Featured
January 1, Lawmakers Consider Bill Inspired By ‘Seinfeld’ Episode
New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that was inspired by the classic sitcom Seinfeld.
In the episode “The Pitch” from the show’s fourth season, Jerry Seinfeld has a 15-second phone call with a telemarketer that resonated with many viewers.
Telemarketer: Hi, would you be interested in switching over to TMI long distance service? Jerry: Oh, gee, I can't talk right now. Why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you later? Telemarketer: Uh, well I'm sorry, we're not allowed to do that. Jerry: Oh, I guess you don't want people calling you at home. Telemarketer: No. Jerry: Well, now you know how I feel. [Jerry hangs up phone]
Now, nearly 30 years after the episode first aired, Americans still have to deal with annoying calls from solicitors. The so-called “Seinfeld Bill” would require telemarketers to provide certain information within the first 30 seconds of the call: their names, what they’re selling, and the name and phone number of the person they represent.
State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), who proposed the bill, said that he’s been plagued by “extremely offensive” calls from telemarketers for years.
“I think it is extremely offensive for somebody to call you, whose trying to sell you something, and won’t answer a question about who they are, where they’re located and what their phone number is,” Branmick told Fox Business. “I find it shocking. And then the minute you do ask those questions, they basically hang up.”
In order to become law, the bill would have to pass the full Senate and state Assembly before heading to Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) desk.
“New Jerseyans should know who they’re talking to on the phone and what’s being sold to them by telemarketers,” Bramnick said.
Watch the scene here:
Source: NBC New York
-
Entertainment3 months ago‘He’s A Pr*ck And F*cking Hates Republicans’: Megyn Kelly Goes Off on Don Lemon
-
Entertainment8 months agoWhoopi Goldberg’s “Wildly Inappropriate” Commentary Forces “The View” into Unscheduled Commercial Break
-
Entertainment8 months agoLate Night Host is Getting Canceled After Staffers Speak Out
-
Entertainment3 months agoBeach Boys Founder Brian Wilson Announces Tragic News
-
Featured8 months agoUS Advises Citizens to Leave This Country ASAP
-
Entertainment2 months agoComedy Mourns Legend Richard Lewis: A Heartfelt Farewell
-
Featured7 months agoBenghazi Hero: Hillary Clinton is “One of the Most Disgusting Humans on Earth”
-
Latest News2 months agoSupreme Court Gift: Trump’s Trial Delayed, Election Interference Allegations Linger
Richard
February 5, 2023 at 7:16 pm
Why not also make it illegal to spoof a phone number. That would also help consumers and may stop some of the nonsense.
ARJAY
February 5, 2023 at 8:48 pm
Right. I’ve been called by “kellogg company”, “Denso” more than once, among others. I know THEY weren’t calling me.
Meatheaad
February 5, 2023 at 9:04 pm
I answer, “Hello, I’ve been waiting all day for you to call just so I can say Goodbye.” “Goodbye”! And I hang up.
Bill
February 6, 2023 at 11:48 am
Better solution…….. Make the telemarketing practice illegal period. Noting but a bunch of unsolicited obnoxious parasites on a utility that the consumer pays for. Metaphorically like a consumer buying a car and having those of this ilk drive around in it
for free when ever they want. Of coarse this will never happen because the politicians would have to cease their obnoxious intrusive campaigning on the phone and stop their equally obnoxious fund raising.
john
February 5, 2023 at 9:19 pm
My proposed solution has always been charge unsolicited callers $.05 for every call they make to someone who does not want to hear their pitch.. Thousands of calls adds up to a pretty penny.
Bret
February 6, 2023 at 7:49 am
Ummmmmm. Instead of a government mandate, which would probably be screwed up somehow, why don’t you just hang up. Stop asking government to fix things. They are not experts in anything.
Earl Ray Broughton
February 5, 2023 at 9:54 pm
what happened to the national DO NOT CALL LIST ?
Buster Himann
February 5, 2023 at 11:32 pm
I got so sick and tired of them calling in a flurry just as I’m making dinner I finally snapped one evening at 5:15pm. Phone rings I know what it’s going to be so I pick up and say hello in a softer muffled weird sort of accent. Telemarketer is off to the races doing the hard sell where a word can’t be interjected like NO. So he blabbering on and in the same subdued voice say “No eingrish” while he’s talking and loud enough for the telemoutheter to hear it but no break in his ongoing babble. So I say it again but a bit louder and there was a slight hitch pause for like a half second. It was like he just stopped mid sentence and then just picked right up again from the exact same spot so I knew I had his curiosity attention piqued . So he’s still tirade pitching full speed and at the top of my lungs I holler NOOO EINGRRRIISH!!!!! and slam the phone receiver down on the phone cradle with gusto. And since it was a extended retort I was able to hear he sure went silent and all the way to slam down. I envisioned the guy sitting there mouth open frozen in place surprised hopefully the slam rattled a ear drum. Probably got a few co workers to listen to a play back of it in hopes of figuring out what language I possibly speak so someone that does there can call back and do the pitch. I started doing that to every telemarketer call between the hours of 4:45pm to 6:15pm and amazingly enough they just about stopped. Hello I pronounce something like Heahrrow and not as a question. Got the same reaction every time. Funny part is I started looking forward to one of them calling so I could shut them up frozen. Junk mail that has a pseudo prepaid return envelope I’ll take other junk mail I received and send that back in to them. That’s when they actually have to pay the postage on the return envelope when it gets used but at a discount rate fee deal they get. So the USPS helps promote it just like the phone co’s allow it with fake phone numbers and auto dialers etc.. It was a great way to relieve any type of stress that may have built up from the day… The Perfect scapegoat. Don’t have to be doing any apologizing to anyone after the fact. And much better than a blast of F bomb vernaculars too. Little hard on the throat sometimes but realism is essential. >:)
Zig Zag
February 6, 2023 at 10:15 am
If I see unknown number calling me I text back “Who are you and why are you calling me?” If it is a spoofed number, than I get message identifying that the number is unknown. I then block this number.