Getting more and more spam calls on home and cell, despite being on do-not-call list

[CathyA]

When I get a telemarketer, I feel like blowing one of those canned air horns into the phone. I'd probably get sued.
Yesterday, someone from Allstate called me. I told her I was on a do-not-call list. She said that my state had just lifted
the ban for insurance companies and charities. I wonder if that's true?
And you know, when they call your cell phone, YOU have to pay for it, whether you wanted it or not.

[Miss Cellane]

When I get a telemarketer, I feel like blowing one of those canned air horns into the phone. I'd probably get sued.
Yesterday, someone from Allstate called me. I told her I was on a do-not-call list. She said that my state had just lifted
the ban for insurance companies and charities. I wonder if that's true?
And you know, when they call your cell phone, YOU have to pay for it, whether you wanted it or not.

States can have stricter rules than the federal government, so it's possible that your state lifted the ban on charities and insurance companies. You'd have to look it up on your state's website. Charities aren't banned under the federal do not call list, but that doesn't prevent a state from making their own rules.

But do remember that if you get an unwanted telemarketing call, all you need to do is tell them that you want to be put on their company's do not call list. It won't prevent the first call, but it should prevent any more. Document the company name and date you told them to put you on their do not call list. If they call again, you can report them to the Feds and they can get a hefty fine.

[reader99]

I am so annoyed at those calls that have no one there when I pick up

DH tells me these are robo calls waiting for solicitor to connect so if no one answers immediately, just hang up.

When I had a landline I used to get those. I'm there saying, hello? hello? and after a while a sales person comes on. Once I caught on, I would just wait it out, and when the person came on the line I just kept on sayin nothing, and then they're saying, hello? hello?

[CathyA]

I knew someone who, when they got telemarketer calls during dinner with a human, they would just set the phone down on the table and continue eating. haha
Seems like a person must be pretty desperate to be a telemarketer and get treated so badly over and over.
And it seems like such a waste of a company's time and money, to keep sending calls to people who hate them.

[Gingerella72]

This is why I love caller ID. If I do not recognize the number, or suspect that it's a telemarketer/campaign/survey call I just don't answer, period.

I also have no problem being rude to said people and interrupting them midsentence to tell them to take me off their call list, or simply hanging up on them.

One time the caller was a man who was asking for my husband (the only reason I answered at all was because I'd noticed this same number coming up over and over on caller ID and I was curious....perhaps I was also in a cranky mood and needed to unleash it on someone, hehehe). I said, "I'm his wife, you can talk to me" and he said no, he had to talk to my husband. I told him if he didn't tell me what the nature of the call was he wasn't getting through to my husband and he swore at me and said he'd just call my husband on his cell. I said "Good luck with that, he doesn't have a cell," which is true. He hung up on me. It seems telemarketers are getting more rude and nefarious to try and get through to people. I know they're just people trying to make a living but I have absolutely no sympathy for people who work for businesses like that who resort to such shenanigans.

In this day and age, I find it impossible to understand how telemarketing companies stay in business. When they first started infiltrating the phone lines in the late 80's and early 90's, there were more naive and gullible people who would actually listen to what they had to say, and fell for the sales pitches. Nowadays, who on the planet is unaware of these sneaky people? Who actually listens to them? Who are the people that are keeping them in business? The mind boggles.

[Miss Cellane]

Someone must be listening and buying. The companies wouldn't do the telemarketing if it didn't bring in a profit. Same with spam emails--someone must be sending them money, or they'd stop.

I am always polite to the callers, because I figure they must not have any other options for work. It's not their fault a stinking telemarketer job is the best they can do, especially in this economy. Many of them get bonuses if they sell lots of whatever it is they are shilling. So I consider it both polite and a kindness to cut the call short, so that they don't waste time talking to me, but can move on to the next call, where they might actually sell something.

I just interrupt their spiel, and say, "I'm sorry. I don't do business over the phone. Please put this number on your do not call list." Then I hang up.

[creaker]

Someone must be listening and buying. The companies wouldn't do the telemarketing if it didn't bring in a profit. Same with spam emails--someone must be sending them money, or they'd stop.

I wonder how much if it is bringing in a profit for the company - and how much for the telemarketers (who are often contracted). I would expect a lot of telemarketing is from companies that have been sold expectations of increased sales by telemarketing firms. I've always been curious how well that actually pans out in practice.