Subject: FW: How to deal with telemarketers and junk mail
From: Jan Zumwalt (jwzumwalt@neatinfo.com)
Date: Wed Apr 30 2003 - 19:34:00 AKDT
I thought you might enjoy this!
(1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of
hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more
time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt. Then when you
eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's
time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed
its task.
(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?
This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and
records the time of day when a person answers the phone. This technique is
used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call
back and get someone at home. What you can do after answering, if you
notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button
on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the
machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system.
(3) Another Good Idea:
When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these
"ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk
mail away.
When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from
credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the
return envelope. Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes,
right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when
they receive them back.
It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50
cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that
case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these
cool little, postage-paid return envelopes. One of Andy Rooney's (60
minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American
Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else
that day, then just send them their blank application back!
If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything
you send them. You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to
just to keep them guessing! Eventually, the banks and credit card companies
will begin getting their own junk back in the mail. Let's let them know
what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for
it...Twice!
Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is
cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase
postage costs again. You get the idea ! If enough people follow these
tips, it will work---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very
little junk mail anymore.
THIS JUST MIGHT BE ONE E-MAIL THAT YOU WILL WANT TO FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2a23 : Wed Apr 30 2003 - 19:27:16 AKDT