Anyone ringing my landline after 19:00 without an ID gets the answer machine with the following message: -

"Thank you for calling the Hacker's HQ. This call is being redirected to Bermuda. Please take your time leaving a message as we get paid £2.00 per minute".

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If there is a number I do not recognize, or no number shows up at all, I simply do not answer. Everybody that I know have a number I recognize, all other numbers have no business calling me at all. I'm simply not curious enough to answer unknown numbers.

If I have mistaken me and answered anyhow, they usually only have 2 seconds to say what they want (poll, or sell something), before I tell them to go to a hotter place, and that in no uncertain terms. People I do not know, have no business calling my private phone.

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Merry Christmas!

When I get one of these calls, I ask who is calling. If it is someone I don't want to talk to I tell them I'll get the person they are asking for. I then put the phone down and walk away. When I go back to the phone in 5 or 10 minutes they are gone.
I fight back.

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In the UK we have the TPS, Telephone Preference Service, but it doesn't always work. The big pest at the moment are these Eastern Europe based call centres that get around the regs. These "silent calls" are where the call centre computer rings up dozens of numbers when they only have 2 or 3 operators available. You see "international" on the caller display, and when you answer it's dead. There is nothing UK based telephone companies can do about it as they are outside UK legal jurisdiction.

The other sort are "customer care" calls.

This is the ABC Company, can I speak to Mr ......
Speaking
You have a policy XYZ with us
Yes I do, so?
Well this is a quarterly customer care update to let you know of some new products that you might be interested in.
Just stop there. This is not customer care, this is a sales/marketing call to try to get me to spend more money with you. Don't cold call me again or I'll cancel the policy I do have with you.

Then I throw the phone down. Its the only way to deal with them. I think that marketing calls should be made illegal, and firms should be fined for doing it.

In the US they have the no call list but Not For Profits and Political agencies are exempt from that list. So every 2 years we get inundated with political crap on the phone.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

If its during accepted business hours of 9-5 I just put the phone down. During the evening I tell them that it's illegal to harass people in their personal leisure time and that I'm reporting them to the police and trading standards.
Click, brrrrrr ......

The trouble is that a lot of them withold their number so they can't be traced.

A couple of years ago we had a home improvement company on a massive marketing campaign in Southern England, and pushy salesmen would ring up on Sunday mornings. I reported them both to the police and local Trading Standards, who took up the case, as they had received other complaints. They were prosecuted and the matter was even reported in Which? magazine.

I don't care if they are trying to earn a living, don't mess with me, I'm a fully paid up professional NIMBY!!

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"none so blind as those who will not see" (John Heywood 1546)

Don't drink water, that stuff rusts pipes!


You are making Proof out of Logic, by just being dubious! {Bluestar to me)

I answered one push poll and I had to get rude with the caller.

Basically, it was a gun lobby pushing an agenda. The questions were so slanted that by disagreeing with a remark you appear to weak on crime and anti american. I basically told the individual that I couldnt answer his questions the way he wanted. THis threw him off. He told me it was an up or down question. I disagreed insisting that the question was invalid on its face. The call devolved from there.

LOL Skildude!!! You are one tough customer!

I wish I had known more about the young man who called me. If he was a volunteer working for the campaign of the challenger, and willingly using these obnoxious tactics, then I wish I had really chewed him out. If, however, he was just some young person trying to do his job, then I probably shouldn't have tried to make him feel guilty about doing it. A job is a job sometimes.

I imagine most of us have compromised our principles at least a few times in life because we could not handle the consequences of not doing so. With age and some degree of financial security it becomes easier to stand up and consistently trumpet one's core values. It is difficult to judge behavior out of context.

When I get such calls, I start singing like some combination of Axl Rose and James Hetfield into the phone, plus hit the phone against the wall, until they hang up.

I love playing with words and I really hate when people try to get me to say something I dont intend. I have to assume some lawyer carefully crafted the questions. I also dislike dishonest...well all lawyers

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

I answered one push poll and I had to get rude with the caller.

Basically, it was a gun lobby pushing an agenda. The questions were so slanted that by disagreeing with a remark you appear to weak on crime and anti american. I basically told the individual that I couldnt answer his questions the way he wanted. THis threw him off. He told me it was an up or down question. I disagreed insisting that the question was invalid on its face. The call devolved from there.

LOL Skildude!!! You are one tough customer!

I wish I had known more about the young man who called me. If he was a volunteer working for the campaign of the challenger, and willingly using these obnoxious tactics, then I wish I had really chewed him out. If, however, he was just some young person trying to do his job, then I probably shouldn't have tried to make him feel guilty about doing it. A job is a job sometimes.

I imagine most of us have compromised our principles at least a few times in life because we could not handle the consequences of not doing so. With age and some degree of financial security it becomes easier to stand up and consistently trumpet one's core values. It is difficult to judge behavior out of context.

I answered one push poll and I had to get rude with the caller.

Basically, it was a gun lobby pushing an agenda. The questions were so slanted that by disagreeing with a remark you appear to weak on crime and anti american. I basically told the individual that I couldnt answer his questions the way he wanted. THis threw him off. He told me it was an up or down question. I disagreed insisting that the question was invalid on its face. The call devolved from there.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

[phone machine message] Hi, you've reached the Johnson residence.(pause) Due to all the politicians and telemarketers with auto-dialers, we're sending all our calls to the answering machine. Please leave your name and number, and we'll get back to you as soon as we are able.[/message]

The pause triggers any automatic recorded message, so it usually ends about the same time my message does. I find many messages with the tail end of a recording, or dead air. And I set the ringer volume low so it won't interupt my naps.

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

The PPI calls reflect our experience, and up to 7 per day, despite being registered with the Telephone Preference System years ago. That don't stop them ringing.

Over here we have a 'do not call' list. Except political and charitable organizations are exempt. And robocallers who simply choose to ignore it.

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"Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein
"With cats." kittyman

The PPI calls reflect our experience, and up to 7 per day, despite being registered with the Telephone Preference System years ago. That don't stop them ringing.

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Ohhhh focus group by phone

find out what works best for the muck slinging ad

the marketing exec in me likes it

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Politically the parties here rely upon knock-ups to ask people face to face what they are likely to vote. Most people tell Labour callers they'll vote Tory, the UKIPs they'll vote Lib Dem, then go and vote Labour. Or other combinations, just to confuse the stats.

You've obviously door stepped me four times in the same week....


As for telesales/polls/surveys, I find having a portable radio tuned to BC radio 4 keeps them amused for a long time - have you ever tried to interrupt Jim Naughtie or Eddie Grundy?

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Hey Angela, looks like the UK has now got a way of dealing with it at last!

Sue them for compensation!

Well Rachel with "cardholder services" currently.

I hate that gurl Rachel.......

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"Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein
"With cats." kittyman

Oh we have had those for years over here, but we call them consumer surveys not push polls. They are usually conducted by out of work students working for an agency who get paid a commission for each survey that gets completed. They monitor brand loyalty and brand awareness, and its fairly obvious from the slant of the questions who they are working for.

Politically the parties here rely upon knock-ups to ask people face to face what they are likely to vote. Most people tell Labour callers they'll vote Tory, the UKIPs they'll vote Lib Dem, then go and vote Labour. Or other combinations, just to confuse the stats.

To be fair pre-election polling is useful for a party to judge whether extra canvassing needs to be done, and exit polls gauge how things are going and if a last push is needed. Trouble is the public hate them!

Since most of the phone calls are polls or "surveys", I simply say "I am sorry, I do not do (polls/surveys)".

Political polls already have the response they want to arrive at, and most other surveys are an attempt to get personal information. This reduces the junk
phone calls I receive to .. Well Rachel with "cardholder services" currently.

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Janice

I'll be glad when the whole thing is settled.
Being a second shift worker, I am losing a lot of sleep in the morning when the polsters and politicians start ringing my dang phone.

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"Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein
"With cats." kittyman