How do you handle persistent telemarketeers?

My grandfather used to be really creative whenever telemarkerters would call. He would always say something funny and make us laugh. I always want to do that but I never can think of anything to say. I get so tired of the same LOCAL telemarketers calling me all the time. I get a call about 3 times a week from a local newspaper telling me they have the same darn special ALL the time and trying to get me to buy it. NOW if I say the first two times they call that I'm not interested why do they need to call me again the 3rd time. By the third time they call me I get snotty and tell them that I get called 3 times each week and I want them to stop calling me. They never listen and it makes me so mad. I'd like to go there in person and personally go on their computer and delete my phone number off their call list since they say they will do that but never do. Its harrassment when I've told them that much to take me off their call list and they dont list. I had a business that did this all the time and then proceeded to tell me its legal to call me since its local its not considered telemarketing and so they could keep my number on their call list and call me even if I told them I didnt want them to. I told them I didnt care if it was legal or not that if they kept calling me they would be hearing from my lawyer. That scared them enough that they finally did stop calling me lol.

I try to sell them the old car I have in my yard.... the more they press for me to buy what they have, the more I press...they eventually give up.

If I get duped into picking up a call from a telemarketer and usually I don't answer calls from numbers I don't regonize, I will interupt them in full flow before they really get started and tell them quite bluntly that I am not interested and to don't bother calling back. If they do call back I ask for their name, the company name and where they are based, which is often responded to with "why" and I tell them that under the telecommunications act I am going to charge them with harasmment. I have no idea of the telecommunications act but it tends to get them panicing and hanging up on me, lol.

Normally I will try to annoy them politely so that they will not ringing me again. Some classic examples will be keep on say "Sorry, could you please repeat?" or "Pardon, I can't hear you properly." or "I have a weak signal, can you please speak louder?" While at the same time, I will be doing some other thing and ignoring them and only after they a few minutes, only I will tell them that I am not interested in their services. I haven't receive any calls from the same company since.

L.O.L. I used to work in a call center and I got yelled at all the time. They would say things like are you one of those d-- telemarketers? Some would be so angry and I would always come back with something funny to them and we would end up talking and joking around. I understand about being bothered by them but now I love to talk to them and tell them how many times are you going to keep calling after I told you no a thousand times plus. Good thing for caller I.D.! I know it's them! heee[ And I like to answer sometimes and pretend I am really interested and at the end of the call just say things like are you kidding me? Then say gotta go!

This is a modern day nuisance all right.The cellphone has brought in a lot of positives along with this major negative.These people call on all hours of the day and pester you like anything.Being downright rude is not in my nature , but I find that is the only recourse left to me to get rid of them.

you really should get caller id. I got caller id like 10 years ago to deal with this problem. You can tell exactly when they call and you just ignore it. I often pick the phone up and hangup immediately, I wish home phones had ignore like cell phones.

i tell them no once.they keep going,i hang up. i haven't got time for the "big sell". i try not to be really rude cause i know it's just their job,but by the same token i'm on the no call list,and they shouldn't even be calling me.

Its so easy to lose your temper and give the persistent telemarketer a piece of your mind, but there is a better way. Give the marketer an impression that you are interested in buying, and ask as many questions as you can. The quietly put the phone down leaving it turned up so you can hear the person talking in the background. Some of these guys will talk for 15 minutes and after a while (especially if your eating a meal with friends or family) it gets to be hilarious!

Hi, luckymichelle. If I don't feel like being bothered by them, I will purposely hang the phone up on the telemarketer. I know that this is mean. But, it is very hard to get them to understand that I am not interested in what they have to offer. I usually will just hang the phone up on the telemarketer. Then I will leave my phone off the hook, so that if they decided to call back, they would get a busy signal. And for future references, I will put my name on The Do Not Call Registry.

I usually just say "Excuse me, can I stop you for a moment? My number is on the telephone preference service list so I should not be receiving unsolicited calls." Sometimes they apologise, other times they slam the phone down. I guess it depends on what sort of day they're having. I would not answer my phone at all whilst driving. If someone comes to the door trying to sell me something, I stop them early on and politely thank them for calling but point out that they are wasting their time talking to me and would find it more profitable to move on and speak to someone who might be interested in purchasing their product.

Most of the time I just say, "I'm not interested" and just hang up, regardless of the telemarketer talking or not. Sometimes I'm nice, though. Once I had this woman trying to make me take a vacation, and that it was free and whatnot. I kept telling her I don't have a job, and it wouldn't make sense that her free vacation would not cost me a dime (since there's food, traveling, and other things that I'm sure are not covered), but she just kept insisting. It felt like we were chatting for 15 minutes (though it was probably 10 minutes). I thought it was quite fun and even thanked her for the long chat! Banks, however, don't deserve respect at all. My father kept getting annoyed by them. I call it harassment. If one isn't paying their bills it's because one cannot pay their bills! Why the harassment??

The best way I think is to install what we call "Caller ID device" or Caller Identification Device". This device is available in your service provider company, or through commercial establishments dealing with such device. Then have a list of "recognized phone numbers" in place. Then whenever a persistent or "spammer like" telemarketer annoys you, have that number included in your list, and ignore their "ring" in the future. That's the solution i think, because there are some telemarketers who will just call you again and again amidst your pleading not to call you again, coming back to life like a zombie. So, just ignore them the second time around...

I have put both my numbers on the list for "do not want telemarketing phone call" so if someone calls, I usually ask why they call me. Then they come up with some bad excuse about how I should check that every third month, but as it's them who should update their lists every third month I usually don't take it too seriously.

I don't want to be mean but if i am too busy and some telemarketer would call me, i would pretend as if i don't hear them.. But if i have time to listen i would listen.. We can always say no anyways...

The best way is not to respond to any unknown no and get the no registered under Do not disturb category with your service provider, So in case any telemarketer continuously disturbing you can take step against that company though your service provider.