Telemarketing call stories

[Laura's Babies]

Lets hear your telemarketing stories! What have you said or done when they call you?

I have answered and they asked if I am the lady of the house, I told them "no" put the phone down and scream "MAMA! PHONE!!!!!" and just sit it down and leave it there until I hear that noise it makes when the call had ended and you need to hang it up.

Other times I have put on some of the most county, country music I had in the house, turned it up and let them listen. (Sometime gospel music)

My boss topped any story I have ever heard. He would act interested and tell them "hang on, there is someone at the door" and be gone awhile, come back and ask if they were still there and if they were, he tells them "sorry but I didn't want you to hang up so hang on, I'll be back!" and go again for while, come back and finally tell them "OK, I can't get rid of these religous nuts so I am fixing to scear the day lights out of them, I am going to hand them my snake, so hang on and listen for their screams!!!" and be gone a long, long time. Usually, by the time he came back they had hung up..

If it was a nice sounding woman, he would start flirting with her, asking her personal PRIVATE stuff, telling her he wants to meet her and could she come over to his house and they have some "fun" together.. He would not let her get in a word edgewise. If that didn't work, then he would tell her he would like to.... ugh, if I say that I should have posted this in the Dog House... But he is a nut and cracked me up telling me the things he has done to them. He sure can make a long car trip a lot of fun!

What are your funny telemarketer stories?

[Alysser]

I usually don't answer but sometimes I do just for fun. If I start speaking in Spanish most of them hang up.

[crazyboutanimals]

oh i have got one for ya:

when they call i tell them that i would like to get there name and phone number and call them at home to discuss issues and see if they are interested in what i have to say.

**NOW ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 PLEASE CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR THIS ONE***

one time a man called and i lowered my voice and started moaning the answers to his questions, he paused ALOT and then i got all high pitched and was like "YES YES YES HUH HUH HUH" and he kept asking questions, i told him to hang on a minute and then put the phone up to one of THOSE TAPES ... and you could hear him on the other line say things like " OMG DUDE, listen to this"... and he would start t laugh.. finally he hung up!!! it was tooo funny!!!

[chocolatepuppy]

The other day a man called from a finance company and wanted to know if we wanted to consolidate all of our bills. I told him "you don't have that much money" He hesitated, then laughed and continued on, trying to get me to buy a new car.

[Laura's Babies]

I knew there were some good ones out there...MORE! MORE! MORE!

[Uabassoon]

I have a story from the other side! When I was younger I worked for a company that did phone surveys. So I called and a man answered when I asked if he would be interested in the survey he asked me to give him a good reason as to why he should. I explained that I was in college and I needed this job to earn some extra money for school. He then got excited and explained to me that he had a son in college too and if I was interested he could introduce us! The entire survey he kept talking about his son and how I sounded like a nice, hard working girl and we would be great together. His son sounded like a total dork! When his own father describes him as having a "great personality but a few social issues" and is trying to hook you up with a stranger on the phone you know the guy has some problems!

[Jessika]

When my sister and I were much younger, before the "no-call" list came into play, my parents would get so many telemarketing calls. Normally they'd just give us the phone, because as anyone knows kids looooove talking on the phone to anyone who will listen.

One day my parents were out and I was watchin my sisters when we got one of those infamous calls. When they'd asked if mr or mrs X was home, I started sounding choked up and tried to sound brave and told them my parents had recently been killed in a terrible accident, I forget the details, but the lady sounded very concerned, and sorry for bringing them up and making me upset. Oddly enough after that call we hardly received any more

[columbine]

I used to love to toy with telemarketers, shouting in a fake Eastern Euro accent and acting like I couldn't understand them. But then I started meeting people who couldn't get any job but telemarketing, and it's just such a lousy situation that I couldn't be rotten to them any more. A lot of the time the working conditions are ridiculous, with supervisors standing over them with stopwatches and only one bathroom break a day allowed.

Now I just say "I never respond positively to telemarketers because it's not a practice I want to encourage," or if it's one of those fake charities, "I never make contributions over the phone," and hang up without wasting any more of their (or my) time. These days most of them have such thick Spanish or Indian accents and such awful connections that I can't understand them anyway.

[pitc9]

When people call selling meat (like Omaha Steaks) I tell them I'm a Vegetarian. That shuts them up quickly!

[shepgirl]

Those replies are killing me-------I never know how to get rid of them and sometimes I get so upset when I've jumped out of the shower to answer the phone only to hear a telemarketer's voice. All these hints are going to be so much fun to use...

[Carol Bulger1944]

Well, once when they called and ask if this was the lady of the house I ask which lady do you want, this is a whore house......They hung the phone up in a hurry!!!!!! I know that sounded bad but it's a quick solutation to the problem

[Jessika]

Well, once when they called and ask if this was the lady of the house I ask which lady do you want, this is a whore house......They hung the phone up in a hurry!!!!!! I know that sounded bad but it's a quick solutation to the problem

...this is CLASSIC!

[lvpets2002]

I have been known to bang the receiver against the table several times.. Usally they hang up then.. Also when they ask if I am the person of the house I will say no, but can I have them call you back.. Click they hang up again..

[Sirrahsim]

Apparently my voice sounds young over the phone because telemarketers would always ask to speak with my Mom or Dad Thank goodness for the Do Not Call list!!

[Uabassoon]

But then I started meeting people who couldn't get any job but telemarketing, and it's just such a lousy situation that I couldn't be rotten to them any more. A lot of the time the working conditions are ridiculous, with supervisors standing over them with stopwatches and only one bathroom break a day allowed.

That's how I feel too. Tucson has a ton of call centers because we have what is considered a neutral accent. They usually pay around $10 per hour which is a good starting rate for a job that requires little to no skills to get hired. Most of the people working there are single moms because it's an easy job and if you don't have an education or a trained skill it's hard to find a job that will pay more than $10 around here.