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Why don't telemarketers give up on unresponsive numbers? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 10 months ago by amoroso@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

When receiving unsoliciting phone calls by telemarketers, many people consistently hung up, don't bait, and don't interact. So why don't telemarketers delete from their databases such phone numbers that don't lead to any sales or other business benefits?

Maybe the cost of keeping the numbers is so low telemarketers just don't bother. Or keeping track of what numbers to delete may actually have a cost. Or perhaps telemarketers hope those people will eventually pick up the calls.

Any insight?

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[–] amoroso@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Possibly saving time and resources.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

by volume, it's trivial amounts of both, and those unresponsive numbers will often get recycled eventually. people just don't hold on to phone numbers as long as they used to.

[–] Exusia@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They don't? Everyone in my family has had the same numbers over a decade. I realize this is anecdotal, but I feel like people keep numbers forever now that phones can move from carrier to carrier much easier. Used to be in the 90s and 00's new carrier meant new phone and new number.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

my experience has very much been the opposite, which is also anecdotal-- but i'm going off of what a Verizon rep told me: that people, generally speaking, tend to recycle their numbers much more than they used to.

i don't have any other data to back that up, i'll be honest.

[–] Exusia@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thats so unusual to hear tbh. But if the numbers back it up I mean shit I guess I'd be wrong lol.

Any particular reason why they swap so much now?

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

like i said, i'm going off what a guy in the Verizon store said, which is one step above pulling it out of my own ass, as far as data veracity goes.

but, if i were to guess, i'd speculate that it had to do with the disposability of numbers, how often people change providers after losing a number due to not having to pay or switching off of a parent's plan, things like that. People used to go to great lengths to hold onto old numbers. people don't really care as much now, even when porting them between carriers is easy.

[–] Tak@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

IMO we shouldn't use phone numbers anymore. Usernames that can request to contact are far superior. The fact that my number can be passed around and shared against my consent then called whenever they feel like it is ridiculous.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

adding that level of verification to phone numbers would be a fair compromise, no? i like the level of anonymity you get with a phone number.

[–] Tak@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago

I think there's more anonymity away from phone numbers because the way phone numbers are plain text and sold. The only way to really keep a phone number anonymous is to constantly switch phone numbers instead of switching logins.

In today's world I feel like it's much easier to whitelist who you want to talk to instead of blacklist who you don't. It's way too easy to spin up another virtual phone number and just call again or spam texts.