Getting back at telemarketers.

I, like most people, get quite annoyed with the telemarketers who call at all hours of the day. Even though I signed up for that national “Do Not Call List” (after canceling my erroneous registration on the national “Call, and Call Often List”, people (often with strange accents) call me to offer credit cards, timeshares, and low, low mortgage rates. Well, sir, I’m mad as heck and I’m not going to take this anymore.

While it may not stop the calls from coming, you can at least have fun with the calls you get with these methods of sweet, sweet revenge:

1. Tell the caller in a calm, clear voice that you wish to decline their kind offer. If they persist, continue to gently refuse. These people read from a script, and they have an answer to anything you can say. After they have worn you down, agree to sign up for whatever they’re selling and then cancel it within a few days. Take THAT, telemarketer!

2. When that resort up in Sedona calls, discuss with your spouse about a good weekend to go and make the appointment with the representative. On that morning, wake up around 10 a.m., and remark, “I guess we’re not going to Sedona today.” Zing!

3. Credit card offers: Sign up for that credit card, just to get the person off the phone and you can get back to your video game. When the card arrives, make a conscious effort NOT to use the card, but then end up using it 3 months later when you find yourself low on gas and money. In your face, corporate America!