Ferrous has said it perfectly. Let me just put it in all caps!
DON’T BUY ANYTHING FROM TELEMARKETERS!!
I am much ruder than you, Ferrous. I usually say something like “Why the fuck are you assholes calling this number?”, but that’s just me. 
My first response is usually “Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t have a phone.” No matter what the offer or appeal is, I say the same thing. This makes all but the best of them stop dead in their tracks. The ones that don’t say “OK.” or “Oh, OK.” and then hang up on me are almost always a fun conversation with someone who is just trying to make a living / pay the bills / help a good cause. Mostly however they hang up on me. Sorry.
I enjoy telemarketers. They give me someone to be rude to without suffering the least twinge of conscience.
Seems like a good time to remind everybody of this thread. Its a perfect example of the brain power on the other end of the line. 
What I used to do when I worked 4-midnight was set my voice mail at home to this message:
Worked like a charm. I got rid of almost every telemarketer within about 6 weeks or so.
Robin
So, when they change the software in the autodialer to, oh, say, listen for all three tones, what do I do with the suddenly-useless $50 block of plastic connected to my phone line?
Strikes me as a way for the TeleZapper people and the telemarketers, working together, to squeeze cash out of us.
Preach it, Brother!
BTW, what kind of moron would give their credit card number to a complete stranger during an unsolicited call???
I don’t see what the big deal is. First of all, how can all of you have so much time on your hands that you can “deal” with telemarketers. Second, if it’s dinner time and you don’t want to be bothered, don’t answer the freakin’ phone! Third, if you’re running out the door and the phone rings, keep on running out the door! Forget about the damn phone! Fourth, if you answer the phone and it’s a telemarketer, just hang the hell up! Don’t say, “No thanks.” Don’t waste your time by listening to what they have to say. Just hang up! Fifth, get Caller ID. Most telemarketers will show up as Unknown Name/Number or Out Of Area. Don’t answer those calls. If it happens to be someone you want to hear from, they’ll leave a message.
If the phone rings at 5:45pm, during dinner, and you answer the phone only to find that it’s a telemarketer, you have no one to blame but yourself. You can’t bitch, you can’t moan, you can’t do anything, because you were the moron that picked up the phone! When the phone rings, you are in control. If you don’t want to pick it up, you don’t have to pick it up. Understand? And finally, if you’re dumb enough to give your credit card number to a stranger during an unsolicited call, do not bitch about it. Keep it a secret. Why embarrass yourself by telling anyone about it? Just let it go. Call it a loss and move the fuck on.
Sheesh.
It is just pssible that the phone call might not be a telemarketer, you know. It’s even possible that it might be something important…
Ignoring a ringing phone is not always an easy thing to do.
No - what interests me more is that Devil May Care was eating dinner at 5:45. Good lord! I’m still at work at 5:45. Who the hell is together enough to be able to eat at that time?
I’m lucky if I can make it by 8pm.
Am I alone in this? Are there vast legions of pre-6pm eaters out there, mocking us untogether late diners? Or is DMC a freak? I must know!
pan
Heck, we generally eat dinner about 6PM or so.
But we both start work at 7AM…
The trade offs we make.
Since when is answering the phone during dinner “moronic”? I’d say that about 0.0000001% of the phone calls I receive result in conversations lasting longer than a minute. Most are simple, quick questions by a friend, family member, or client, or other things that only take a second. If it’s someone wanting to talk, I tell them I’ll call them back.
I have voicemail, but I’ve never even set up a password for it or checked it. I would’t have it at all if I ever remembered to ask them to remove it. Leaving me a message will get you squat.
(oh, and what is with people who don’t answer their phone at 3am? If someone is calling me at 3am, chances are it’s something REALLY important, like someone has died, or it’s an emergency of some sort. If there is any time I am MOST likely to answer the phone, it’s then.)
From that article… I want to know what this is all about:
"State [do not call] lists, too, often make exemptions for funeral homes and car dealers. "
???
Posted this in the other thread, seems pretty appropriate here (or I could be trying to pad my post count! )
There’s nothing to dodging these people. Sometimes I answer the phone, sometimes I don’t (I refuse to pay for Caller ID or any other phone company scam to get more money out of me.)
I could really care less what happens regarding my telephone. It is not in charge of my life.
If I happen to get a telemarketer they almost always start with: Hello, is Mr. X there? or Hello, is Mr. or Mrs. X there?
I say No, then I hang up. Real simple. Nothing to it. 10 more seconds of my life watching commercials or some otrher useless activity is over.
When I’m doing something important, I DON’T ANSWER the phone.
How difficult is that? If it’s the hospital calling about your dying father, they’ll LEAVE A MESSAGE!
Once again: The telephone is not my lord and master. Neither should it be yours.
If you call me at 3AM, don’t expect me to pick up. Hell, I don’t even have the ringer in my bedroom turned on. The phone in the room where I sleep is there for me to make calls from, not receive them.
Jeez, Opal, you had to dig deep to find this thread.
There are people in my household who will answer a phone at 3AM. I’m not one of them, unless I know someone is out. If someone died, they will still be dead when I get up. If they had to be rushed to the hospital, there’s nothing that I can do (especially given the distances involved in most cases). If they just gave birth, the baby will still be alive in the morning and they can share their joy then.
However, I may be an exception. I’ve a small circle of friends, and we’re not very talkative and don’t call over little things. Fortunately, I don’t have clients calling my home, although I’d likely set up a second line if I did (which we have, as we didn’t want to change our number when we got DSL - thanks Verizon :mad: )