reason call centers pay $25/hour and give benefits to people with no formal education is because otherwise no one in their right mind would work there. Being a salesperson is a job where you WILL take abuse. You spend your whole day trying to talk people into buying something they don't want. Can you blame them for thinking you're a swindler? Can you blame them when you keep calling again and again with the same tactics? PEOPLE WILL HATE YOU. IT'S PART OF THE JOB. You're getting compensated--even a child could call people on the phone, so every dime you get above minimum wage is for tolerating getting yelled at. Put up with it or get a job where being insulted isn't in the job description.
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telemarketer mafioso
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mafioso
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Rubbish
In contests, I'll provide my address, but that's all.
If it require a valid phone number, I'll use my DSL number. I never have the ringer on anyway. I have voice mail, in case it's important.
However, I feel violated by telemarketers. Why should they have the right to disturb me? They do not pay anything on my phone bill. If it wasn't for caller ID and an answering machine, I would either leave the phone off the hook, or turn off all the ringers. I should not have to do that to have peace. Telemarketers that call people without explicit permisssion are pests. We need pesticides against them.
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Re: sorry, must vent
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Re: social research
Before you answer, consider this. You are not the only one calling. There are many, many more. Would you like to have a phone ring everytime you got ready to eat, go to the bathroom, or have sex? You don't know how annoying it is. You don't have any idea how annoying and disruptive it is. You care making the call, on your time, when you are ready. You are calling a lot of people that are doing things, but have to stop because you want to take a survey. That is really rude.
When the phone rings, it's hard to ignore it. You wonder if it might be important, so you check your caller ID, and find out you were interrupted by an uninvited caller.
Put yourself in other people's shoes. I would do any job besides doing a job that interferes in people's private lives.
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AC Services
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Re: AC Services
10506 E. Obispo Ave., Mesa, AZ 85212-1818, which is a FOR PROFIT corporation. Hence, if you are on the Do Not Call List, they cannot call you. Thus, if you get a call, file a Complaint with the Do Not Call List web site and also file a Form 1088 Complaint with the FCC on their web site.
Also, for all those who are NOT on the Do Not Call list but complained that when you picked up the phone or the machine answered they hung up, these are called "abandoned calls" and are also illegal. Therefore, file a Form 1088 Complaint with the FCC at their web site. The more complaints filed, the more the gov't is required to respond.
Those are the facts as best can be proven without having inside information, but that is enough to file complaints with the gov't to have them stop. I mention this, because after doing my research on them, the whole outfit and their web site, and their pitch, and the toll free number they used, etc., tells my gut that they are a front for some kind of scam. But that cannot be proven at this time. So just file your complaints as mentioned above.
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Re: You are all so wrong
Matter of fact why don't help your cause and post your home phone so I can call you at 3:30 at night. I'm sure you'd like that. According to you my character sucks so it's in my nature to do so anyway.(although my Patients would have to disagree{HELP people, not annoy})
You people make me sick. The part worst than you actually doing your job is feeling some disgusting sense of pride for doing it.
You want to earn some money. Work. Labor. Sweat. Work a couple jobs. Anything that doesn't invade the privacy and solitude of my home.
If I need a warranty on my car, a trip to Vegas, lavender scented dousche, whatever it is..... I'll search it out myself when its convenient to me not during sleep or when I'm enjoying time with my friends and family or sitting down to dinner.
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telemarketing
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Re: Re: AC Services & Breast Cancer Society fake charity
It is insulting to legit breast cancer charities.
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800-600-9030
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800-600-9030
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800-600-9030
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Calls From 800-600-9030
Caller phones our home and asks if we would like to "reduce our credit card interest". When we ask from which company they are calling, they hang up.
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Re: Reply to Anonymous Coward
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Re: Telemarketers
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AC Services, Navy Veterans Association
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Re: Re: Reply to Anonymous Coward
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You Pathetic Losers
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