Author Topic: Better be nice to those telemarketers after all . . . (Read 3456 times)

Seenterman · « **on:** July 21, 2009, 10:27:10 AM »

Phone rage leads to arrest here for Ohio man

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/D14DE98D380D1B73862575FA0008F3A8?OpenDocument#tp_newCommentAnchor

Quote

An Ohio man, fed up with deceptive junk mail, made the mistake of losing his temper while on the phone with a St. Louis company pitching an extended auto-service contract. Now he finds himself behind bars, where he is charged with making a terrorist threat.

Great! I'm sure glad we have the ~~PAT~~RIOT ACT to make sure dangerous terrorists like this are able to be arrested. Now continue on to what telemarketer company I would assume called the cops. Oh yea its those deceptive bastards that call you twice a day to tell you that your car warranty has expired, even if you don't own a car, sold your car, or it is still under warranty. Now I think these guys are annoying, and borderline harassing (so much so I believe NY AG was investigating them) but that doesn't mean their building should get burn down. I think there's already a special place in hell waiting for telemarketers.

But seriously the man is now charged with making a Terrorist threat, over something anyone could say in the heat of the moment. Does anyone think he seriously had a plan to find the building, obtain flammable substances, and then light the building? This is so flimsy I feel like saying

"I'm going to blow up the ArmedPoliteSociety and all of your internetz"

might actually get me arrested one day. . .

MechAg94 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 21, 2009, 11:05:43 AM »

I was thinking that he should ask for a jury trial. I doubt I would be willing to convict him over this alone, but that was a pretty nasty threat.

AZRedhawk44 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 21, 2009, 11:16:10 AM »

That's why you threaten to nuke them instead of just burning their building down.

It's not credible.

crt360 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 21, 2009, 11:18:16 AM »

"300 North Tucker Blvd."

At least he got them to expose their identity and location. Now, everyone else they piss off will know where to find them.

Balog · « **Reply #4 on:** July 21, 2009, 11:21:56 AM »

Quote from: Seenterman on July 21, 2009, 10:27:10 AM

Phone rage leads to arrest here for Ohio man

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/D14DE98D380D1B73862575FA0008F3A8?OpenDocument#tp_newCommentAnchor
Great! I'm sure glad we have the ~~PAT~~RIOT ACT to make sure dangerous terrorists like this are able to be arrested. Now continue on to what telemarketer company I would assume called the cops. Oh yea its those deceptive bastards that call you twice a day to tell you that your car warranty has expired, even if you don't own a car, sold your car, or it is still under warranty. Now I think these guys are annoying, and borderline harassing (so much so I believe NY AG was investigating them) but that doesn't mean their building should get burn down. I think there's already a special place in hell waiting for telemarketers.

But seriously the man is now charged with making a Terrorist threat, over something anyone could say in the heat of the moment. Does anyone think he seriously had a plan to find the building, obtain flammable substances, and then light the building? This is so flimsy I feel like saying

"I'm going to blow up the ArmedPoliteSociety and all of your internetz"

might actually get me arrested one day. . .

Although I agree it's a misuse of the law, threatening to commit arson is still pretty serious. You may think it's unlikely, but if someone told you they were going to burn your house down would you just laugh it off?

roo_ster · « **Reply #5 on:** July 21, 2009, 11:49:11 AM »

Jury trial gets dude off.

Marketers who invade my personal space, to include using services I pay for to contact me without my prior permission (telephone, email) deserve not one smidgen of human kindness.

I say let the threats flow.

Nick1911 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 21, 2009, 11:49:41 AM »

He was wrong.

But, so are the scammers. How's the law going to deal with their defrauding techniques?

AZRedhawk44 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 21, 2009, 11:58:01 AM »

Be interesting to know if his number was on the "Do Not Call" list.

HankB · « **Reply #8 on:** July 21, 2009, 12:02:58 PM »

Me? I just tell them not to call me any more (I AM on the "DO NOT CALL" list) and hang up in the middle of their spiel. (Charities and politicians are exempt from following "DO NOT CALL" rules.

)

Telephone scammers who call you to peddle something are, IMHO, initiating the equivalent of "fighting words."

(The ones I really hate - and I mean, I HATE them with a passion - are the robocalls. Particularly the ones that still tie up your line after you hang up. <expletive>)

Seenterman · « **Reply #9 on:** July 21, 2009, 12:51:23 PM »

Quote

You may think it's unlikely, but if someone told you they were going to burn your house down would you just laugh it off?

He didn't threaten to burn the marketers house down. But if some random internet poster directly said to you once that He would burn your house down would you panic and call the cops. Or chalk it up to internet tough guys?

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The call during which Papenfus allegedly made a terrorist threat was initiated by the firm, in a response to a voice-mail message left by Papenfus, Forsyth said.

"They insulted each other," Forsyth said, adding that Papenfus called the company "a scam" and the telemarketer called Papenfus "a jackass or (an expletive) or both."

Forsyth said that, several minutes into the call, Papenfus said something about burning down the firm's building.

So the articles vague, and from what it seems the operator doesn't sound very professional. I used to get angry sometimes abusive callers at previous job I worked at not once did I ever curse at them. So Papenfus left the company a VM, a rep calls him back, Papenfus calls the company a scam, rep calls him a jackass or @**hole, and then Papenfus says he's going to burn down the reps job (?).

This sounds like an interaction between two children, were the police really needed for this? And if this guy is so dangerous and the threat so credible why did the police call him up and lie about what they needed to see him for? Why didn't they just go get him?

There was no reasonable way to believe Papenfus knew where the building was, its some anonymous caller attempting to sell you crap. When I've spoken to those same telemarketers they refuse to say what company they work for, and hang up on you when you ask to speak to a manager. So it is highly unlikely that this was a credible threat. Those damn robo calls about my car warranty plagued me at my job for 3 months almost daily, and no hitting 3 does not remove you from the damn list!

Balog · « **Reply #10 on:** July 21, 2009, 02:00:01 PM »

Actions have consequences. Making death threats have consequences. I feel no sympathy for anyone in this case.

BridgeRunner · « **Reply #11 on:** July 21, 2009, 02:58:58 PM »

My spouse decided it would be smart to lose his temper at a telemarketer. He made lots of threats--none of them terroristic, but none that he was willing to back up with action. (He threatened a lawsuit, which is possible, but not something either of us is gonna follow through on. The guy on the other end of the phone decided it would be fun to seriously mess with us and for weeks we got dozens of obscene or simply bizarre phone calls from this guy.

Doing stupid things has consequences. It is not that hard to simply hang up the phone, or refuse to answer, or even turn off the ringer and return the wanted calls at a convenient time.

BlueStarLizzard · « **Reply #12 on:** July 21, 2009, 03:11:21 PM »

i would say that there may have once been more tolerance for nasty stuff said in the heat of the moment. people get ticked off (usually with good reason) and say what their thinking, which usually has a purpose. you see, if you give into your little angrey speil, a lot of times you work off your anger and move past.
But with all these laws about what you say and the fact that these laws are regualry acted on, people have stopped being able to vent there frustration and instead bottel it up. i wonder if we losen up a bit on this stuff (and just a bit, mind you) maybe some of the anger issues in this country might decrease instead of increase.

just a thought...

Tuco · « **Reply #13 on:** July 21, 2009, 03:26:14 PM »

I like to make the telelmarketers get mad and threaten me.

Esp. by asking the ones with eastern accents about those picture I saw of them with the horse. Funny, but they all pretend their names are Michael, John or Nick.

never_retreat · « **Reply #14 on:** July 21, 2009, 03:33:12 PM »

So the one that just called me and I said " I'm going to tear off your head and excrete bodily solids down there throat" was a no no?
I was I a good mood, I usually have no patients and just tell them that he is dead.

vaskidmark · « **Reply #15 on:** July 21, 2009, 04:42:20 PM »

"Hello? Hello? Are you there?"

"Who do you want to speak to? Oh, Mr. Skidmark - he's here right now, can I take a message?"[sic] (yes, there is a logical disconnect, not a dropped word there)

"I'm sorry, could you please speak up, I'm having difficulty hearing you."

"I'm sorry, would you please repeat that a bit louder, I am having trouble hearing you."

"Excuse me, could you please speak up without using the foreign accent?"

"Louder, please."

"Who did you say you were? .... Oh, I'm sorry, you're not here right now. Could I take a message?"

ad nauseum

My personal best went on for at least ten minutes and ended when I chastised "Ted" for yelling at me and told him I had to hang up because he had to go pee.

I know I'm going to hell for this stuff, but I don't care.

On the other hand, if I've already taken my meds for the day I just let the phone ring till the answering thingy kicks in, and delete all the messages at the end of the day.

stay safe.

skidmark

AZRedhawk44 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 21, 2009, 04:50:25 PM »

I used to play with them.

With guys I would breathe heavy and squish some lotion in my hand close enough to the phone speaker to be truly disturbing.

With girls I would ask them about their underwear. Color, material, style, cup/waist size, getting more and more inappropriate (if that's possible) until they hang up, while deliberately derailing their sales pitch.

Heck, they called me. They're free to hang up any time.

AmbulanceDriver · « **Reply #17 on:** July 21, 2009, 05:33:56 PM »

My personal best was a telemarketer that called me on my cell phone. I managed to snag one of those early nights plans that started at 7PM, so I didn't care that it was chewing up minutes.

"Is Mr. Driver there?"

May I ask who's calling?

"this is so-and-so with such-and-such company" (I know, I was shocked, he actually identified his company!)

One moment, I'll see if he's available.

Put the phone down, come back 5 mins later

Are you there? I'm still trying to find him

"Yes, I'm still here"

Ok, I'll see if I can track him down...

repeated for a grand total of about 20 minutes, until he finally gave up.

freakazoid · « **Reply #18 on:** July 21, 2009, 05:47:20 PM »

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I usually have no patients and just tell them that he is dead.

lol, reminds me of a story I'd heard at my old job. I used to work for a credit card company and I was one of the people who called other people when they owed money. One of my coworkers told me about one time after asking if they was speaking to the right person and they said they was, then when she was going into the normal opening lines the customer said, "I'm dead", because if the cardholder was to die then we have to send paper work to have things verified. Then my coworker paused for a bit then said something like, "Well I am sorry for your inconvenience, we will need to send the paperwork to verify your untimely death." Then sent the paperwork through.

Strings · « **Reply #19 on:** July 21, 2009, 07:53:15 PM »

I remember a fun one when I still had a land line. I was working for a data-cabling place, and my boss would call at oddball times.

We had one phone in the kitchen, and an extension in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the extension's battery had died. Call comes in, interrupting "quality time" between Spoon and I. I trudge up the stairs, and answer...

Me (VERY calmly): "If you're selling something, I'm going to track you down to rip out and eat your still-beating heart."

Telemarketer (timidly): "Hello sir, I'm calling from AT&T to talk to you about getting the best deal on long distance..."

Me: "Where are you?"

Telemarketer: "Sorrytohavebotheredyouwe'llcalagainsomeothertime *click*"

Me: *giggle*

They never DID call back...

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #20 on:** July 21, 2009, 07:57:18 PM »

And you answered the phone during "quality time"....why?

I enjoy playing the "what are you wearing" game. Male or female telemarketers, no matter.
I was getting the "auto warranty" ones for awhile. My first question was "What kind of car do I own?" Which, of course, they couldn't answer. So I immediately dug into their asses about having new cars under warranty and then hung up. That didn't last, they kept calling. Press 2 for do not call doesn't work. Asking Joe the salesman if I can touch him in inappropriate places.......that worked.

Strings · « **Reply #21 on:** July 21, 2009, 08:22:11 PM »

I answered because it was likely my boss (who did call about an hour later), and we didn't have an answering machine...

Strings · « **Reply #22 on:** July 21, 2009, 08:25:09 PM »

My next favorite call was the guy from the check verification service that called my ship about a bounced check. He was making all kinds of claims about being from NIS, and my second class went along with it for a bit... then explained that a)all incoming calls are subject to recording, and b)impersonating a military officer was grounds for a stay at Club Fed... :D

Sad part is: that call was the first notice I had that the check had bounced. Took care of it later that week... :rolleyes:

News:

Author Topic: Better be nice to those telemarketers after all . . . (Read 3456 times)