[ale] OT: Ways to avoid spam

[matty91 at bellsouth.net]

I hate spamming the list, but found this email fascinating. Thought
others might find this (bullet 3 especially) useful and interesting. :)

- Ryan

> Subject: 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.
> Since doing this,
>
> my phone calls have decreased dramatically.
> (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
> 37cents 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 sue 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.
>
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