I was just talking with a telemarketer for like 10 minutes.  >:( :P Normally, I just would hang up or something, but sometimes I like to play along with them and give them bull"jive" answers.

I like to use a variety of methods. Sometimes I tell them my mom isnt home (this is a huge lie, I'm 24 and have my own place), or I say no thanks and hang up as fast as I can, or as you said, just make up a bunch of crap. But I dont do that one too often, takes up too much time  :)

Tell them to hang on a minute, then lay the phone down and go about doing whatever you were doing when they interupted you. That'll give them the message!

I usually say something witty or throw them my best "No Habla" message :)

Hang Up and say sorry I'm not interested. >:(


Howard

I sometimes try to get out of it, but mostly I use the answering machine and just refuse to answer sales calls. I might try the "No-Call list".

I like to use a variety of methods. Sometimes I tell them my mom isnt home (this is a huge lie, I'm 24 and have my own place), or I say no thanks and hang up as fast as I can, or as you said, just make up a bunch of crap. But I dont do that one too often, takes up too much time  :)
:DThat's always funny.The no habla one is funny too.Or you can give funny anwers,like say your name is Long Wang,your address is 1203 Earhart drive,your city is Hooterville,etc.especially funny if you have friends over ;) ;)Cheers!

I ordered something from a catalog over the phone one time and the woman I placed my order with started telling me about the problems she was having with her mother.  :D  I tried to give her as much advice that I could but I thought it was kind of funny. Actually, I get that all the time, people seem to come to me with their problems. I don't know why.


Ok, a bit off topic but just wanted to share that.



Cat

They haven't called us for at least a year, but when they had, we've just hung up. Sometimes I think about saying something witty, but like I said, it's been a while since we last heard from one.

It depends on the situation:

If someone just calls giving their usual shpiel, I'll usually tell them I'm not interested and hang up, or just hang up.

If it's someone from somewhere I pay money to (e.g.: my mobile phone company calling about some sort of offer or whatever), I'll listen, then usually tell them I'm not interested.

If it's someone asking for my or our first inital and last name (like they got it out of the phone book or something), I tell them "they're dead." If you don't even know who you're calling, don't call me.

If it's a survey, I'll happily take it if I qualify! I love surveys because I love expressing my opinion! :)

Absolutely Vile

I just thought of something I should try:

"Ich sprechen Deutches, bitte!" (or something like that) ;D

Well, OK, a lot of people pull the foreign language thing. And my German is very limited...:)

Absolutely Vile

not interested,thanks anyway... ::)

I usually blast Tupac in their ear for five minutes. Quite effective. :)

Example: Place has been calling like five times a day, and they usually just have a recording. One day, I actually got a live person. Just as she started talking about offers, I turned on Tupac. They haven't called back since. ;D

record their voice or blow a whistle into the phone. ;D


Howard

Sometimes you have to be rude to these people. I have had a few in the past (before we got on the no-call list) where I said that I was not interested about 3 times. What part of "No" don't you understand? Before Carlos and I were married, they would ask for Mr. or Mrs. I would say that Mr. is at work and there is no Mrs. I guess one guy thought that "Mrs." died or something and said, "Oh I am so sorry."

I was talking to my mother this morning and this subject came up. She said that she tells people who call from non-profits solititing for $$ that she is a little old lady on a fixed income and needs the help herself. They hang up really quick.  ;D



Cat

Sometimes you have to be rude to these people. I have had a few in the past (before we got on the no-call list) where I said that I was not interested about 3 times. What part of "No" don't you understand? Before Carlos and I were married, they would ask for Mr. or Mrs. I would say that Mr. is at work and there is no Mrs. I guess one guy thought that "Mrs." died or something and said, "Oh I am so sorry."

I was talking to my mother this morning and this subject came up. She said that she tells people who call from non-profits solititing for $$ that she is a little old lady on a fixed income and needs the help herself. They hang up really quick.  ;D



Cat
the last part of your post reminds me of those people who are parked with a little table in front of grocery stores and what not asking if you can help 'feed the homeless".some people get smart and say "I already ate,but thanks anyway"Cheers! :)

my plan is i annoy them by asking them loadsa questions and then repeating myself loadsa times
its real funny coz they get real worked up  :D

just say Would you like me to call you at dinnertime? What's YOUR PhoneNumber? >:(



Howard

record their voice or blow a whistle into the phone. ;D


Howard

lol

Generally as soon as they say "hello Mrs ......" I know its a telemarketer as I am not a Mrs.

So I usually slam the phone down loudly.

A few weeks ago - it was almost 9pm on a sunday and I was expecting a call from a help desk about my puter.

I knew the help desk would ask for me by my user name not my real name - so when the phone rang and it was some guy (very obviously calling from a third world country) asking for Mr or Mrs ......, I asked "and what are you selling" and he stated he wasnt selling anything and he needed to speak to Mr or Mrs .......  Again I demanded to know what he wanted to speak to "them" about.

Finally he starts his spiel on long distance calls and I let rip - feel free to insert your own swear wrods here ! " YOU EFFING LIAR. HOW DARE YOU PHONE AT 9PM ON A SUNDAY AND LIE TO PEOPLE. YOU EFFING LOW LIFE SCUM, GO MAKE A LIVING IN A FIELD."

Yep I think I got it out of my system !


I also got a good one back one.  It was one of those roof restoration companies - they repaint your roof tiles.  So she rings and tells me she is looking at rooves in my street and was I aware of the sun damage on my west facing roof tiles ?  So I say "Oh right - I was totally unaware my roof faced west - according to my compass it faced north south".  She continued to assure me it faced west and was in great need of repair.  She insisted she was working on the roof of the house opposite my house.  As I was aware there was a car park opp my house I knew she was lying.

So I asked her what colour was my house.  She started vaguely describing a vague shade of brown brick.  So I said - wow thats funny that you are in my street, apparently right across the road, yet you cant see that my house is actually bright purple with a steel roof and looks completely different to every other home on the street.

She shut up after that !

Heck, we get more calls after signing up on that stupid thing than we did before http://www.inthe00s.com/smilies/uhoh2.gif


Really?  I haven't had any sales calls.  I do get alot of political calls...it is funny to have the Dems call me for a donation, then the next call is the Repubs. 

Not only are we on the "Do Not Call" list, they really can't get through anyway because we have dial-up and are usually on-line a lot of the time.  ;D




Cat

just give in and say I'm very interested in what you're selling. ;D


Howard

I try to find a way out of it. I don't think I will be quite as lenient as I was (esp. with my bank).

I try to find a way out of it. I don't think I will be quite as lenient as I was (esp. with my bank).
??? ???we used to have then call every single day.Wonder what that was about?

The other day, Carlos recieved a call from someone taking a survey. He asked who was funding the it. The person just said some group and he asked again, "Who is funding it?" They wouldn't tell him and he asked again and again. They finally hung up on HIM.



Cat

We don't get any calls like this since we registered with the telephone preference service.  You have to register every year but it's really easy.

We helped to have one company shut down because they were dialling people with one of those autodialling systems.  They would call every hour on the hour from 10.00 till 6.00.  If we answered they would already have hung up.  We reported them as a nuisance caller and BT put a trace on their number.  The calls stopped within a couple of days.

I put hang up.  But actually I don't even answer the phone when they call.  If I don't know the number I do not answer, if it is someone who needs me they can leave a message and I will call back.

??? ???we used to have then call every single day.Wonder what that was about?


The banks have it in their minds that it is good service to pester you to get a loan or life insurance for so much a month.

Before we registered with telephone preference it always got me how many people called during the day.  We would get them hanging up on the answer machine several times a week.

When I was on maternity leave I was generally in to answer the calls and they were frequently for my husband from his bank or insurer or whatever.  The caller always seemed genuinely surprised that at 2.30 in the afternoon my husband wouldn't be home!  :o  Where did they think the money came from to pay for his life insurance?

You can always tell it's one of those telemarketers calling when you answer the phone and there's a second or two of silence before you hear anything -- that's your opportunity to hang up.

You can always have your phone number added to the do not call list. I guess it doesn't work for everyone but it worked for me.

Most telemarketers are just people trying to make a living. I'm never rude to them but I do hope they all find that better job that's out there.  ::)

:)