Ways to Annoy a Telemarketer

The following provides ways to actually annoy a telemarketer.

Become the questioner. First greet them as if they are an old friend. Ask how they are doing. Then ask them to spell every thing they have said. This includes the company name, their name; where the company is located.

When you have exhausted that line of attack, ask them to repeat all of the information again-No real reason is necessary unless you want to make up an excuse. Keep asking more and more personal questions until they hang up. The goal is to keep asking incessant questions without ever agreeing to whatever is being sold. If you run out of questions before the telemarketer hangs up, thank them for their time and end the call. ⁸

Pick up the phone and say "Hello" and become silent. Don't say another word. Allow them to talk and talk-you can rest the phone down - When they stop talking or you become bored - just hang up. Try to wait at least 3-5 minutes before clearing your line. Most telemarketers are volume driven and they driven to move on to the next contact.

Equally satisfying is to say "Hello" and ask them to hold on. Then leave them on hold and never return to say anything else. You decide when to hang up. This is delicious - don't bother to check to see if they are still on the line. Just hang up at your own will.

Just remember that the more you annoy a telemarketer, the less interested they will be in attempting to call you back. Demand that the telemarketing company to take you off their call list. Most telemarketing companies know they must comply by law.

Obtain a telephone that plays a looped recording of Bobby McFarin's CD ''Don't Worry, Be Happy," while on they hold.

Using speakerphones is actually an insult that can be best extinguished through sheer avoidance. Marketers who use speakerphones are attempting to give the impression that they're so important (and you are not) such that you're in competition with their background noises.

As Ron Dotson says, "people who use speakerphones are almost as offensive as people who use call waiting. Only use it on your most rude callers. Get the oldest one you can find, preferable one with lots of echo that sounds as though you're calling from the Hall of the Mountain King. It should also have lots of squeals and feedback. Turn up the microphone volume such that even the sound of your breathing will prevent the device from allowing the other person to speak. Frequently ask them to repeat what they said because their voice is ''breaking up''.

If the telemarketer insists on repeatedly calling back, especially if their number is somehow blocked-- just pick up a 2 cent whistle. Most telemarketer wear headphones snugly over their ear. You know what to do.