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alcimedes
2004-06-16, 17:46
Anyone ever heard of them?

I just got an oddly rude call from one of their telemarketers. He calls and asks for my wife, and I can hear all of the other folks in the background, so its obvious he's in a call center. I tell him she's not here, and ask to be added to their "Do Not Call" list.

He says "no".

I said "excuse me?"

He said, "No, I can't do that"

So I'm thinking maybe I guessed wrong and he's not a telemarketer.

So I ask for his name, which he gives me, and ask him who he works for. He pauses, then tells me "PSI".

Now, I don't keep track of telemarketing groups, I don't really care that much. However, this rang a bell.

Turns out these ass clowns had called a few months back, and were annoying enough I did a reverse lookup on them to find out who in the hell they were.

So anyway, I get into a yelling match with this jackass. He keeps telling me my wife has to ask to be taken off their telemarketing list. So we go back and forth and I finally get his manager on the phone and chew him out.

I can't believe it took this long to get my damn name taken off their calling list.

So anyway, what's your story of the telemarketer that just wouldn't quit?

Moogs
2004-06-16, 19:37
The only PSI I know of is a property management company... not sure if they have other divisions / call people. If it's the same company, they're about the most unresponsive sons-a-bitches I've ever encoutered. Turnover there is high as well... so if it's a legit company, don't be surprised if you get no favorable / professional response from them.

DMBand0026
2004-06-16, 20:09
I've had 5 calls in one evening from telemarketers (pre do not call) and after the second call I asked to be removed from the list. The third, forth, and finally fifth call came and I asked for a supervisor whom I chewed out. I than filed a complaint with the BBB. Not sure it it helped, but they never called again.

alcimedes
2004-06-16, 22:23
yeah, well i'd like to find out who the hell PSI is and file a complaint with the BBB, but stupidly i forget to get their entire name before i hung up. maybe i'll get lucky and they'll call again! :lol:

Moogs
2004-06-16, 22:59
Regrettably, the BBB is now a complete joke. They routinely offer unregistered companies "a good listing" if they sign up for four hundred dollars or whatever the latest fee is. They no longer keep tight standards for which companies earn good ratings, nor do they actually investigate anyone. Instead, companies that cause problems basically pay BBB to keep their complaints in "perpetual investigation" status so that nothing definitive can be said about the number of complaints or what percentage go unresolved (when someone calls in).

Their web site is borderline useless.

PayPal is a good example of a company that has BBB in their back pocket. No doubt they have tens of thousands of complaints about wronly frozen accounts and the like. Hell, they sign up close to 30,000 people a day and routinely freeze people's accounts for things like "doing business with the same person twice". It's really too bad too because both organizations used to be pretty reputable.

HOM
2004-06-16, 23:40
Next time you get a telemarketer, do what I do, take advantage of their own rules against them. I once did telemarketing for my college so I knew the rules. First, they are not allowed to hang up until you've hung up. If they area a semi-professional firm the calls are controlled by computers and they log who hangs up first. So, I usually take the opportunity to get all of my anger and aggression out on them. Some of you may think what I'm about to say is cruel, but fuck'em. I say the nastiest awful things I can think of. Some examples:

I'm embarrassed for you, what do people say to you when you tell them what your job is?

It's really a shame that there wasn't a Planned Parenthood nearby, the world would have been better off if your mother had aborted you. (one of my favorites)

When was the last time you got laid?

It's really a shame that nobody will talk to you anymore. Don't you think you should quit?

It's people like you that make this world a terrible place to live.

The terrorists don't hate our way of life, they hate you.

And so forth and so on. It might not make the calls stop, but it makes me feel better and that's all that matters.

Sometimes, I'll just tell them to hold on a minute and put the phone down. Come back an hour later and they are still there. That's one of the best ways to fuck them because not only can then not hang up, but you screw up their entire quota for the night.

Bender
2004-06-17, 01:58
HOM, that reminds me of my rather juvenile response to junk mail. I recently got a political group's fundraising feces in my PO BOX. I promptly removed the return-mail envelope and filled it with as much recycle-bin paper as possible and dropped it in the mail drop. In 7-10 days, they can pay the excess postage when it is delivered.

So much for those passive-agressive therapy sessions.

:\ :smokey:

Mac+
2004-06-17, 04:18
HOM - not a fan of some of those lines. :no: There are better ways to handle telemarketers than without reverting to personal attacks (don't shoot the messenger) - the hold on method is proabably the most effective of the bunch you put forward.

stoo
2004-06-17, 07:51
I promptly removed the return-mail envelope and filled it with as much recycle-bin paper as possible and dropped it in the mail drop. In 7-10 days, they can pay the excess postage when it is delivered.

Would coins work? :devil:

alcimedes
2004-06-17, 08:00
i constantly mail back unsolicted junk mail. full of as much crap as i can stuff in them. i really should start mailing it back full of pennies.

Moogs
2004-06-17, 08:51
While the abortion comment was a bit overboard, I think HOM has the right idea in general: if they refuse to leave you alone / put you on a no call list, use their own employers' rules against them. I particularly love the "hold on just a second" routine... particularly if I'm not expecting any calls.

I think another good one, if you had the time, is smother them with small talk. Sales people always love to bullshit their customers in order to gain their trust so they'll buy something. Just turn it around on them. "Oh ya? You've got any kids? Where ya from? Oh Yah... I've got an uncle from there. Ole Uncle Joe. Makes a mean hamburger, let me tell you...."

Torture the poor pricks until they put you on the no call list for their own benefit.

:D

staph
2004-06-17, 09:01
Ah, the beauty of a silent number. :)

Moogs
2004-06-17, 09:22
Silent?

Mac+
2004-06-17, 09:24
I think the reverse apporach that Moogs suggested - smothering them with small talk is probably effective enough. If you keep blabbering on they'll soon learn. (Although it takes up your time as well - so in that respect it probably isn't the best use of your time.) My point was just to not go on a personal attack on some poor kid just b/c of the job they have. Admittedly they can give you the shits, but don't stoop to giving them abortion lines or jibes as to their sexuality. :no:

Of course, having a silent number, as staph says would cut this problem off at the knees! (prevention being better than cure)

Mac+
2004-06-17, 09:33
silent = not listed in the phone book

SKMDC
2004-06-17, 09:41
Ah, the beauty of a silent number. :)

in america being unlisted is irrelevant to solicitations.
i've noticed all the sales calls i get now are from companies i deal with, which are allowed by the do not call registry.
so when they call and i tell them "we're on the do not call registry" they say "well we can call you because we've done business together" or something like that.
i ask if they'd like to continue to doing business with us, that stops them.

i would like to say that the do not call registry might be the greatest thing my government has ever done for me.

SKMDC
2004-06-17, 09:45
before the do not call started, when i was getting 10 solicitation calls a day, i would give the "unknown number" calls to my three year, he can't get enough of the phone and wears his grandparents out on the phone, so this gave him some phone time.

Moogs
2004-06-17, 10:56
Being unlisted doesn't matter because most of those companies don't use the phone book, they use machines to dial the numbers in sequence I believe. That's why it usually takes a second for someone to pick up on the other end (because lot's of calls end with "call could not be completed" or whatever).

thuh Freak
2004-06-17, 11:23
Being unlisted doesn't matter because most of those companies don't use the phone book, they use machines to dial the numbers in sequence I believe. That's why it usually takes a second for someone to pick up on the other end (because lot's of calls end with "call could not be completed" or whatever).
if the simpsons has taught me several things, one of them is that homer broke the law by using that kind of machine back a few seasons ago. laws may vary per state or locality, but i think those evil machines are, or ought to be, illegal most places.

i read somewhere (on the old internet, if memory serves) that someone mailed back pennies to some postal mail spam type dealie, and later complained to the company about a "mixup", demanding their money back. the company sent them a check.

the most persistent caller i ever got was a blood bank (red cross or something). i gave blood a couple of times a few years ago, and they called me every few months to redonate. i wasn't mean to them or anything, but i kept telling them i didn't want to give anymore. and a few months later they'd call again. same woman on the phone too, i'm pretty sure, and i think the problem was she didnt speak english very well. so when i told her not to call me, she just took it to mean that call was over. eventually i told her i was moving and didn't yet know my new number, and she stopped calling.

Wickers
2004-06-17, 11:35
Haha. . .

I get these calls all the time.

I just have fun with them.

Most of the time I just hang up on random.
Or I put them on hold for twenty min or so just to respond, "no, I am not interested".