Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Turn telemarketers calls into CASH. Yep, it works. [View all]
Damn..I am so kicking myself for not thinking of this.
How one man turns annoying cold calls into cash
First, he registered a phone number with the area code 09, the equivalent of a 900 number here in the United States and Canada. Whenever a company he did business with asked for his home phone number, he gave them that one. They didnt like it? Too bad. If they didnt want to call it, they could contact him through email.
Then he waited for the marketing calls to come in. Only they dont come as often as they used to: he used to up to 30 a month, and now gets maybe half as many. Working from home, he can keep them on the line chatting in order to rack up more fees. For every minute he keeps them on the phone, he gets about eleven cents. That adds up to $6.60 an hour not a full-time job, but not bad either if hes able to multi-task. Hes earned $465 from the scheme so far.
The entity that hands out premium numbers is discouraging other consumers from following his lead, though. Boo.
http://consumerist.com/2013/08/29/what-if-telemarketers-had-to-pay-you-to-annoy-you/
99 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I have a doctor (taped) that calls every day asking me to join his arthritis ( I don't have
monmouth3
Aug 2013
#1
I never give out my phone number to checkers, only George Clooney types...LOL..
monmouth3
Aug 2013
#17
Telemarketers REQUIRE a good product that they believe in, to sell that product.
Th1onein
Aug 2013
#16
If you are operating legally, why are you sticking up for the companies that ARE breaking the law?
SeattleVet
Sep 2013
#40
You're not standing up for the workers (who incidentally are equally culpable at some point)
IrishAyes
Sep 2013
#51
If you do not call residences, nor making illegal calls, why are you hi jacking this post
dixiegrrrrl
Sep 2013
#63
These workers are getting repeated responses from people on the do-not-call registry, so they KNOW
pnwmom
Sep 2013
#72
A lot of bad things have been public policy in the past: slavery, segregation, etc etc
IrishAyes
Sep 2013
#66
Absolutely! The last 2 places I worked we were regularly interrupted by cold-callers.
SeattleVet
Sep 2013
#59
I doubt the same telemarketer calls you again and again. And robots are NOT WORKERS.
Th1onein
Sep 2013
#42
So if a machine interface is the means of abuse, that makes it okay? Not in any moral universe!
IrishAyes
Sep 2013
#47
You doubt it? This is why people are so angry. It seems like a handful of telemarketers
pnwmom
Sep 2013
#73
So you're ASSUMING that it's the same telemarketer calling you over and over again.
Th1onein
Sep 2013
#83
When the worker is told repeatedly that they're participating in illegal calls, they should quit.
pnwmom
Sep 2013
#70
But if they're calling people on the do-not-call registry they're breaking Federal law. nt
pnwmom
Sep 2013
#69
They're breaking the law and they know it. Every day many people like me tell them
pnwmom
Sep 2013
#94
I looked into this yesterday, when the news the guy had done this had come out...
jmowreader
Aug 2013
#14
I don't know who is calling you, but why would anyone who wants to sell you something be rude?
Th1onein
Sep 2013
#25
No there aren't, unless you suppose I was tripping or don't understand English perhaps?
IrishAyes
Sep 2013
#43
I agree with you. No one should be rude, period. But how do you know it wasn't a bill collector?
Th1onein
Sep 2013
#37
When I ask who's calling, they usually either hang up or only give a first name.
pnwmom
Sep 2013
#74
You're rashly assuming everyone has caller ID or a functioning phone recorder.
IrishAyes
Sep 2013
#44
It's false pretenses because in essence they're being sneaky, hoping you have no viable choice
IrishAyes
Sep 2013
#49
Don't need your permission to speak in an open forum. Ignore me and you'll never be sure
IrishAyes
Sep 2013
#64
How does it make any difference to them? They aren't having their lives interrupted
pnwmom
Sep 2013
#98
Ya think that might mean someone made a mistake and he didn't intend to call you again?
Th1onein
Sep 2013
#84