Revenge

22 Nov 2004

Time for me to have a bit of a rant.
I've signed up to that TPS(?) thing so that I don't get unsolicited phone calls, and my junk mail has drastically decreased. Thank you JQL for telling me about that, it really does work. Except for one company mad

Here's the background.
In May 2003 I had new windows fitted by a well known company. Lovely windows they are, bought the front and got the back free (and I only have 3 windows at the front of my house, but 5 at the back :smug smile

And every 6 weeks or so ever since, I've had some telesales person ring me while I'm cooking tea asking if I'd be interested in buying some new windows.......... from the self same company that fitted them in the first place!!!
Tonight, while I was cooking tea surprisingly enough rolleyes

my phone rang. "Mum it's for you" Here's how the conversation went.
Angel Chat - Hello?
Window Woman - Hello, I'm ringing from Pain in the Arse Windows (names have been changed to protect the company that doesn't even know what they've sold ffs)
AC - Oh, you aren't going to try and sell me something are you?
WW - No, not at all. We have a genuine offer on at the moment and I was wondering if....
AC - No, I don't want any more windows thanks, the ones you fitted 18 months ago still work perfectly well
WW - Oh, did you have ALL of them done?
AC - :doh: yes!! and they came with a 10 year guarantee. I don't want to buy any more thank you
WW - Well what about your doors?
AC - No, I don't want any new doors thank you. I can't afford them
WW - well we could do you a free quote
AC - I've already had a quote and I still can't afford them
(desperately wanting to put the phone down by this point but being polite - although I don't know why :roll:)
WW - Well when did we do the quote?
AC - <tuts loudly> Look, I don't want any new doors ok!!!
WW - Excuse me! Don't scream at me!
Angel looks at her telephone receiver in disbelief and quickly puts it back in the cradle before she loses her temper big time
I sat down ranting with the kids looking on in shock while I tried to decide how best to deal with it. Then it struck me. I have that service from BT where my telephone line doesn't accept calls from withheld numbers. I dialled 1471, wrote down the number and then rang the number I have for Pain In The Arse Windows so that I could complain about her (and all the other telesales people that have phoned me before!)
Unfortunately the office had closed for the day, so I rang the number I'd got from 1471. Engaged :doh: so I did that call ringback thingy (can you tell how annoyed I was? She rang me, totally uninvited trying to sell me something I'd already bought and then told ME not to scream at her!!

:banghead: :banghead: )
I eventually got through to her and asked if this was a call centre. "No"
Ok, so are you the person that rang me before and told me not to scream at you? "No" Click
I stayed on the line
Another click as she tries to make her next call
AC - I'm not putting the phone down until you apologise for taking that attitude with me
Click
Another click
AC - I'm still here. You can't cut me off because I rang you. Are you going to apologise
Click
Another click
AC - Annoying isn't it, when someone ties up your phone line. Are you ready to apologise yet?
Click
Another click
AC - I'm still here.
Beep beep beep (her attempting to dial another number while I'm still on the line)
AC - You do realise you can't dial out until I hang up the phone? Ready to apologise yet?
Click
Another click
Silence
I then took my telephone into another room and put it on the table with the receiver still off the hook and went back to making tea :smug:
I left her there for about 45 mintues. It was a Manchester number, and yes, I'm fully aware that I will have had to pay for the call, but I can't tell you how much better I felt. And I'll be ringing Pain In The Arse Windows tomorrow to ask them - YET AGAIN - to take me off their :censored: marketing list

22 Nov 2004

Hee Hee....I like it! That's one one of dealing with 'em.
My personal fav is to tell them that "I'm registered with the TPS and the call you're making to me is in breach of your commercial telecommunications license. As such I will be passing the details of this call on to Oftel who have it within their power to revoke said commercial telecommunications license and confiscate all and any telecommunications equipment from your premises".
It might be :bs: but it gets an apology from them lol

22 Nov 2004

Hiya Angel Chat..... would you like to try one of those reclining beds?? chairs?? you know the ones...really expensive and we'll send you a catalogue but that won't have any prices in either....and if you don't buy from that, we'll phone you again and tell you you've won the monthly draw, which is 35% off a reclining bed or chair...... secondly, what about a walk in bath??
these are just two of my latest....something tells me someone old used to live here!!
I'm pleased to say though, i am now, after a similar scenario to yours, off their contact lists......for now!!!! I also agree with the sentiment of "revenge", it might be us paying, but its a great feeling!! I love doing it when my sons girlfriend phones and gives attitude down the phone....one day her parent will see how long she spends on the phone!!!! lol.

22 Nov 2004

Nice one angel
I think i'm gonna have t otry that one!
Ive got to the point now, of letting them spend 5 /10 mins explaing what there selling then i tell them i live in a rented accomidation and cant change the fixtures and fittings!. they dont like it when its there time you waste
JGL

22 Nov 2004

Far be it for me to stop people's fun and games, but if you really want to stop the callers here's the link for the
It's well worth taking two minutes to sign up, you can do your mobile and fax too. And you can sign up with the Mailing Preference Service too to stop the floods of junkmail you get.

22 Nov 2004

I think we've all suffered from this type of call mad

I recently had a call from a guy with an Indian accent, who could hardly speak English. When I informed him I was registered with the TPS he said if I give him my phone number he would have it taken off the sales sheet!
FFS!! They don't even dial the numbers by hand. It's all done automatically by a dialler banghead

Mobile phones are also used for unsolicited calls and texts. We both have our mobiles registered with TPS but Jon still gets calls from BT on his because he is a customer, they seem to think it ok to flout the rules.
My phone on the Orange network has never ever had unsolicited calls, texts or anything.
My son's mobile is on Vodaphone and they send him unsolicited texts and he has to pay to receive them!!!
Tracy-Jayne
Grrr! I'll have indigestion all night now thinking about phone calls lol

22 Nov 2004

Quote by cu3b4ll
Far be it for me to stop people's fun and games, but if you really want to stop the callers here's the link for the Telephone Preference Service.
It's well worth taking two minutes to sign up, you can do your mobile and fax too. And you can sign up with the Mailing Preference Service too to stop the floods of junkmail you get.

Yep, but look at what I wrote....

Quote by Angel Chat
I've signed up to that TPS(?) thing so that I don't get unsolicited phone calls, and my junk mail has drastically decreased. Thank you JQL for telling me about that, it really does work. Except for one company

Think this just gives me a bit more ammo when I do ring them tomorrow really

22 Nov 2004

Quote by RedHot
Grrr! I'll have indigestion all night now thinking about phone calls

Hands T_J a pack of Rennies - sorry redface

:lol2:

22 Nov 2004

Quote by Angel Chat
Far be it for me to stop people's fun and games, but if you really want to stop the callers here's the link for the Telephone Preference Service.
It's well worth taking two minutes to sign up, you can do your mobile and fax too. And you can sign up with the Mailing Preference Service too to stop the floods of junkmail you get.

Yep, but look at what I wrote....

Quote by Angel Chat
I've signed up to that TPS(?) thing so that I don't get unsolicited phone calls, and my junk mail has drastically decreased. Thank you JQL for telling me about that, it really does work. Except for one company

Think this just gives me a bit more ammo when I do ring them tomorrow really
I know you wrote that....but it's getting late and my brain went to bed an hour ago. I was just posting the link for anyone else who needed it. Sorry Sweetie bolt

22 Nov 2004

Quote by Angel Chat

Grrr! I'll have indigestion all night now thinking about phone calls

Hands T_J a pack of Rennies - sorry redface

:lol2:
Thanks a bunch! wink

T-J

22 Nov 2004

Angel.. you are my HERO.. you don't know how much of that Crap I have to put up with at work :-)
Sean

22 Nov 2004

Brilliant, AngelChat :thumbup:
I'd been with the TPS for years.
When I've got the time I like to let the caller think I'm interested in their product so that I can get some details about their company. Then I report them.
I have just moved home and have to re-register with the TPS as I haven't been able to carry my old phone number over. It'll mean a wait of up to 6 months before the nuisance calls stop but I know it's worth it.
Speaking of wasting the time of time-wasters.............at election time I enjoy detaining on my doorstep people who are canvassing on behalf of a canditate or party that I particularly dislike, giving them the impression that they are on the verge of persuading me to vote in their favour.
Of course, they never get my vote and they are prevented from focussing their time and energy on folks who they might have more luck with.
As for religious nutters knocking on my door, I just tell 'em that I AM God. That invariably shuts em up smile

22 Nov 2004

Quote by Riff Raff
Brilliant, AngelChat :thumbup:
I have just moved home and have to re-register with the TPS as I haven't been able to carry my old phone number over. It'll mean a wait of up to 6 months before the nuisance calls stop but I know it's worth it.

According to the TPS site, it only takes 28 days to become effective once details are registered.
HTH
Tracy-Jayne

22 Nov 2004

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:
Oh Angel, just brilliant :lol2:
Next time tho, instead of ringing em back - when they start talking, just ask them to hold the line a minute, then see how long they sit there waiting for :lol2:

23 Nov 2004

Quote by MISSCHIEF
:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:
Oh Angel, just brilliant :lol2:
Next time tho, instead of ringing em back - when they start talking, just ask them to hold the line a minute, then see how long they sit there waiting for :lol2:

thanks for the advice MISSCHIEF, i think that's a more humane way of slaying the passions of afore mentioned "girlfriend" calls!! I'll try it. hugs. x

23 Nov 2004

ahhh the Phone Book / Yellow Pages school of telemarketting! i mean have you any idea how much sales databases cost? try 50 grand for a dozen users plus yer IT man's salary to keep it running? phone books a lot cheaper.
Angel Chat without flicking through a million names rubbed out in black marker, they'd have no idea if they called you or not. and sadly telemarketer number 2 will have an identical Phone Book that hasn't been scribbled in!
databases? TPS. you're joking right! at my last firm the "Don't Call - Existing Customer" database consisted of multiple copies of A4 with "FFS don't call these twats" pinned up all over the office walls. :lol2:
*shakes head*
ask the telesales op for their name, when they refuse ask for the manager, when they refuse ask for the MD, when they refuse simply say you'll sue for harassment if this continues! generally gets 'em off sharpish and scribbling away furiously on A$ with marker pen! :lol2:
n x x x ;)

23 Nov 2004

for some reason Window people seem to be a law unto themselves... doesn't matter how many times you get entered in their do not call list they always call back on a regular basis... I think they are just borred johny no mates who are looking for company...
As such I have on occasion kept them on the phone for half an hour on several occasions before pointing out that actually I wasn't the home owner (at which point they hung up)
I didn''t realise you could tie up someones phone line by not hanging up!!! I thought in this age of digital communications you wouldn't be able to screw with people like that. After all once one person terminates the call its supposed to be over and you don't get billed any more..... Or is it some feature for people who have a habit of playing with the hangup button while they are talking on the phone??

23 Nov 2004

So you haven't tried the "ooooooh......you have a sexy voice.....are you bisexual?" approach yet then?
Steve

23 Nov 2004

:laughabove: Now that's gotta be worth a try :twisted:

23 Nov 2004

Quote by Angel Chat
I then took my telephone into another room and put it on the table with the receiver still off the hook and went back to making tea :smug:

Good for you.
At the end of the day it isn't the fault of the person who's phoning you, they're only doing what they've been taught. It's the wankers that teach them, who have themselves been taught by... and so on, up to the ones you'll never get to speak to in a month of Sundays coz they can't be reached on the golf course. I try to bite my tongue when that kind of thing happens to me, though it's not easy.
Your solution is good, but, as you say, it costs you money. If I have the time I usually get myself into the mindset of waiting till they've finished saying the current bit of their script (they ALWAYS pause at intervals with an open question for you to respond to). And then I just say "No, I'm not interested thank you." Rinse, repeat. If they don't go away, when I have finally had enough of the game, I say:

Quote by Me
"Exactly what part of 'No, I'm not interested thank you' is it that you don't understand?

And then I hang up without giving them the chance to reply - if they've not got the message by that time then they deserve a little rudeness on my part. Slamming the receiver down is optional, although whenever I do that I always feel stupid coz I remember that they can't hear that bit biggrin

Eeeeeeek is that the time? NN

23 Nov 2004

Having just left a company probably the same as your pain in the arse windows then we used to get that sort of thing on a daily if your registered on the TPS then you cant get these marketing calls beacuse the phones simply wont allow ou to get remember that when your going on at some poor sod at the end of the phone to ask for their manager first and winge at them instead!!!After all the person who's ringing you is just there to make some money,if you winge at the managers they might actually do something about it.
We had irate customers all the time and they often used to ring existing customers to see if they wanted something else so your easiest way is to do the TPS,it kicks in in 28 days and then you wont get anymore.

23 Nov 2004

Quote by Clare_Lincs
Basically if your registered on the TPS then you cant get these marketing calls beacuse the phones simply wont allow ou to get through.

Evidently this isn't true Clare because I am registered on the TPS

Just remember that when your going on at some poor sod at the end of the phone to ask for their manager first and winge at them instead!!!After all the person who's ringing you is just there to make some money,if you winge at the managers they might actually do something about it.

I do remember that, hence me being so polite with the girl that rang. At the point when she said "Don't scream at me!" I hadn't even raised my voice, just allowed some of my frustration to be heard through my voice

We had irate customers all the time and they often used to ring existing customers to see if they wanted something else so your easiest way is to do the TPS,it kicks in in 28 days and then you wont get anymore

Hmmmm I've just checked, and I actually registered with TPS on the 28th April 2004. By my reckoning that's WAY more than 28 days ago!!

23 Nov 2004

Well I've just registered with TPS... the usual conversation when people call me (about 3 times per day) goes:
Them: Good afternoon, is that Mrs Smith (not me coz we aint married)
Me: No
Them: oh, well, is Mr Smith there please?
Me: No sorry he's at work
Them: Right, well can I just give you some information...
Me: Do you actually know who you're talking to now?
Them: er... no
Me: Then fuck off then.. if you don't even know who I am then its not going to be relevant to me is it?!?
And I used to work in an office where every evening we got handed a ripped out page of the phone book and got told to work our way through it and try and sell them kitchens. That has got to be my most hated job!!

23 Nov 2004

is out of date now, but I used their advice and their standard letter template a number of times. Without fail I always got a very sheepish apology inside a week.

23 Nov 2004

You could always say yes, agree a time for them to call round, ensuring it is at a time when you will definitely not be in. If they call back to say you weren't in, re-arrange the appointment exactly the same way. At some point they may catch on that you will never be available when they call. It will supersize the annoyance of the actual sales agent who has a wasted trip every time!! lol

Mal

23 Nov 2004

Quote by mal609
It will supersize the annoyance of the actual sales agent who has a wasted trip every time!!

Nice idea... until you are that sales agent sad

It wasn't his fault, not really fair to ruin his day... hit the organisation where you can, not the people in it, IMO.

23 Nov 2004

Quote by mal609
You could always say yes, agree a time for them to call round, ensuring it is at a time when you will definitely not be in. If they call back to say you weren't in, re-arrange the appointment exactly the same way. At some point they may catch on that you will never be available when they call. It will supersize the annoyance of the actual sales agent who has a wasted trip every time!!
Mal

Wouldn't work for me... I'm always in due to having no life!!! :cry:

23 Nov 2004

Yes, but the message will go back to the company that you are wasting their time and they won't call round anymore.
Mal
cool

23 Nov 2004

Quote by pendant
Nice idea... until you are that sales agent It wasn't his fault, not really fair to ruin his day... hit the organisation where you can, not the people in it, IMO.

Who cares!!??? They don't take our wasted time into consideration when they constantly bombard us with phone calls.
I would take it a step further and arrange it for a night when I'm in and have nothing planned, then keep him there for ages asking lots of questions, showing lots of interest, then right at the end I would say "Sorry, I'm not interested in your product and I have deliberately wasted your time. Please pass on my regards to you telesales team and ask them not to waste any more of my time."
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

23 Nov 2004

Quote by Sgt Bilko
I would take it a step further and arrange it for a night when I'm in and have nothing planned, then keep him there for ages asking lots of questions, showing lots of interest, then right at the end I would say "Sorry, I'm not interested in your product and I have deliberately wasted your time. Please pass on my regards to you telesales team and ask them not to waste any more of my time."
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

We actually did this some years ago to a young woman who had spent days and days cold calling at the houses on the married quarters when Jon was in the Marines.
This particular company used to send it's reps out trying to pressure sell stuff to the women, whilst their husbands were stationed abroad. Women tend to give in much easier and once the paper's been signed . . . .
He kept her chatting for over four hours, asking questions, showing loads of interest etc.
When the time came for her to get out the forms to be signed, he simply told her he wasn't interested in her product and nor was anyone else on the block. evil

They ended up arguing quite fiercely about him wasting her time etc etc and she burst into tears and ran from the flat :shock: lol

Funny thing was, we lived there for almost 3 years and we were never bothered by that company again :P
Tracy-Jayne