How do you deal with a telephone salesman calling during dinner?

I regret that I havent done this myself. Because when these salespeople call, my temperature rises a little bit and the urge to put down the phone is so great and I will miss it again. What I thought of doing is to sell them back what I want to sell. Since I have not done it I think I would need a little practice. But since they are strangers who are annoying you, who cares? You are a member of mylot why not introduce them to join mylot? Be more persuasive than they could ever be with you. I think if that wont get you off their list, nothing will!

God bless the USA!!!! I have caller ID on my phone line. PLUS I bought a digital phone where I can add in a name of who is calling!!! A lot of businesses used to not show their name nor number & I set my phone to NOT accept any unidentified callers. Then they started putting a city name or simply "toll free number" so their call is considered identified & it rings through. So, now once I figure out who it is, I edit the name to "Do NOT Answer" & I DON'T!!! Another trick I use is I got a prepaid cellphone & I gave the number ONLY to my friends...then I STOPPED answering my home phone!!! I still need my home phone for identification purposes & my fax machine, but I'm NOT required to answer it. When it rings at a convenient time, I do look to verify if it is a valid caller. At dinnertime, I just don't bother to answer it!!! During the times I know I'm NOT going to answer it, I turn my ringer off so I don't even have to hear it ring!!! So, might I suggest that when you sit down to eat, you turn off your ringer until you are ready to accept calls once again???

i just wouldnt answer the phone when i am eating dinner do you have caller id that shows you who is calling i would not answer the phone if you do not know the no good luck

One person told me that the best way to get rid of them was to say "I'll be right back" and then put the phone down. I just tell them "no" and say goodbye. If they call back, I ask to be put on their "do not call" list.

Lol.. I can understand the condition in which you might be now.. To think that after trying all these options you can't get rid of the phone calls.. I just cut the phone saying that I am not interested in their offers. But then these phone calls can't be avioded, if you shut one then there any other who pop up! So just ignore them or rather keep sharing more such ways to answer them..

I just press the stop button on the phone sometimes if I am not in a very good mood or I will tell them I am busy now if I am in a good mood.

I hate these calls. It is always at the worst time. I really hate when they call late at night, when I get my girls to sleep and then they wake one of them up. There have been several times that they have done this. One time my daughter was sick and they called late at night, and I picked up the phone and just started out right yelling at them. I told them that it is very inconsiderate to be calling someones house late at night, and that I was dealing with a sick baby and not to call my house ever again. Needless to say that telemarketer never called again. Thankfully I got on the do not call list, and I haven't recieved a phone call offer in awhile. It did get annoying that I swear they plan to call right when it is dinner time, or when it is late at night.

hi ajk oh yes and right at meal time. I have one I used while waiting for the time to pass on the us gov. do not call me line. I would say" muy sorry hasta la vista baby no habla la anglaise , muy beau coup de nada tres bien" and use the few words of foreignt lanuages I did know .they would hang up. also I would make my voice high pjtched like a little girl" YOU wanna my mommy me, she on the potty, you got candy? cindy want candy, you gonna give Cindy candy. no you bad man" then slam down the receiver.these will work on some callers. I did this once too often' and got this amused voice " pattytricia stop already this is your husband Garland and no I do not have any candy." we laughed about that for years.once I was stopped by of all things the American Diabetes association calling to take a survey on diabetes. I was up for that but the lady went on and on and I began to shake with low blood sugar and told her I was having low blood sugar so call back. she went right on so I had to hang up and get some orange juice.While I was spilling orange juice all over and almost passing out, she called back. my son, angry at her,took the call.' My mom almost fainted because you did not listen to her .she has low blood sugar and cannot finish that survey just now. she asked uyou politely to do this another time.YOU what? He frowned and replied " then the survey must not mean much to you if you cannot do it another time.goodbye. " He hung up on her while she was still talking.Anyone from the American Diabetes Association that knew nothing about low blood sugar should not have been doing diabetic surveys. It was funny and irritating and also scary as I almost fainted just talking and talking to her and answering questions about diabetes unending never stopping. the room began to spin and I told her that, and she kept saying oh I am almost through.

I'm on the list that says "No cold calls" so this rarely happens. If it does, I simply place the phone receiver by the phone and leave it there. Hey, if they want to talk to nobody at their own expense, that's fine with me: may their business flounder and go bankrupt under the expense of pointless calls. I hang up when I wander past again after 5-10 minutes.

Hi ajk Well, I have had so many irritating instances with my older number. But the safest way I found was - speak in a different language to them - like if they are speaking english start talking in Hindi or best Oriya(it is the local language of my state). But the funniest thing that I did last time was - I patiently listened to all that she said... and then when she asked me if I was interetsed to invest - I mentioned - dear, I earn just a few couple hundred rupees a month... but as I am impressed by the policies you mention and as you seem to be so sure they would benefit me, please invest for me, and visit me.... I will put you my nominee on the Will. Later, I lost that SIM card along with the phone and opted another number - I have put on the Do Not Disturb Calls on that and at least such calls are now rare.... though I do get a hell of such SMSs.

If it's dinner time, I just try to tell them to call after two hours because that time is very important for the family. I always remind myself to be nice because I used to work for a call center.

You be Firm and Tell Them Your not Interested. You Request Your Name be Removed from Their Telemarketing List. In many Countries they must Oblige Your Request to be Removed. If Your not Sure about Your Telephone Companies Policy on Telephone Marketers Annoying Calls. Contact Your Local Telephone Service Provider. Screening Your Calls is also a fine Choice and Purchase a Telephone Answering Device or Machine. Many New Telephones have the Caller I.D built in to. For more Information on the Caller

I've sometimes told these companies, on the rare occasion I answer, that I need their address because I'm going to send a bill for using my equipment and charge $25 per hour for my time. That stops them in their tracks. Another time, they called me before 8 AM on a weekend. I used to work for a newspaper and called people to find out why they cancelled and what it would take to restart. At the time, I knew when it was legal to start calling people and told a company that not only did they wake me up, but that it was illegal to call before a certain hour - I listed the time, but I've since forgotten the exact time. That also stopped them in their tracks

I monitor my calls. I let the answering machine answer and I decide if I want to pick up:)

I know it would be very disappointing to the tele-marketers. I just don't answer the market call phones. They are just too annoying, wasting my time. Sorry to the tele-marketers. I just can't be answering all the questions they have either.

I wouldn't answer the phone then i could not be interrupted. that's what they make caller id for.

Ha ha! Here is what I do, is that I tell them can I have your number because at the moment I am on long distant call and when they refuse to give me their number, I already have it on my caller id on my cell phone. So as soon as I hang up I open my call block application on my phone and my dear anytime they call back it immediately hangs up on them, where they can't even leave a voice mail. Sometimes too, I use my Spanglish and say eh? she no here, so sordie bet no ingles! That gets them to hang up right away. lol

I have a cell phone. I answer my cell phone. At our house we have a landline. its mainly for my husband's family because HE refuses to use a cell phone (old man) ANYWAY...sometimes phone rings, he will litterally get up go over to the phone look at the number and if its not someone he knows WILL NOT ANSWER IT! Or, phone rings, yells over to me I don't want to talk to anyone. I have answered this phone, and gotten anything from telemarketers to his ex wife who is behind in payments on something and they call us (we live in Florida and she is in Texas and NEVER lived in Florida) So I am one step away from unplugging the landline. Last week, got a soliciter call while trying to take care of my granddaughter who is a toddler and needs my attention than answering a phone call. I answer and when it was a telemarketer I took and unplugged the phone and wrapped it up and stuck it on a shelf. Damn husband come home and hung it back up. But remember HE will not ANSWER the phone and I have no use for the landline (endless circle going here LOL)