"Hello, can I interest you in ..." How do you get rid of telemarketers

Most of the time, I just say no thank you and hang up before they have a chance to say anything else. I don't feel I owe them more than that, they are calling me at my home without me asking them to so I politely say no thank you and hang up. The longer you talk to them the more they keep going and going, I just cut them off quick so they can go and bug the next person on their list.

Same thing happens here. I tell them to take me off their call list because I do not want to hear from them again. That has helped stop the non stop ringing.

I think you have to renew the telephone preference service because we did that ages and ages ago when we were literally plagued with salespeople ringing night and day and it stopped, then all of a sudden it started up again. I hate the phone personally, it's an invasion of my privacy, if it wasn't for the fact that I had broadband I wouldn't have a phone. Caller display is another good option to have so you can filter out the salespeople calling but that doesn't stop the damn phone from ringing. Who provides your line is it British Telecom? The only thing I find to say which seems to work, although not all the time is that I am unemployed or I live in rented accommodation, ok so they are lies but if it gets rid of them all the better.

Here in Australia there is a national 'No Call' register where you sign up and no telemarketers are allowed to call your number. Otherwise you can do what my grandfather does, when they call and say "Is Mr/Mrs so and so there?" he says "yes I'll just get him for you." Then he puts the phone down and makes a cup of tea and goes and watches TV.

I have caller id and that is why I screen all of my calls. I suggest you to do the same for me I am less likey to pick up the phone to hear someone asking me to buy something. As for survey calls well I like surveys I am part of a few survey sites and have made some good money from them so I enjoy calls from them. Take care and I hope for your sake you can get caller id so you are not answering those calls all the time. mylotting as well

GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY! hI RECYCLE! i AM working in one. I know it really gets annoying but we are just doing our jobs. Especially that I haven't graduated college. I call and do surveys! and I really do apologize and get to call you. Maybe you can just spare us a few minutes and answer the question? sometimes it could really take long but we could just give you a call back at your most convenient time :) Sorry sorry. We need to do something for a living and that is the only job that pays. I hope you understand. :)

The best thing, I've found, is to try and sell them something! LOL Start asking them questions, and try and turn the tables on them. With telemarketers, the best thing to do is to find funny and creative ways to mess with their heads. It's open season on telemarketers as far as I'm concerned. LOL And "eff off" is a good one! :)

We used to get those calls and there's a couple of ways you can handle it...you can try selling them something when they call (hit them with your own sales pitch), you can ask them to remove your name and number from their phone list (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't) or you can do what I do and just let the answering machine pick up (they won't talk to it). It can be really annoying thankfully I have caller ID so if it's not someone I know then I don't pick it up. [b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~ **STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]

ask for a supervisor and tell them that you are on the do not call list and that if they call again, you will be taking action

I do agree telemarketers are really a pain. Many times, I would just tell them I am not interested and put down the phone. If they call again, I would not be too courteous to them. However, most telemarketers, I believe are new and they politely started off with "Is it convenient...". I find this opening rather convenient for me and I would conveniently say No and not give him/her a chance to talk further. How nice the telemarketer is and how nasty I can be. lol.

Hello, Recycledgoth. A friend of mine had a call for a stairlift company, who said they could guarantee to fit a stairlift in his home. He said they couldn't do it, then let her go on for another 10 minutes about how they could, before saying, 'You can't fit a stairlift in my home, because it's a bungalow.' Wasting time is a good ploy, but if you don't want to be bothered, do what I did when the electricity company salesperson kept asking to speak to the bill payer. (my husband) I said he didn't want to speak to her, and she asked how I knew that. I said, 'Because he's just collapsed and we're waiting for the paramedics to call back to say when they'll arrive. Now get off the line, and don't call again.' Extreme, I know, but it worked, and it stopped a lot of other calls as well, so they must have a database where they can record really unsympathetic householders. I know from someone who used to work in telesales that if you swear at them, your number is blacklisted on a central database, but not everyone would be comfortable doing that - I certainly wouldn't.

Hello goth, must be hard keeping up with the incoming phone calls. i don't think that will ever stop because of some telephone companies selling YOUR phone numbers to series of business who wanted to use your numbers as contacts. i believe you should call an agency and registered as a DNC list, it's a lot better or change your Phone number

You can register with the telephone preference service which gets rid of a lot of them. What you will still get are the unscrupulous ones who just dial numbers at random and ask for the "householder" because they don't have your name. In which case be either as abusive as you like or say "I'll just get them" and leave them on hold for an hour or whack the stereo on and treat them to some Slayer. If you are feeling mischievous you can either string them along or wind them up - one of my faves is to pretend they've called a secured line in a military base which is on alert and shout across the room "Sergeant Wilson, trace this call and have these idiots 'phones disconnected!". Or you can try to convert them to your religion or any religion that takes your fancy "have you considered the Church of Satan?" and so on. Amazingly, we don't get many calls these days. Funny that...

We have a similar thing. Sometimes they want to sell phone packages,sometimes windows. I always say no sorry i don't have time and just put the phone down because really they are not going to make a sale and at the end of the day you are doing them a favor,they can cross you off the list at once and move onto the next vict...er customer. We have had one where the lady said 'you have won a holiday!congratulations' and I said 'oh I don't want it!',she was flabbergasted but I know that it is just a ploy to sell timeshare and that is never going to happen in this house :P

Wow, recycledgoth, it sounds awful! Yes, these calls are so boring! I think here the telemarketers are not so perseverant - it's good for us I always refuse them directly like you, but not in a hurry. I will say more. Like making up some reasonable excuses, so that they're sure it's impossible to succeed. Sometimes if s/he is so perseverant, I will let them know I'm poor enough, and they cannot get even if one yuan from me. (You know they're only interested in rich people.) Generally speaking, I will make them lose their hearts completely.

They are annoying aren't they I had one the other day and told them no thank you but of course they would not take no for an answer. Then my three year old came to the rescue without him knowing it of course. He started shouting very loudly right in my ear that I had the phone to 'Mum who is that on the phone can I talk to them'. After that the person on the other end hung up rather quickly obviously rather daunted at the possibility they might have to talk to a 3 year old. But I think the best one I heard was from a friend who had answered the phone and they tried to sell him new windows he said no thank you but do you do conservatories. They said yes would you like one and he replied yes I would and gave them his address then it dawned on the sales person that he lived in a 2nd floor flat and that they couldn't build one on a 2nd floor flat. So my friend told them well you have my phone number and my name and seemed to know a lot about me so I assumed you knew I lived in a flat on the second floor. Of course after that the salesperson gave up. So sometimes its best to play them at there own game.

Yup I do. Before they go into their speel ask them these three questions: What is the name of your company What is the company address What is the company phone number They will either hang up and cross you off their list or transfer you to a manager. If you get a manager, tell them your phone number is unlisted and not only do you need to know their company name, address and phone number (because by law they have to give it to you) they have to provide you with where they purchased your phone number. I know it seems like a lot, but what will happen is you will be removed from all their list and if your phone number comes into their system again they will delete it out. There is a law out there that you can request to be put on their do not call list. If you get all this information and report them if they call again. They get fined $500 for everytime you report that company. Usually by the time I ask for those three things (company name, address and phone number) I usually get a "I'm so sorry for bothering you" and then never hear from again. I know i've been bad lately of not answering if the number is comes up as unknown or just hang up if it's one of those recordings, but seriously do this and the calls will taper off until you rarely get them at all. I would also, call your phone company and complain to them. You are paying for an unlisted number and only your phone number can be released from your phone company. Selling people's home phone numbers is big business, but if you are paying for a service you're not getting - you can bet I'd be on the phone to my carrier and asking them why.

i used to received that calls before specially from credit card agent. i hate it coz i feel so disturb specially if im doing something and my phone is ringing and then you need to run out and grab the phone coz i thought its important from friend and family since i only have friends and family who know my phone unless my office mates but i didnt work anymore. and since theres its only number you really need to answer it and its only an offer. i alway get angry to them by telling them that i dont need anything, and if i need too, i will be the one to call.

Even with being on a don't call list...they still get through once in a while. I usually do 1 of 2 things. 1) I just lay the phone down and go about my business....this way they are just talking to themselves. 2) I ask them for their home phone number and what time they have dinner, so that I may return their call :)

Everyday even I get around 10 calls, which speaks about telemarketing alone. If I say don't disturb me again.....they apoligise and again another person from the same office will call me from the same cellphone. Just to avoid this, I got a very nice idea to save their numbers as wrong no., wrong no.1, wrong no.2, etc., When there is a call from that company I will not life the call. It consumes my time and energy.