At 01:46 PM 5/22/2003 -0500, gumbie tygress wrote: 

>Ok, at Edutainment, we used to get some of the damndest 
>things back in reply envelopes -- but it didn't stop the marketing 
>push. 

Drat!

>If you DO chose that option, don't be offensive. It's a hardworking, 
>often minimum wage person (who'd gladly work at something else 
>if they could) 

There's always something else.  I'd rather dig ditches or take in laundry
than be a telemarketing drone.  No, thanks.

>at the other end, not the marketers who sent it. 
 
That's the pity, sure enough, because I'd sure like to give THOSE bozos a
piece of my mind!  Especially their latest trick -- a machine calls you up
and a recorded message tells you to hold!  THEY call US and tell US to hold
-- never mind that we may be elbow-deep in dishwater or doing laundry or
trying desperately to get to the potty.  This is the height of rudeness and
of contempt for the victim's time (yes, victim; every time one of these
calls come in, I feel like I'm being victimized).

It is rude, rude, rude.  And when Keys got one of those calls, he lit into
the poor sod on the other end.  Well, sorry, but he was busy and trying to
concentrate and here comes this damned call in with a machine telling him
to hold, and he really dislikes having his concentration  broken by
nonsense.  Phooey.

The telemarketer has to realize that he is in essence forcing his way into
an individual's home.  Being contemptuous of the time and busy-ness of the
homeowner is NOT going to win them points, even if they are only doing a
continuously thankless job.

>Ah well -- at least when I dispose of things, I know they're getting
recycled, not 

>just landfilled.


Yeah, but an awful lot of trees are dying needlessly.  I'd rather be left
alone, and let the trees grow.
 
>The other tricks may or may not work.... Though both Colorado & Texas have 
>opt out lists for telemarketing. 

Florida does, too, and so does the federal government.  I'm sure you know
about the "do not call" list.  I've sicced the Federal Trade Commission on
one bunch that kept calling after we had told them repeatedly to put us on
the do not call list.  It was the newspaper over in Jacksonville.  I even
talked to supervisors, telling them that unless they did put me on the do
not call list, I was going to the FTC.  I had one of the callers tell me,
well, yeah, they could put me on the list, but they would call me anyway.
That's when I initiated the action with the FTC, and I also wrote a letter
to the publisher of the newspaper.  I found out, on the web, that the paper
is owned by a company which also owns a marketing company.  Oh, gee, do you
think THAT was the company the paper was using to do its solicitation?
Coouuuuuuld be!  So I wrote them a stern letter, too, letting them know
that they could expect to hear from the FTC and that I certainly would
never patronize their stupid little rag, so they had best leave me alone.  

FINALLY the calls from the newspaper's marketing company stopped.  If they
ever do start up again, you can bet I'm going straight to the FTC once more.

>The only problem is, we got recently used numbers, so we get 
>telemarketing calls for other people. [As if life weren't surreal enough
already.]

Now, that truly sucks.  But not as badly as getting the number recently
abandoned by Western Union!  Happened to us in St.Petersburg in the early
1970s.  One phone call at 2 a.m. asking where his telegram was was one too
many, especially since we had one infant and I was pregnant again.  Wasn't
going to stand for that.  First thing in the morning, I was on the phone to
the telephone company (GTE) telling them -- not asking, TELLING -- to
assign us a new number THAT DAY.  They did.  It had recenty been abandoned
by a barber shop, so that wasn't so bad.  At least no one wanted a haircut
at 2 a.m.!

A few years back, the telephone book had a mistake in it, giving our
telephone number out also as the phone number of a taxidermist over in
Starke.  They had put the wrong prefix on the number.  We got several
calls, so Keys found out the number, put it up on the dry erase board above
the telephone, and we just redirected folks.  I did get call with some good
ol' boy asking if we stuffed bass -- I said, no, but we do eat 'em, and
what time's dinner?  He was taken aback a little, then I explained the
telephone book error, gave him the right number.  He laughed.  Finally, I
got the telephone company to correct the error.


>From: "dorothy reynolds" 
>Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 09:37:22 -0700
>Subject: Fw: Telemarketer tips

> Andy Rooney's tips for telemarketers:

I saw this on 60 Minutes.

> 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

  Nah, I'm sure the telemarketing drones have been told that they
wait only a few seconds for any response.

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

Yes, I do, and I hate that.  It's almost as rude as being told to hold by a
machine.  What I'd like is a telezapper.  I hate to  be forced to NOT
answer the phone and let the answering machine take it, but I suppose I
could.  It's just that I would rather run my life, not have these idiots
doing it.  Argh.

>This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and
>records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

Too bad they don't record the comments I make along with it.  That'd burn
their ears!

> This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real"
>salesperson to call back and get someone at home.

Ain't gonna do them a bit of good.  They'll just be wasting their time and
mine.

>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.

One can only hope!

>Since doing this, my phone calls have decreased dramatically.
> (Never heard of this before)

Neither have I.  If it works, it could save the cost of a Telezapper,
especially if it does kick your number out of their system.

>(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.

What some folks used to do is wrap the envelope around a brick.  I don't
think that really works, though.  

I only wish any of this would work, because I'd really like not getting
junk mail and junk telephone calls!

Veloci--when I want or need something, I'll go get it, thank you--raptor


--- Rachel's Little NET2FIDO Gate v 0.9.9.8 Alpha