Determined of India

[Baggy]

It seems that i may have lost the plot......
A telephone conversation ten mins ago

Ring ring..... "hello" says I

A very nice Indian (I assume) man says... "this is about your car accident
I say "I have not had an accident"

The very nice Indian man says... "yes you have"
I say "I have not"
The very nice Indian man says... "yes you have"

I say "I think that I would remember"
The very nice Indian man says... "not if you had hurt your head"

"Ah", says I.........

I think that I have been top trumped!

 

[Man of Tanith]

It's a valid argument..............
I used to love people tryin to sell me a conservatory....I'd go along with it sound really interested and then when they were about to "seal the deal" I'd ask them if they did them with stilts as I lived in a first floor flat at the time

 

[Elen Sentier]

Hubby very nearly speechless when I read this to him ... "ye gods !!!" he muttered as he left the room to empty the ashpan from the woodburner ...

I feel I ought to try to work all this into a short story ...

 

[Huon]

Hubby very nearly speechless when I read this to him ... "ye gods !!!" he muttered as he left the room to empty the ashpan from the woodburner ...

I feel I ought to try to work all this into a short story ...

If you can somehow include something from this thread in your story you'd be onto a winner.

Of course your husband might not be so happy

 

[crosslandkelly]

It's time this con was stopped. Imagine the amount of money this costs. This is not victimless crime, this is what puts our insurance premiums up every year.

 

[mrcharly]

We used to get double-glazing cold calls, you know the ones "Good news we are running a promotion in your area".

I like stringing them along. Would get to the how many windows questions, then I'd ask them if they did round windows.

We lived on a boat at the time.

 

[dwardo]

Usually there is a distinct although short wait after you pick-up the phone that tells you its going to be a cold call.
This is because the system is automatically making the calls and when you answer the call is then put forward to an agent.

If i pick-up the phone and hear that delay the phone goes straight down again. I also dont answer "withheld" or "private" numbers, ever.

 

[Baggy]

If i pick-up the phone and hear that delay the phone goes straight down again. I also dont answer "withheld" or "private" numbers, ever.

I am usually sat at my PC when they phone and I am happy to waste their time while I browse a forum.

Calls from my GP surgery show as "withheld"

 

[dwardo]

Calls from my GP surgery show as "withheld"

Thats what answer phones are for. My number is unfortunately pretty public due to work so I get inundated with the bleeders.
I dont even bother pluggin in the house phone any more, only have it at all for internet access.
My poor nan gets inundated with these scumbags as well as the more nasty ones like the "microsoft" you have a virus jobbies.
Should all be rounded up and shot in my opinion or atleast they should tighten the law on cold calling. TPS and others are just laughable solutions that dont make a jot of difference.

 

[santaman2000]

Thats what answer phones are for...... .

Don't know if it's the same over there, but here the hospitals, etc. won't leave a message of bad news (such as, "Sir your wife/son/daughter/etc. is here. Will you please come identify the body?") They'll only give that type news once they've identified the recipeinet.

 

[dwardo]

Don't know if it's the same over there, but here the hospitals, etc. won't leave a message of bad news (such as, "Sir your wife/son/daughter/etc. is here. Will you please come identify the body?") They'll only give that type news once they've identified the recipeinet.

Cheery thought thanks.

Many other ways family and friends can get hold of me if need be. I would have to assume that anything important would be left with a message of contact rather than detail.

 

[demographic]

I usually find that saying this helps a lot...

"What company do you work for? Can you give me your name please?" then "Have you heard of the Telephone preference service?
Because if you have you will realise that I'm on the list and its illegal to pester me and I would thank you to remove my details from your database."

Its not 100% effective but it usually gets them off the line fairly sharpish and they realise that there's no chance of a sale.

 

[santaman2000]

Cheery thought thanks.

Many other ways family and friends can get hold of me if need be. I would have to assume that anything important would be left with a message of contact rather than detail.

Agreed. It just makes the sales calls doubly annoying when you feel an obligation to answer the phone due to family in ill health or other possible needs.

 

[andybysea]

Im with you dwardo, i too dont answer withheld or private number's infact i dont tend to answer any i dont recognise.

 

[xylaria]

The funniest string along I have witnessed was a gent I used to visit. He would always string credit based sales along, and just when they were thinking they would get the sale they would ask date of birth he would answer honestly "september 1918", or they would ask if he had any long term illness he again would answer honest " not really, I have terminal cancer but the doctor told me two years ago i didn't have long left with it.". It was priceless seeing someone who had become so comfortble in his mortality getting the better of sales men.

 

[British Red]

This telemarketer come back had me in stitches

[video=youtube;ZmLMcQ09BHc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmLMcQ09BHc[/video]

 

[Mesquite]

LOL... I love that one Hugh... it's a real classic

 

[Laurentius]

If only if only I had the common sense (or maybe the scheming duplicity) to put in a claim for whiplash last time someone rear ended me. The irony of it is that unlike most of these frauds, an MRI would show actual damage. Sadly though the damage is wear and tear (natural causes) That wouldn't stop the fraudsters though. This culture of bogus insurance claims is not in anyone's ultimate self interest being as we are all paying ridiculous premiums because of it.

What really annoys me is the fact that I am still getting texts regarding PPI claims. I have several credit cards, I never took out PPI with any of them because I could see it was a scam to begin with. Oh dear the honest never profit do they?

 

[Harvestman]

It's a valid argument..............
I used to love people tryin to sell me a conservatory....I'd go along with it sound really interested and then when they were about to "seal the deal" I'd ask them if they did them with stilts as I lived in a first floor flat at the time

When we lived in the third floor we used to express interest so that they would send someone round to give us a quote. Always fun when they arrived after walking up six flights of stairs I told them that as we were in rented accommodation and three floors up that we couldn't really have one of their conservatories after all.

I've always wanted to use this one