What I do when I get an annoying telemarketer who won't take "No" for an answer is I will tell them to hold on for whoever they ask for and just leave the phone sitting on the table, off the hook, and never go back to it for a while. They will finally hang up. If you do that enough, they will just stop calling. It works for me every time. Either that or I will just keep saying, "Hello! Hello! Hello! Is anybody there? Hello!" and finally they will hang up.

I work in retail also and we get those calls all the time.

blow a whistle in their ears....

Oh, I love all the comments. Just leaving the phone sit there DOES WORK! My husband did that at home once. He also told one telemarketer that I died. (could have started something else with that though). He told another if you ever see that &*&^%$ call me, she stuck me with a lot of bills! He has blown a whistle in the phone. He even asked one for their home phone number because he was busy and he needed to call them back. (ROFLOL)!!!! She said I can't do that, he said why not? You called me didn't you?

:lol:

Hanging up didn't work for me...they just kept calling. I finally got fed up getting calls even on Sundays.

This is what worked for me: I interupt and say "Let me save both of us some time. Please take my number off your call list." This may take repeating.

If they continue to try and "sell" I ask for their name and then ask to speak to their supervisor.

If necessary I tell them (more forcefully) that I have repeatedly asked them to take me off their call list. I know my rights and if I get one more call from them, I will consider it harrassment and they WILL be reported.

Now of course it doesn't always work, but since taking this tactic, I've cut down considerably on the number of telemarketer calls.

Good luck.

Here is what I do, ask them to speak a little louder, do this about four times until they are shouting into the phone and then say that was too loud speak little softer, do this until they are at a whisper then go back to a little louder please...keep it up until they hang up. Maybe it won't decrease calls but you can have fun. Also I have an alter ego, a very cognitively challenged elderly aunt who always thinks the caller is her nephew Billy....no matter what you keep asking when Billy is going to come visit again be cause his auntie misses him soooooo much.

Just keep saying, "What? Could you speak up? I can't hear you? Huh? What? I didn't get that. Could you speak up? What?"

Oh I have done this, even at home. You need to understand that they need to make many calls and if you take up their time, they will stop calling.

When they call and ask for my husband, I just say sure, hang on. Call his name real loud, lay the phone down and forget it for awhile. Usually, they never call back.
Or second===
If it is a woman calling, I act like she is the other woman that I have already told to stay away. I tell them one more time===AND UNDERSTAND THIS IS THE LAST TIME. That works everytime.

The best way is just to hang up. Giving them any type of response is pleasing to the caller. However, being human we tried talking in different languages. We had one spanish speaker, one german speaker and one arabic speaker. Now they had fun.
But truly, if you are busy with no time for the laughs today, just hang up. It is your phone!