I really dislike telemarketing calls..

Post Reply New Topic

So I finally actually decided to answer and try to tell the person who keeps calling over and over I am not interested in whatever it is they are offering. It was some service to give you info on colleges I guess...but I have no intention of going to college and I tried to just politely say 'actually I am not interested' but they kept kind of persisting so I told them 'I have no plans to enroll anywhere at this time.' but they just kept on with 'its complimentary' 'just give us a few minutes'. So I guess more than the repeated random calls from the same number what really bothers me is when they don't take no for an answer. Its stressful for me and I don't know how to respond...these people need to learn no means no.

This time I ended up just hanging up when they wouldn't listen to me saying I wasn't interested, and now I have blocked the number. So hopefully that will be the end of it. But yeah it was either hang up on them or start getting rude out of frustration.

Another time though it was something called the sierra club, because I must have signed a petition of theirs on facebook or something...but they called asking me to donate which was fine, seemed like an ok environmental conservation group so can't fault them for asking. But then I told them I have limited income and am not in a position to give any kind of donation especially not a monthly one. But they kept pressuring and pressuring me before they finally figured I wouldn't budge. Granted if I ever am in a position to donate, that is not the organization I will choose because I didn't like having them try to 'peer' pressure me into giving donations I am not in the position to give.

Just politely say, "No thank you", then hang up. Don't engage them in any further conversation and don't get abusive or they are likely to pass your number to everyone else in the call centre. They are annoying but I find the least stressful approach to dealing with them is to be polite, but firm, and then hang up immediately.

In the UK it is possible to opt out of these sort of calls if they originate from within the UK by registering with the Telephone Preference Service. It doesn't stop them all as some originate from abroad but it does help. I hardly ever get them anymore and can't remember the last time I received one. Is there anything similar in the US?

The Sierra Club a good longstanding organization, but yeah...they are just as annoying as any other nonprofit.

Be polite to a point - that point being right after you have said to them "I am not interested". If they keep on pitching after that first time you have said "I am not interested" then you don't need to be polite any longer, and you can just hang up on them, or whatever. That's my rule of thumb.

Once I got a lady pitching some kind of time share condos in Atlantic city. Happened to be on the computer, so I called up my I tunes music library, put the receiver next to the speaker, and played the Eurythmics singing "Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree, travel the world and the seven seas, everybody is looking for something..some of them wanna use you...some of them wanna be abused ....by you...." . Then I put the receiver back on my head just in time to hear her laughing her ass off. She told me "that was the first time I EVER got that response!".

They do get on your damn nerves.....It's a bummer that people have to make a living this way.

just don't answer them, even if it's to tell them off.

all that will do is let the bots at the other end of the line know you're alive and able to answer, and you'll quadruple calls, they prioritize numbers that will actually pick up.

if you're like me and get calls from unknown numbers every single day you might even be tempted to ignore ALL numbers that aren't in your contacts or don't recognize.

it seems like in the US actual telemarketing (with humans calling) is near extinction but even the do-not-call registry doesn't stop automated calls and election/voter surveys.

I think from now on I'll just block numbers I don't recognize if they call more than once and don't leave messages. I figure if its something important like a job offer(I've been trying to find work) that they would leave a message.

I've answered a phone call from the Sierra Club 1ce & & they didn't really understand that I couldn't afford to donate either. I do sign some of their petitions thou.
I get LOTs of calls from online pharmacies & they're using a different number every time. When I answer & there is a real person at the end instead of a machine that hangs up or something, the person says "remember when you ordered Viagra from us" I try to tell em that I never ordered it & they insist that according to their records I did & when I tell them to remove me from their list they keep trying to sell it to me. I get frustrated & hang up & then they call again about a week later. I've gotten to the point where I just do not answer any phone call that isn't a programed number. No telemarketers ever leave messages except the online pharmacies do occasionally & I delete it before the message finishes playing. I get woken up by nonprogramed numbers sometimes thou because I cant or cant figure out how to set it where it rings for programed numbers but not for nonprogramed 1s. I usually just glance at the number & see it's not programed & mute the ringing & go back to sleep.

I don't pick up the phone unless I recognize the number or am expecting a call.

If I pick up and it's that crap, I just say no or not interested and hang up without waiting. They never respect no, so I just reject them bluntly and hang up.


There was this idiot who kept calling from some Lotto thing years ago. This was before we saw caller ID, so I still picked it up at the time. It was also before I had enough of a brain to just hang up before we both said bye. (Thank heavens I wised up over the years! I never waste politeness or breath on those douches anymore, nor do I ever take the phone unless I am waiting for a call from an unfamiliar number - but if it is persistent, I might take it off and press reject to make it stop ringing )
Anyway, one of the first times that moron called, and I politely said no, he said "I'll put you up for 200 then (insert my last name)"
"No. You. Will. Not"

The idiot kept calling several times in a short while. One day I took a nap in the afternoon due to a roaring migraine when the douche called again. I had just fallen asleep and got up groggily to get it in case it was something important - like my grandfather for instance. And then I heard that effing moron from Lotto in his annoying chipper voice. I got so PO'd that I just yelled "Oh go to hell!" and hung up.
He never called again!

Instead of having lists of people who don't want these calls, there should be lists for those who are willing to accept them. Unfortunately that only applies for sales and not the ask to death'ers as I call them.

oh, and for each new I report them to telefonterror.no

A giant pet peeve of mine, too!

I let the answering machine take 'em, it is so much better at it. and I wish to hell I was clever enough to put on a eurhythmics tune in response to a telemarketer selling vacations

I am on a "Do Not Call List" so any telemarketer who phones me is a scammer and I tell them to f**k off.

Telemarketers have to make x number of sales a day or get fired. That's why they don't take no for an answer.

As usual I feel left out. I never get spam calls.

Although I did get a text yesterday that says: "Hi Lisa. We would love to pick up the tummy tub on Sunday morning if that works for you. Thanks! Emily".

I'm suspicious of it though and won't text back. Might be a bot trick looking for a pulse.

I got so sick of telemarketers, I went on the "Do not call list' but I still had charities which are exempt so when i bought a new phone I made sure it had an Answering machine, they usually hang up if they ring now.