What will you do if a stranger phones and irritates you ?

Question

What will you do if a stranger phones and irritates you ?

Answer 1

blow a whistle into the earpiece - it will cause permanent loss of hearing

Answer 2

well i would say make sure u have caller id then when they call again file a report on them or if u cant get caller id hang up every single time

Answer 3

Hang up.

If they do it again, instruct them "Do not call this number again"

Get Caller ID if you don't have it.

If they call again, file a report with the telephone company that you are receiving harassing phone calls.  Give them the phone number of the caller.

Block the number or have the phone company do it.

Answer 4

block his number

Answer 5

Here's what I do depending on how much time I have and if I feel like messing with them:

Obviously, if you're pressed for time and don't feel like having fun, just hang up, especially if there's that "pause." The callers are on an automated machine that continually dials and doesn't put a person on the line until the machine senses that someone has picked up and it's not voice mail. That's why there's usually a pause after you answer, and you can hear others talking in the background - that's how you know it's a big call center dialing for dollars.

If it's the first time - and on my home phone, I just say, "We don't accept telemarketing calls, please take me off your list." And hang up.

If it's my business line, I have to be more careful, it might be legit. But I don't allow them to get into their script. I just try to figure out what they're selling (it's usually pretty easy) and say "What was that company again? I didn't catch your name? Oh, sorry, we just bought that (whatever it is), so please take me off your list." Then NEVER do business with that company.

Always tell them to remove you from their list. They are supposed to comply - but they don't always. If they turn into a real pest, report them to your state Attorney General's office, that always gets their attention. Or tell them, "This is my home number, how did you get the home number of the Attorney General of Florida?"

Auto-dialers with recordings and fax marketing, which is highly illegal in most states, really ticks me off. You can check your fax log and get many of the originating numbers. Then find a company that offers to "fax-back" things like operating manuals and enter the offender's fax number - select the biggest manual they offer. So maybe it's Xerox and the Operations Manual for their biggest, fanciest machine is 500 pages. Have it faxed-back to the fax marketer's number. You can't stop it. And if you try, by unplugging the machine, it just starts over from the beginning. And if it gets a busy signal, it just keeps trying. This was done to me once by an employee we had to let go because he was stealing. It took two days and a couple of reams of paper before it finally stopped.

But I save the best for the worst. If the same ones call over and over, or if you politely try to get off and they won't quit, as the other ansewer said, keep a whistle near the phone and give them a blast. I love that one.

BTW, NEVER agree to any charitable donation over the phone. Because I guarantee you it's not really the Sheriff, or the church or the boy scouts. It's scammers and once you contribute to one, they sell your name to others thinking you're an easy mark.

Just remember, they've got your phone number AND they've got your address and name - so be careful... especially with the whistle, cause if it's a telemarketer, they're just trying to make a living.

The biggest problem is the phone company. I registered a new phone in Florida recently. It hadn't been in service an hour before I got my first call from a telemarketer. That has to be the provider (the phone company) giving out the number. But they deny it. I called a CSR and she was (supposedly) just was as astounded as I that a telemarketer got my new number so fast. "Gee, imagine that, I wonder how they do that?"

OK, sure.

Any current or ex-phone company folks want to pipe in?

-a guy named duh

Answer 6

Play shadow and repeat everything they say

Answer 7

hang up   (I do it to those strangers, called  telemarketers, all the time)

Answer 8

hang up

Answer 9

i would hang up and then call police to make a complaint.