Do you ever respond positively to unsolicited telephone solicitations?

[unicorn]

Sometimes I don't know how these people get my number, but businesses, charities, and political candidates who call (especially) or text uninvited definitely get a negative response from me. If a charity calls me uninvited, I tell them that the call results in a 3-month ban on donations, with further calls result in loss of my support, both now and in my will. Political candidates who do likewise will be informed that one more call or text will result in loss of any support I may have previously had for their candidate. Are there really people out there who respond positively to such solicitations? There has to be some reason that people believe that unsolicited calls will do anything other than piss off the person receiving the unsolicited calls...

[Mavica]

I live in the USA.  When I receive such unsolicited calls, from anyone that aren't in my contact list or I don't otherwise recognize it, I don't answer but let the call pass through to my voicemail, and the persons soliciting don't usually leave a message. 

[joizy]

2 hours ago, unicorn said:

Sometimes I don't know how these people get my number, but businesses, charities, and political candidates who call (especially) or text uninvited definitely get a negative response from me. If a charity calls me uninvited, I tell them that the call results in a 3-month ban on donations, with further calls result in loss of my support, both now and in my will. Political candidates who do likewise will be informed that one more call or text will result in loss of any support I may have previously had for their candidate. Are there really people out there who respond positively to such solicitations? There has to be some reason that people believe that unsolicited calls will do anything other than piss off the person receiving the unsolicited calls...

They must get something from it, or there wouldn't be so many. I get at least one message per day. Some are from a debt collector with a link I'm supposed to click. Others are from people saying they have my number in my phone wanting to know who I am, or inviting me to lunch, or just saying hello. I just block and report at junk. It doesn't seem to help. I've begun also reporting those asking for political donations as junk as well, even though I consider them to be a little more legitimate than the others. I'm with you. If I want to make a donation, I will. If the result of me making a donation will be constant begging for more, then my days of donating are done. I donated to a political campaign in 2016 and I'm still on a list.

[floridarob]

I turn them into erotic calls, the females usually hang up right away, the guys start with name calling and I tell them that makes me hornier....if they are obvious from the Filipines, I ask them if they have a big cock and do I get ES (extra services) after the call, if they are indian I ask how hairy  is their ass/cock and have they already had sex with their uncle or cousin first.........

some stick right on script and keep talking about whatever they called for no matter what I say, lol

[Moses]

AI pick up all calls from numbers that aren't in my phonebook. He tells them what he is AI-secretary and talks with them, also AI recording chat and send mу file with text of chat to designated email.

[Marc in Calif]

1 hour ago, floridarob said:

I turn them into erotic calls, the females usually hang up right away, the guys start with name calling and I tell them that makes me hornier....if they are obvious from the Filipines, I ask them if they have a big cock and do I get ES (extra services) after the call, if they are indian I ask how hairy  is their ass/cock and have they already had sex with their uncle or cousin first.........

some stick right on script and keep talking about whatever they called for no matter what I say, lol

I do the same, especially with the calls from India. 

If a guy tells me his name is Donald, I say this: "Well, that doesn't sound right. Can I call you Raj Kumar instead? It's much more appropriate." 

If someone tells me that my Windows system has a serious issue, I play along as they give me instructions. After about 10 minutes of saying "I can't find a Windows key on my keyboard" or "Where is the Ctrl key?", I finally tell them that my computer is a Mac.

And if I keep them on the line for 15 minutes, I end with "Why is your mom's vagina so large? My friends and I have been in there at the same time." This prompts cursing and apoplectic insults that I parry like a standup comedian with a heckler.

Eventually, I've wasted a lot of their precious scam calling time. I'm retired, so I have all day for them. 😁

[omega]

1 hour ago, Marc in Calif said:

I do the same, especially with the calls from India. 

If a guy tells me his name is Donald, I say this: "Well, that doesn't sound right. Can I call you Raj Kumar instead? It's much more appropriate." 

If someone tells me that my Windows system has a serious issue, I play along as they give me instructions. After about 10 minutes of saying "I can't find a Windows key on my keyboard" or "Where is the Ctrl key?", I finally tell them that my computer is a Mac.

And if I keep them on the line for 15 minutes, I end with "Why is your mom's vagina so large? My friends and I have been in there at the same time." This prompts cursing and apoplectic insults that I parry like a standup comedian with a heckler.

Eventually, I've wasted a lot of their precious scam calling time. I'm retired, so I have all day for them. 😁

Not all heroes wear capes.

The longer you keep the scammers talking to you, the less time they have to scam some poor gullible confused innocent soul of their life savings.

[unicorn]

14 hours ago, joizy said:

...If I want to make a donation, I will...

Eeek. It seems that this is the problem. If I want to donate to a cause or candidate, I do so on my own, online, or perhaps because of a mail solicitation. Donating in response to a phone call, in addition to be dangerous, encourages more misbehavior. I just provide warnings; I don't get around to insulting the callers' mothers' vagina...

[Marc in Calif]

2 hours ago, unicorn said:

I just provide warnings; I don't get around to insulting the callers' mothers' vagina...

I wasn't talking at all about donations to good causes. 

I was talking about the global scammers who call to tell me I have problems with my computer, my credit score, my auto warranty, or my IRS payments. They are always scammers because I have no such problems. 

[JKane]

I'm never doing business with anybody who contacts me unsolicited, period.  

When a company or charity I do business with contacts me I tell them they're risking my business if they contact me again.  If it's a bank/brokerage I also say I'm never taking financial advice from anybody not legally a fiduciary to me.  

The other day I was listening to a story about the current downturn in solar energy and the biggest emphasis was on all the shady companies that made unbounded promises to the people they tricked into signing up by cold-calling or pestering in front of supermarkets and I just couldn't help but think that if you've gotten to the point in your life of being a homeowner and still believe people who call, mail or approach you out of the blue... well... sorry you were just too stupid to have wealth!  

[unicorn]

8 hours ago, Marc in Calif said:

I wasn't talking at all about donations to good causes...

I would avoid donating to a cause based on a phone solicitation for a number of reasons, some related to personal benefit, the other to being a "good citizen." 

(1) Even if someone calls you claiming to be from a charity you've known, researched (i.e. you've determined they're rated 4 stars on Charity Navigator or whatever other criterion you use), and aligns with your principles, you still can't be sure they are who they say they are. Giving someone you didn't seek out your credit card information might lead to serious hanky-panky.

(2) If you donate based on telephone solicitations, your telephone number will be sold to others as "someone who sometimes will send money based on a telephone solicitation." Therefore, even if you don't give your credit card information to the caller and just tell him "That sounds great. I'll go online and send your organization some money!", you will end up being bombarded by this and other organizations due to the possibility of being successful. In fact, variable ratio (VR) reinforcement is the most powerful form of reinforcement:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement#Intermittent_reinforcement_schedules

The addictive nature of variable reinforcement is why gambling addiction can be so powerful

Finally, (3) By a similar logic, donating based on telephone solicitation encourages the behavior to continue to annoy other people, most of whom don't like cold calls at random times. So even if you personally don't mind random solicitation calls, a positive response encourages behavior which annoys the majority of people who do mind such calls. 

When I'm ready to donate money, my approach is to look up my usual charities on charitynavigator.org to make sure they're still rated 4*, then go to the organization's website to donate. One of my favorite charities, International Rescue Committee went down to 3* in 2021/2022, primarily due to inefficiency in use of donations. I did call them to ask them if they were aware of the drop and why it occurred. Their response was that they decided not to let go of staff during the pandemic, so I was OK with that. I've noticed that, in fact, they've gone back up to 4*. I will occasionally donate to an organization which is not assessed or ranked 3* if they are doing something I strongly support, and no one else is doing, such as the Rainbow Railroad, which helps get members of the LGBT community out of hostile countries such as Uganda and Iran.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/135660870

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/474896980

[unicorn]

4 hours ago, unicorn said:

...I will occasionally donate to an organization which is not assessed or ranked 3* if they are doing something I strongly support, and no one else is doing...

Oops. What I meant to say was that I will occasionally donate to an organization which is not assessed 4*, but is assessed as 3*, if they are doing something I strongly support, and no one else is doing...

[Marc in Calif]

6 hours ago, unicorn said:

When I'm ready to donate money, my approach is to look up my usual charities on charitynavigator.org to make sure they're still rated 4*, then go to the organization's website to donate.

When I donate to a cause or charity that I've researched and vetted, I pay by check only. And I black out my address, leaving only my name. So no credit card or phone number required.

All charities have a mailing address. 

[unicorn]

1 hour ago, Marc in Calif said:

When I donate to a cause or charity that I've researched and vetted, I pay by check only. And I black out my address, leaving only my name. So no credit card or phone number required.

All charities have a mailing address. 

Wow. I don't give them my phone number, but I do all of my donations by credit card (phone number not needed for credit card transactions). Paying whatever I can by credit card is important for me to maintain elite status with hotel chains and my airline. The only things I pay for by check are my bills from my landscaper and pool guy. Occasional Zelle for people such as the housecleaner and dog-sitter. 

[Marc in Calif]

4 hours ago, unicorn said:

Wow. I don't give them my phone number, but I do all of my donations by credit card (phone number not needed for credit card transactions). Paying whatever I can by credit card is important for me to maintain elite status with hotel chains and my airline. The only things I pay for by check are my bills from my landscaper and pool guy. Occasional Zelle for people such as the housecleaner and dog-sitter. 

Many credit card donations require a mailing address, no?

That's how they add you to their own mailing list -- and also sell your address to other groups. I don't like the resulting increase in unwanted mail. 

[unicorn]

8 hours ago, Marc in Calif said:

Many credit card donations require a mailing address, no?

That's how they add you to their own mailing list -- and also sell your address to other groups. I don't like the resulting increase in unwanted mail. 

I personally don't mind mailings (just bad for trees). Phone calls I find very disruptive. Most mailings I just toss. 

[joizy]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:25 AM, unicorn said:

Eeek. It seems that this is the problem. If I want to donate to a cause or candidate, I do so on my own, online, or perhaps because of a mail solicitation. Donating in response to a phone call, in addition to be dangerous, encourages more misbehavior. I just provide warnings; I don't get around to insulting the callers' mothers' vagina...

I think you misunderstood what I meant. If I want to make a donation, I will, but I don't respond to solicitations. I make donations on my own. But, as I said, since donations seem to result in continual harassment, I've pretty much stopped donating to anyone. Not sure where the mothers' vaginas come in here. Maybe that was not directed at me.

[unicorn]

6 hours ago, joizy said:

I think you misunderstood what I meant. If I want to make a donation, I will, but I don't respond to solicitations. I make donations on my own. But, as I said, since donations seem to result in continual harassment, I've pretty much stopped donating to anyone. Not sure where the mothers' vaginas come in here. Maybe that was not directed at me.

I'm glad to hear that. I wonder who responds positively then. The vagina discussion related to another poster's response, which you can find in this string:

"Why is your mom's vagina so large? My friends and I have been in there at the same time." This prompts cursing and apoplectic insults that I parry like a standup comedian with a heckler.