Contests where you have to leave your phonenumber
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
March 8, 2013 4:21pm CST
My husband joins a lot of contests online. He hasn't won anything yet, but he joins almost any contest that he reads about. When he joins those contests he has to write his phonenumber and as a result he gets calls from internet providers, cell phone providers, people who want to sell newspapers or magazines and a lot of other people. He gets those calls almost daily.
Today he got a phonecall from the multiple sclerosis association, and the seller was really persistent. My husband finally lost his patience and yelled "I am not interested, I am not interested, I am not interested, I am not interested" and then he hung up. He usually rejects the sellers in a nice way, but when the seller didn't take no for an answer, he wasn't able be nice anymore.
Would you be willing to join a contest where you have to leave your phonenumber? Why/why not? Do you get phonecalls from people who want to sell something when you have joined a contest?
2 people like this
10 responses
@mrbritish53 (3)
•
7 Apr 13
Might be a good time to get a new sim card with a new number and keep that one for private and normal calls. Keep the old number that is being clogged up with all these nuisance calls as the number that your husband can keep using on his competitions.
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Apr 13
I think that sounds like a good idea to keep the private phonecalls separate from the other phonecalls. I do the same thing with my email. I have a private email that I only give to close friends and I have another email that I use when I sign up at different sites etc. I want to avoid spam in my private email account, so I prefer to have more than one email account.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Mar 13
My husband usually tries to be polite, but today he lost his patience and hung up. Some sellers are very persistent. He had a similar experience with a person who wanted sell newspapers. The seller got pretty aggressive when he said no and at last he had to hang up.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Mar 13
Yes, that is true. In my country there are also places where they only get comission or only get comission in the begining. I have read some the job descriptions from those job because I once thought about applying, but I found a different job.
@blackrusty (3519)
• Mexico
8 Mar 13
It is sad that people don't get it but some of the people that do this type of work do not get a pay check they get comission so they are hunger to make the sale
1 person likes this
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
9 Mar 13
I don't join online contests. I am always hesitant to leave my contact details or iinformation online even for my email accounts. I have no such luck in contests so knowing that I never expose my contact number anywhere and won't join these contests.
These iswhat I try to elude telemarketers are really persistent so I just don't give out my numbers to them.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
9 Mar 13
I understand why you don't want to give your number to telemarketers. I don't like to give them my number either, because I don't want a lot phonecalls from people who want to sell something. I would find it annoying to receive that kind of phonecalls all the time like my husband does. I think that is he a getting a little tired of the phonecalls as well, but he always dreams about winning the big price, so he keeps on joining lots of online contests. So far he hasn't won anything, but he is still optimistic. Like you I have no luck in that kind of contests, so there wouldn't be much point in joining them.
@lynboobsy11 (11343)
• Philippines
9 Mar 13
I don't any cell phone numbers on any online site even it is require I just put a wrong one unless I have to verify something on my account. This is the marketing strategy most companies are using.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
10 Mar 13
I usually skip the sites where you have to write your phone number because I don't want to receive calls from different companies who want to sell something. My husband joins those contests all the time and most of the time he doesn't mind the phone calls and he rejects them in a nice way, but sometimes loses his patience and hangs up if the salespeople won't take no for an answer. I think that I would find the constant phone calls annoying especially it happens several times each day, so I prefer to keep my phone number to myself.
@mrswhitfield (2044)
• Indonesia
12 Mar 13
I met many person when I go to mall offering me prize if I want to registered for a contest, they asking my phone number, and my address, and after that they will tell that they will call me for the prize. After few days they will texting or calling and inviting me to attend a particular new product launch and claimed me as their loyal customer
and sho to other people that they have good product because they get lot of customer. I refuse of course, they only want to sell product which I really did not want to buy.
and sho to other people that they have good product because they get lot of customer. I refuse of course, they only want to sell product which I really did not want to buy.1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Apr 13
That sounds annoying. I think it is true that they only want to sell their product. I don't think that kind of things are very common in my country, I have never people met people at the mall or in the street who asked me if I wanted to join a contest. I think that they are more likely to contact us online. My husband joins a lot of contests and he always hopes that he is going to win the big price, but so far he hasn't won anything. The constant phonecalls from different companies have become quite annoying, but in most cases he isn't able to particpate in the contest unless he leaves his phonenumber.
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
8 Mar 13
Those kind of contests sell your phone numbers to other companies. So now youll get all kinds of telemarketing phone calls at all hours of the day. I would do these.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Mar 13
I think that I would find all those phonecalls annoying, but my husband usually doesn't mind. Some days he gets so many phonecalls. Some of the sellers give up pretty fast, but others are very persistent. Today he lost his patience, that doesn't happen very often, but the seller wouldn't take no for an answer...
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
8 Mar 13
thats good, and you never know one day one of those phone calls may tell you... you have WON !!!
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
9 Mar 13
That is my husband's dream. He hopes to win a price that he can sell for instance a car. So far he hasn't won anything, but he hopes that it is going to happen one day.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
8 Mar 13
The fact that they are requesting a telephone number would be sufficient for me to decline to enter. There are only 2 possible reasons for wanting a telephone number as far as I know, which would be either to build a list of numbers to call and solicit sales or to con the entrant into inadvertently agreeing to receive text messages which would be chargeable. Obviously neither of these would be desirable and thus well worth avoiding.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
9 Mar 13
I had only thought about the first option, but it would definately be best to avoid that kind of text messages. I have the same thoughts as you when I hear about one of the contests where you have to submit your phonenumber. I would lose interest in the contest if I had to tell them my phone number, because I don't want to receive daily phone calls from people who want to sell something. My husband hopes to win the big prize and he usually accepts the phone calls, but I would find them annoying. Sometimes he gets several phone calls on the same day and some of salespeople are very persistenr..
@kaka135 (14916)
• Malaysia
8 Mar 13
I don't like to leave my phone number in any online contests, especially from those unknown companies or websites. I just think it's insecure to do so, I do not know how they will treat my phone number, to sell it or do something worse. There are many cases in my country, someone call and tell you your family member is in danger or having something bad, and need you to transfer the money to them urgently. Many of these cheating cases happened. Hence, we are always told not to simply give our phone numbers away, and of course not to trust those cheating phone calls.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
9 Mar 13
It is true that we don't know what those companies are going to do with our phone number. It is possible that they "only" call us and try to sell us things, but they could also sell the phone number and or use it in the other ways that we don't want.
I have heard about the scams that you mentioned, but I didn't know that they also happened via phonecalls, the ones I have heard about contacted people via email. In the emails they tell you that something bad happened to a family member while they were in a foreign country and that you need to transfer some money. I know that some people have fallen for this scam because they believed the lies and thought that their family member was actually in danger.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
8 Mar 13
I think that would make me nervous. I don't see any reason why they can't contact you by mail. If you're going to win a prize, they have to mail it to you anyways, so why do they need your phone number? I guess I would do it but I don't think I'd like it too much.
Every once in a while I'll get a telemarketer and I tell them politely that I'm not interested. If they persist, I tell them sorry, and just hang up on them then. Otherwise, they'll just keep talking and talking and talking.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Mar 13
I think that it would be much better if they contacted us by mail. That way we would be able to read about their offer when we have time and we don't get interrupted by phonecalls all the time. My husband has joined so many contests that he doesn't remember all of them anymore and he receives so many phonecalls from people who want to sell something. I think that I would find that annoying. I don't get that kind of calls very often, but when it happens I usually tell them politely but firmly that I am not interested, and most of them respect that.
@elsino91 (440)
• Poland
8 Mar 13
I wouldn't enter a contest that require me to give my phone number away unless it was being organised by an organization that I know well. I wouldn't want someone sending me adverts via text or calling me to try and sell me something. It just isn't worth the slight chance of winning a prize.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
9 Mar 13
I agree completely. My husband is a crazy about those contests and he joins almost every contest that he sees, and I don't really understand why he does it. I don't want to send them my phonenumber, because I am sure that they are just going call me and try to sell me things that I don't want. My husband sometimes get several phonecalls on the same day and I would find it annoying to receive that kind of phonecalls every day or almost every day. I alrealdy receive plenty of offers and spam in email and I don't need to receive phonecalls as well. I also agree with the last thing you wrote, I don't think it is worth it, because it is hard to win anything.
