Sales people/telemarketers

[jesus4ever]

I would like a quick anwer if possible. I am always getting phone calls everyday from sales people/telemarketers. Today they rang 5 times in which they dont answer and then they hang up. the fifth time they rang I said hello twice and when I said hello the second time finally someone said hello. I got angry and said stop ringing us and harrasing us you stupid *****. The one on the otherside of the phone said I will ring you everyday.

For saying Stupid *****. would that only be a venial sin. I know I shouldn’t of said it. I got angry and lost it. It just these dasy you can not even have a telephone without someone ringing to sell something. I felt like my heat stoped when I said it know i shouldn’t of said it knowing better.

 

[po18guy]

Most of those calls were probably made by a robot. They were calculated to determine what time of day you are most likely to answer your phone. That information is passed on to other telemarketers so that they may then attempt to contact you in that time frame. If your system has the capability, you may block that number, or simply unplug the phone when you are away.

Oh, and confess your (provoked) loss of temper.

 

[Starrsmother]

I would like a quick anwer if possible. I am always getting phone calls everyday from sales people/telemarketers. Today they rang 5 times in which they dont answer and then they hang up. the fifth time they rang I said hello twice and when I said hello the second time finally someone said hello. I got angry and said stop ringing us and harrasing us you stupid *****. The one on the otherside of the phone said I will ring you everyday.

For saying Stupid *****. would that only be a venial sin. I know I shouldn’t of said it. I got angry and lost it. It just these dasy you can not even have a telephone without someone ringing to sell something. I felt like my heat stoped when I said it know i shouldn’t of said it knowing better.

I think it’s no sin at all. I have caller ID–and when I see a 1-800 number, I just don’t pick up. But I’ve said a few worse things than what you implied you said to several of the few who got through anyway.

 

[DaveBj]

I sit at the front desk and answer the phones at the factory where I -]work/-] have a job. I get those kinds of calls all the time, and most of them are from area codes other than 1-800. I have made a list, and when one of those numbers calls, I just pick up the handset and drop it back in its cradle.

My favorites are like the one where the caller said, “Hello, my name is Adam Smith,” and the accent was so thick that I could smell the curry coming through the phone. I finally had to tell him that if he had something to tell me, he was going to have to put someone on who spoke English.

Then there are the ones who (after I have given the name of the factory) say, “Can I speak to [first-name]?” “O-o-okay, am I supposed to guess the last name?”

Sorry, this thread just opened my rant valve. Back to the OP’s topic. Confess your [probably venial] loss of temper and don’t worry about it.

 

[agnes_therese]

We have an answering machine, and I don’t pick up the phone until I know who it is. Being on the do not call list may help a little, but a lot of these companies just ignore it.

Your outburst was understandable. Just include it next time you go to confession.

 

[BettyBoop416]

Sorry, this thread just opened my rant valve.

I can relate. This is one of my pet peeves. I’m on the Do Not Call List and I subscribe to Caller ID, but occasionally one of these obnoxious calls gets through. Here’s what I do:

**Betty: “Hello?”

Telemarketer: “May I speak to Betty Boop?”

Betty: “This is Betty.”

Telemarketer: “This is Joe. I’m calling from blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah…”
**
Typically, telemarketing calls are scripted. The idea is to keep you hanging on, not giving you a chance to respond for a few minutes. (The theory is that the longer they keep you on the line, the more likely you are to buy their product.) So, as soon as they start their script, I very quietly set the phone down and go about my business, leaving the telemarketer to talk to himself. I’ve come back as long as five minutes later only to discover that the telemarketer is still talking.

**Telemarketer: “… blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. So Betty, can we sign you up for this once in a lifetime opportunity?” Hello? Betty? Are you there? Hello? %$#@&%$" **

Or, if I’m in a charitable mood, I just hang up on them at the beginning of the call.

 

[Joe_5859]

Yes, confess your loss of temper. Just because someone’s job annoys us doesn’t mean we don’t treat them with dignity.

The reason you didn’t get a response until you said hello twice is because many of these calling systems are automated and it takes a few seconds from the time you pick up until the system recognizes you picked up and puts you through to an actual salesperson. My rule of thumb was to say “Hello” once and if I received no response, I would simply hang up.

Of course, now I only have a cell phone, so I haven’t been called by a telemarketer in more than eight years.

 

[ExGratia]

You realize that the people calling you are doing a job, for very low pay, because they have to. No one grows up saying they want to be a telemarketer.

That said, there is a home security company that calls my cellular phone periodically. I just tell them that I feel quite secure with my firearms and rosaries.

DaveBj, you probably are unaware how racist your curry comments come off. I’m sure you were just trying to be witty, but I’d tone it down.

 

[maryjk]

You realize that the people calling you are doing a job, for very low pay, because they have to. No one grows up saying they want to be a telemarketer.

That used to be true.

But nowadays most people have their phone number on the “Do Not Call” list. So people working for companies that still call you? They are breaking the law.

That said, there is a home security company that calls my cellular phone periodically. I just tell them that I feel quite secure with my firearms and rosaries.

I ask them the name of their company and their name. Then I tell them that I am reporting them.

They generally hang up.

DaveBj, you probably are unaware how racist your curry comments come off. I’m sure you were just trying to be witty, but I’d tone it down.

 

[ExGratia]

That used to be true.

But nowadays most people have their phone number on the “Do Not Call” list. So people working for companies that still call you? They are breaking the law.I ask them the name of their company and their name. Then I tell them that I am reporting them.

They generally hang up.

Whether or not hey are unknowingly breaking the law (I do not think telemarketers are hardened criminals), nothing I said is in the “used to be true” category. How does the existence of a “do not call” list make you think that my statement: "You realize that the people calling you are doing a job, for very low pay, because they have to. No one grows up saying they want to be a telemarketer. " is something that “used to be true”? The people making the calls are people with dignity made in God’s image, and don’t deserve to be called names.

Perhaps you don’t understand what I mean by “because they have to”. I mean because they have to work to support themselves or a family and that is the only job they could get or thought that they could get.

God bless you!

 

[maryjk]

Whether or not hey are unknowingly breaking the law (I do not think telemarketers are hardened criminals), nothing I said is in the “used to be true” category. How does the existence of a “do not call” list make you think that my statement: "You realize that the people calling you are doing a job, for very low pay, because they have to. No one grows up saying they want to be a telemarketer. " is something that “used to be true”? The people making the calls are people with dignity made in God’s image, and don’t deserve to be called names.

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. No they don’t deserve to be called names, but I don’t see them “doing a job” since they are breaking the law.

Perhaps you don’t understand what I mean by “because they have to”. I mean because they have to work to support themselves or a family and that is the only job they could get or thought that they could get.

I presume you say the same thing about pickpockets, bank robbers, and swindlers, right?

God bless you!

 

[JimG]

Yes, confess your loss of temper. Just because someone’s job annoys us doesn’t mean we don’t treat them with dignity.

The reason you didn’t get a response until you said hello twice is because many of these calling systems are automated and it takes a few seconds from the time you pick up until the system recognizes you picked up and puts you through to an actual salesperson. My rule of thumb was to say “Hello” once and if I received no response, I would simply hang up.

Of course, now I only have a cell phone, so I haven’t been called by a telemarketer in more than eight years.

I get telemarketing calls on my cell phone rather often, as well as on the landline. Most telemarketers do not pay any attention to the “do not call” list whatsoever. But the ones which are increasingly beginning to be more annoying are the religious and charitable telemarketers, who are exempt from the do not call list.

 

[J_Peterson]

Please be kind to everyone. The calls may be annoying but there is a person on the other end that is just doing what they need to to get by. I’m assuming that they are not scammers or doing anything illegal.

While I don’t do sales/telemarketing, I do phone work. I can tell you that even though it’s on the phone and we are complete strangers, unkind words hurt. Just be kind and say no thank you or don’t answer at all. People are incredibly rude when they don’t have the face the consequences of their actions.

 

[BettyBoop416]

I know the economy is tough and “you gotta do what you gotta do” to put food on the table. Still, I don’t pay a monthly phone bill in order to provided salespeople a way to bother me with unsolicited and unappreciated marketing pitches for products I care nothing about.

 

[maryjk]

Please be kind to everyone. The calls may be annoying but there is a person on the other end that is just doing what they need to to get by. I’m assuming that they are not scammers or doing anything illegal.

If your number is on the do not call list, they ARE doing something illegal.

And when they call from “credit card services” they are trying to scam you. Same thing when they call about the security system. Their goal is to get your credit card information. (Hint: they don’t plan on protecting it.)

While I don’t do sales/telemarketing, I do phone work. I can tell you that even though it’s on the phone and we are complete strangers, unkind words hurt. Just be kind and say no thank you or don’t answer at all. People are incredibly rude when they don’t have the face the consequences of their actions.

I agree.

BUT, keep in mind, just like people that knock on my door, without invitation, these callers were not invited into my home. They came in uninvited. They barged in AFTER I told them not to come.

 

[clem456]

Please be kind to everyone. The calls may be annoying but there is a person on the other end that is just doing what they need to to get by. I’m assuming that they are not scammers or doing anything illegal.

While I don’t do sales/telemarketing, I do phone work. I can tell you that even though it’s on the phone and we are complete strangers, unkind words hurt. Just be kind and say no thank you or don’t answer at all. People are incredibly rude when they don’t have the face the consequences of their actions.

We receive telemarketing calls at work. I understand that a human being on the other end deserves to be treated with dignity. Fine. But this is a two way street.
These calls cause all kinds of problems for me. It is no small matter. They take me away from complicated mechanical procedures. They distract me in the middle of important conversations with my wife and with customers. We serve a lot of needy at my business. These calls distract from that service. These callers do not have a right to impose themselves on other people and to detract from others’ productivity. They should find other lines of work, and I do not hesitate to tell them, as charitably as possible.
We are providing for a family here, paying for medical care, education expenses, Church tithes, taxes to support schools, serving the community, employing people. These callers are stealing from us in time and productivity.
.
Think about this for a minute…If I show up at your job and start harassing you so you cannot perform your work… you would ask me prolly twice to leave, then,
YOU WOULD HAVE ME ARRESTED. Am I right?

These callers are no different. It is an invasion of privacy and part of a structure of sin, in my humble opinion of course. A case could be made that these callers cause scandal, as the OP has gotten himself into a quandary due to these calls. It is very difficult to remain charitable to a person who is harming you repeatedly.

 

[Joe_5859]

I get telemarketing calls on my cell phone rather often, as well as on the landline. Most telemarketers do not pay any attention to the “do not call” list whatsoever. But the ones which are increasingly beginning to be more annoying are the religious and charitable telemarketers, who are exempt from the do not call list.

Really? In the nine years I’ve had my cell phone, the only thing resembling a sales call that I have ever received was from my alma mater asking for donations. I guess I’m just lucky.

 

[maryjk]

Really? In the nine years I’ve had my cell phone, the only thing resembling a sales call that I have ever received was from my alma mater asking for donations. I guess I’m just lucky.

Yes, you are.

I get calls from telemarketers almost every day. And yes, that is on my cell phone.

 

[Joe_5859]

Yes, you are.

I get calls from telemarketers almost every day. And yes, that is on my cell phone.

I had no idea. I just assumed telemarketers didn’t call cell phones. As soon as I got a cell phone and cut the land line, I stopped getting those sorts of calls. I’m sorry for your luck.

 

[DaveBj]

snip

DaveBj, you probably are unaware how racist your curry comments come off. I’m sure you were just trying to be witty, but I’d tone it down.

Would it really have made any difference if I had said “someone who was obviously living on the South Asian subcontinent and who had only a passing acquaintance with the English language”?

Edit for full disclosure: I do like Indian cuisine. Smelling curry through the phone would probably make me hungry.