What's wrong with hanging up on telemarketers?

[Rageaholic]

When I get a call, the minute I find out it's a telemarketer, I hang up. I have tried to be nice in the past, but I have found that they are simply too pushy and I don't want to have to listen to their salespitch. I'm not one to yell, curse, or degrade the telemarketer, because I don't think that's cool, but I in no way feel obligated to listen to their bullshit.

Maybe it's just people wanting to to be nice to others, but on CS, I noticed that some feel guilty about hanging up on telemarketers. Yeah, it's not the nicest thing, but when I am well aware that the word "NO" means nothing to these people, it probably makes things better for both of us. No, I am not interested in whatever you are selling me, so why should I waste both my time and your time arguing about it?

Yes, I know it's their job, but it's not my job to listen to them. Just because they are being told to be pushy doesn't make it any less annoying than if they were being pushy to sell their own product. The way I see it, hanging up is probably the most polite thing to do if you're truely not interested.

[elsporko]

A little bit of common courtesy goes a long way to make another person's day better. Saying "I'm not interested" takes like what, five seconds.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I rarely get them *touch wood* cuz I don't have a landline. However, when I do get one, I just say, "No thank you" and hang up. It would be a waste of both our time if I listened to their spiel. I won't be rude to them cuz it's someone's job. Unless they started calling me at all times at the day and night, then all bets are off. I've never had that happen with a telemarketer tho, only a wrong number.

[KellyHabersham]

I definitely don't feel guilty about hanging up on telemarketers, at least not when they're calling the church office. It's really just a waste of time all around, because I don't have authorization to purchase anything, and the committees who do wouldn't be interested in whatever the telemarketer is trying to sell. (unfortunately our phone system doesn't have caller I.D., so I "have" to answer anytime it rings)

[protege]

Saying "I'm not interested" takes like what, five seconds.

Most of the time, a simple "I don't want to waste your time, but I'm not interested" is enough to send them on their merry way. These people, I have *no* problem with.

But, some of them though, will continue to keep talking after you've said that. A small percentage, but they're still annoying. A smaller percentage will even call *back* a few minutes later, or even the next day. Sorry, but fuck that. I don't care if they're doing their jobs. I've told them once that I'm not interested. What makes them think that I'll change my mind in 5 minutes?

In fact, the local newspaper has lost my business forever. After getting *multiple* calls from them at work one day, and telling them to stop calling multiple times (all of which they ignored, including the requests for supervisors!)...they pissed me off. As soon as I'd ask for a supervisor, they'd hang up. I don't care what the rate is. You've called me up, were told to bugger off multiple times, chose to ignore me, and now you want my business? Fuck you.

Those are the people that 99.9% of us can't stand!

[HYHYBT]

Get on the Do Not Call list. If they still call after that, they're breaking the law, in which case there's no need to be polite.

[Cats]

Ah, the wonders of the Do Not Call list. It doesn't weed them all out, but thankfully we have caller ID, plus our phone rings a jingle when it's someone on our whitelist. If we don't know who you are, meet the answering machine.

While I do think it is polite and resectful to say a nice "no thank you", if they still press after than, then I think it's okay to hang up.

[MadMike]

Saying "I'm not interested" takes like what, five seconds.

Unless they try to play 20 Questions with you (i.e. "Why aren't you interested? This is a wonderful deal! Don't you like to save money?"), they keep talking so you can't get a word in edgewise, or flat-out ignore you when you do manage to tell them no. Hanging up only takes one second.

There was a time I tried to be nice, but that never got me anywhere. I never wanted to be rude and hang up, but for some reason, "I'm not interested" apparently means "tell me more" in telemarketer language. Eventually, I got to the point where I'd listen to what they had to say, politely tell them no, and if they didn't accept that, I'd hang up on them. Sometimes it didn't come to that, but most of the time it did. Usually, the exhange went something like this:

Them: You've been approved for a credit card...
Me: I don't need another credit card.
Them: Oh, I can understand that. But we can offer you...
Me: CLICK!

After awhile, I got tired of hearing from them at all, and I'd hang up as soon as I knew it was a telemarketer. And now I'm to the point where I don't even answer it if I don't recognize what shows up on Caller ID. Anyone who knows me and is calling from a number I don't recognize knows to start talking to the machine, and if I'm there I'll pick up.

As for the Do Not Call list, it has cut down on this nuisance quite a bit, but there are still the annoying political calls, which our elected officials were nice enough to exempt themselves from, along with the charities, and of course the businesses who claim to be non-profit. I've filed complaints against a few of those. And of course, the ones that blatantly disregard the laws and the outright scammers will never be stopped by any law.

I don't normally get rude with them, no matter how much I hate getting called. But I'd be lying if I said it never happens. I can think of two times off the top of my head.

The first was one that called when my son was still a baby, and I had just put him down for a nap. I'm not blaming them for that, as they had no way of knowing I had a sleeping baby. But as soon as they started their pitch, I politely -- and quitely interrupted them and told them I couldn't talk now, because I had just put my baby down for a nap and didn't want him to wake up. The stupid ass kept going with the sales pitch! This was back when I was still too polite to hang up, so we went back and forth a few times, until my son did wake up. I was PISSED and I let them know. Something along the lines of, "Oh great! He woke up! I told you I couldn't talk now! Thanks alot, you asshole!"

The other one... I can't really say it was their fault, just poor timing. They called early on a Saturday morning and woke me up out of a dead sleep. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a morning person, and not to disturb my sleep without a damn good reason. I've told people that if they do that, the house had better be on fire, and even then, proceed with extreme caution. I recognized the name as being a local company that sells cemetary property, who had been trying to call me for weeks. I didn't even give them a chance to speak, I grabbed the phone and ripped into them pretty good. For the sake of anyone who might work in that field, I won't repeat what I said to them, but they never called me again.

[Rageaholic]

Madmike and Protege illustrated why I just hang up the minute I discover it's a sales call. I have learned that saying "I'm not interested" just doesn't work with telemarketers. And like madmike, if I'm stressed out, the last thing I want to do is deal with persistant sales people harassing me. Sure, saying "I'm not interested" isn't too hard, but those words mean nothing, so I see no point.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Unless they try to play 20 Questions with you

That's when you hang up on them

We have a landline but we don't give out the number much (it's part of our cable package; cheaper than cable and internet separately). If anyone calls it, it's either a wrong number, the apartment complex office (rare), or one of our parents trying the landline because we didn't answer our cell phone.

When I used to get them in my old apartment, or at my parents' house, I would say, "No, thank you. Please take me off your list." Usually they would say OK, have a nice day, and if they tried to keep talking, I just hung up.

My dad sometimes says that he'll give them one chance to say our last name right (they never do) and then maybe he'll talk to them. However they say it, he either says "Nope, sorry that's wrong" or "Then again, maybe not!"

[Talon]

I'm perfectly fine with hanging up on telemarketers, with or without the polite decline. And I used to work in an outbound market research firm. Not exactly telemarketing, but close. I never took being hung up on personally.

[MaseMan]

I just say "I'm really not interested, thank you," and hang up. Simple and effective. If they call multiple times, I tell them we're on the Do Not Call list and demand that they remove our number from their list, which they usually comply with.

[protege]

My dad sometimes says that he'll give them one chance to say our last name right (they never do) and then maybe he'll talk to them. However they say it, he either says "Nope, sorry that's wrong" or "Then again, maybe not!"

I have a somewhat difficult-to-pronounce last name. Doesn't help that most people think it's either German or Austrian...which usually causes them to butcher it. It's a Norwegian name--roughly translated, it means "eastern house." Odd, because the family I'm descended from actually lived in the *western* part of Norway, but that's beside the point If a caller screws up my last name, 99% of the time it's a telemarketer

[blas87]

I have a very crazy Swiss German last name. It's always butchered by just about everyone.

As mean as it sounds to some, my family and I always got so much joy out of telling telemarketers "Call back when you can say it right!" or "Nope, wrong name!" when they'd make their attempt at saying it...

[Stormraven]

As I've mentioned over on CS, I start out polite with all callers. Usually a 'Hello', or 'XXXX Residence'. That usually gets a 'May I speak to' response, to which I'll ask 'May I ask who's calling?' (Unless I know that answer, of course). If they refuse to answer, or get evasive, that's when I start getting impolite.