Our phone number is ex-directory and yet we still get hassled daily by salesmen/women ringing up trying to sell us things. It seems that being polite to them just doesn't work as they wont take no for an answer. I am fed up of just hanging up on them, and now just feel like telling them where to go. Any ideas for something to say to them to make them actually get the message??
2006-07-21 04:02:02 · 26 answers · asked by AI000 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
Im in the UK by the way... finding some of these answers quite amusing though!
2006-07-21 04:43:42 · update #1
Oh man u are gonna love this one! Ok first after you say hello, immediately after they start ranting off you begin doing the same thing with another product that you have made up. It helps to have a script written out for these calls. After they stop in confusion, you, paying no attention to what they say, keep going on about your product. Then try to get them to buy it! If you get a real dumb guy who actually gives you his credit card #, well you can take it from there...but even if they dont, they probably wont call you back. And if that doesnt work, you can always pretend that they called the German Embassy or, even better, their bosses' office!
2006-07-21 06:02:19 · answer #1 · answered by bigminisachin1231 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It hasn't happened since I ditched my land line and went totally wireless. But when it did, I could always tell the salespeople because people I know call me by a nickname, so anyone calling asking for me by my given name, I knew was a sales person. I'd just say "Hold on and I'll get her", put the phone down and go on about my business. If everyone who could (obviously wouldn't work for a Mark or John), did this, and the salespeople wasted enough time on hold, maybe they would quit their jobs, and find something else to do.
2006-07-21 04:29:27 · answer #2 · answered by warriorwoman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I tell them that the person they are trying to reach has just died. They feel terrible and won't call again because the customer is dead.
i read in a readers digest about a woman that got a sales call for her husband. She told the guy he wasn't there and gave the caller her husband's new number. the number was for the local cemetary. lol.
2006-07-21 04:32:44 · answer #3 · answered by Queen of the Dachshunds 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like to have fun with them. I let them give me their entire sales pitch, and when they think they are going to 'close the deal'....I throw them the curve, by asking them if they can accept my welfare check for payment. This generally is met with stony silence, as they never have a comeback for that!!! That just isn't written in their little script that they follow. Another thing that is fun is to ask the same question repeatedly. Try to get them so frustrated that they hang up on you! Have fun with it!!
2006-07-21 04:07:30 · answer #4 · answered by mxmrphy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know where you live, but most states have a "Do Not Call" list. Once you're on that list that should alleviate the majority of your problems. The Telemarketing companies have to buy this list from your state and if they violate it, they are subject to large fines.
2006-07-21 04:06:58 · answer #5 · answered by indystoprealtor 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If I don't recognise the number, I don't answer the phone. My husband sometimes answers and starts talking to them in a crazy accent or says something like "Chicago mental institute, may you help me?" lol
2006-07-21 04:25:55 · answer #6 · answered by AsianPersuasion :) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Someone I know asked for the caller's credit card info, as his time is very valuable, and he was going to charge $100 per minute to listen to the call. I don't think he's had much problem since then! =0)
2006-07-21 04:06:09 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
juss pick up the phone and then just hand up or tell them to stop calling loudly and angerly
theres a site where u enter ur tele # and then it makes people stop i forgot the site if u want email me a question or soemthing and i'll look for the site and tell u
2006-07-21 04:06:34 · answer #8 · answered by ruskiypotz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When they start their pitch, I usually say something like, "Excuse me, I'm not interested and please remove my name from your call list, thankyou. I say this all in one breath and then hang up. They rarely call back, but if they do I tell them, "I already requested that my name be removed from your call list. Please do not call me again or I will report your company to the Better Business Bureau!" That usually does the trick!
2006-07-21 04:08:44 · answer #9 · answered by hellzbellz 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ask them for their home phone number and tell them you'll call back.
you know right away that the call is some sort of solicitation so i just cut them off and say "not interested, thanks" and hang up. i too am a recovering "nice guy".
2006-07-21 04:07:21 · answer #10 · answered by zoo2626 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋