Plotting Revenge on Telemarketers

I don't know what it is about nearing the end of winter that brings all the telemarketers out from under their rocks.  We are getting bombarded with their calls on our land line and a few on our cell phones.  Not only are they irritating but they do cost us money especially the minutes on my cell phone.  Unfortunately, the CRTC has about much power as a wet noodle when it comes to telemarketers so these cretins are allowed to pester us anytime they please.  So, I'm plotting my revenge.

Don't get me wrong, of things to be doing aside of plotting revenge against telemarketers but my mind tends to wander a bit when I'm knitting or puttering around the house.  NCC (newspaper call centre) has been calling daily even though I told them to remove our number so that's a good one to start the revenge on.  Now, they are worse than any debt collection agency and when I asked them to remove our number he told me he couldn't.  So, I came up with several plans of attack, some of them a bit less likely to get me in trouble than others.  Finally, I went above his head and called the newspaper he was pimping, told them what happened and why I would never subscribe to their newspaper or any others owned by their head company as long as they were associated with NCC.  I declined leaving my phone number under the circumstances but did leave my name.  Then, I put NCC on call block on our phones.  Then as the final touch, I blogged about it because everyone should know they have the right to privacy in their homes, free of telemarketers interrupting whatever they may be doing. 

If you are suddenly getting a rash of telemarketing calls, it means your phone number somehow got onto a telemarketer list that is being sold to telemarketers.  Don't panic!  This does happen from time to time.  Telemarketers do not have the right to cost you time or money or even get your knickers in a knot.  If you are being bothered by a telemarketer, always go above them.  Complain to the company they are selling for and tell them why you won't be buying from them.  Call block them and if they get through by changing the number, block them again.  Note that call blocking won't work for telemarketers using a voice over system (eg. the number starts with VO) or systems like Skype.  Use caller ID and don't answer their calls although this does tend to encourage them to call back at a later time.  Do not put your phone number on the national do not call list as that list gets sold to telemarketers so the number of calls actually increases.  Pester the CRTC and file complaints.  My husband frequently gets telemarketers at the office.  His policy is when they start their sales pitch he says no thank-you.  When the go into the second angle, he says no thank-you again.  When they start the third angle, they hear the click.  I, on the other hand, tend to play around with them if I'm in the mood and if not and I recognize the number, it goes unanswered.  It's hard to not answer especially on the cell phone because you never know if it may be someone frantically trying to get a hold of you from another number.