[Pindar]

Just say "Oh, gee, I can't talk right now. Why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you later. "
When they say "Uh, I'm sorry we're not allowed to do that." say "oh, I guess you don't want people calling you at home."
"No..." "Well now you know how I feel". Hang up.

[RobertWhite]

(Original post by Stefan1991)
Just say "Oh, gee, I can't talk right now. Why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you later. "
When they say "Uh, I'm sorry we're not allowed to do that." say "oh, I guess you don't want people calling you at home."
"No..." "Well now you know how I feel". Hang up.

Pretty clever if they follow the script

[BeccaAnne94]

(Original post by tinkerbell_xxx)
if you look on twitter on some comedy accounts, there are some quite funny lines to say to unknown callers, one of my faves is;
"Jim's whorehouse, you got the dough, we got the hoe!"

Love this! My Dad promises to do it next time they call :')

[Mark85]

Tell me about it. I am starting to wish that I had been missold PPI insurance.

[hawkesy_1]

The people actually doing the cold calling care even less than you do. They have just had the last 200 people put the phone down on them when they asked to do a survey they really don't care about. I had to do cold calling part time before I started uni, what really wound me up was when people actually agreed to answer the survey, gave long winded made up answers and hung up. Trust me, the people that call you won't care and it would be hard work to annoy them. Likelihood is they are students or people working part time.

[RobertWhite]

(Original post by hawkesy_1)
The people actually doing the cold calling care even less than you do. They have just had the last 200 people put the phone down on them when they asked to do a survey they really don't care about. I had to do cold calling part time before I started uni, what really wound me up was when people actually agreed to answer the survey, gave long winded made up answers and hung up. Trust me, the people that call you won't care and it would be hard work to annoy them. Likelihood is they are students or people working part time.

They're all Indian. I don't think it's coincidence.

[Mark85]

All the people in this thread trying to be funny, clever or just **** with call centre staff - you aren't and you sound like witless morons. All you are going to raise is a slight 'meh' before they slam the phone down, forget about you and make the next call.

Unless you are going to do something genuinely funny, witty or something that involves banter with the person you are speaking to rather than trying to assert your dominance in your position as a 19 year old wet behind the ears student rather than someone trying to make a living in a generally depressing job, just say "not interested" and put the phone down. You don't even need to bother with the former. Just don't act like a sword about it.

[HotfireLegend]

(Original post by memifer)
Register on line with the TPS (telephone preference service) for free (google it)....after a few weeks the calls should stop, and if they do call just tell them that you are registered with the TPS and be astounded at the speed with which they suddenly hang up on you!!

I'll try this, thanks

[hawkesy_1]

(Original post by HotfireLegend)
I'll try this, thanks

The telephone preference service won't stop random digit dialling. It will definitely lower the number of cold calls but it won't stop them completely

[Quick-use]

(Original post by RobertWhite)
Hahaha will definitely try this. I might start speaking in Mandarin and see what they do too

You could say you're bankrupt.
Alternatively you can ask them about their name/details about the company. After that tell them bluntly you're not interested and that you'd like for them to take you off the list. If they hesitate, threaten to sue them. And then, add by (lying and) saying that you're on TPS - Telephone Preference Service which makes it illegal by the government for call centres to contact you. Press on further with all of this, threaten more for them to wholly remove you from the system, and say that you'll sue them.


P.S. I briefly trained to work at a call centre but after seeing what it was like I didn't turn up the day after

[pshewitt1]

(Original post by johnnn)
Join the club, the only people that phone my landline are call centres and people doing surveys. Got to the stage where i unplugged it for about two weeks. I use to answer the phone singing or if they were doing a survey when they asked me a question i would ask them a question then they would hang up the phone in rage!

forever alone?

[Mark85]

(Original post by Quick-use)
You could say you're bankrupt.
Alternatively you can ask them about their name/details about the company. After that tell them bluntly you're not interested and that you'd like for them to take you off the list. If they hesitate, threaten to sue them. And then, add by (lying and) saying that you're on TPS - Telephone Preference Service which makes it illegal by the government for call centres to contact you. Press on further with all of this, threaten more for them to wholly remove you from the system, and say that you'll sue them.

Why give some anonymous person on the end of the line the satisfaction of knowing what a dickhead you are?

'Oh no, some little boy is going to SUE me!'

Weapons like you spouting that sort of guff were what made my day working in a call centre; it made me feel superior and gave me someone's face to laugh in.

[123maz]

i hate the PPI calls, they happen at least twice a day. just unsubscribe to the call

[I love shopping]

I know it's really annoying when you get these phone calls, but before being rude to the person calling, please think about the position they are in. It must be such a depressing job. It's not something anyone would choose to do unless they were really desperate for money. As annoying as it may be, you could just tell them you're not interested and ask them not to call again. This really wouldn't take much time or effort. Like others have suggested, you could sign up to TPS to stop getting these calls.

[HotfireLegend]

(Original post by hawkesy_1)
The telephone preference service won't stop random digit dialling. It will definitely lower the number of cold calls but it won't stop them completely

It's worth a try if it lowers the number from a current 5-a-day to 1 or 2!

[Vohamanah]

(Original post by RobertWhite)
Somehow my number has entered an annoying list where various centres keep phoning me. I have had people calling me about my washing machine having no mortgage, how my computes is infected and they wish to fix it, asking whether I have a mortgage on my house etc...

I keep telling them to piss off or provide very sarcastic replies. I have tried telling them to take me off their phone lists but it's not working.

Does anyone have any brilliant lines I could say to piss them off or any constructive advice in how to prevent them calling?

Thanks

"Hello, I'm calling from White Goods Secured Loans Ltd, and I understand your washing machine does not currently have a mortgage. Could you put your washing machine on the line, please? And how's your dishwasher set?"

[RobertWhite]

(Original post by Mark85)
All the people in this thread trying to be funny, clever or just **** with call centre staff - you aren't and you sound like witless morons. All you are going to raise is a slight 'meh' before they slam the phone down, forget about you and make the next call.

Unless you are going to do something genuinely funny, witty or something that involves banter with the person you are speaking to rather than trying to assert your dominance in your position as a 19 year old wet behind the ears student rather than someone trying to make a living in a generally depressing job, just say "not interested" and put the phone down. You don't even need to bother with the former. Just don't act like a sword about it.

I understand where you're coming from, of course. Perhaps you should lighten up a little though.

[johnnn]

(Original post by pshewitt1)
forever alone?

Pretty much!! Lol

[kpwxx]

(Original post by RobertWhite)
Somehow my number has entered an annoying list where various centres keep phoning me. I have had people calling me about my washing machine having no mortgage, how my computes is infected and they wish to fix it, asking whether I have a mortgage on my house etc...

I keep telling them to piss off or provide very sarcastic replies. I have tried telling them to take me off their phone lists but it's not working.

Does anyone have any brilliant lines I could say to piss them off or any constructive advice in how to prevent them calling?

Thanks

There are so many of these now, problem is you can't use telephone preference service for scams...

We keep getting one which is just silence then a computerised voice says 'goodbye'and hangs up, it's so annoying because I can't even see what the purpose is... Maybe testing to see if we answer?

I say 'I don't have a computer' etc and laugh at them pretending they had 'the wrong number' but my dad just swears at them. There must be a list somewhere of funny things to do... Maybe on cracked?

Xxx

posted from the TSR Android app

[Soph.Jade]

(Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox)
My current tactic is to sing a verse of "Amazing Grace" in a sort of funky rock style. Brilliant fun, and rarely get the chance for verse two.

That's brilliant - my song for them is always "Hello" by Lionel Richie