[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Nitin

Is there anything like a 'Do not call ' list? In the US, there's a website, where people can register their home phone numbers, so that they stop receiving courtesy calls/ calls regarding promotional offers..

This article might help:
How to say no to unsolicited banking calls

[slipstream]

well, i'm polite to the telecallers most of the time but it does get REALLY annoying sometimes...picture this...i receive AT LEAST 3 calls a day from telecallers of ABN Amro wanting to sell their card to me, this inspite of my having registered in their "do not call" link....the worst part is I was an ABN Amro card holder till the frequency of these calls became unbearable and i surrendered the card citing this very reason.

I'm from the banking industry too and lemme share with you how this works....most banks apart from having their in house sales team also employ external agencies for telecalling. These telecallers work out of a paper database provided to them and just blindly call the contacts in the list with absolutely no clue if he is an existing customer or if he is a customer who has registered in the "DO NOT CALL" registry of the bank ! In most of the cases, databases are circulated between telecalling executives of different agencies dealing in different products. Ex : A customer who has purchased a television through a finance deal from company abc. The sales executive who had taken this customer's application would pass on the "lead" to his telecaller friend in another company in return for a different lead which he would follow up on...

the telecallers are forced to find newer methods of obtaining databases due to the sheer pressure of targets given to them...

i still continue to receive calls from ABN on a daily basis and also from lots of other banks and am at a loss not knowing what to do

I also feel getting-disturbed by these tele-calls, but I always try to avoid harsh-answering them -- because they call not for fun, but for their livelyhood and with the pressure from their banks,etc.

Though this is not a correct/relavant example, we do get irritated by various situations-with-our-enviroment(bosses,colleagues,car-owners,two-wheeler-guys,roads,bangalore-suddenly-created-one-way-traffic-rules,etc). If we loose our cool and try to attack in those situations(people,groups,etc), we only make our-lifes more difficult.

Originally Posted by Surprise

Sathish, I really like the way you looked at them.

A friend of mine says in any situation " just imagine how you would like to be treated if your'e in their position & give such treatment to them"

For me thats a brilliant statement. There is no point in hurting them (so they not going to) & making fun with them.

I always say " Sorry Sir/Maam, Iam not interested". 99% will cut the line, if someone continues talking, I will put down the call with "thanks".

Finally it boils down how we want to handle another human-being(who AFAIK is not criminal) with dignity -- just like Out-Porus wanted to be treated by AlexanderTheGreat(in pre AD).

Originally Posted by ajmat

So can assassins, crooks, real estate salemen, ad men, dumb managers justify their livelihood ?

Though I also agree they are not justified in doing so, we donot have any other way to avoid them -- as long as law provides some good-fool-proof way. So till such law comes, we can close the call as-quickly-as-possible without insulting another human-being(we have to keep in mind that all who calls us are not crooks)

[esteem_lover]

i hate how the conversation goes. here's a typical one

phone rings

me : hello
caller: hello
me (already sensed the trouble) : heavy silence
caller : hello
me : hello
caller : can i speak to xyz ?
me : who is this ?
caller : we are calling from....do you have a credit card ?
me: dont you think that is a personal question & one that i cannot give out over phone to someone whom i do not know ? (This is the point i get most irritated)
caller: sir, i only asked about credit card sir. (How dumb)
click..i disconnect.

Now i have changed my number & have stopped receiving these calls. no matter how rude you are, the calls will not cease. like slipstream said these agencies share their databases.

[esteem_lover]

the best way to avoid them would be not to give your mobile number to anyone, not even for loan approvals. you simply say that you do not have a phone & that you can be contacted only at office.

[Godfather]

I was out playing golf with a friend and during tee off his phone rings... I am now really pissed off as we are supposed to keep the mobiles on silent mode or vibration..this obviously my friend forgot.. Anyway he apologised after the call was completed after a good 10 minutes..

then i asked him what the call was about.....and he said some bank wants to give me a personal loan... i was puzzled as this guy can give the bank a loan if required...(very very rich...was gifted a S class by dad on 18th Birthday) anyways..... so the scene was like this

friend-- hello
caller -- hi i am calling from ****bank sir.. are you interested in a personal loan
friend-- i am busy..call me later
caller-- sir we are offering you 10L at 9% PA
friend-- look buddy... i am in a lot of problem....i cant talk to you now....wait.maybe you can help me
caller-- how is that sir
friend-- my company went bankrupt... i have blown all my money on expensive watches and clothes... and my dad threw me out of the house...my wife has left me.... how much loan were you offering me...
caller-- sir let me talk to my manager and get back to you.
friend-- please do that..i will be expecting your call
caller-- ok sir..bye

No calls after that... ....man that was one hilarious scene...

Godfather

[panky12345]

i say i use the same card, they ask for referrals, I ask 50 bucks/referral (in advance). Zapped, keeps down the phone!

[hydrashok]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

the best way to avoid them would be not to give your mobile number to anyone, not even for loan approvals. you simply say that you do not have a phone & that you can be contacted only at office.

This is exactly what I do too. I give my mobile number only to friends and business contacts (Family of course have the number).

If you give just a landline wherever you need to give out your number, you usually have peace. Nearly all junk-calls get filtered by my secretary or even at the switchboard.

And to calls that do get through to my home number (at times) I just repeat "I'm not interested, please don't call again" twice or thrice before I hang-up.

[ajmat]

I got rid of the callers by registering on DNC on all banks. Alas, was a sucker for the free Merc in Garuda mall and my phone has started buzzing again. I generally do not answer any 412XXXX call. If there is a pertinant message on my voice manil, I return the call

[compenn]

Activate the voice mail service on your cells and let all unrecognised calls go to voice mail. If important the caller would leave a voice mail else just hang up and you would have your peace of mind.

In Delhi Hutch the voice mail service just costs Rs 21 a month an no retrieval charges.

[alpha1]

I dont understand why ppl get annoyed with these calls.

I seem to quite enjoy them.
If its a female on the other side, I would flirt around (after making my intention quite clear that I am not interested in their cards etc)

Is its a guy then I chat for a while on topics like career and life in call centers etc.


It is pretty interesting how they respond once you become less predictable in your behaviour.

[ramie2400]

My convesation:
No.1 caller:hello i am calling from ..... bank for credit card/personal loan.
Me:Hello
caller:hello
Me:Hello
caller:hello
Me:Hello
caller:hello
Me:Sh** mera fone kharab hai yaar.
hehehehe

[Mayavi]

I live in US and still I get calls from Indian companies about their products and sometimes the people calling have no clue how to talk.

If it is a female that is calling, I usually ask her name, if she is single etc in a very friendly manner (not the vulgar type) and they get the hint and hang up. Some don't get the hint and in that case I flirt a bit more. One such caller ended up being my very good friend.

If it is a male that is on the phone, I act very sophisticated and ask questions that confuse them. Usually these call center people have ready made answers for the common questions asked, so I ask them questions that do not have ready made answers. It is a good time pass sometimes.

Last week, we got a call from one such call center guy and my three year old niece picked up. The guy said he is calling from India and she said the only thing she knows 'Hyderabad?'. The call center guy didn't realize it was a 3 year old girl and went on talking about the product he was trying to sell. He only realized that when my niece starting telling him A,B,C,D... on the phone.

[krazykul]

well, you can ask your service provider to block all promotion calls

[compenn]

Mayavi, Ramie, Alpha those were hilarious guys. Wow!!

You people giving me some knowledge on how to handle these calls...