Picture by Appaloosa@Flickr.com
There is nothing worse than getting a telemarketer call that sounds real but is actually a scam. To older people like my mom, it takes a lot of talking from my sister and me to convince her that she doesn’t need to talk to these people. It takes even more work to cancel credit cards and get them reissued when she does it. That is one of the reasons that when they keep calling me everyday, it just makes me irritated. It really makes me irritated that they are trying to con us and others into giving them our hard earned money. It is one reason that today I decided to take action!!!
This is what happened today!!!
Your extended warranty is about to run out. How many phone calls have we got at the same time everyday and how many times have we requested to be taken off the call list? A LOT!!! We are even listed on the National Do Not Call List. They still call!!!
Today’s daily call from them got an unexpected response from me. I let the phone call go through the usual steps. Press this number if you want to talk to a sales rep. So I did.
The first question I asked her was – “Could I please have your mailing address so that I can give it to my attorney so that he can file the appropriate papers in Court to sue you, because you are harassing me with these daily telephone calls during my lunch hour?”
There was a short period of silence and the operator says: ” You are kidding, right?”
My response : “NO! I’m not!!!”
The operator’s response: “Well what if we don’t want to take you off our list? I don’t have to take you off the list, and I can keep calling. ”
My response: “Don’t start getting smart with me. You are only making it worse. And, Yes you do have to take me off the list. You see you are breaking the law by calling me, and no, you can’t keep calling non-stop if I’ve requested to be taken off the list. You are a telemarketer and I’m on the National Do Not Call List. I have your telephone number and your name, which is probably phony. But we can locate you and we will sue you.”
Her response: “We aren’t telemarketers. We are calling to notify you about your car’s warranty.”
My response: “My car’s warranty ran out a long time ago. I didn’t take the extended warranty and you are a salesman, a telemarketer. Now take me off the list and don’t call again because we will start the trace on the call and find you and sue you. Thank you and have a good day.” And with that I hung up on her.
Now I know I ran the risk that the number I pushed went to some long distance charge. I have unlimited long distance and will deal with that if it happens. But it sure did feel good to let her know that I was tired of her calling. The whole call lasted only about 1 minute and I remained unusually calm throughout the call.
Thank God she was young, because we really probably can’t do anything but it sounded good. It scared her a bit and it made me feel better!
How do you handle telemarketer calls? Leave us some comments and tell us some of your experiences!!!
Till next time,
JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife
About The Frugal Housewife
Rule number one!!! never….ever give out any information about anything over the phone…..its your house and your phone….!
Next time they call me I’m just giving them your number HA!
I usually just don’t answer the phone after checking the caller ID. But I always think of the Seinfield episode where Jerry tells the telemarketer that it is not a good time and could he have their name and number at home and he will call them back later!
I’m surprised she kept talking. Whenever I press 1 to speak to someone, as soon as I ask what their company name is or tell them I’m on the Do Not Call list, they hang up on me
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I was really surprised she kept talking. I think when I asked for their address that it really kind of surprised her.
It was when she said she didn’t have to take us off the list and she’d keep calling as much as she wanted that nearly got to me. But I thought I’m just going to keep my cool and get my point across.
It must have worked because they have not called today.
I admit, I am a big chicken so I usually don’t answer the phone. After a few calls, they do remove you from the list. If I do answer the phone, I usually tell them they are welcome to send me information but we do not accept telephone solicitations. If they ask me my address I tell them I can’t talk, I have to run.
You are my hero
Awesome job handling the call -
I also have problems with my retired Dad and telemarketers …
He is very hard of hearing too, so they totally take advantage of him!
I put his number on the national do-not call registry, but he still seems to get an abundant amount of marketing calls.
It seems so unethical for marketers and salespeople to prey upon the elderly!
We got the same (or one like it) call about our car’s supposed warranty. Our car is 18 years old and we bought it used, have P.L.P.D. insurance and have never had a warranty on it. My asked the guy on the phone what the name of his company was. The guy hemmed and hawed and then said he worked for a warranty company, still didn’t give a name for it. Then my husband asked for his telephone number. The guy on the line hung up.
Oh my goodness…you go girl! I just let them talk to my two year old..he usually gets frustrated because they can’t understand him and hangs up on them.
Great response to them! I messed up about a year ago and took some STUPID phone survey – a couple of months later I started getting tons of phone calls from investment companies trying to sell me the next big stock, oil futures, gold – you name it. Lately, they’ve not been calling as much – some I had to get vocally voilent with just so they would shut up and listen. I really hate to be that way, but I think I get my point across most of the time. Anyway, long story short – don’t take phone surveys – you never know if your answers will be sold. Again – Way to go Frugal!!!