Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Privacy

How To Profit From Telemarketing 329

jsprat writes: "From the Seattle PI: A man gets an automated message from a telemarketer. He complains. Two weeks later, he gets a check and an apology! In the article, another man is mentioned who claims to have collected $2650 dollars over the last year for illegal spam, faxes and automated calls. Another weapon to fight these clowns?" What's your personal cash-won record?
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

How To Profit From Telemarketing

Comments Filter:
  • by qurob ( 543434 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:45AM (#3315599) Homepage
    Telemarketers call YOU so THEY can make money....
  • Hi there - this is a note to the reader of slashdot. If you are reading this message, then the software has cored and the experiment is over.

    In case you aren't aware there aren't really any people posting on slashdot - this is all one gigantic IRC bot specifically designed to make you believe that you are part of a community. You (yes - *you* ) are talking to a very clever computer program.

    Well, sorry if we confused you, and hey thanks anyway. (Oh, yes and because you are the only reader our logs show that you have several 'karma accounts' and a number of 'troll' accounts - you never fooled anyone.

    Even your emails to Taco were ironic - you didnt know, but Taco is actually a QuickBasic program on an old XT!

    Thanks for reading and posting.
    Over, and out.

    Woah! Hey relax - its a joke (I've seen the Matrix too many times)
  • by Saint Aardvark ( 159009 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:49AM (#3315615) Homepage Journal
    No way am I pissing off these guys...I'm gonna make MILLIONS by selling those penis-enlargement pills! And it's not even MLM!

    I hate to brag, Timothy, but I think you're being just a little short-sighted about this.

  • by div_2n ( 525075 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:50AM (#3315618)
    the power of noisemakers. When you know it is a telemarketer, just set the phone next to any of the following for an extended period of time. Say . . . 5 minutes. -A blender -A garbage disposal -A TV/Radio speaker -You ass after eating beans -etc. Remember, they pay for those calls. Make them earn em!
  • by 412-613-8636 ( 398626 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:50AM (#3315619) Homepage
    I tried unsubscribing and sending complaints via email. Next day I received some more email from them, so I actually openned and read some of them and they all offered me GREAT deals on cool merchandise.
  • by colonelteddy ( 556564 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:50AM (#3315622) Journal
    Hello friends, how would you like to make some easy money?

    human: Sure!

    It's simple, all you have to do is listen to this message, follow a simple procedure and BOOM! its money in your pocket

    human: ... (hmm... accentuated silence!)

    Simply send 10 dollars to the following address, or leave us your credit card details, and we'll send you all the information you need to complain about us! Yes, it is that simple!
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:51AM (#3315628)
    Send one dollar to:
    "HAPPY DUDE"

    742 Evergreen Terrace
    Springfield, USA
    You have the power!
  • by prisoner ( 133137 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:55AM (#3315639)
    and we just got (pinky in mouth) One Million...oh wait, this is enemy territory....never mind...
  • by Ermyf Jym ( 567787 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @08:59AM (#3315651)
    I think they're a lot of fun, actually. Most people get mad at them but I look at it as a prank phone call you can't get in trouble for. As an example, a telemarketer once called during a favorite tv program of mine. I began to yell at them for interrupting my favorite show but then I calmly explained why it was so important that I watched the show. I gave him the plotline, character descriptions, etc. Had him on the line for about 10 minutes while completely wasting his time!
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @09:18AM (#3315722)
    so I wouldn't know about using the law to get back at spammers (as in the article), but here in redneck country we have much more effective methods.

    For example, just last Tuesday I got $574 dollars and a $200 Rolex from a salesman who failed to notice the "no solicitors" sign on my front gate. He said he'd sue for excessive force and I said he's welcome to have his other eye blacked out too, and to get the fuck out of my house before I take that spiffy suit to go with my new rolex.

    Must be new to the area.

  • by defile ( 1059 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @09:21AM (#3315734) Homepage Journal
    See this page [bacarella.com] for a method that would surely destroy the telemarketing industry if enough companies did it.
  • by Jonny Balls ( 543700 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @09:43AM (#3315843) Homepage
    When ever telemarketers call me, i usually play songs on the keypad. mary had a little lamb usually goes over well
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @10:04AM (#3316009)
    Here in NJ, when most of these companies are located out west or south, it's easy. I sue for 499 a pop, they never show, auto judgement for me, and if they refuse to pay I can fill out and file for free an asset seizure on their bank accounts.

    The deal is that anything sent to my business domain name is for business (in or out). I clearly have a statement at the bottom of the site that states that unsolicited email will result in an hourly charge, with a two hour minimum for my services and time. The judges here crack up when they see that, but they have yet to rule against me. I just don't do it enough to be annoying to them.

    Specifically, I have filters with auto responders in place stating that the email was unsolicited and that I reserve the right to bill them for time and expenses per my companies standard policy. My email details that they should remove me from their list and immediately disclose the source from which they acquired my private email (which is NOT listed on the site or given out freely on the net). If they don't respond, fine, if they respond negatively or I recieve email from them again unsolicited, I sue. If they actually hand over their source for the mail address (a few have), I sue that company for disclosing my private email and information without permission (that suit is automatic by the way in NJ).

    Most just remove me and don't send any more mail, a few are irate and spam me some more or repsond directly in a derisive way (they get sued), a couple have given me their sources and remove me from the list, and a few even apologize (usually the larger, more legitimate outfits).

    So far I have spent about four hours in court (I only make 175-200 an hour, so I profited here) and about six hours on the net or working towards filtering and responding. I laugh my ass off at the ireate repsonses, and even more when I have their bank acount frozen until they pay their legal obligation to me settled by default in small claims court.
  • heh (Score:4, Funny)

    by sinserve ( 455889 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @10:12AM (#3316060)
    > What's your personal cash-won record?

    Telemarketing his highly profitable. I *can* make 2000 dollars
    a week, working from home, and being my own boss.

    Even a wyoming highschool dropout can do this [411diet.net]

    If things go as planned, I will retire at the tender age of 35, married to a russian
    woman, and grow my penis upto 25".

    --
  • by SomethingOrOther ( 521702 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @10:24AM (#3316120) Homepage

    When you know it is a telemarketer, just set the phone next to any of the following for an extended period of time.

    Nahhh.... too easy
    You should piss about with them insted. eg

    Them: Selling double-glassing (very common in UK)
    You: Sorry mate, my house dosnt have any windows (over time, tell em you live in a nuclear bunker or something)

    Them: "I'm carrying out a survay for..."
    You: HAHA.... so am I !!! What are the chances of that!!!

    Just keep 'em on the line and wind them up for as long as possable until they tell you to fuck off and slam the phone down!
    The other alternative is yor very own free porn chatline. Just talk dirty for a bit and see how long it takes 'em to hang up :-)

  • by BarefootClown ( 267581 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @12:27PM (#3317181) Homepage
    What ever happened to the good ol' days, before all of this digital switching crap, when the lines were directly connected by copper running from my phone to his? The days when telemarketers could be dealt with by liberal application of a 25-kV spark coil? Never did have a return call from those companies...
  • by zbuffered ( 125292 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @12:59PM (#3317469)
    So you're a troll?
  • Irony (Score:3, Funny)

    by freeweed ( 309734 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @01:06PM (#3317511)
    Anyone else find it extremely funny that someone called 'prisoner' also works for the RIAA? :)

  • by Satanboy ( 253169 ) on Wednesday April 10, 2002 @07:59PM (#3320295)
    Put your phone number in a newspaper, make it cheap, do it once and advertise you will "rate the telemarketers expertise for $1000 a call"

    Simply answer the phone, get the pitch, request the address and phone number of the company.

    Then, mail them a bill.

    Once the bill is mailed, wait two weeks and file a lawsuit suing the company for not meeting a contractual agreement. Keep a copy of the ad handy and you will win in court.

    I actually heard about a friend who did this and won. He did it quite often, he got quite a bit of money the first year. Now, he rarely ever gets calls.

    Might be worth a try.

The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh

Working...