Forget the Federal no-call list...

[Rami]

Good morning,

My wife thought I was nuts when I did this...until it worked.

Want a quick way to get rid of telemarketers? Have a Bible near the phone, and start reading from the Book of Revelation.

Either that or say..."If you have a few minutes, I'd like to talk to you about the Lord Jesus Christ."

You'd be amazed how fast they've been hanging up on me, and the amount of phone calls I get have reduced DRASTICALLY.

I also thought about telling them I am a terrorist recruiter and share what the weather in Yemen and Saudi Arabia is this time of year, but I don't need that kind of trouble. I'll stick to the Jesus tack.

[johnh_049]

Well, that might work.
The no-call list sure doesn't.

[Daveroo]

if its a male voice...i tell him he has a nice voice..then ask if he is single...then say..wow..the more i hear your voice the sexier it sounds..im really attracted to you now....only backfired on me once,when the guy on the other end was gay,single,and calling from my area and agreed to a date............:isadizzy:

[SSI01]

Go to YouTube and enter the word "telemarketer." Watch what comes up. There is one very well-done, quite polished taped presentation that has periodic comments set to a "muzak" background to keep the telemarketer on the line until they get fed up and hang up. I would recommend that one.:mixedsmi:

[pilottj]

A while back in college I had Yahoo Messenger to keep in touch with friends. For a period of time I kept getting spam, usually in the form of dirty messages. Fed up, I replied and told their 'bots' that I was 13 and on Daddy's computer. I never got another dirty spam after that.

[aeromed202]

Other ideas are-

*Say fast something like 'Hang on..." and set the phone down and time how long until the click
*Drop a hard cover book on a table and make sounds like you got shot
*No matter what they say first, say "what's the weather where you are?" or "how many people can you see from your box?"
*Say "I dunno, what do you think?"

*Yell "When do I get my money?!" or from The Blues Brothers "I thought it was supposed to be five years. Didn't you get five years?"
If you have a friend and can think fast, answer the first thing they say with " Oh, you, just a sec" then put the phone down and start a fake sinister argument about what to do about these mopes that keep calling.

I've done them all plus more;)

[glh]

Pretty good responses.

All I get are "We want your opinion surveys". As soon as I hear that, I tell them "Hold on. How many questions do you have ??". Let's say they answer ten.

I then tell them that I charge $20 per question. I will give them my address and to send me a check payable to "Cash" for $200 and include the phone number where I can call them back.

When they tell me they can't pay for information, I tell them "Time is Money, my friend" or "There is NO free lunch". We part amicably and they don't call back.

[Kofschip]

Thanks guys, that is very helpful. I am lately getting a lot of calls about reducing your credit card interest rate. These are dangerous whenb you answer them, they are a scam, so I yell in the phone as loud as I can (and that is very loud according to my neighbor :mixedsmi:) the word "NOOOOOOOO." This has reduced those calls to about once a week now. I think that I'll start the Scriptures on the ones that just started trying "to reduce" my utility rates, this is another scam. I think I got rid of the "chimney sweeps" forever with a boatswain whistle.

[aeromed202]

Here's one I didn't know about. If you know it's a telemarketer you don't want, start hitting the # key as fast as you can until the connection is stopped. Apparently it tells their software that you are a fax machine and the number should be dropped. I'll have to try that one on a particularly persistent one I get every week or so.

[Kofschip]

Just got one of those mortgage companies that "want to "help" you when you are in danger of foreclosure on the line. Jesus saved the day, they hung up very fast when I asked them whether they were ready to repent and accept Jesus as their Savior. I'll try the # key next.:mixedsmi:

[Tako_Kichi]

I used to be bugged by creditors trying to collect on debts written off long ago by the credit card company. Apparently there are businesses out there that will buy up written-off debts for a nominal fee and then try to recoup the cost by making a full claim for the outstanding debt. These jokers can get downright nasty in their threats and accusations when in 'hot pursuit' of what they consider to be their dues. I had a list of their numbers by the phone and our answering machine was set up to give a message only with no option to leave one. Whenever I saw their number(s) I let the answering machine take care of it, in fact any number that started with 1-800 or 1-888 went straight there too.

We recently switched from the national phone company to a local cable company for our phone, internet and TV services and we had the option to keep our old phone number or adopt a new one, we jumped at the chance to get a new number and life is wonderfully peaceful around here now. The only time the phone rings now is when it's family, friends or someone I really need to speak to as they are the ONLY people who have our new number. We've gone from 10-20 calls per day to less than that per week! We've got so used to the phone not ringing it sometimes makes us jump when it does ring! :icon_lol:

[Roadburner440]

This is why I like my new phone that I got last August... If they keep calling I just add them to the phones block list, and the phone doesn't even show that they tried to call. I have had peace and silence ever since. Although I will keep the Bible in mind though. I never thought to start quoting scripture to telemarketers.

[Willy]

I hate the ones that call on my cell phone as it just burns up my minutes.

On the reduced credit card rates, Mrs Willy loves those. She thanks them for helping her get a new credit card now that she's just filed bankruptcy. They hang up pronto on that one.

I like the "come to Jesus" idea and will have to try that one.