Andy Rooney's tips for beating the telemarketers


Three Little Words That Work !!  


(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.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.


(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. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!


(3) Junk Mail Help:

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.  If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

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.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to
just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 37 cents.

If enough people follow these tips, it will work----
I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.