unfortunately i was a Tellemarketer for a while, it totally sucked only because of the boss i had what a smarmy bastage lol...anyway i just got a telemarketer today that when she called me at 0930 hrs she said "Good Afternoon, may i speak with the owner" i said, "No, you may not" she said, "Well may i speak with someone that is able to make financial decisions for the household" i said "No, you may not" and then she said "Ok then i will try back at a better time" i said, "very well, do as you must but i, nor anyone in this house will not be taking any of your services, GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!"

anyway i was just wanted to know if any of you have had any telemarketer experiences that just made you laugh or made you blow some steam or whatever, just because you were smooth about telling them no or what ever...

Signed,
The Don

 

A friend of mine used to put his 3-year old son on the phone with these people and let him jabber away. They would never call him back

My oldest daughter did that job for awhile when she was hard up for a job. (I about disowned her) She looks back on it now, and can't believe she lowered herself enough to take the job

 

I usually just put the phone down and let them talk until they get tired and hang up.

 

Whenever a telemarketer asks for me by name, I mournfully inform them that PaulC recently passed away. Flusters them, and they seldom call again!

 

if they called during dinner, i would talk to them for about 15-20seconds, then ask them to hold , then go eat , come back , do the same thing again &again for as long as they stayed on the phone . had one last 45min's or so...he finally got mad and hung up..

 

I interupt them, ask them for their name, their business name, and their home phone number. They balk on giving their home phone number out, I pressure them, and finally I ask them "maybe you don't like getting phone calls when you are eating dinner?"

The other one is to turn the table around by interupting them and trying to sell them something of yours. Everything has a price, cars, house, etc. Pester them awhile, and never let them talk about what they are trying to sell.

 

I really hate the tightly scripted ones and the ones that start out automated then switch to a real operator. I also don't like these ones that are using the phone company mail system to leave messages without even calling.

One of my favorite tactics is to pretend that I am interested in what they have to sell, getting them all wound up till they get to the final closer and then say, nah, I've changed my mind.

The best was when I had a company phoning for two weeks at the same time everyday roughly. I just kept telling them the person they were seeking to speak to is 'usually home at this time' or 'sorry, you just missed them' I guess they finally gave up!


Oh - I liked the idea some one mentioned of putting the kid on the phone - good one!

 

Did you guys ever call movie phone?

"Hello....welcome to movie phone...press 1 to...(and fill it in with something ridiculous)

It's win win. I get a laugh they hang up.

 

my first name is Jason, but everyone calls me drew. When i answer the phone and they ask for jason, I just say can i take a message? My boss called once and he asked for jason, and i took a message for myself. He didn't even know it was me.

 

I received a call one day (Maybe it was you Don) and I hung up on the sales guy.
He called me back explaining how rude I was.
I hung up on him again.

 

Try viewing the cableTV show "crankyankers", those comics have ruffled a few telemarketers feathers.

 

I too have my fun with telemarketers, talk in weird voices, ask them silly questions, string them on for as long as I can...but ultimately, they are people who probably hate their job as much as we hate getting called by them.
I actually work in a call center (not telemarketing) as a manager on the operations and technology side of the center and most of our representative's don't like calling people either. But hey, bills have got to get paid right? and a paycheck is a paycheck when it comes down to it.

 

i like to talk to them, then i ask them if they mind if i use the can .....they stammer for a second as if they didnt just hear that question....i then make sounds that can only be related to a gargling duck and then flush and follow with a loud blast of the lysol spray..then say ok what were you saying now? that gets them all the time

 

I've had about a dozen phone calls now, being informed I've won a new security system. I like to say, "Great! Let me give you my address, so you can ship it to me." They tell me it includes the install. I tell them I wouldn't use in on my house, but the parts would work great for a robotics project I'm planning on doing. They get kind of quiet at this point, so I tell them I'll pay for the second day air if they can get it out today. They usually don't believe me, so I have to enthusiasticly explain I'm going to rip the thing apart and salvage all the relays and other goodies out of it. At this point they tell me I have to use the monitering service for a mothly fee - Except this one guy. He goes on about if I really think they'll send me a system for nothing and then asked if I was mental. I told him, "sometimes", before HE hung up.

The joy of home ownership. I was getting these mortgage places calling and asking what my interest rate was. I tell them 1.00%. They either hang up or say, "What?" If they stick around I tell them how Sallie Mae is my grandma's sister and the whole family gets great rates. About half find the story plausible. One lady wanted to get in on it. Told her I was sorry, she'd have to marry my brother, before I hung up.

 

I try to be somewhat civil with them-at least they are trying to hold a job.

However, I have started to let my 6 year old daughter answer the phone when the caller ID is "unavailable". They ususally hang up after her interrogation!