Cold Calls

The Doc Searls Weblog : Monday, July 23, 2007:
"So the hell with it.

Seems like about once a week I get a call from a human reading from a script, doing 'consumer research' and wanting to speak to 'a person between the ages of 18 and 49 in your household'. We don't have one of those, which is why I have to stifle the urge to ask the caller to tell me the name of the company doing the survey, so I can go out of my way never to spend any money with them. But I'm too busy for that. Or even this."

So what to do?
1) get on the national "do not call" list : National Do Not Call Registry

2) when you get a call, request removal from the caller's list.

3) charities are allowed to call, simply tell the caller that you don't respond to phone solicitations, and ask to be removed from the list

4) if all else fails, act like there is a distraction, such as someone at the door, then set the phone down - don't hang up, just allow the caller to waste their time (G)

5) robot-callers : thumb (or finger) random numbers from the keypad

All reminds me of a call, decades ago, from local cemetery, selling plots. The call was during our dinner. I was rather irate, and later, looked up the cemetery, found the name of the owner, and called him at home, during dinner hour.

Well, he asked my name and number.
I replied : "no, you call me again, I'll call you again, maybe late at night"

We got no more calls.