(1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off
(instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing
call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind
to a halt.
Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep"
tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which
has efficiently completed its task.
(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the
other end?
This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls
and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.
This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a
"real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.
What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one
there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone,
6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine
that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system.
(3) Another Good Idea: When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone
or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the
sending companies throw their own junk mail away.
When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for
everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type
junk, do not throw away the return envelope.
Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It
costs them more than the regular 37cents postage "IF" and when they
receive them back.
It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was
around 50 cents before! the last increase and it is according to
the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other
junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return
envelopes. One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas. Send an ad for
your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon
to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just
send them their blank application back!
If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on
anything you send them.
You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to
keep them guessing!
Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will begin getting
their own junk back in the mail.
Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and
best of all they're paying for it...Twice!
Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that
e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they
need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea !
