Stop Telemarketers and Have Fun Doing It

At some time or another, we all want to stop telemarketers from disrupting our lives. They not only take up our time, but they can lure us into spending money when we're trying to stay focused on frugal living. We want to save our money for things that we need and want.

The most effective methods for getting the telemarketers to take a hike can often be a bit rude. And, they always seem to come back, no matter how pointed you are about not wanting to be bothered.


The tried and true methods for getting rid of the telemarketers are:

• Get on the no-call list
• Hang up.
• Ask them to take you off their call list.
• Tell them you're not interested.

I have a friend that has the following message on his phone answering machine: "If you're a solicitor, please take us off your call list...."

All those techniques work, but the problem is simply that they aren't much fun. You feel a bit like a party pooper because you're not as enthusiastic about the phone call.

Here is an example of how stop telemarketers and have fun at the same time. I know that phone sales don't sound like much fun, but just use a little imagination and see if you might try the following entertaining technique to stop telemarketers.

One day I received a call from a nice young lady who was trying to sell me an extended warranty on my garden tractor. She hardly got anything out of her mouth (except who she was calling on behalf of) and I started with the questions and conversation that made it fun, and stopped her right from the start.

Our call went something like this:

Caller: I'm calling from Sears about your garden tractor.

Clair: Oh great! Where are you calling from?

Caller: Spokane, Washington.

Clair: I always tease people in Spokane and pronounce the city like it should ryhme with "pain" instead of "can", because after all, that's the way it's spelled.

Caller: Yeah, I know, I get that a lot.

Clair: What do you do up there in Spokane when you aren't calling folks about their garden tractors?

Caller: Oh, I garden and take care of my animals.

Clair: What kind of animals do you have?

Caller: Two geese.

Clair: Really? I have geese, ducks, turkeys and chickens. How big is your place?

Caller: It's not very big. We only have two geese in our yard.

Clair: They're a lot of fun aren't they?

Caller: Yeah, I like them, but our neighbor's dog doesn't.

Clair: What do you mean?

Caller: The dog reached through the wire fence and bit the geese. It almost killed one of them.

Clair: That's not right. Those geese weren't bothering the dog. They were on their own side of the fence.

Caller: That's what I think, but the animal control people say they can't do anything about it.

Clair: Well you can do something about it. Reach through the fence and bite the dog.

Caller: Oh, I wish I could.

Clair: Well, what do you do up there in Spokane when you aren't wrestling with dog problems next door.

Caller: It seems that I don't have much time for anything other than work and some chores around the house.

Clair: Well, that's too bad, but I'll bet the weather is nice up your way.

Caller: Yeah, we like it. It sure gets cold in the winter.

Clair: Here too, but we stay warm by the fire.

Caller: Oh, I just love a wood fire. It is so nice to sit by the fire in the winter.

Clair: We like it too. We have two wood stoves upstairs and one wood stove downstairs. It saves a lot of money on the heating bill.

Caller: Boy, tell me about it. We paid $180 one month last winter.

Clair: We've all but eliminated our heating costs with the wood burning stoves.

Caller: That's great. Hey, I've only got fifteen minutes before the end of my shift so I have to get ready to go home. It was great talking with you.

Clair: Same here. I really enjoyed our conversation. Take care and take care of those geese.

Caller: Thanks. See you later. Bye.

Clair: Bye.

That wasn't exactly a stop telemarketers type of conversation, but it certainly was enjoyable, and I didn't buy a damned thing. The funny part was she never even mentioned why she was calling. Her most important priority was leaving work on time.

This example shows that you can stop telemarketers, have fun and save money too. My unwelcomed caller was pleasant and polite and fun. It was an experience that left me chuckling. We were on the phone for a fun 30 minutes, and I didn't mind it at all. It was a nice break from my office work.

You don't have to stop telemarketers, especially when it is their nickel on their phone. I can only imagine that if the call was recorded for "purposes of quality" that my caller soon became the poster child for how not to make a telemarketing phone call.

Have fun and stop telemarketers without any hard feelings at all. I've never heard back from Sears about my garden tractor, so I claim victory with this one. I stop telemarketers with a nice conversation about them and their lives.

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