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How to get rid of stuff » Personal » How to Get Rid of Telemarketers
 

How to Get Rid of Telemarketers

June 26th, 2007 by MartinDodge
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How to Block Telemarketers

Thanks to the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry, you can make salespeople calling your home phone a thing of the past. (Exceptions are calls from, or on behalf of, political organizations, charities, legitimate telephone surveyors, or companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom you’ve provided express permission to call.) In the unlikely event there are some telemarketing calls you don’t mind receiving, you can provide those companies written permission to call you. You may include all of your personal phones, including mobile phones, and the service is free! Your registration is effective for five years. You can put yourself on the Registry list at https://www.donotcall.gov/ or call toll free at +1-888-382-1222 from your home phone. Once you have been on the register for 31 days, should a telemarketer call, you can file a complaint at the Registry’s Website, the same place where you registered your personal numbers. To file a complaint, you must know either the name or telephone number of the company that called you as well as the date the company called you. Be alert for scams involving the Registry. You might be contacted by someone by phone or email offering to put your name on the Do Not Call Registry for a fee. As the Registry is a free service of your federal government, the FTC does not allow this. Websites or phone or email solicitations that claim they can or will register a consumer’s name or phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry — especially those that charge a fee — are almost certainly scams.

Some things to remember:

  • You will have to re-register whenever you get a new phone number; the system automatically removes numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned
  • Should your current number be disconnected for any reason, you will have to re-register it when you are reconnected
  • Changing calling plans or the billing name on your telephone account could have the same effect as having the number disconnected, and you will have to re-register.
There is a persistent rumor that a database of personal cell phone numbers is being released to telemarketers. Even if it were true, which it isn’t, the No Call Registry can also put your cell phone number off limits to telemarketers.

 

How to Prank a Telemarketer

Some people, though, prefer confronting telemarketers rather than blocking them. Here are a few ideas:
  • Talk incoherently.
  • Play deaf or say that you have a bad connection.
  • Talk gibberish.
  • Try to order a large pepperoni pizza.
  • Repeatedly dial the phone. Mutter that it isn't ringing
  • Try to sell the telemarketer something.
  • Pretend to be really interested, then say "no".
  • Keep crackers near the phone. When a telemarketer calls eat the crackers. Chew loudly, make slurping noises, and talk with your mouth full.
Go ahead and share your pranks using the form at the bottom of this page.

Are Telemarketers People Too?

The caller may be a single mother who is barely managing to keep it together with the only job she could find or a guy who’s trying to support a family on the lousy income a telemarketer makes. It’s a rough world out there for the wage slave, and it keeps getting rougher. So please have a heart. Don’t be a jerk, try to get rid of bad manners. Telemarketers would prefer that you simply hang up on them than have you mess with them.
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  1. January 31st, 2011 at 8:33 pm    RJ Morrison Says:

    I am registered on the do not call list but still received calls…for 5 days straight Synergy Corp called @ least 5x’s a day.

    On Saturday, I answered putting on my most distressed voice , and told the telemarketer (speaking in the third person that I had passed away). Guess what no more calls only an apology….

  2. November 2nd, 2010 at 8:47 pm    jejejeje Says:

    Tell them you are on a budget and cancelled all the credit cards and are having a hard time paying bills, and ask for a donation. they will hang up the phone so fast!!!

  3. November 2nd, 2010 at 8:44 pm    JaJaJa202020202 Says:

    Easy, and very efective, tell them you cancelled all your credit cards

  4. July 9th, 2010 at 10:41 am    Plasticman Says:

    Always, ALWAYS, when they ask to speak to (you or whoever) just say ‘Sure, hold on,’ and put the phone down. Use THEIR time. About halfway through, when they are about to hang up, pick up the phone, say hello and they will say ‘Is this (whoever) and you say ‘Oh hold on’ and put the phone down again. USE THEIR TIME!

  5. February 15th, 2010 at 4:01 pm    Elizabeth Says:

    I’ve been dying to do this- answer the phone and when they start talking sing the chorus of “You’re not Sorry” by Taylor Swift… “You don’t have to call anymore, I won’t pick up the phone. This is the last straw, don’t want to hurt anyone. And you can tell me that you’re sorry but I won’t believe you baby like i did, before…”

    I’m also going to try to sell them insurance

    Another fun one- Yo, Ima let you finish in a minuet, but the insurance company who called me last night had one of the best salsman of all time. The best salsperson of all time..

  6. August 13th, 2009 at 10:58 pm    Ken Says:

    Simply ask them to “Please Hold” and put the phone down for 5 minutes or so then hang up… Your telemarketer calls will quickly diminish…

  7. May 22nd, 2009 at 1:48 pm    Call Center Operator Says:

    (evil grin) The best and easiest way to get rid of them, I found out from working at a call center, is to pretend you are with a pizza company. Or fast food chain. Just pick up the phone and in your happiest voice say: “Thank you for calling ____! This is (insert random name, not yours), how can I help you?”

    This confuses the FK out of them everytime. I usually get a hang up, a confused telemarketer, or an apology when I answer the phone that way. This will work also for any businesses out there- because it’ll make the operator believe the number is no good anymore and will purge it out of their system.

  8. April 11th, 2009 at 9:51 pm    Ben Harper Says:

    There are several good pranks at RUFKM that had me rolling on the floor on how to get rid of telemarketers. My favorite was the “Do you like cheese?”

  9. November 7th, 2008 at 11:14 pm    Beasley Says:

    I work as a Receptionist in an office, and I get the same telemarketing call about three times a month (something about “yellow pages online…scam, turns out). These people wanted to know my name, month/date of birth, job title, and age. The first time I spoke to them, I actually gave them that info…yep, like a moron! And stayed on the line with them for 20 minutes for who-knows-what. Eventually, once they put me on hold (and being confused and young, I held) I hung up on them, and they called right back and asked, “[my name], what happened there??” OMG.
    Anyway, now I hang up immediately once I recognize who it is. I can’t screw with telemarketers while at work, unfortunately. But I discover that if they find out you’re underage, they don’t want to deal with you. So maybe that’s worth a try to keep them away.

  10. September 15th, 2008 at 10:25 am    ex-telemarketer Says:

    Yea as my name says i am an ex telemarketer… i sold xm radio subscriptions for people coming off there trial period now the best thing for you to say to THEM is put me on your dnc (do not call) list they HAVE to read you a dnc closure then you can hang up… sometimes it takes about 30days for them to stop… don’t ask why i think it’s kinda retarded but yea so be it…. but i still LOVE to mess with telemarketers like for instance have a room mate pic up another phone in the house so he or she is on the line then contradict person A with person B it all gets really confussing and they get really mad… person A has to act like they don’t know what is going on or who that person is… just have person A get mad at the telemarketer and accuse HIM of being the person on the other line… just tell them that the person B’s voice sounds like them regardless of gender or race… it’s really funny…. either that or you can always add … your accent isn’t fooling me i know your from zimbabwea or how ever you spell that haha there are alot of fun things…. me? i would LOVE to get calls everyday from telemarketers but unfortunatly it only happens everyonce in a while

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