# My new philosophy regarding telemarketers.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-philosophy-regarding-telemarketers/205190>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 2, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-philosophy-regarding-telemarketers/205190 "2003-10-02T19:59:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-philosophy-regarding-telemarketers/205190/41 "2003-10-03T18:41:18Z")

</div>

Y’know, **ammo52** now that you mention it, I used to get those all the time. They’ve stopped now that I’ve switched to a small local company for both local and long distance. I wonder if they buy lists from each other to call or something. I haven’t gotten one of these ‘switch to us’ calls in two years.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NutWrench](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nutwrench/32/20193_2.png) [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-philosophy-regarding-telemarketers/205190/42 "2003-10-03T19:07:06Z")

</div>

I like the leave-the-phone-off-the-hook idea. It gives the telemarketer a nice long break in his stressful day and wastes the resources of the company that he works for at the same time.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-philosophy-regarding-telemarketers/205190/43 "2003-10-04T04:46:33Z")

</div>

If I see on my caller ID that it’s a telemarketer, I do one of three things always.

1. Ignore it. ( most often )

2. Pick up and hang up right away. I do this if I get to the phone fast or am awaiting a call from a real person. I do it when I get to the phone fast because the machine takes 4 rings to pick up and I hate listening to it ring.

3. Pick up and leave until I get a busy signal. I do this when I’m bored.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-philosophy-regarding-telemarketers/205190.md?page=2)