How do you deal with telemarketers

Or conversely, have you been on the other side as a telemarketer and how do you live with yourself how do you deal with people being rude to/annoyed with you

What's your go-to response when you pick up the phone and a telemarketer is on the other end? Do you even bother saying anything or just hang up?

I just don't pick up the phone honestly.

Thank goodness my phone has a "spam call" feature that basically warns me when a telemarketer is calling so I'll know not to pick up. It's annoying that they do leave voicemails, though.

Lately, I've been trying to search through the play store to find something that can block spam callers via area code, since 95% of the spam calls that I get are usually from the same area code. Kind of a shame that some of them are closed behind paywalls, though. :s

I don't answer any number that I don't recognize and if they don't leave me a voicemail I don't call them back. Makes avoiding telemarketers really easy. And any that calls on the work phone I just hang up on I don't have time for that.

Normally I would just say, "No thank you! We're not interested."

I don't answer calls with numbers I don't recognize, easy as.

Just don't answer the phone. However, if it's a number that calls back, I would answer, and potentially threaten to report them to the FCC and the FTC if they don't quit calling.

Given the choice, I don't.

I usually don't if I can help it but if I accidentally answer the phone to one I'll usually ask if they can wait for a second then put them on hold indefinitely until they hang up lol. Saying you're not interested and asking to be removed from their call list rarely works out in my experience even though it's supposedly the law

+1 for me not needing to deal and +1 for them since they get a breather in between constantly making calls I guess. I've worked in a call centre before taking calls but I always felt so sorry for the telemarketing team who were across from where we sat because their manager hounded them all day =(

I answer calls at work so I can't really screen/ignore since most numbers are unknown, and we get a ton of these spam callers - there's a few numbers I actually recognize now as telemarketers, but yeah

even when they are trying to be sneaky about it it's pretty obvious - they try to pass it off as a business call but when they vaguely ask to "speak to the owner" or "the person in charge of ____ management" you know it's bullshit

I'm usually pretty nice, I'll ask to take a message/if they want to leave a number or just say ____ Manager is out to lunch, but some of my coworkers just fuck with them and say shit like "yeah, please call back on July 27, 2057"

I don't. I just reject the phone call. I'm not talking to some telemarketer tbh.

yup, we never answer unless it's a number we recognize. meanwhile my poor cosmetologist has to answer every call, since the people calling could be potential clients. :<

I just hang up. My friend who used to do it said it's the nicest thing you can do in this situation when you both know full well it's not going to result in a sale. They're trained to never agree with you that you don't need whatever they're trying to sell and would get in trouble if their superior heard them letting a potential customer go without a fight. The most painless way to end the conversation for both parties is just hanging up.

i wait until they hang up and then i block them.

none of you guys go along with it and string them along??? that's where all the fun is!!

^Ain't got time for that.

I've often picked up unknown numbers of late what with moving countries, ergo sometimes I would get an important call. But not really had them much here tbh.

Relevant video:

I also rarely pick up calls from numbers I don't know and don't leave voicemails. On the few occasions I do, I mostly just hang up because I'm in no mood for that.

I rarely answer my iPhone when they call. I only answer it if it's my mom calling me. I'm terrified of talking on the phone... it's some super duper weird phobia that I have. :x

I just never answer the phone. Simple.

I try to google numbers while they're calling to decide whether to pick up. I usually don't.

If I do end up answering a call from an unknown caller and it turns out to be a telemarketer, I just cut them off as soon as I realize with a "not interested, sorry" and hang up right away.

I don't get many calls anyway, though. Being on the do not call list here works pretty well for me.