I recently did and this is my story.;

A janitorial services company would call our office and ask for me at least once, sometimes twice per day. His voice was quite unique; thus he was easy to identify when I answered the phone. Each time he called, I'd push my chair away from the desk and tell him, "I'm sorry. She's away from her desk. May I take a message?" Sure enough, he'd call the next day.

After two weeks, I'd figured enough was enough. When he called and asked for me again, I replied, "I'm very sorry. She's no longer employed here. We had to fire her because she was away from her desk too much."


Am I the only liar or do some of you tell tangled tales?

__________________
I want to keep ALL of my paycheck and eliminate the pyramid scheme known as Social Security (there is no lockbox ). Do you want the same thing? www.fairtax.org

I only lie to telemarketers when they call. I know they're doing their job, but I don't owe them anything.

Usually at work I just put them on hold and see how long it takes them to hang up. At home, I leave the phone off the hook or pretend I can't hear them.

Yes

If I get any calls for home improvements, I tell them that I rent. Easy way to get rid of them. We do own our home.

I usually just tell them to hang on and then I never come back. I know they're just doing their job but I hate their job. I'm on the 'Do Not Call' list so they shouldn't be bothering me in the first place.

If I'm really bored, I'll pull the 'Do Not Speak a Anglish' routine. They usually hang up on me, which is pretty rude, considering they called me. Occasionally, I'll rev the 'Do Not Speak a Anglish' routine up a notch and pretend that they just told me I won a prize. When they try to explain they're selling, not giving, I accuse them of cheating me out of my civil rights, American dollars. They hang up on me, too but it takes longer.

I tell them to hang on an minute and I will go get me . then I dont go back. yes, I know they are just doing their jobs but ifI wanted to buy something, I would contact them.

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·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·
«·´¨*·.¸¸. Jo ¸¸.·*¨`·»
«·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·»


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When my DD was very young and obsessed with the phone, if they were getting rude, I would hand the phone to her and let het "talk".

I still do that!

__________________

Friends are like butt cheeks.
Crap might separate them,
But they always come back together.

Thanks for the morning laugh...some of your stories are funny! To answer the question, yes, I've lied to them. Usually I've told them that the person they are asking for (me) is not home. Other times I've interrupted their sales pitch and asked them if they want to buy something from me. This usually gets them to end the call. Or I might say, "Sorry to interrupt you. I really want to talk to you, but can you hold on for a few minutes? I just need to finish up the call from the last telemarketer. He called me about an hour ago." If they start out with, "How are you today?" say, "I'm so glad you asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems. My arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my dog just died . . . " ~Lisa

With great glee. I am on the Do Not Call registry, so when they do call, it annoys me a great deal.

If they are looking for my husband, I tell them the bum walked out and left me with a pile of bills and hungry kids. I sniffle.

If they butcher my last name, which is most of the time, I spend a bit of time asking them to repeat the name, then repeating their mispronunciation, then saying "WHO?" each time. They hang up.

If they are calling to offer me a great financing deal for my mortgage, I ask them if I qualify since I 'filed bankruptcy last week.' More sniffles. Click.

AT&T called yesterday and told me they could save our company lots of money. When I showed some fake enthusiasm, he asked me how many lines we had.

"Well, I only see one going from the phone to the wall, so I guess just one.." Needless to say, he hung up pretty quickly.

__________________
I want to keep ALL of my paycheck and eliminate the pyramid scheme known as Social Security (there is no lockbox ). Do you want the same thing? www.fairtax.org

Of course, doesn't everyone

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

In a way. I say hang on and I'll get her. I just never go back to answer, some of them will sit there for what seems like forever.

When my neice was little I let her "talk" too.

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No, I simply say very loudly, "Thank you, I am not interested," and hang up.

I don't feel the need to waste time and energy-my own or someone else's-by doing anymore than that. I dont' think anyone really wants to be a telemarketer, maybe they can't get another job.

with caller id now I simply do not answer. We too are on the do not call list so it REALLY annoys me when I get the calls. If I happen to answer for some reason, I'll fudge a bit and say "this is a business line" and they apologize and hang up. I DO have a home business and use my phone so it's not a total line...but not my main biz line.

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I LOVE to mess with the telemarketers. ( I am, however, respectful in my decline if the person sounds elderly -- I have my limits). I finally got fed up with the industry when they started pretending that they were a friend of my husband.

Here are some of the best so far......

Repeat everything they say -- not in a questioning tone, but more in a declarative tone. Think about how your kids get ticked off when one simply repeats the other---I did this to an AT&T telemarketer whlie I was eating dinner. I finally had to stop because I couldn't quit laughing and thought I might choke.

Once a window company told me they were going to be installing in my neighborhood and wanted to know if I needed new windows free of charge. I found this funny since we lived on a military base, so I let them schedule the appt. I said, "You know, I told my husband we really could use some new windows here and you are REALLY going to be here in MY neighborhood". They never asked if we owned the house. When the salesman called to confirm the appt., I told him that he might be careful with the guards at the front since they have large guns and he would need a federal contract. I told him that I had a little fun at his telemarketer's expense and explained everything as well as reminding him it is important to prequalify clients. We both laughed over that one.

I told a telemarketer that I was in labor once and had to go (screaming in pain, of course)

One telemarketer asked if I was the "decision maker" and I told her "No way, the last time I made a decision, my husband beat me black and blue so I was never going to make that mistake again". She was trying to hide her shock, but she was rattled on that one.

I told one I was in the Witness Protection Plan -- also used that one with Vonage when we disconnected. They have a canned response for every reason you could come up with and would try to keep you on the phone, offer to give your phone # to a friend so you wouldn't lose out on their great deals, etc. I stumped them with that one.

Here is a website with some ideas you might try.

I knew of a person who would pray with the telemarketers -- that is a REALLY NICE person. I probably should be more like that.

I have asked some how long I have to stay on the phone for them to get paid.....most won't tell you of course.




FunBun.com - Telemarketer Revenge - Funpages

I almost never get those calls anymore...thank you, no call list. You are probably all too young, but they used to call and ask to speak to the "man of the house". I used to have fun with that and say no. They would ask if he was around and I would say yes.
Well then I would like to talk to him.
Well you can't.
Why not?
Because I said so.
Now getting angry. You can't stop me from talking to him.
Well I seem to be able to do that don't I? You aren't talking to him are you?
You have to put him on the phone.
No I don't.
Sputter sputter and then they would slam the phone down.
Then I would tell my husband to not answer the phone for the rest of the eveing and if they called back it would start again.

Another thing they would do was say they couldn't come out to the house to give an estimate unless both of us were here. That would really frost me. There were quite a few companies that did not get our business because of that rule.

Things are better now. The no call list weeds out most of them. The others I just don't give them time to get started. I ask them to spell their name and the company they are calling from and about. Then I ask to be removed from their call list. They say okay and that is that. They don't call again. I used to actually write the info down in the hopes that they would call again, but they never do, so I stopped logging the information.

My grandmother, who was one of sweetest people on all the earth, got a telemarketer call years ago. They wanted to store her fur for the winter. She said..in a real "granny" voice, which she is not really have..."My fur is still running around in the forest somewhere"

__________________

Nutella,....
proving some of the best things in life come in a jar.

OMG, this has to be the best one!!! I'll have to remember this the next time!

__________________

Friends are like butt cheeks.
Crap might separate them,
But they always come back together.

I'm on the do not call registry and tell them that with the addded message that if they call again I'm going to file a complaint with the registry, usually that works!

I still get that sometimes both at work and home. My answer is always the same. "Well, he's gained some weight since I've met him, but I don't think he's really round. I like him just the way he is!"

__________________
I want to keep ALL of my paycheck and eliminate the pyramid scheme known as Social Security (there is no lockbox ). Do you want the same thing? www.fairtax.org

I don't.

Not long ago, I used to work at a call-center. Though I wasn't a telemarketer, each and everyone of them was someone's mother, or son, or grandmother, or sister. They are real people like you and me, just trying to make a living. Many were "forced" into the system, such as displaced homemakers whose husband's had died or left them and numerous young mother's with no education. Often times, the hours of employment allow these mothers the opportunity to work, receive benefits and be home for their children after school.

If you want to stop the calling, tell the telemarketer, "Please take my name off of your list." If it persists (they do have the right to call back due to "human error"), ask to speak to a manager.

These are people, not animals. I would never "play" with a telemarketer. I think it's bad karma. Often times these threads talk about "helping" those less fortunate through donations or charity, I think that this is a way to help as well. I don't consider myself religious; however, God loves them just as much as he loves me.


Just my humble opinion.

Well we don't get that many calls anymore thanks to the "do not call" list but when we did -

I told a window company salesperson we weren't putting any windows in our tent (Thanks Mom I have to give you credit for that one!)

I told a company that called re additives for a septic tank - oh you mean we need a septic tank? I think that crap is all just running down the road - it's not going into any tank.

I'm sorry but if you call me, I didn't ask for you to call me , then I'm going to mess with you if I don't hang up first.

I'm not flaming, but explaining, so bear with me, o.k.? Most of us probably haven't ever set foot in a call center to see for ourselves what you've experienced, so I thank you for reminding me of how grateful I should be for every blessing in my life and there are many.

I don't think the intent is to deliberately hurt anybody. Did we lie? Yes. It's a matter of being continually assaulted and you either have to handle it with humor or get angry. I prefer to at least try and keep my stress level down.

And as for the threads talking about helping the less fortunate, you're right and I have this to add:

1. I don't doubt the sincerity or generosity of those who post. They help not only the less fortunate, but other mycouponers when they post such great deals for the benefit of everybody.

2. The few postings I see about what people have given to charity don't even begin to reveal the good things being done.

Dang it.....and I'm not kidding......I just had to answer the phone and it was an automated telemarketer.

__________________
I want to keep ALL of my paycheck and eliminate the pyramid scheme known as Social Security (there is no lockbox ). Do you want the same thing? www.fairtax.org

Yes I realize that these folks are someone's mother, brother, sister ---BUT ---- I didn't invite these people into my home during dinner. Yes, I am on the do not call registry and YES, I am a Christian. I do help those who are less fortunate. This type of job is a choice that people make. There are MANY other options out there that offer far better payoff. Anybody in Customer Service or Telemarketing can tell you that it is not the occupation for those who have thin skin. There are ALWAYS options for employment. I would imagine that telemarketing has one of the highest turnover rates of any industry. Most telemarketers end up laughing at my responses.........there - I am finished fanning the flame.

I just hang up I used to talk them tell them sorry I have no job cant afford you or whatever & I had one actually tell me to go get a job LOL or I would tell them I had to ask my dh ya that would be a cold day in H__ when I have to ask his permission to spend MY money buts its just a way of being polite I guess now I just hang up but I am on the no call list so they rarely call me

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mom of 3 greats girls

I hang up.
some are phone Pros, they travel state to state and do this all year long
the cash you give dont always make it the charity or whatever it is you paid for
people work for the traveling phone pros cause they can work, get paid cash and dont have to pay taxes on it
they dont always get paid by the call most just by the day.

phone pros that I knew if you gave to such and such charity that they promoted last year may be promoting xyz charity this year, if you bought last year, they have a record of name, phone, amount spent and sometimes if you paid cash or not.

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Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com

My other favorites
www.paperbackswap.com
www.wheresgeorge.com
www.geocaching.com

I am on the Do Not Call list, but we still get some calls. I either say I am not interested and please take my name off the list or I say DH works for their competitor.

AT&T kept calling, over and over and over again to sell us DSL eventhough we told them repeatedly that we're not interested and not to call again. We have them for local phone service so I that gets them around the Do Not Call list. Anyway, I finally told them DH works for Comcast and they haven't called since.

I've never had to. When someone asked for Mrs (my maiden name), and I said I was Ms, they hung up on me. When a real estate agent asked if we were selling our house, or if anyone around us was, I said that the neighbors were too shy to talk to us. Another hang up. I think the only time I've been unpleasant was when someone trolled WHOIS info to call about a website, and I told them how many policies they'd broken.

hollylew........I wasn't being mean or heartless with my reply I know it's their job and I know they need their jobs......I am on the do not call list but sometimes they still call and most of the time it is when we are sitting down to eat dinner

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

My 11 year old still does that! She loves caller ID on the TV. We just say, "It's for you!!"

Screen all our calls here with caller id. If we don't recognize the number, don't answer. We let voice mail get it. If I do happen to answer the phone and it is a telemarker, I tell them I am not interested and hang up. I don't feel that I have to be polite or courteous to them. They called me, I did not call them.

I just say, "I'm not interested" and hang up. I'm sorry if that's the only job someone can get, but if the only job they could get was to poke me in the ribs, I wouldn't put up with that either.

Since the DoNotCall registry we don't get near as many as we used to and the tip off is always the fact that they can't pronounce my last name. I usually just cut them short with "Not interested" and hang up.

The one call I always take is from the local Search and Rescue when they sponser a show locally to raise funds. I always buy tickets and ask that they be handed out at the local Boys and Girls club.

But that is probably self serving or a form of knocking on wood.
We do a lot of offroad exploring and hiking and just might need S & R one day.

__________________

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

We do the same thing. I figure if it is a number we don't know and someone is trying to reach us, then they will leave a message and we will pick up. The only times I feel I have been rude to them is when they are rude to me first.

I've had a Discover credit card telemarketer call and berate me b/c I hadn't used my credit card. I keep it for emergencies and that is it. He was quite rude about it and then I basically told him what I thought.