Telemarketing Script

Check the law. I would imagine that hanging up and not providing any info is also against the laws and regulations. I have been able to find out who was behind every call that had a number on my caller ID or obtainable with *67 or through a request for a return call. Once you have the info, file in small claims court against the company. Although technically illegal, telemarketers actions/violations can be fought more successfully through civil courts. If we wait for the FCC, we will wait forever. It isn't worth it, just to get the company nailed for a criminal violation. Civil suit will work - especially if more and more people take the info from a site like this one and share it with friends and co-workers. If just 10% of those people take action in court, it becomes impossible for the telemarketers to stay in business.

This is getting too much: distracting, annoying, even disturbing and all unwanted calls. No matter how "insignificant" this issue might sound to some or how some others deliberately paint this issue as such, this is NOT a problem of annoyance only. Ability to place unidentifiable calls is used widely not only by "innocent" marketers, but for criminal purposes, which makes the little benefit of it actually unimportant, and which has to give the Government legitimate grounds for taking appropriate centralized measures to protect individual and public safety. Existing laws has to be corrected and/or new law(s) have to be introduced for this matter, equal to individuals, companies and organizations, with possible rare exceptions for law enforcement and government only and only under special circumstances.

Here are some ideas:

- ALL calls have to be identifiable. Caller ID and Name (Company Name) have to be displayed (real, legally obtained, listed, and that could be tracked back). Calls from public phones/booths have to display appropriate IDs/numbers.

- Technology has to adapt to satisfy mandatory identification. (E.g.: existing devices that currently enable ID suppression have to be rendered unable to place calls without positive identification; an attempt to use such device and/or method has to be tracked and recorded at a service provider level; etc.)

- Any attempt to fake an ID/Name, use someone else’s ID/Name, illegally obtain and use right to hide Caller ID and Name has to be deemed as a punishable offense.

If a person, company or organization is legal and honest there should be no reason to hide their identity. By keeping themselves “private” they are actually violating other’s peace and privacy. (E.g., one can not drive a car without a valid license plate, or enter a plane without a valid passport/ID, etc. Calling without a Caller ID and name has to be viewed as knocking someone’s door with a full face cover mask and costume on.)

A telemarketer hanging up and refusing to provide any info is illegal in Canada too, last I checked. There's a page in the front of the printed telephone books which says what these cretins can and can't do.

Yes, they do routinely break these laws. When they do, complain to the telco. Bell is a joke - they see these complaints as an excuse to lay a sales pitch on you for call block or call screening features. At this point, take the original illegal activity and the telco's inaction and complain to the government. The CRTC (crtc.gc.ca) is supposed to regulate this and may ask the telephone company to actually intervene for a change. CRTC is in turn (supposedly) accountable to the Industry Canada ministry.

If the calls originated in the US, substitute the FCC instead of the CRTC.

Just keep escalating the complaints until someone answers with something other than a blank look or a sales pitch.

Telemarketers who refuse to identify themselves are breaking the law. Call them on it.

Folks, many of these calls are coming from call centers in India. Your personal information has been sent outside of the US. The do not have to follow the Do Not Call regs.

Pretend that you're interested if you need to.  The key is to get their information.  Once you know what the company is, you can usually sue them without too much trouble.  Remember, all calls that violate the do not call list (or are recorded, or fraudulent), are violations whether or not you specifically ask them not to call you.

Doesn't matter where they're calling from -- if they're calling on behalf of an american company, they have to respect the list, or they're in violation.  May also be true of foreign companies, actually.

All of the people here are generalizing!  I am a telemarketer!!  I do not do ANY of the complaints that are listed here!  It is ROUGE agents who make the rest of us look horrible!  Think about this people.  DO I NEED TO EAT?  DO I NEED A ROOF OVER MY HEAD?  DO I HAVE TO PAY MY BILLS?  YES YES AND YES!  So you all may hate me.  But I have a job to fulfill!  Makes me sad to see so many people sterotype!  Just becasue all of you have fantastic jobs, doesnt mean that I am not trying to make money as well.  I am one of the friendly marketers!  And I follow all rules set by my company.  And furthermore it is against the law for us not to put you on the DO NOT CALL LIST!  Please be more patient as we all need to make money to!

I've had good luck with the combination of not answering altogether, and, when I DO answer, I say right off "I'm not interested and put me on your do not call list" saving them time and me time!

It has been months since I received a telemarketer call.  Oh yes, also, I'm on Vonage and not Verizon so that could help some

I know that it is hard to deal with telemarketers. I used to do cold calls for real estate. Please be polite, as Cam stated earlier they have the same issues as the rest of us. Just say, "Thank you for calling, but I am not interested." I have told my children they are trying to make a living and not to be rude if they get a call. Remember, at least they are working and are not on welfare sucking up taxpayer dollars.

This is actually false.  By calling into the US, they voluntarily subject themselves to our laws.

Phil, this doesn't make much sense if you think about it.  My time is worth $x/hour.  This is a fact, and people pay me for it.  I am also a tax payer.  That means that for every hour I spend dealing with telemarketers, they are "sucking up" x of my "taxpayer dollars".

Legitimate telemarketers wouldn't want to waste their time talking to customers if the telemarketers knew that the customers would react angrily to a phone call, and would welcome any mechanism, such as do-not-call lists, that saved both sides from wasting time (and avoid the bad emotions, too).

There are plenty of other professions aside from telemarketing.  My uncle uses the same skills to answer phones for the American Cancer Society's hotline.  These lame excuses about trying to make a living just don't make sense, have nothing to do with reality.

Thieves need the money, roof over their heads etc, may be their existence is justifiable, just like yours?

you sound like an IRS agent.

no one likes me :(

i am only doing my job:(

What about pay day or cach loans? Does the same, block calling work on them?
I get a 1-800-684-8429 number, repeatably calling, up to 5 times a day.
I have a list of these companies phone numbers, who constantly herass, both, my wife and I, at work. How do I put a stop to it!!
I usually ask questions but get cut off, or they hang up; but continue to call us back 5-10 minutes later.
I'd love to hear comments on this!!

Hear is a small list of these numbers I have spoke of:
1800648429;18008731993;18004881753;18664439968;18667420413;18666451661;18664322526;1868080936;18777111199;18776962722;18779373729;6362000116;6514159000.  These so-called companies, take money directely-out of your account;
"THEY STEAL FROM YOU!" IF you've been swindled, please visit the folowing sites: FTC.org, FCC.dove, FBI.dove, BBB.org. THEY WILL investigate!! These same so-called cash advance or cash in miutes will rob you for all they can get!! They are not legit and are illegal in NEW YORK STATE!!!