Cold callers....

I know I just posted this over at PF...thought I'd put it here too....



Hi,

I just got call from a lady speaking from "WDS Assosiates"......or similar....I didn't quite catch it....

A very effeicient, brisk sounding lady wanted me to inform me of important changes in home ownership.....

....alarm bells start ringing.....

I DO NOT give out financial details over the phone......and many a cold caller has been stopped in their tracks for this reason.....

NO, she just wanted to "send me leaflet" to inform me of these changes....

I said ,no thanks....

Her parting comment "thats fine if you don't want to be informed of these changes".....struck a very false note......

I called my Dad to see what he thought.....he pointed out had I said yes...the next thing owuld be she would have wnted my address..


This stuff makes me cross because, had this happened to my Gran when she was alive, she would

1) have been extremely worried about it.

2) almost certainly wOULD have parted with at least her adddress, if not more details.

If this is what I think it is its very naughty, The lady sounded VERY PLAUSIBLE like she was sitting in a government office in London advising everybody that their houses were about to fall down....or similar.

It made even my Dad think about it.....

 

yeah, i rarely get these calls (maybe I do when I'm at work tho?) - but older people can be more septical towards this - I know my mum has just got access to the web and I had to warn her against banners etc that claimed she'd won a prize etc...

 

Sounds like your Mum is fairly clued up...many aren't so much...

Yes, perhpts its because of my work pattern i get these calls....fairly rarely thank goodness.

 

My 77 year old grandma would have told them do the one. If she gets pushy cold callers at her door and they don't go she points to her CCTV camera and they quickly do one

 

I always like the idea of saying..."hang on a minute, I just have to answer the door".

Then you put the phone down and never come back. The beauty is you manage to waste some of their time the same way they have wasted your time. They get the message.

 

WHy would they go to that trouble, its quite easy to get address details without the need to call people.

 

Do you think she had a legitimate reason for calling then Chris?

She readily admitted that she was cold calling.......although initially denying she was trying to sell me something.

 

I don't get any of these as my number is ex-directory and registered with TPS. What I do occasionally get is random number generated calls, mainly canvassing. My mobile gets lots of calls from mobile companies wanting to sell me something.

 

Best thing to do is say you rent or do what one of the guys at work does, hand the phone over to his 8 year old son and say talk to the nice lady

 

Not at all, but it does seem an odd way to obtain an address these days. I am in no wat condoning what cold callers do.

 

cold callers

The one I like is to tell them...... Sorry I cant talk to you im mad.... They wont ring back case you do have a mental health problem as it is highly illegal to try and sell people anything if they are unfortunately in this catagory.
It does work I and a friend have used it.

Regards
Mad Dave

 

the snag wih this is that it takes(took me anyway) a few minutes to establish the ladies real motives.....by that time the line might sound a little out of place.

 

We registered about a year ago ....and had no cold callers ...but then about a month ago we had one and then another couple last week....

my normal routine is to say [if they ask for some one by name] I'll see if they are available ...then after a five minute wait ..if they are still there say no sorry he's out of he office....give me your phone number and he will return the call....its amazing how many times the phone gets put down.

Another wheez is to say you can't hear them and can they speak up ....especially if you hold the phone at arms length..you can get them to shout down the phone for ages ...

 

alternatively, people can treat people who are struggling with a difficult job with some simple human dignity and respect.

just a thought.

 

or could be considered an unwelcome intrusion into your private time.. but I take your point

 

Hey, there are some people out there working for dodgy outfits.. that don't deserve your business or information about you.

I think even in those cases though, you've got some poor guy/girl who is doing the only job they can get to earn a pitiful crust.

It seems inapropriate to make their life harder.

 

Cold callers don't treat the people they are calling with dignity and respect - you wouldn't cold call someone if you did. How can they then expect to be treated in such a manner.... or are you expounding the "turn the other cheek" doctrine?

 

Hi Chris,

The downsides are that many of the people ringing you up are trying to sell you stuff you don't need and some won't take no for an answer. Also the tactics that are used are not to everyone's taste. In a lot of cases, they are not forthcoming with good infomation, so they waste your time.

Not every caller is like this but when you get a few that are, you soon get annoyed with the lot of them.

Cold callers are after leads and sales. This could lead to a good deal but also a bad deal and/or time wasted. A lot of the information that cold callers try to give could be gain at your own leisure. Using the internet, going round the shops, magazines, papers, post or phoning at your own leisure.

Some calling techniques are assertive and can be seen as being rude particularly when the buyer is not buying/biting or interested.

I understand that call centres and cold calling has grown, leading to a number of people taking these jobs. I know a number of people who have worked in these places. Depending who you have worked for, the pressure can be quite great. A number get paid on results so tough tactics could be used to get people to bite.

Call centre/ tele sales people need to be thick skinned and a number of them are. Some of these people can be sucessful.

I don't like cold callers. I have had a number of rude, arrogant, wastful etc callers ring me over the years. If I get one now I'm usually polite before saying I'm not interested. Worst cases these days is that I put phone down.



SCIDB

 

Yep, what a job. You get it in the neck from the people you are calling and from your boss when you don't hit your targets.

I'd never abuse them, normally just hang up.

Any cold caller being arrogant deserves to get it thrown right back at them, luckily I haven't had any of those yet. Basically, I would react to them the same way the caller would react to me if I called their house acting the bollox.

 

Remember by law if you ask them to remove your number from their database they have to.

My usual response once i work out who they are is "no thanks, i am not interested and could you please remove my number from your list. Thanks 'click' "