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The Story of Lenny, the Internet's Favorite Telemarketing Troll (vice.com)
dmoberhaus writes: Here's a conversation with the developer who maintains the public server for Lenny, a robocalling algorithm that throws telemarketers through a loop. Lenny was created in 2009 and almost a decade later has developed a cult following online. Anyone can forward their telemarketing calls to Lenny, who is a kind and forgetful old man who is interested in whatever the telemarketer is selling. Some telemarketers stay on the line for up to an hour interacting with this chatbot, leading to hundreds of hours of hilarious recordings on YouTube. This is the story of Lenny's rise, and an analysis of its effectiveness at stopping unsolicited calls.
Lenny takes calls from my mother in law at least twice a week. The hours they have spent bonding has really helped strengthen my relationship with my wife's family.
Interesting story. Lenny was written by a recluse who lives in the entire top third of an apartment building overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The author wrote Lenny during breaks from cleaning his rooftop pool, hosting dinner parties, and working in his multi-story greenhouse and butterfly warren. The idea came to him one day when he noticed that he hadnâ(TM)t watered this one plant in many days and yet it was blooming as fresh as could be. He said hey I wonder if I could make a chat it that is impervious to telemarketers, much as the flower was impervious to drought.
Yes. It's the 99% of them that give the 1% a bad rap.
They call me, and I ruin their day. I keep 'em on the line for as long as I can, asking them kooky shit, having to put the phone down "so I can go get my card" over and over, asking them what they're wearing (works for both men and women!), asking them detailed questions about their sex life, etc etc.
I'm usually "Bob", but "Bill" is who they really need to talk to, so hold on a minute while I get him. Oh, it turns out that he got "Will" instead of "Bill", so hold on again while I get him. Whaddya know, "Bill" says they need to talk to "Bob" again or maybe "Frank", so let me transfer you...and so on and so on. Sometimes I give them part of a credit card number and then we get "disconnected". So close, but no cigar. Very sad.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
I got the extended warranty calls. I usually string them along for a few minutes then when they try to close the deal. "What? I have to have a car for this great deal?"
I had one guy completely lose his shit one time....
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.