Ha, Ha, Ha.....I just frustrated a telemarketer!!

[kimber79]

Oh telemarketers..........gotta love them!! Actually...many, many years ago ~ I was a telemarketer!

I LOVE coming up with *fun* things to say to totally throw them off. When telemarketers call about phone service......I tell them we don't have a phone! That totally throws them for a loop! There is usually dead silence for a few seconds, and then they generally will say "you don't have a phone"?, and ask for a better time to call back!!

Well, I just had someone call and say the the president of our company was chosen to receive a free subscription to an Industry magazine. Well, silly old me told her that he didn't know how to read, and would probably not appreciate receiving any magazines!! She was not sure what to say other than "okay, thank you ~ ~ click"!

hehehe

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

Funny

Lately, I just ask them to hold on. I put the phone down and walk away.

 

[Aimeedyan]

My husband is in banking and he always quizzes them about the interest rates and such... they usually just end up saying after a minute, well, then have a good night. LOL

I usually hang up if I dont hear anything on the line as soon as I speak, because I know its a telemarketer, but I may try some of your lines for fun one day!!!!!!

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

how about this novel approach: "no, thank you, I'm not interested."

the person making the call is just trying to earn a living, have a little pity on him/her.

 

[MAC3]

I had one call last night @ 9:00 pm and say Hello my name is so and so and we are conducting a survey... and I said Not at 9:00 at night you aren't! I know they have jobs to do but I hate the phone ringing after 9:00.

 

[missypie]

Yes, I put them on hold, too.

The funniest thing that I've heard to do is to act like you're an old person who repeats everything the telemarketer says to your hard of hearing spouse in the next room.
TM: Hi, this is Craig from XYZ Telecom and I'd like to talk to you about your phone service.
You (yelling with your mouth away from the phone): IT'S CRAIG FROM XYZ TELECOM AND HE WANTS TO TALK TO US ABOUT OUR PHONE SERVICE.

You get the idea. DH and I have always wanted to do this, but know we would laugh too hard to be convincing.

 

[Beauty]

how about this novel approach: "no, thank you, I'm not interested."

I understand that they are just trying to make a living but some of them are sooo pushy that it drives me crazy! If I say no thank you, then I mean no thank you and then they should respect my wishes and hang up. 99 percent of the time though they keep on and on and on and on so I give the phone to J.C. who is 12.

Okay call the parenting police on me again but he is hillarious.....lets see a few of his tricks are.....

the telemarketer will say "are you parents home?" and he will say "nope I locked them outside." Silence....... J.C. "wait, they aren't there anymore, OH NO THEY LEFT ME!!!!." Then in the same sentence he'll change from frantic to questionable and say "I like chicken, do you? do you like jello? what about pizza? do you like pizza? I do." By this time there is no one left....LOL

Humm another one is the Pyle Corp around here which is magazines and they call at least four times a month and he will answer the phone and say "hello is this the Pyle Corp?" of course they will say Yes and he will say in awe.... "DO you know GOMER? I love Gomer, I watch him all the time, hes old though and my mom said he might be dead but its neat to talk to someone that is his cousin......or are you his brother? Are you Gomer's brother????" they aren't able to get a word in!

Or he might answer and serenade them with one of his silly songs.

Sorry, I registered for the Do Not Call List both online and via the telephone so if you call my house be prepared to talk to my crazy child!

Oh and yes I find him amusing and I even promote this kind of behaviour

 

[Kimberle]

When I was in college, we each had our own phone in our dorms. We'd hear them going down the line ringing one phone after another. When they'd get to me & ask for "xxx", I'd say very calmly "I'm sorry, she died last night".

Not one of them ever knew what to say!!!!

 

[mickeyfan1]

I have to agree with Briar Rose, with the advent of the Do Not Call list, telemarketer calls are getting fewer and fewer. If you don't want to be called, put your number on the list. If you don't do that, being polite isn't too much to ask. Being a telemarketer is probably one of the worst jobs to have, but imagine that that person is trying to earn a living the same as everyone else. They have to endure a lot of abuse, I can't imagine anyone actually choosing that as a profession, but I bet it's a lot easier on the ego than collecting unemployment for a lot of people.

 

[missypie]

There is a guy who has made a recording of himself hassling telemarketers. At times he has gone a bit too far. A telemarketer called to push carpet/furniture cleaning. The guy said "Does it get out blood?...'Cause man, I'm just covered with blood. My carpets are covered. My furniture is covered. Can you come out today? Can you come out, like, right now? I really need some help, man..."

The police arrived at his door shortly after the call was over.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

We don't get any telemarketer calls!

NC passed a law that if you are on the DO NOT CALL REG. then they can't call.

Lori

 

[Beauty]

Missy but I'm still LOL!

I agree there are less calls since the Do Not Call List but they still come and I don't have the time or want to report them so its just funnier to hand the phone to J.C.

 

[doxdogy]

I have got to remember that one next time the local newspaper calls my office and tries to sell us a subscription to the paper.

Originally posted by kimber79
I LOVE Well, I just had someone call and say the the president of our company was chosen to receive a free subscription to an Industry magazine. Well, silly old me told her that he didn't know how to read, and would probably not appreciate receiving any magazines!! She was not sure what to say other than "okay, thank you ~ ~ click"! hehehe [/B]

 

[Rajah]

If the telemarketers would be polite and accept no for an answer, I'd be polite, too. But I generally tell them "not interested, thanks" and hang up because if I don't hang up on them, they'll just keep talking. It's not so bad any more since the DNC list, but we still get enough that it's annoying. Not as annoying, but still annoying.

 

[barbeml]

The DNC only helps so much. Anyone you have done business with recently (6 months or a year, can't remember) can call you. That means any division of that company--bank, cable, telecom, etc. The Comcast Digital pusher calls me several times every single day--I see it on my caller ID.

Plus, there are tons of fly-by-night scam artists who ignore the DNC and call with their phony vacation deals and charity scams.

I might be inclined to say "Sorry, not interested" more often if just once a telemarketer had ever apologized to me for the interruption at dinner time.

Barbe

 

[chager]

Several years a guy called my parents about burial plots. Mom said "no thakyou" in every way could think of. If she had known different languages I'm sure she would have said no in them too! This guy would not give up. (It was pretty much harrassment at this point) She finally said
"I really do not need a burial plot! We absolutely love our home and yard , so we have decided to be buried in the back under the big oak tree. In fact we already put headstones out there even." She said the guy kind of stuttered and then hung up. I guess he got the point because he never called back again either.

This of course was many years ago before 'privacy manager' or 'do not call' lists. Sometimes telemarketers are just too pushy. I have had to do telemarketing in the past as part of a job I had. I was never pushy and always took no for an answer. Of course my paycheck wasn't based on the results of my efforts either. (Good thing because I would never have been paid much )

 

[septbride2002]

I am a telemarketer - and I find these hysterical! LOL! I use to do "cold calls" for a living and I always hung up when people said no thank you. I one time had a girl (probably in her teens) call me a not so nice name - I called back and explained to her that I had her number and I will wait until your mother gets home and let her know the language that she is using. The girl was quick to apologize

I play with the telemarketers as well - usually the cable company that just won't take no for an answer. One time I even said to the guy - Look I do this for a living too, but you are just being rude by ignoring my no thank you. He called me a not so nice name as well

~Amanda

 

[kimber79]

Originally posted by Briar Rose 7457
how about this novel approach: "no, thank you, I'm not interested."

the person making the call is just trying to earn a living, have a little pity on him/her.

I do have pity on telemarketers..........I used to be one!

I don't do this every time they call........but we have 8 phone lines at work, and when they call, they call each number.......and sometimes I just get in a mood to be silly! I'm sure you get a little silly now and then!!

 

[nativetxn]

I usually just say, "This is not a convenient time, thank you for calling." Then I hang up.

 

[knucklehead]

Excellent thread!!! I actually look forward to telemarketers. The giveaway is usually a bit of silence after my greeting, followed by a voice on the other end with chattering in the background. Gives me a chance to transform from mild mannered shop manager & devoted husband and father into my alter ego, "Manuel Labor", our part time janitor/housekeeper from an obscure third world country with a very limited understanding of the English language. I figure that the time that I can tie up a telemarketer on the phone is that much time that he/she cannot bother someone else while they're having dinner, helping with homework, tucking in the kids, watching a movie, etc., etc.