Tom Mabe - Cemetery Telemarketer Prank

Not funny. I'm no fat of telemarketing, but the "muder scene" one is much better. The TM could have been getting him to stall to sell a plot, but I don't think so.  His first reaction was "is there anyone I can call for you to help."  That hardly sounds like evil incarnate to me.  

Also, one of the first things one is supposed to do with a potential suicide is get them to PROMISE to DELAY the act for ANY REASON.  What the TM did was absolutely correct for the circumstances.u9a5

Impersonating a police officer is serious. I think he needs to review his pranks. Think about the whole picture and his future liability. It has to be staged or we would see an arrest in the "REAL" world.

Have been in your shoes.  If you have a landline, most providers offer a service that will keep all blocked numbers from calling, and to take it one further, you can also have Do Not Disturb added and set it up so it's on 24/7.  That way every caller MUST identify themselves to you BEFORE you answer the phone!  I love it!!  

Good Luck!

I happen to be a telemarketer. But we don't call homes. We're buisness to buisness. (More specifically Restaurants) Which is perfectly legitimate, especially since we offer a rather potent line of prodcuts. (Backed up with Better Buisness awards to boot!) I don't believe people should try to sell you stuff in your home. But try to not attack the telemarketer when you're on the phone with them. I'll tell you a few things real quick.

1. They can't take you off the list.
2. The telemarketer is not your enemy, the company is.
3. Attacking the telemarketer does nothing. The company cares not.
4. Politley say no, and hang up. They will not hang up first. Most companies threaten to fire you if you hang up on a call.
5. Respect the fact that these people are doing what they can to support themselves.

It's funny how we get angry at a telemarketer calling to sell us a long distance plan but we don't get ticked at the countless billboards advertising !BEER! to us despite the fact that Beer is even less neccessary than Long distance calling. O_o Plus the distraction of having something to look at while driving can increase the chance of an accident. Thus meaning that the beer company doesn't give a damn if you die in an accident, as long as you bought a beer first.

You aren't really serious, are you? Equating a billboard to calling someone at 3am? It's amazing the lies people will tell themselves to justify their skeevy jobs. I blame the telemarketer for taking a job that adds to the level of anger in society. There are other ways to make a living. Your choice to bother people at home is wrong, if that's your job.

I think Congress agrees with me, by the way. They enacted the do not call list, but the billboards remain.

You "happen" to be a telemarketer...gimme a break. It just happened to you, huh?  Wake up.

My best friend committed suicide with his GI semi-automatic. That was only 3 years ago. He was a decorated veteran Marine who served in Vietnam.

Wherever he is, he's laughing his ass off right now.

I like introducing them to "Mr. Boathorn" if they insist on talking after I've told them I'm not interested or they know it's dinnertime.

Make sure it's a telemarketer, though. One time I blasted my 82 year old Mom. Luckily, she believed my "Mr. Innocent" story when she called back to tell me there was something wrong with my phone.

A good  place to file a complaint is with the Federal Communications Commission.  The rules they govern are stricter.  I believe it is complaint # 1088

FCC doesn't mess with complaints; and my complaints in the past have always been investigated!!!  

FTC and donotcall, place complaints on a list, and will investigate, file charges if they see a pattern.  So everyone needs to file complaints, so that there will be a definite pattern!.

Anyone have problems with Collection Agencies calling?  There are laws to protect Consumers from these jerks.  #1, they technically do not have any authority.  They usually purchase charged off bills, from other creditors for pennies on the dollar.  #2, because the bill is with an original creditor, you are NOT obligated to these jerks.  They will try to convince you that you are.  #3 the only way you become obligated to these agencies, is if you make payment arrangements with them; thereby creating a contract/agreement, where none exist, when they first contact you!!!

If you answer the phone,  simply say:"I do not discuss financial matters by phone - send me a statement in writing and I will respond to it."  Then Hang up!!!  Otherwise, they will have you completely shaken!!!  The longer they keep you on the line, the more chance they have, to get money from you including payment arrangements – or payment agreement/contract!!!  You are NOT legally obligated to talk to them!!!

Collection agencies are ruthless jerks!!!  They will tell you they are the original creditor when they are not - even though it is illegal, for them to do it, per Federal Consumer Protection Laws.  You can legally sue them for $1,000.00 per violation.

When you do get a statement - google "FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT" One or more online Attorney websites will be shown.  These websites will have valuable information, including a Cease & Desist sample letter; or a Cease Communication letter.  Once received, it is a violation of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, to contact you further.

You can also educate yourself by reading Consumer Protection Laws at www.ftc.gov;  a lot of valuable information.  Don’t have time,  download and read later.  You will be glad you did!!!

I am not an Attorney - just an Educated Consumer, in Consumer Protection Laws.  I have spent hours studying these laws and becoming familiar with them.  They have helped us and friends/family as well; and hopefully it will help someone, who reads this.

And for those self-righteous criticizers, who say, just pay your bills on time; things happen to people with Credit Card debt, medical bills etc., often beyond their control such as job loss, divorce, death, illness etc. and you find your self in a bind.  We've been there, we know.  You do not plan to pay late, or not make payments; but if the income quits - there's not a whole lot one can do!  You then are forced to prioritize, Mortgage, Utilities, Car payment then food, if you can!  Other things have to be let go!  

I hope this information will be helpful to somebody who reads it!!!  Also another site to check out is www.ccdnlaw.com, good information.  And they can help you!!!  If you fill out the contact us, put down your referral by tlcpetmommy – in the comments section;  they will know who I am!!!

Seriously, do you all not understand this is a scripted comedy skit? They're really good, but it's kind of scary that none of you got that.

The death scene one was my favorite of his.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9nJ0rpAcqk -- just search for things :)

dicer:  He never said he was a Police Officer  and Iwouldn't be worrying about him being arrested.  I'm sure his legal people have it covered.

Suicide is never a joke.  As Tom has shown us there are multiple ways of pranking telemarketers, this one was cruel. In tight economic times maybe the telemarketer was just trying to support his family, still no excuse to call numbers on the do not call list but is Thom's number on the do not call list or does he keep it off the list so that he will receive calls so that he can provide "entertainment" by humiliating the people who do call? If a telemarketer calls a number which is NOT on the do not call list I do not think they should be treated so cruelly. Having been on  a suicide hot line with a suicidal person, I know how stressful and painful it can be trying to reach out to a person who could potentially end their life while I am on the phone with them.

Where does it statement that this is a scripted comedy skit? I did not see a disclaimer for any of the online "Fun with Telemarketers Pranks"

ToraZalinto,

Here are a few replies real quick:

1: According to the TCPA they'd damn well take you off that list and put you on the company's internal DNC.
2: The telemarketer IS the company.
3: But it makes me feel better, and like the company I care not about the telemarketer.
4: Politely saying no has NEVER worked.  Not ONCE.  Nearly all get rude quickly.  Further, I see no reason to bother saying no; I'd simply hang up first without so much as a courtesy.
5: I have no respect for that profession.  They can get other employment that actually deserves respect, like swabbing out toilets.  I'd sooner shake a busy janitor's hand after long day's work than to shake the hand of a freshly-showered telemarketer... you can't WASH that stink off.

I also would never consider telemarketing legitimate.  Either send me physical junk mail so I can start my fires in the winter easier or come into my establishment so I can have you escorted out by the local LEO with a warning to never return.

Of course, one of my favorite tricks of all time is to go along with the marketer, pretending to get a little more excited as they answer my questions to my satisfaction and get them to the point of accepting payment only to give them bogus payment information which won't be able to go through.  The bonus is you can get them to try several times to charge the bogus information, and even give them yet another bogus CC number to attempt charging.  Once they've established that you are a "deadbeat" and all of your credit cards are either maxed out or suspended for non-payment, quickly make your request to be added to the company's DNC.  They won't be able to call you again for 5 years, and you've wasted a considerable amount of their time plus really disappointed them.  Not to mention their success ratio as well as their calls per hour will plummet (hopefully enough for them to get fired.)

Now THAT'S funny!

I'm a telemarketer.
I'm new to it.
Only a few weeks in.
Trust me, I looked for other work, but when the bills are piling up what are you gonna do?
The company I work for sells magazines. We have no computers. Just a list of names, phone numbers, and addresses. I sit on the phone all day, and call people who really have no desire to talk to me. But I can tell you this.
1) I don't talk over the person I'm talking to.
2) If you start to talk, I listen.
3) If you ask to be put on our DNC list, I write DNC by your name [but someone will probably call you back]
4) If you aren't a jerk, and you tell me you've been getting a ridiculous amount of calls I write next to your name that you're dead. [This prevents the people in my office who use that sheet later from calling you]
5) I'm a genuinely compassionate person, and I'm not trying to ruin your life. I'm just trying to pay the bills.
6) You bet your sweet ass your name is on thousands of lists. The guy we buy ours from sells them to over 2,000 companies...and they all have the same sales pitch.

So...I mean...I know telemarketers get a bad rep...but more often than not they aren't. However... if you're an [***], you usually get the word "call back" written by your name.

<3

The telemarker was probably alone. It's called skip tracing. They get a list and start cold calling.

I tried when I was working for a PI...I felt skeevy...PI laughed at me and said "I knew you were gonna regret it but wanted you to find out on your own." lol