Jean in Newcastle Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 It goes like this: "Hi, this is Bob from XYZ corp. or charity, how are you doing?" Me: "Fine". Bob: "So, you have a nice day?" Me: "Um. Yes. . . " Long Silence. Bob: "Have you noticed how many children miss out on real Christmas festivities?" Me: silence. "Bob, could you tell me what it is that you want?" I wish they would just cut to the chase and tell me what it is they want so that I can tell them "no" without all this false friendship stuff going on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Oh you are so polite! When he gets to "from XYZ corp" I say "sorry, not interested" and hang up. I used to be polite, in a time long ago, but then there got to be so many of them, calling so regularly, that my politeness all evaporated. Fortunately in Australia we have a Do Not Call Register, I registered on that and all the calls stopped within 2 weeks, which was probably lucky for the telemarketers because in the previous month I'd gone from saying No thanks and hanging up, to playing with them like a kitten on a string :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I find getting on the national and state 'do not call' list has greatly reduced these faux friends. Otherwise I respond "we don't respond to telephone solicitation" and hang up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adams101 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Ask them on a date! My dh's grandfather does this. He is 91, and Grandma died 12 years ago. If they are female, he asks them out on a date and tells them he will come pick them up.:tongue_smilie: They get flustered and usually hang up on him. They don't usually call back either.:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Just tell them you're having a bad day and how happy you are to have someone to unload on:bigear:;). Share away and I'm sure they'll take you off their list. I've turned a toddler on them in the past and the calls stopped. Mom always taught us to be polite, but I learned to just hang up without a word now. We are on the do not call list, but if you do any business with a company; they have the right to call you:001_huh:. I have been know to say..."We are on the do not call list or remove us from your list." I'm dreading, dreading the next election; they are exempt. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in AL Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I'm dreading, dreading the next election; they are exempt. :tongue_smilie: :iagree::iagree: Sorry for the double pix..... there wasn't a "I agree 1,000%" guy!!! I, too, HATE the exempt calls. I mean, I still get the regular ones, despite being on the Do Not Call list, so when elections come around, it makes me sick to hear the phone ringing all the time... and most of them are recordings! Last year, I just let the machine pick up what calls I could (sometimes I couldn't stand the phone ringing every 10 minutes, so picked up only to HANG up!), but those horrid recordings would be left on my machine, filling it up. I would love to just get rid of the phone!! I hate that when I order a magazine anyone from the PARENT company and any of their other companies can call me.... they also call 9 months early for me to renew my subscription..... I'm planning to let all my subscriptions just run out, because I HATE being begged to buy/donate. And the charities are exempt, too.... I find they are ruthless!! I finally picked ONE local charity who doesn't call and we JUST give to them. And what's up with the college alumni people calling? They are relentless, too..... I graduated in '93 and have NEVER given them a thing, yet every year, they call at least twice a day for about a month. ???? And just so I'm not deviating from the "best friend" attitude of the callers that the OP mentioned..... yeah.... that really gets my goat. When they ask me 'are you having a nice day?', it tips me off who they are, so I groan loudly and say yyeaaahhhh...." (to imply that I WAS until a moment ago, and what the heck do you want) and just leave it. Then I tell them "not interested, don't call back" and hang up. I, too, can't stand the 'phony phone phriends'. :D :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvmy4blessings Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Early in married life when I was very poor and the only job I could get 2nd shift was telemarketing...yes I admit it. It's part of my shady past :lol: In training they told us that our calls are monitored and we are not allowed to get off the phone unless we have had 3 no's. Some of the people I called knew this and so they would say No 3 times in a row and then go "you have your three no's". Others would just hang up and I appreciated that to be honest. I didn't care if they bought what I was selling b/c I did not get paid commission. If they hung up, it just went to the next call automatically. I screen all of my calls now and I don't answer any number that I don't recognize. BUt if I do answer a call and it is sales I just hang up. So don't feel bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 It goes like this: "Hi, this is Bob from XYZ corp. or charity, how are you doing?" Sorry, I don't know any Bobs. Click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Oh you are so polite! When he gets to "from XYZ corp" I say "sorry, not interested" and hang up. I used to be polite, in a time long ago, but then there got to be so many of them, calling so regularly, that my politeness all evaporated.QUOTE] :iagree: My standard response is "Take me off your call list and Don't Call Back!" Click. Dh on the other hand is TOOOOOOOO nice, and gets sucked in. I try to get him to not play nice, that it just eggs them on for the future, but it has been to no avail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I find getting on the national and state 'do not call' list has greatly reduced these faux friends. Otherwise I respond "we don't respond to telephone solicitation" and hang up. I say the same thing, and then add that we are on the do not call list, and request they remove this number from their database immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdeveson Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 It goes like this: "Hi, this is Bob from XYZ corp. or charity, how are you doing?" Register for the Do Not Call List. You can do so online and you can even add your cell numbers. Telemarketers are out of control these days. I still get a few from time to time. They're allowed to call if you have an existing business relationship with you so my credit card companies are always trying to get me to sign up for some worthless extra service or other. I'm always torn because a) I don't want strangers bothering me at home, but b) the poor guy on the other end is probably just trying to pay his rent. Ack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Ask them on a date! My dh's grandfather does this. He is 91, and Grandma died 12 years ago. If they are female, he asks them out on a date and tells them he will come pick them up.:tongue_smilie: They get flustered and usually hang up on him. They don't usually call back either.:lol: Yep, that's the way to handle them.. my dad pretends he's an old woman and makes them spell everything they say, so he can "leave a good message". He'll spell things back to them wrong. Drives them completely insane and dad has a wonderful time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 Yep, that's the way to handle them.. my dad pretends he's an old woman and makes them spell everything they say, so he can "leave a good message". He'll spell things back to them wrong. Drives them completely insane and dad has a wonderful time. :smilielol5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 Sometimes when they ask me "How are you?" I will reply "Not interested" and hang up. But then I feel like I was so impolite that I'm nice to the next one who calls. I guess I'd better get over that, huh. I had tried the Do-not-call list. It was a while ago - do you have to renew it after a time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Oh, another fun thing to do is to use a weird accent. Sometimes I'm a Chinese housekeeper and yell at them in broken English (Pidgen? Is that what it's called or is that a rude word?) Anyhow, holler "You no call here again. Missy busy, no time for buying things!" I wish I got more telemarketer calls. They make my day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 When I was in my "telemarketers as sport" phase before I put us on the Do Not Call, I had a list something like this by the phone: http://www.keepersoflists.org/index.php?lid=624 The kids and I had great fun with it. Alternatively, here's a game you can play: http://www.identafone.com/fungame.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in OH Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I wish they would just cut to the chase and tell me what it is they want so that I can tell them "no" without all this false friendship stuff going on! I figure that the current thinking must be to create a "friendship" so that it's harder to say no. The other night I received the standard development office call from a student at my alma mater. She started chatting it up about wanting to know how I chose my major. Huh? A 19 yo wants to know how I arrived at my major 30 years ago? I don't think so. I could just see her supervisor saying, "Get them talking about their experience here. They'll reconnect with their fond college memories and give generously." Yuck. Don't waste my time. Nonetheless, I can't be abrupt with the college students--I did that job for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 My 5yo daughter LOVES to talk to telemarketers. She's been answering the phone since she was 3! Anyone who knows us knows to chat her up a little bit then ask for Mama. Telemarketers usually hang up on her. ETA: I tell her that it is okay for her to say she is Mrs Ourlastname Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Wasn't there an episode on Seinfeld about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpupg Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I tell them we never respond to telephone soliciations, but if they want to send me a brochure, I will consider it equally with all the other charity appeals we receive. Then I ask them to remove our number from their calling list. Then I take the initiative to say "thank you and goodbye." All very polite, yet firm. I never receive any brochures from those organizations. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 No, these are the people you need to vent on. "How are you?" Well as a matter of fact now that you mention it, and go on and on and on and on. They'll hang up. We used to give these calls to our toddler. She loved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Ask them on a date! My dh's grandfather does this. He is 91, and Grandma died 12 years ago. If they are female, he asks them out on a date and tells them he will come pick them up.:tongue_smilie: They get flustered and usually hang up on him. They don't usually call back either.:lol: That's the best!! We are on the do not call list but we still get calls from charities, political organizations and the like. I had one last week that was driving me crazy. They had been calling 4 times a day for a month! I finally answered. I kept telling her I won't give money over the phone, but I would consider it if they would let me mail it in. She kepts saying "But you can trust me I wouldn't risk my job to steal your cc information. The call is being recorded it's safe." The next person who calls is getting asked out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Yep, that's the way to handle them.. my dad pretends he's an old woman and makes them spell everything they say, so he can "leave a good message". He'll spell things back to them wrong. Drives them completely insane and dad has a wonderful time. That's funny too!! I want to try that one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 That's the best!! We are on the do not call list but we still get calls from charities, political organizations and the like. I had one last week that was driving me crazy. They had been calling 4 times a day for a month! I finally answered. I kept telling her I won't give money over the phone, but I would consider it if they would let me mail it in. She kepts saying "But you can trust me I wouldn't risk my job to steal your cc information. The call is being recorded it's safe." The next person who calls is getting asked out! That organisation sounds ripe for a bit of "telemarketers as sport" oh the things we can do to have fun with them :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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