how to deal with telemarketers

visualpecepts · 02 December 2007, 20:02

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5z4Vs26-TI

codprawn · 03 December 2007, 02:11

I have had fun and games with them myself in the past - especially the Indian ones. My best was when I said that my home had been demolished by a runaway lorry and I was living in a tent - they believed it!!!

Another time I told them I would LOVE a mobile phone but I didn't have a bank account or use money - that we lived by barter and swopped sheep for what we needed. I then asked him how many sheep a month the phone would cost me. The bloke was well up for it but his boss refused - I suppose barter is still quite common in parts of India.........

Mollers · 03 December 2007, 07:18

Not for me, more for the traditionalist. Very elegant though. Not a lot of good off piste.

Downhilldai · 03 December 2007, 08:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

Not for me, more for the traditionalist. Very elegant though. Not a lot of good off piste.

Errr - have you been on the shant Mollers?

Nos4r2 · 03 December 2007, 08:52

I've told them I've got 'Voluntary Tourettes' before...

Jono · 03 December 2007, 09:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

Not for me, more for the traditionalist. Very elegant though. Not a lot of good off piste.

I heard ya gotta be a real hero to use 'em....

Nasher · 03 December 2007, 09:27

I use three options for my own enjoyment.

1) I ask very loudly if they want to speak to the warden, and tell them what a nice man he is etc. One or two have actually agreed to this.

2) I ask them if they like going to the zoo, then start talking about penguins.
Its amazing how quickly they put the phone down.

3) I put on my best home counties accent, ask an imaginary secretary to start a trace on the call, then ask them where they got the number from, as they are in very serious trouble. Again the phone goes down very quickly.

Its sad I enjoy doing this so much, and a complete waste of time, but surprisingly satisfying.

Nasher.

hobbit555 · 30 December 2007, 17:38

tell them that I will call my mum then leave the phone off the hook. One stayed on the line for over 15 minutes. I guess all the time they are waiting they are not calling somebody else.

Have tried to sell them double glazing

ian parkes · 30 December 2007, 22:44

They really drive me mad , I must get at least 3 a week , by the time I have turned off my saw or spindle and the extractor iam not impressed by a time wasting call .

If iam feeling polite I start telling them about my kitchens and joinery and offer to send them some info etc .

If they are really waffling I ask them to hold while I just go into the workshop.I then put the phone down on the machine and start it up and carry on working .

I have been known to tell them to get an effing yellow pages ad like I have done, and stop wasting my time .

Limey Linda · 31 December 2007, 00:35

Over here, due to the large Spanish only speaking population, every time you call a business you get a message starting Please press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish. So my answer on sales calls is always "Please press 1 for English" then I say nothing. They always hang up. BTW in the US we have a system run by the government that allows you to call or Email your tel number in and it goes on a central list. If a telemarketer calls you and you get the company name or number then you report him and he gets fined $5,000 per occurance. It actually works very well.

codprawn · 31 December 2007, 03:36

We also have that system and it works pretty well. You still get some calls though that say they are doing market research. They usually start off by saying - "We aren't trying to sell you anything"!!!

ian parkes · 31 December 2007, 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

We also have that system and it works pretty well. You still get some calls though that say they are doing market research. They usually start off by saying - "We aren't trying to sell you anything"!!!

I have been getting a lot of that lately the line is usually "can you spare me 10 mins of your time to answer some market reaearch questions " thats as far as they get as I then ask for adress so I can bill them for my time

bedajim · 01 January 2008, 08:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

We also have that system and it works pretty well. You still get some calls though that say they are doing market research. They usually start off by saying - "We aren't trying to sell you anything"!!!

TPS Telephone preference service works great