When a telemarketer calls your phone, how do you respond ?

Question

do you just tell them not to call ... do you say something funny ,... or do you just ignore them !!!

my gosh they are so annoying !!!!

nothing works

i feel so bad for ignoring them.

Answer 1

This isn't nice but after I say hello and they identify themselves, I quietly hang up.  I always wonder if they keep talking after the click.

Answer 2

I used to do many of the suggestions mentioned above.

Now, I don't answer the phone at all.

I let my answering machine pickup the calls.  If I hear it is someone I want to talk to, I pick-up the line before they leave a message.

But, most of the time it is a telemarketer and they never bother leaving a message and it is never important.  

I save a lot of time and bother by not answering the phone in the first place.  

If the call is important, they will leave a message and I will call them back.

Answer 3

I DON"T feel bad ignoring them.  It is an unsolicited call/

Answer 4

If it is just a survey, I usually do it as it means income for the students or other poorly paid people who need the work badly.

If it is to sell me something or wanting me to subscribe to something, before they can launch into their spiel I tell them politely and firmly I am not interested and do not do business over the phone and then promptly hang up.

I don't see why you should feel bad about ignoring them, they are just another of life's pestilential nuisances like door-to-door evangelists and TV commercials.

Answer 5

I tell them to hold on, put the phone down and go about my business.  In about 15 minutes I come back then hang up the phone.  Don't feel bad for them.  Half the time their prisoners who make those calls doing time in jail.  Businesses hire them to make calls.

Answer 6

As soon as I realize who they are, I interrupt them and say I am not interested and hang up.