Great 'Best Cold Caller Rebukes' Hunt

homerjh

Since iregistered for the TPS i have had loads less, but still get some.

generally overseas calls are silent for 1-2 seconds after you answer, i just say

"i am sorry, you took too long to reply" and hang up.

and cold callers at the door, generally wait till they speil then mention the OH is the only named person on the bills and i cant change anything, they scurry away then!

bestyman

Bt do a service called "choose to refuse". Once someone has called you then you can have the number barred so they don`t ring again.
Great idea, but on the downside you have to pay for it, only 10 numbers can be stored and Im not sure if it works with overseas callers etc. Also usefull to get rid of Ex partners, bad debts etc.

ben_reza

I ask them what they are wearing.

khawk

I think that the people who don't deal well with cold calling have assertiveness problems themselves. It doesn't take much to calmly and politely ask to be taken off the database. How hard is that? No tactics needed.
Cold callers often hate their jobs, and need to do it to stay afloat, so give them a break and just be polite and grown up about it, and you can be just as effective.

Sorry I have tried this and was called by the same caller 5 times in one night. One time they called at 3am, when I said the time the reply was well i'm up!!!
I tell them I am ex directory registered on TPS and will inform the police if they call again. The best one was to let our dog (who yodels) loose on the phone....they don't call back for a while..:rotfl:

pipola

I find its a little childish but if you really dont want to speak to the pest just repeat everything they ask you
if its one of those calls who you have an account with and they ask you for your D.O.B or so give it to them wrong then they say they cant continue with the call as you are not authurised or this is naughty but ask them what colour under wear they have on and keep asking they get the message

hope123_2

I can always tell if it's a foreign caller, cos when I say "Hello" it takes a couple of seconds for them to reply, so I just hang up.

If it's someone trying to sell me something e.g. home improvements etc I say "I've been made redundant, so I can't afford it" (which is true) and none of them have ever tried to talk me round, they always end up apologising...

I'm registered with the TPS, so don't get many calls anyway, but I didn't know that they could be fined, so that's a good tip...

simmonc2

I had a bad experience of using the tactic of saying "hang on a mo'" and then putting the phone handset face up for them to talk to themselves.
For the rest of that evening and into the night, (bear in mind contact centres can work strange hours) The phone kept ringing and when I answered it the call was silent. The CLI was withheld, so I reported it to BT Malicious calls bureau but as the calls stopped by the next day, they couldn't do much about it.

I like the Anti Telemarketing counter script.

or the "Oh I work for a rival company, what are your prices/discounts" tack.

moneysavingmonkey85

loads of ideas! very creative I'm so glad I don't have a landline anymore. I know you can buy a device that blocks all unwanted calls, and a computer tells them to go away, but its not v moneysaving.

flashman_62

Register your landline and mobile with TPS. Reduces the majority of cold callers. If the number is shown as Unavailable I do not answer. If they still get through I ask tell them the number is registered with TPS and failing that I just let 'em hang!

2loula

I always tell cold callers/sellers of block paving, fascias, windows etc knocking at my door that the property is rented - that one works a treat, usually stops their spiel mid flow.:beer:
For persistant phone cold callers I ask where they got my number from as it is ex directory TPS etc, I then ask "Is this call being monitored for training purposes?" - that usually does the trick if you get a persistant one. Lastly I then ask them to permanently delete my number from their records.

:T:j:T