1) I would just hang up if called and asked to hold.

2) Since getting rid of the land line and getting on the "Do Not Call" list, I have gotten zero marketing calls.

3) When I did get marketing calls, the dialogue would go like this:

"Hello Mr. Smith, this is Theresa from SuperFantastic Inc. and I have a deal for you..."

"Excuse me, how did you get this number?"

"What?"

"How did you get this number? It's unlisted, and I'd like to press charges against your company for calling an unlisted number."

Click.

My number really wasn't unlisted, but saying so got it off of the telemarketing lists at lightening speed.

I don't get telemarketing calls anymore, thank God. When I did, I would immediately tell them "put me on your do not call list" & hang up. I would occasionally (if feeling ornery) ask them for their number so I could call them back. I would then ask " Is this your home phone?" "No" " Well, why the f*ck are you bothering me at home!!!"

Sometimes my wife calls me from work & immediately puts me on hold. I almost always just hang up.

I used to deal with telemarketers by telling them I was a minor and I was the only person who lived at that number. That got them off the phone real quick.

I like the jack 'em around, and answer all of their questions, and then tell them I'm a minor! That works!

i allways get calls after work (at home) and from the delay and accent you can tell that it's another call from india. i normaly just let them start and then say, can you hold on a moment, and then put the phone down and go watch tv.. i figure that if i just hang up it costs the marketing company a few cents, the longer they hold, the more it will cost and the more time i have made them waist.

I say helloo once...

I put them on speaker phone, let them rattle off their stuff. Then ask them to repeat it. Then say it's a bad line, could they repeat it again, clarify things etc. Just hold them up for as long as possible while I continue doing whatever I was before they called. I figure it's keeping them from calling others. I figure if we tie the bastrds up it won't be as profitable to cold call people.

Why is this telemarketing legal anyway? Souldn't they respect peoples time and know better?

Ever notice that telemarketing calls always happen at home, not at work? I think they're permitted to waste our personal, family time but it's against the rules to bother us during our precious, valuable work time. More evidence of the principle that corporations are more important than voting citizens and their families.

What about those of us who work at home? It's all work time when you don't leave the office.