How do you answer people who try to sell you things over the phone?

Question

I used to be polite but now I just tell them to feck right off.

Are you polite or rude to the cold callers?

Answer 1

You polite? Christ, now I've heard it all... anyway the way I deal with them is to say the following:

"I'm busy can I call you back at around 11 tonight"
They will usually reply and say I'm not here then, I'm at home
"oh give me your home number then and I will call you there"
They say we can't give out our home numbers
"oh can I not call you at home then?"
no
"what makes you think you can fecking call me at home then you daft feckwit?"

Normally they hang up.

Answer 2

There's really no need to be rude to the people employed to do this job. It is the company that buys your data, from companies you gave it to, and the person on the phone is just paid to sit there and talk- he has NOTHING to do with the process of aquiring your number, and the machine is dialling on his behalf. If you want to be rude to someone, be rude to whoever owns the companies that use this type of marketing, be rude to Ofcom who allow it to happen, be rude to whoever passed a law saying it's OK for companies to cold call. But not this person who just wants to make a living, and goes to work every day just like you and me, doing a perfectly legal job.

I worked in a call centre when i was at uni, I had to do a job with as few hours and as much pay as possible and it was clearly the best option for me. It was horrible. We didn't all have thick skins, as one answerer suggested. I used to cry in the toilets all the time after people would swear at me, call me a loser and tell me to get a life, jump off a bridge, or worse. As if it was MY fault that this company existed, that this type of marketing was legal, that the machine happened to dial their number at that time. I was just a student trying to make sure I got through uni so I could make something of myself. It was very frustrating to hear these assumptions being made about what kind of person i was just from the fact I was doing that job at that time in my life.

Anyway, the best thing you can do is think quickly and give them the one answer you know they can't argue with.

Phone contract? No, I just signed a contract with another provider.
Double glazing? Just got it done!
Kitchen quote? Having a new kitchen put in as we speak, you got to me too late!

And so on. Or just say, as nicely as possible, "I'm sorry but I'm just not in the market for that right now, best of luck, have a good evening" and hang up if they start to argue back.

Answer 3

If you immediately hang up on them, they call immediately someone else. One way to collectively reduce this nuisance is to say :"I'll be with you in a minute" and to just put the phone down without hanging up. After a while the caller will hang up but while he is waiting, he is not calling anybody else. The total number of these calls should go down :-)

Answer 4

BEYOND RUDE.
i have the phone book out when the caller id reads a different area code i find where it is. get on the computer to find out the exchange (first 3 numbers after the area code) and tell the person on the other end where they are and i can be there in a few hours (after getting the name). i'll look up on anywho.com the persons' name. a few times i have gotten the persons' home number and address. wouldn't you know it,,, when i ask if that's the correct address and phone number i get hung up on. hmm?

ask how to get children to stop running in the house with scissors. answer the phone screaming at the kids (who aren't even home). ask how to get blood stains out of carpet and walls. make sure the person knows it's warm blood.

Answer 5

My great uncle has an interesting mode of attack. If he has time to spare, he will talk amicably with the person for as long as possible, giving them his life story, and then after a while telling the person on the other end that he's not interested. Remember, most companies have to pay for the phone calls. Squeeze them for every penny that you can. If you don't have that much time available, simply tell them that the person is wasting his/her and your time, and they would have greater chance trying to convince you to pogo-stick along the Great Wall of China. Tell them you are going to hang up on them, and stick by your word.

Answer 6

I tell them ... "Hiiiiiiiii ... I'm so glad you ca..." (then right in the middle of the sentence, while I'm still talking, I press the button, disconnecting them. They never suspect it was me, since I was in the middle of a sentence ... they just think it was a phone faux paux. Since they all use auto dialers now, they don't even know who you are or how to get back to you ... they just go on to the next auto dialed call.

The other thing that works real well is to try to sell them some Avon products or Tupperware. They don't like the tables being turned on them.

Answer 7

Caller id is a wonderful thing. I don't answer numbers I don't recognize. The other thing you can do without being rude is to ask them to remove your number from all of their lists (your number might be on more than one list they have). Here in Canada, by law the telemarketer would then have to remove your number.

Answer 8

If you've got the time, wind them up - i had someone trying to sell me a conservatory- i told them i was interested and they gave me all the prices and jibberish they do, must have been onthe phone for about 20 mins - i then told them that there may be a slight problem but they were sure that no matter what the problem was, they would be able to deal with it. I told them i lived on the 14th floor..... they hung up.

Answer 9

I usually pretend like Im interested for a second, like "Sure, tell me all about it", then stick the phone in a drawer or something go about my business.

One time a campaigner for the political party I happen to hate called trying to get my vote and I set the phone on my dogs paws and he started licking it. LOL... bet they thought THAT was interesting.

Answer 10

Polite at first, but I get into a bad mood quickly when I have to repeat my lack of interest to a salesperson, especially over the phone, while I'm in the privacy of my own home.

Thats when I get rude, yell, and hang up.