HOW DO YOU HANDLE IT?

WEASEL-88

All those calls wanting to sell you something. I've tried everything from playing dumb to using alot of four letter words. I hate them!

Too Old To Fight,Too Lazy To Run!

William81

I have an unlisted number which cuts down on some of it. When someone starts their mindless chatter, I cut them off tell them I am not interested, demand that I be removed from the list and threaten to speak to a supervisor if I ever get called back. Works most of the time. When it does not, then I get mean....

Caller ID can also be helpful. I cannot use it due to my job and being on call all the time..

texshooter

I guess it depends on the product. Had a siding and window salesman call me several nights in a row a few years back. I told him i was not interested, and tried to be nice, and I realize the guy was just trying to make a few bucks in commisions, but one night, i hit my limit.
Told him all the dimensions in my house, number of new storm windows that I would need to replace etc. This guy was really on a roll now, quoting prices and colors, and warranties. I let this go on several minutes, then asked him if H U D would finance this project.
After several choking sounds, he hung up on me. No more calls...

Still laugh when i think about it, (simple minds are easilly amused)

On a serious note, Texas now has a NO-CALL program. Register with the state public utility commission, pay $4.80 for 5 years, wait 2 months for activation, and hope for the best.

n/a

My favorite is to shut them down immediately, ask "did I call you", when they say no the correct response is "then I must not have wanted to talk to you"----CLICK!

"We become what we habitually do. If we act rightly, we become upright men. If we habitually act wrongly, or weakly, we become weak and corrupt" - *ARISTOTLE*

**Like Grandad used to say--"It'll feel better when it quits hurtin"

niklasal

A while back I got one of those "Hey hows it going? We talke da while back remember?" lines. The guy tried to sell me a few hundred shares of stock in this company. I asked if he was sure he knew me, "I'm 100% certain!"

Well, after going through his spiel and me asking 1,000,001 questions, I told him I was only 15 and wasn't sure my allowance would cover. He got mad and hung up.

NIKLASAL@hotmail.com

smokinggun

A few years ago I decided that when I hear a sales pitch that I would just hang up right away without saying a word. It works great and feels good too!

RugerNiner

I simply say "take me off your list" by law they are supposed to. On the news last night was an article about how they don't always remove you from their list.

Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!

scott5792

Do you people also get the auto dial." hello friend, and then a 4 minute schpeal.
Wait for the # at the end of the message. If it's local as it is here most of the time. Fill that answering machine up.
"don't call here anymore"
"stop calling my house"
after 10 or 15 messages for them. Leave a final one.
" As you can see I have nothing better to do,shall we continue this. Don't call this # anymore"

They don't call here anymore
All the others. I like the stringing them along and then being 15. Funny.
I say I'm not interested onece. if they continue.Click!
Scott

smokinggun

I heard about a law somewhere that it is a $500 fine for using prerecorded messages for sales. This guy had the evidence on a Corp. from where thier machine left a message on his machine. He contacted the corp. and told them he was going to go after them for it. Right away they sent him a settlment check for $500.

Smokeeater 38

If you live in Indiana you can get on a "No call list" The people that call have to get the list that is updated 4 times a year. They are not allowed to call you. There are some groups that are exempt to this but it has help very much. Here is the link to it http://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/telephoneprivacy/index.htm

If you live in one of the other 49 states you may still have a chance to get on a no call list. I did a search for "no;call;list" and got lots of hits for other states. You can also check out you state web site.

There are also groups in most states that are trying to get a list started.

Good luck

scott5792

That'd be sweet smokinggun. But it was some poindexter local business. Most around here will fight you to the core.
Slum lord small business god owners around here.
All in whose $1000 a plate dinner you can attend.Know what I mean?
I'd like to try it for sure
But they haven't called in quite a while.
Scott

Bullzeye

I remember reading a list somewhere of 25 ways to bother telemarketers.

Some of them were really funny.

I liked the one where when the guy calls you up, you go "Oh thank God! Someone finally called me! I've been so lonely lately! And my dog has the runs, and I have a kidney stone! And my wife ran away with the garbage man! I'm so glad you're here to talk to me!"

And just go on and on until he hangs up.

A fine cigar gladdens the soul."Remember, there are only two: The Quick, and the Dead"

fatbobcat

I no longer get those door to door salesmen as all the ones that have showed up never come back after I tell them to come on in,We will take a bath and talk about it,The ones that start to come in haul * when I reach for the 357! Case closed.
Fatbobcat!!

Smokeeater 38

Did You Know...?
? Telemarketing is a $400 billion a year business.
? Americans lose $40 billion a year to fraudulent telemarketers.
? 56% of the people targeted by telemarketers are 50 or older
? Telemarketers have the fire power to make 560 calls per second (24 million per day).
? Charities make more money from selling your name and number to the other telemarketing companies than from the donations they collect from calling.
? On average, only 24% of what you donate as a result of a telemarketing call will actually get to the charity on whose behalf the solicitation is made. The telemarketing company hired to make the call gets the rest.
? The average American gets called 2 to 3 times per day by a telemarketer.
? The FBI estimates that there are 14,000 illegal sales operations bilking consumers in the United States every day.
? The same telemarketer will often call an elderly person day after day, building a relationship with the target, until he/she thinks a friend, not a stranger is trying to sell them something.
? 92% of the adults in the United States have reported receiving fraudulent telephone offers.

idsman75

I turn the telephone techniques that I learned as a recruiter against them.

SSG idsman75, U.S. ARMY

gruntled

Lay the phone down & let them talk to themselves. Check back in a minute & hang up if they are gone. If they are still there then
see how much of their time you can waste.

Edited by - gruntled on 04/17/2002 23:44:42

Jody Commander

I like to let them get started into the pitch, then break in with something like:" Sales Huh? all right! does your company sell anything for a really serious crotch infection? My testicles are almost scabbed over! and ITCH!... can you help me? the lady that is supposed to help me quit yesterday, and the welfare office people haven't sent a replacement over yet." I seem to lose the connection about here, wonder why?

Big Sky Redneck

I have a service on my phone that cuts them off. If the number doesnt come across my caller id they get a message telling them to leave a message and wait for me to approve the call before it comes thru or I can hit a canned message for them telling them to have a nice life. There is no way you can get thru on my phone unless you have a number that works on caller id or if I give you an access number to dial. It's a really neat service.

austin247

Gotta love the Texas no-call list. For less than 3 bucks for 4 years
I'm on the list. Telemarketing firms are required to get an update every 3 months. A little peace for less than 3 bucks: priceless

Brth729

My wife got one of those tele-zappers at Wal-Mart. It was a little pricey at fifty bucks, but it was money well spent. We only get about one call a month now, where before we'd get fifteen or more.

***It is not so much what a man possesses, but what possesses the man which determines his quality of life.***

varmit hunter

I tell them ,I wont what ever it is there selling.I then ask them will it matter that I just filed chapter 11.

A unarmed man is a subject.A armed man is a citizen.

JustC

I check the ID, pick it up and hang it right back up. No conversation, no time out of my day.

When in doubt...empty the magazine!!

super chicken

Sometimes I scream as loud as i can into the phone until they hang up. Usually I make arangement with them to buy everything they are selling then tell them get lost and start screaming at them until they hang up.

whiteclouder

I say very politely,
"I'm pleased you called, have you ever heard of the book of mormon?"

Clouder..

Iconoclast

I put my name on "the list" which eliminated 95% of the junk - the rest I simply ignore.

He Dog

Telezappers work on computer generated calls. Several of us went together and are passing it around. Only need it on there a month or so. My phone has a digital recording that says, "hello, if you are a telemarketer please remove this number from your calling list. If you are someone we might actually like to talk to, please leave a message after the tone." I never, never answer the phone until I know who is calling.

Doesn't it get you crazy that the phone companies make money from the telemarketers for the calls, and make more money selling gadgets to block the telemarketers? I also stopped my long distance service. It is actually cheaper for me to use the cards from Wally World.

njretcop

7MM, we have the same service here in NJ. Best 5.00 a month I ever spent! "Caller interupt" it's called if you others can get it in your area.

-Charlie

"It's the stuff dreams are made of Angel"NRA Certified Firearms InstructorMember: GOA, RKBA, NJSPBA, NJ area rep for the 2ndAMPD. njretcop@copmail.com

Norman Dog

We were up to about one call per hour - it was ridiculous. We had an answering machine to screen the calls and then we got caller ID. Any call that registers on the ID as "unknown caller" gets answered by the answering machine. Of course, that gets annoyimg after awhile. Then, I was turned on to this website:

http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/

They have an article on what you can do to deal with telemarketers. After using these techniques, our calls have virtually stopped. Every now and then, they start up again and I deal with them and they go away again. I haven't actually taken legal action against any of them yet, but supposedly, you can sue them in small claims court if they continue to call them after you have requested that they stop. Check out the website - it might be fun.

WOOF.

dobieman0690

we just hand the phone to our 3 yr. old granddaughter usually no more problem phone calls

allen griggs

I rented the movie Taxi Driver. I recorded on audio tape the scene where DeNiro is looking in the mirror and playing with his guns. He says"Are you talking to me? Are you fu***** talking to me? Well I don't see anybody else here. You are talking to a man who is sick of the filth, who is ready to do something about the scum of society." I have this on standby. When the telemarketer asks for "Mr. Griggs", I tell him just wait a second, I'll get him. Then I turn on the tape deck and play him. A little psycho New York taxi driver works well on telemarketers.

"Not as deep as a well, or as wide as a church door, but it is enough."

Bushy AR

My favorite method is to say:"pardon me,I hear someone at the door,please hold". They are usually gone after 10 minutes or so.

Only in America a homeless war veteran slept in a cardboard box while a draft dodger slept in the white house...NEVER AGAIN!!