I have also done telemarketing calls, and direct sales; and I always hated it when people were rude to me. On the other hand, most of these people only make money when they actually make a sale; so keeping them on the phone talking to you only wastes their time. I listen long enough to see what they are calling about if it is a real person on the phone. Once I know that they are promoting something that I do not want, or can't afford, then I say "I am not interested, thank you". And I hang up before they can say anything else to me. That way, I have not been rude to them, and they can go on to another call that might produce a good customer, and not waste their time or mine. If it is an automated call, then I just hang up right away. If they call more than once after I have told them I am not interested, then I start asking the questions. Who are you ? What company are you with ? Do you know that you are calling me on my cell phone and I have to pay for this call ? I am on the do not call list, and you are not supposed to even be calling me, so if you ever call again, I am reporting both you and your company to the Attorney General's office and the Better Busuness Bureau (and anything else that I can thing of that might worry them). This always works, and they take me off the list and quit calling.
I use caller ID before I answer the phone. If I make the mistake of answer a call and I don't recognize the name or number and it' a telemarketer I'll listen politely for about a minute and then tell them I'm not interested. I always ask them to remove me from their call list. If they are persistent and I have had a few that are I will just hang up on them. I've even had one call back and harrass us to the point where we called the police to say we were being harrassed. My advice is to not even answer your phone then you don't have to deal with them.
I don't paint telemarketers with a single stroke of paint. It is true that some are overzealous while others are frauds. But the majority are honest trying to win their daily bread. I usually pick the calls of ethical telemarketers and may follow through if the product adds value.
I very rarely get them anymore, as I only have a mobile, but I just hang up on them normally. People may say that it's rude, but then again isn't it also rude to hassle someone over the phone for marketing purposes?
That's funny. I understand your frustration. I deal with them by not picking up the phone. Sometimes when I do, I try to be polite, but I don't have time to be bullied. My no, means no. I hate it when they insist on asking me questions about something I am not interested in. Recently one person asked me about something that I said no to, but they asked me again. I said, "What difference does it make when I just told you I am not interested." Telemarketers would do better if they just accept the answer and move on.
Same here, I hate talking to them but I don't want to offend them so I don't answer the calls anymore.
If I am not interested in the product and I get a call from telemarketer, I will politely say "I am not interested," and hang up. However, there are some telemarketers who persistently call. If politeness does not work I will have to yell at them. If I get regular calls from the same number, I will block the number.
I always try to be very polite and patient with them (after all, I know that making those phone calls with the intention of selling something is their job), but... Many of them urgently need to learn the limit of insistence because there are some situations that are very annoying. They offer something, I refuse... They insist, I refuse again... They insist again... It's a very bad vicious circle (for both... those who are trying to sell and for potential clients). The training of telemarketing attendants needs to be reviewed, refurbished to suit today's public, and thiose type of audience doesn't go out buying everything that is offered to them (even more through the phone).
I think that I have gotten a little softer over the years. I was pretty rude at times in the past, but at the end of the day it is just people doing their job so you cannot really take it personally.
It's not a fun job to have, but it is one way to eek out a living. I did it for a while, and even though the people we were calling had signed up for follow up calls when we had offers, some of them were still rude. I usually just don't answer if I don't recognize the number. If I pick up by mistake or someone else answers my phone for me, I try not to be rude. If they are hateful to me then I'm probably just going to hang up on them. Otherwise, I try to tell them that I don't want to waste their time or mine, so let me just say, "no thank you," now. Have you ever bought anything from a telemarketer? I haven't, but some people must be buying or they wouldn't keep doing it.
Most of the telemarketers now are not even real people, it is just a pre-recorded message that sounds like an actual person until you try to stop them from talking and they do not even respond. I no longer even try to interact when I get a telemarketer call, and I just hang up; this way I don't have to wait to see if it a real person or just a recording. I have worked as a telemarketer, and it is not a good way to earn money. Most people hang up on you, and some are just totally rude, so this might be why the companies are now using recordings instead of having an actual person making the calls. Usually, there is a little space after you answer the phone before they start the recording; so it is not too hard to tell when it is a sales call and just hang up the phone.
Though I am a bit disturbed for such unwanted call from the telemarketers, I give them time to say their purpose and tell them that I am not interested in a courteous manner. The next time I receive another call from the said telemarketer, I listen a bit and close the conversation. In short, I am very frank with them. Just a couple of second or minutes, they stop talking and bid me a word of thanks. I know that it is their job or task of calling their customers and it is inconsiderate manner to insult them.
