Annoying sales phone calls

[dudleythetogi]

for the last two month,every day around the same time I get a call from someone that can lower my utility rates.Every time I cut them off and ask them to delete my info from their datbase(I really should get on the "do not call" list,but why should I?,I am suppose to have an unlisted number)so today as I repeated my tirate for the 60th time I also told him(someone in India?) that the next sound he would hear was the phone hitting the front lawn and he could talk to the grass all he wants.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i47 ... G_0287.jpg

[IMBand]

Next time they call......act interested, tell them you are busy and that you need to set the phone down for just a second.......come back about a minute later and start to speak with them and about when they have the 6th word out......ask them to hang on for one more quick second.......come back about 2.5 minutes later, act interested and about the 7th word they get out....ask them to hold on for just a second........come back after 3.5 minutes......-------see a pattern? LOLOLOLOLO - They can tolerate getting yelled at but they are not allowed to be on long calls that do not produce sales.....they will quit calling, trust me.

IM

[Paladin]

My little bride and I discussed this very thing just this week. We are on the 'no call' list and sales people (and machines) call us anyway. For years being on the no call list seemed to work fine but these days many, many solicitors seem to ignore it. I have gone to the web site and reported a couple of them but they seem to just keep on coming.
I have to wonder if the sales people haven't discovered that it is a law with no consequences??

[rangerbluedog]

When I get calls like that I quack loudly like a duck, then giggle uncontrollably.

Doesn't change anything, but it makes me feel better.

-and provides my wife some entertainment...

[griz1200]

[jerryd6818]

You can purchase a device that works with your caller-Id to block individual numbers or entire area codes. Or you can get an answering machine and only return calls from those people you want to talk to that leave a message.

Or just use your caller-Id (if you have it) to not answer calls from numbers you don't recognize or are not identified by the system.

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[knife-nut]

I listen to their pitch and sound interested, then I tell them to hold on I,ve got to get my credit card. I wait about 3 minutes then tell them I,m still looking and lay the phone down for 10 minutes. By then they usually give up and hang up.

[jerryd6818]

It's annoying. It's aggravating but one thing it's not and that's the fault of the individual making the call. They're just doing a job, trying to make a buck and sometimes, for whatever reason, it's the only job they can get. If given a choice, they wouldn't be doing it.

I worked phone support for Nextel's Motorola phones (not the service, the hardware) for a year and a half. It was the only thing I could find to get me through until I could draw Social Security. No matter what the experience and qualifications, nobody wants to hire a 60 year old man. It was the worst job I ever had but it was one step above telephone sales.

[knife7knut]

I used a technique that,if it didn't stop them from calling,would make them re-think their career choice.
When I would answer the phone and someone asked for the lady of the house(because most tele-marketers don't like to talk with males),I would say to them in a loud voice(sometimes cracking a bit with emotion for the effect)," You SOB's;my wife's body isn't even cold in the ground and already you vultures are trying to sell me something I don't need or want...." Usually by that time they would have hung up the phone.

I haven't gotten any calls in a LONG while.

[coffeecup]

No matter why someone may have taken an outbound telemarketing job, there is no obligation to be polite, to listen to them, etc--after all, they have stolen your time and interrupted you for their purposes. I can't fault anyone who wants to scream profanities at them, for instance--but there are better ways to get the calls to stop.

Try sending a registered letter to the owner of the telemarketing company, and asking for the harassment to stop. Include information on when you were called, and the names of the people you spoke with. At the bottom of the letter, note that you are cc'ing the telemarketer's customers, and the state attorney general. For some reason, this usually works.

One time I got a call telling me I had won a trip to Florida. I told them the truth: I had no interest in going to Florida, no desire to see all the sights they promised, etc. I got bounced up through several incredulous supervisors before one of them asked me if the reason I didn't want to go was that I knew they were selling time-shares. I told them I didn't know that, I just didn't want to go to Florida. That company has never called me back.

[Old Hunter]

When I get those calls I don't say a word, I just hang up; that's it, I'm not impolite, haven't wasted my time, and I'm not annoyed or angry - hell, I have the power to hang up on them! We are on the "don't call registry" but charities, political organizations, and companies you have done business with are exempt, so I still get my fair share. Caller ID helps a lot too, if I don't know the number I don't answer.

[treefarmer]

Basically I try to be thrifty, my wife says I'm cheap, but at one of my daughters urging we got caller ID and an answereing machine. One of the best investments I ever made. If I don't recognize the number and it is important, they'll leave a message. We even get an occasional laugh as the caller babbles on, then says "Hello, hello, hello?" I've given up on getting a call from Michael Anthony from the old TV show "Millionaire". Treefarmer