Spam telephone calls

[Dave A]

Folks all over get excited about email spam and SMS spam. If you bulk email or SMS there needs to be an unsubscribe option. Fair enough. But how do you stop spam telephone calls?

Seems an odd thing to say, but I'm definitely getting solicitations over the phone that definitely falls in the category of spam.

My major bugbear at the moment is some crowd that calls me from Japan once a month or more. Trying to get me to by shares in the next great Chinese telecoms prospect last time I had a connection good enough to understand what the heck they were trying to say. A combination of a tricky accent and an overloaded Skype call-out connection makes for what can only be described as a particularly irritating noise.

That, together with an apparent inability to understand the words "No!" and "Not interested" makes for a rather frustrating experience. Oh yes, and obviously well overloaded on Dale Carnegie or some other sales course on how long to keep people on the hook.

To top it all, they've got hold of me cellphone number.

Yesterday I asked them where they got my number - "ting, buzz, crackle Mr. Alcock, but what I want tzz, brft, strng ish the hottest stock. You don't want to mish, zzt, trang,ssshwk ting, zzzip.." I put my cellphone down.

In fact that's what I'm going to do in future. Someone doesn't want to stop their pitch when I've plainly intimated I'm not in the market right now, the phone is going down.

I'm way to polite to disconnect. I can't quite bring myself to use that universally understood word so beloved by Billy Connelly. But I can put the handset down and let them chat themselves out.

The least I can do.

But the fella that invents an unsubscribe button for spam telephone calls, please call me - I'll be your first customer.

[duncan drennan]

To top it all, they've got hold of me cellphone number.

Now that is pretty disturbing taking into account that you are pretty holy with your cell phone number....

[Marq]

I have had similar calls - quite a few in fact.

Two calls ago, I had some time on my hands and told them it was their money speak up. I played interested for some time and oohed and aahed and eventually the guy realised that it was I that was having the fun not him. The result was that he told me to go &^*% myself and slammed the phone down.

Since that day I don't have a problem putting the phone down and no longer have that guilty feeling about being rude to them.

[RKS Computer Solutions]

If you're not expecting other calls, just put the phone down on your desk after telling them to keep on talking, you're listening...

Worked in the uk, some insurance thing, she kept on talking for an hour, I eventually picked up the phone and said, sorry sweetie, I haven't been listening, can you say all that again, and put the phone down softly again...

Got a phone call 2 days later from a manager extremely upset because I was their money, I said to him to send me an invoice for his expenses, I'd send mine for my time...

Lately, I just jump in and say not interested, and you know what the bad thing is, 99% of these people just throw the phone down on you, can't even say thanks and bye, so do they really think that if that were their attitude, that I'd be wanting to do business with them anyway?

[SilverNodashi]

If the calls originate from the SA, just say "Do you know what the new NCA (National Credit Act)...... (they normally put the phone down by now)

Basically, the NCA doesn't allow anyone to phone you without your consent. It's like a opt-in system. From a company's point of view, I wonder how I would get a new client / leads permission to phone him though, but luckily not many ppl know about the NCA

[duncan drennan]

Basically, the NCA doesn't allow anyone to phone you without your consent.

I'm not too sure that that is totally true (don't know). I think that only applies to sales of products which would fall under the NCA.

[Dave A]

Basically, the NCA doesn't allow anyone to phone you without your consent.

I'll leave someone else to tackle what the boundaries might actually be on this, but it's hard to imagine the NCA stopping marketing in its tracks. But even if entirely true, the problem could be solved with technique.

A typical call start would be
"Hi there. Is that Dave A?"
"Yes"
"Hi there Dave - May I call you, Dave?"
"Sure"

Roll on the sales pitch with my permission because comma's are so hard to see in a telephone conversation

[Marq]

NCA doesn't allow anyone to phone you without your consent.

Very doubtful!

I have just a huge bunfight with Nedbank - who gave my information to Hollard who in turn gave it out to a Siswe Call centre. Selling insurance products.

So the initial conversation goes - "I am from Nedbank........."
So I ask a few questions and I get - "I represent Nedbank........."
Then after a few more questions from me, he says - "I am phoning on behalf of Nedbank...."

So my two questions were - Where did you get my information from? and Are you FAIS qualified? We did not get to the NCA question!

Of course there was no answer to them, the only reply I was getting was that I did not tick an opt out box when I opened my account and they could do anything they liked.

So I took it further and threatened them with lawyers, ombudsmen and the like.

The Insurance head from Nedbank eventually phones to apologise and tells me it will not happen again and bla bla bla. Heres the thing though - he tells me that they are entitled to use my banking information anyway they like within their Group. He further tells me that the call centre that they appoint is FAIS compliant -not the people running it. He denies the Hollard and third party connection.

A few days later I get a call from a "supervisor" asking me if the call centre jockey had processed the call properly and whether I was satisfied with their service. If he had been standing in front of me - my guess is he would be 6 feet under and I would be on the run.

[Chatmaster]

Something else that is very strange. I have a Telkom line at home. It is the normal Prepaid Telkom line that I specified should not be listed. I only use it for Fax and sometimes Internet. Every now and then I receive a phone call on this line from a company selling something. What I do not get is that I never hand this number out. I simply state I do not have a phone at home. Where did they get this number? I am very personal about my telephone and cell numbers and do not hand it to anyone. Jippi to me is the most irritating. I once made the mistake of sms'ing them to download the "farting monkey" ring tone. Since I have sms'd stop so many times, but every now and then they pop me another sms. Most irritating.

[Marq]

This opt in /opt out story behind spam is a real pain.

I get this guy from ePasella.com - coming in on my email regularly. His email says he is doing this in line with the act bla bla. When I queried him on ethics and source he says I have a web site and doing business out there and therefore I am fair game for his email spam list. So the emails get ugly, but I still get his spam. He says you did not push the opt out button. Push it and I'll go away. So I click it and I get the sorry to see you go BS - but I still get the emails.

The act is so open to abuse - it seems as long as you have the opt option available, thats all thats required. I can email you time and time again and declare the source to be your email address on your web site.

In the meantime I have downloaded all ePasella's clients information and email addresses (all there on his site - therefore fair game) and will be using them shortly in my own campaign. It's alright I have Mr Kahns permission to do this.