| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/24/2008 3:23:00 PM | You can ask for a demonstration on a day nobody is home.
I had a friend who did that.
He also asked them to wait a second while he got his wife to talk to them.
Only he didn't get his wife. He sat down and watched television with the phone on hold. | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/24/2008 9:23:46 PM | If its a repeat caller, I tell them that I'm the new home owner and that the other person died
I've also answered the phone (thanks to caller ID) and started speaking in a foreign language, except once I started a conversation and the salesperson actually spoke the same language...
I also get calls for people wanting to have a body picked up, (my last name is the same as the local funeral parlor, how lucky am i??? not) I usually tell them I'm busy and that after I make a run to starbucks I'll be right over, then I hang up... | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/25/2008 6:28:22 PM | Although I'm on the DO NOT CALL LIST, I still get a few dinnertime calls from people conducting opinion/political surveys. I've come up with some ideas:
. Answer a question with a question. Since they're reading off of a script, they'll
almost never have an answer.
. Answer every qustion with a distressed "Why?" After one or two why's they hang
up.
. Keep asking them to repeat the last question. Sure to get a hangup.
. Ask personal questions; how old are you, are you married, any kids, where do you
live, etc. Just keep it clean. Another hangup.
. Tell a long drawn out boring story. See how long the caller stays on the line.
And the list goes on and on......... | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/25/2008 8:10:50 PM | I could answer pretending that I think Star Trek is real by talking like I think I am a member of the crew, and treat the caller like I think he's Mr. Spock | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/25/2008 11:21:26 PM | Gee, hardly anyone spam or tries to sell me anything.  Of course, having no landline phone helps alot too.  I do keep getting 1-866 or 1-877 numbers on my cellphone which I interpret as telemarketers ... so I don't answer.
I now get texts on my mobile telling me i have won this that and the other
As long as you don't get charged for incoming text messages, just do a mass delete. No need to get worked up about it. 
Although I'm on the DO NOT CALL LIST, I still get a few dinnertime calls from people conducting opinion/political surveys
Didn't you know that by putting yourself on "Do Not Call Lists" will practically guarantee that you'll get called??
I have to admit I love getting these calls, and the door to door people
The only door to doors I get are the Jehovah Witnesses. I just tell them I'm in the middle of a religious sacrifice and they high-tail it outta there.  | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 12:54:41 AM | hahahahaha, you know i havent seen the jehovas witnesses for ages....
nothing to do with me tho
im thinking its cs when i was little, they came to my moms door, and said the world is gonna end soon, or something....
so they proberbley are now barricaded in some cave, like that dude Kane in poltergeist.
hahahahah
they should lighten up a bit...going round telling pplz that, what is wrong with them?
theyshould be banged up!  | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 5:10:00 AM | | well i seen alot of the "no salespeople" sighns.. when they call i just put them on hold till they give up.. and when i get credit card offers i save them till i get 2 or more and cutt out all my info and send them back to the company but i send mastecard to visa and visa versa..lol or put flyers inthem...loll | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 10:41:08 AM | For some reason I only get sales calls from telemarketing mahines w/recordings. If you listen to those for a minute it will give you an option to be taken off their call list by pushing number key. If you do, you will probably not be called again by that vendor.
If not, I have no problem hanging up on a machine and call blocking it.
I am on no call lists, they help some, but not all the time.
If you get a call from some of those machines with really strange numbers like 000-000-0000, or text where the number goes, that means they are coming from outside the US to a satellite location, then to you.
My home phone has an option for a "distinctive ring" just like a cell phone does. I pick the silent ring for the telemarketing calls.
If I am called by a person, I tell them I am on the no-call lists, and simply ask them not to call me back.
I also keep a really shrill marine whistle by my phone for the very persistent.
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 11:14:19 AM | It all depends on my mood. I find that the best way is to disarm them. I no longer receive telephone solicitors as I only have a cell phone and the do not call list is a godsend.
I have told the Los Angeles Times that I would never in this lifetime subscribe to their paper as they are ruthless with their sales tactics and remind me of a dog that will not get off one's leg. I had him before I hung up on him.
I've also asked callers to hang on as I have been expecting their call all day and wanted to hang on their every word and then I don't return to the phone making them hang up on me.
One of my favorites is to ask them for their telephone number so that I can call them back at home during the dinner hour. They will say that they don't take calls at home to which you reply, neither do I.
When church people come to the door, I thank them for their concern about my soul, but I am really happy with myself the way I am and then wish them a nice day.  Works like a charm!! | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 2:46:36 PM | Well, I agree with the cell phone only base, that helps a lot.
I rarely get anyone coming to my door, as I live in a secure building where you have to buzz people in - and we don't.
Some recent examples do stand out.
1) My bank called me on my cell to try to cell me insurance. I reminded them that the number they had on file was to contact me in regards to my accounts - and not for sales calls. I also reminded them that they had just woken me up, and no matter what they were selling ......even if I HAD wanted it, I wasn't interested anymore.
2) My cable company called trying to sell me a VOIP residential phone. I replied, like the one I have for FREE from Skype ? ..... click. Who needs long distance plans when any two people worldwide with computers can talk for free with it ? 
And the last one, from about a decade ago. This one was a tough nut to crack, by the way. The local English newspaper, the Montreal Gazette, was like a pit bull with it's monthly calls to get me to buy a subscription. Month after month, and determined to make me a customer.
A friend of mine offered a great suggestion, that bypassed their "cheat sheet" of counter arguments against any objections - simply say "Well, I only buy the paper to read the Superman comic....and you guys don't carry it anymore." That worked, temporarily.
Finally, after one call to many, I decided to play the only thing left in my arsenal - as much as I didn't want to lie to anyone, something had to be done.
(Rough transcript of conversation)
"Hello, I'm calling to see if you are interested in purchasing a subscription to the Montreal Gazette, we have a special offer right now for an incredible price."
" This is some sick joke isn't it ? Is this how you spend your day ?"
(long silence)
"You call a BLIND MAN, and ask him if he wants a newspaper subscription ? "
It's been roughly ten years, and they haven't called back yet..... | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 2:48:45 PM | I'm on the do not call list and it has seriously weeded out the phone calls. For the ones that have the guts to call me, I am as rude and crude as I can be and ask them about the most nasty things I can think of. They always hang up.
For the dreaded JW's, I always tell them the same thing. When they ask if I have a few minutes to talk, I answer, "You know, talking about religion is actually one of my favorite subjects. But after I am done talking, you all will still be wrong, and I will still be right. But thanks anyway." | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 8:57:09 PM | It bad enough we get bombarded with sales pitches for gadget stuff and services we don't need ... never mind a pair of Jehovah Witness whackos   trying their damnedest to sell you on their idea of "eternity". And then there's the Mormons.
I already have a "Fire and Brimstone" Christian friend's sales pitch to contend with.  | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/26/2008 9:11:07 PM | | Here's for the cellphone crowd: Many cellphone carriers provide free SMS text blocking so that you cannot receive or send text messages. I don't have time for text messages, and besides, my carrier charges extra for them yet provides the blocker free of charge. No solicitor's text message can get through to me | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/27/2008 12:31:00 AM | My girlfriend taught me two ways to handle phone calls,
1] speak Chinese - and no she is not Chinese
2] Ask sales person to hold on while you get pen and paper, then come back and say "I would really like to hear what you have to say but I am really stressed for time right now, so give me your name first and last { the dumb ones will} now give me your phone # at home so I can call you when it's convenient for me "
This makes them go away fast.
For JW's an ex JW told me this one;
Tell them that you were excommunicated from the flock due to your behaviour and you would really like to talk to them & tell them all about it.
Apparently they are forbidden to talk to X JW's so they will not come back.  | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/27/2008 9:21:12 PM | Learn to speak a few Klingon phrases and speak to them, they'll hang up REAL fast, trust me. The language is harsh and guttural sounding Or speak Farsi, which has some similar sounds.  I am learning Farsi and am having a blast. | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/28/2008 10:38:14 PM | *click* usually works.
In person "no thanks" followed by a slightly louder "click" also works.
(stand up for yourselves, sheesh... but don't torment the poor folks. It's just their job.) | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/29/2008 10:49:31 PM | I happens to me only with calls. I guess in person my face says it all.
Well, on the phone I have a standard sentence " If this is about advertising, I don't want to hear. Please take me off your list". I know it is a bit rude but I do not want to give them permission to invade my privacy. If it is an exceptionally capable salesman ( The one that does not read the script, so to speak) and he/she tells the truth ( It is about advertising, I am a salesperson....) I listen and I compliment him/her on his/her skills: it happens rarely though....I think that excellence in anything should always be rewarded. If they excel at it, they keep me on the phone and I talk to them, unless they get me on Monday. When I am in a bad mood, I always say "It must be monday". | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/30/2008 12:11:48 AM | I think someone has been selling your information to sales people. Probably the result of a magazine subscription, online membership, mail order, or something like that. There are people that make thousands of dollars a day, just by selling the addresses, e-mails, messaging accounts, and phone numbers of others to sales companies.
If there's nothing you can do about it, you can always turn it around and have fun with the people who bug you. You know, play pranks on them. Listen to this, its hilarious...
http://www.cancorn.com/avi/telemarketer_nightmare.mp3
I DARE someone to do that! | |
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| How do you deal with unsolicited sales calls?
Posted: 6/30/2008 5:54:41 PM | The last time a telemarketer called, my 4 yr old daughter was at my elbow saying 'me talk mummy me talk mummy' so i gave her the phone.
She gave me the phone a few minutes later and said 'lady gone mummy'.
gotta love kids | |
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