You cant. I used to get two or three calls a day when I had land line only my stalker was named Rachel. Since I use my cell phone exclusively now, I haven't heard from her. I used to have imaginary conversations with Rachel. What else can you do!

Yes Rachel was our stalker caller too. Pages of complaints about it on Google but don't know of anything that works to stop them.

Bridget has a friend helping her out today. Starlette. I told Starlette that I only talk to Bridgett.

When I answer the phone, if no one responds to my "hello" right away, I hang up. When I hear that little bubble noise, I hang up. When we turned 62 or 65, the number of robo calls we get became ridiculous. And we also get lots of calls that our workers or my husband will be in your area... I read in the paper that those were gypsy cons for "home improvements."

Well, I want you to know that I am special!!!!

Rachel called me on New Year's Day! And I thought she didn't like me any more.

I do hear from some of her "friends" from time to time also.
I just hang up and sometimes leave her an impolite message,

Break down and get caller ID. Then block the numbers. Rachel doesn't call here anymore.

Caller ID or let all calls go to your answering machine/voicemail and pick up only when you recognize the person speaking.

Pound the * key on your phone repeatedly when "Rachel" calls. It is supposed to screw up their auto caller. If nothing else, the beeping in their ear is annoying.

The other thing I have done is just lay the receiver on the counter, let them babble on to thin air. After all, it's their nickel. When they realize they are talking to no one, they hang up.

One thing a friend of mine did was take an airhorn and blow it in the mouthpiece of the phone after calling the person some choice names. No more calls for along time after that.

Caller id is still the best. If it is a number from anywhere outside Alberta, and we don't recognize it, we let the machine answer. And if we do get fooled and answer a solicitation call, I just hang up.

We either do what Sheila does or my husband will wait till they start their spiel and then lay the phone down, An hour later he will hang it up. Mary

I told Heather, and the rest of them especially the dork that works for microsoft and wants to fix my computer, that I am sorry but they should stop calling me. If i get one word of flack I tell them that I am in a witness protection program and my phones are tapped 24-7. Ooops You are busted and they have your number now. Thank you for keeping the line open long enough for them to trace the call. Now they have YOUR number. It works for a while. I usually don't answer the unknown numbers but after two or three a day for a week I give in and give them my sales pitch. Silence until the next pita comes around.

Tell them that you're a business and charge for your time, how many minutes do they want to contract for, at $6.00 per minute, $50.00 for 10 min., so please give their name and their company name and address so that you can invoice them.

o j

Like sheilajoyce, if no one responds as soon as I say Hello, I hang up.

We were getting blasted with a cruiseliner horn and then being told that we had won a cruise...blah, blah, blah. As soon as I heard the horn I would hang up, We don't get the calls anymore but I suspect that there were probably complaints about that call.

If I get a solicitation call, which is rare, I tell they are being recorded because I am investigating a homicide and I might need call them later about the case. When I ask them to verify their phone number and location, they usually stammer and hang up.

Generally these calls are generated by a computer, and are nothing but computer calls without a person on the other end. I will try the * trick--thanks, PrarieRose. Since the DNC list doesn't seem to have any teeth, it's useless now.

DON"T PUSH ANY BUTTONS. It only tells them that they've got alive number with a person on the other end.

I find human telemarketers annoying but I think it's wrong to be rude to them or to mess with them. They aren't doing it for fun and probably just want to get through their shift as quickly as possible to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.

A lot of people have to work any job they can get and don't have the luxury of being picky. When I get annoyed, I think about how I would feel in their position and I do my best to be polite and not waste their time or mine, and I will block the number afterwards.

I always just hang up when Bridget or Rachel call me. I think it is a recording not a live person.

I agree with Chi83. I wouldn't want to make someone's job any harder than it already is.

I don't get many of these calls because my number is unlisted, but when I do I just say, "I'm really not interested, thanks anyway." If you sound like you mean it, they'll get right off the phone. They don't want to waste their time.

I have caller id and just don't answer these calls. Do you not have caller id? It costs next to nothing and to me is more than worth it. Satine

I have caller id and just don't answer these calls. Do you not have caller id? It costs next to nothing and to me is more than worth it. Satine

Since I moved almost a year ago, I get very few calls from anyone. In getting a different number, I think it is a brand new one. It is almost identical to my old number, only 3 numbers different. Even the phone company is not sure what happen because it is out of sequence with their numbers.

I also wait for the caller to speak, it will hang up automatically if there is no response, no problem. When someone does speak
I usually say I do not accept telephone solicitation and DO NOT CALL BACK, usually works!

we have caller id that also shows up on our tv screen. If we don't know the number, we don't answer. We had a call the other day from Las Vegas, (that showed up on our id). Of course we didn't answer. LOL, told hubby, well, looks like we didn't get that free trip. Oh and Hillary Clinton, left us a message inviting us to dinner. lol Missed that one to.

They get block caller from me!
Guess I'm not friendly, LOL

Seems like a lot of you are going out of your way to be nice to crooks. The people who are calling you these days are not rosy-cheeked kids working their way thru college or housewives trying to earn a few extra bucks. Or rarely, very rarely. Today those people calling you are skilled at extracting money from your wallet. Period. No one calls you who does not want money.

I don't think anyone is envisioning rosy cheeks. But I do envision large numbers of relatively unskilled individuals who signed up to earn a regular income, perhaps until they could get something better. Sure, they were hired to try to sell a product or a service, but that doesn't make them scammers. Or if they are, I wouldn't know that because I get them off the phone (politely) before they have a chance to reveal themselves.

Seems like a lot of you are going out of your way to be nice to crooks.

And that is bad because . . . ?

The number that shows up on our Caller ID when Bridget calls is (361) 271-4868. If you call that number, you will get an automated recording that says to press 1 to have the number you called from put on their do not call list. (And to allow up to 48 hours for it to take effect.)

If you continue to receive calls after 48 hours, you then can report them.

Her name used to Rachel.

Here is a link that might be useful: Complaints

Oh, here's more info on good ol' Bridget. Do you honestly believe that they will take you off their list??

Here is a link that might be useful: Bridget's phone number

Sushipup, it's important to differentiate between the employers who are using nefarious means to separate call-ees from their money, and the people who work for them who most likely, cannot find any other job. I'm sure they know what they do is wrong, but most likely don't have much choice. There's nothing wrong with a polite "No, thank you." Their employers, on the other hand.....

By being "polite" to these poor maligned call-makers, you have done two things: 1) labeled yourself as a sucker and 2) encouraged the employers to continue their ways.

Hang up immediately. It isn't rude, it's smart.

I don't think hanging up is rude but I do think it's rude to do some of the things mentioned like blow an airhorn in their ear, calling them names, putting the phone down, making up some elaborate story, etc.

This post was edited by chi83 on Thu, Feb 5, 15 at 18:10

By being "polite" to these poor maligned call-makers, you have done two things: 1) labeled yourself as a sucker and 2) encouraged the employers to continue their ways.

I would say the only people to whom I might be labeled a sucker are you and others who might feel the way you do. And if I'm wrong about that, who cares? Labels from strangers would have zero impact on me.

I have never bought anything or donated any money to any cause in which contact was made through a telemarketer. I don't let them give their spiel (a waste of their time and mine), and I don't interact with them other than to say I'm not interested. I don't see how this would encourage their employers.

My first post might have left you with the impression that I give them an opportunity to keep talking, but that's not true. I say what I want to say, and that's the end of the conversation. But I do say it politely. I have no desire to frustrate, anger, or deafen them.

As for going out of our way to be nice, I don't see it as going out of my way at all. Some of us are just naturally well mannered. :-)

No one called me today.......... I wonder if my phone works.

I have caller Id. Saltlake City pops up. I hung up on the caller once, now they call me and hang up! :0)

I have zero tolerance for harassment and scammers. People who harass people for money are scum IMO and do not deserve polite treatment. Don't even TRY to tell me that's the only job they could get. You don't have to look far to see "help wanted" signs. There's plenty of respectable jobs out there and those jobs likely pay more than the tele-terrorists are paid. People take those jobs thinking it's easy money. They don't last at it when they find out their paycheck is next to nothing. It's actually abusive to the people doing the calling and harassing since they're getting used by the people in charge of it. It's your right to condone and support their actions. I choose to not support them. If you truly feel sorry for them, encourage them to get a different job. That's far more polite than sweet-talking them and lulling them into more.

This post was edited by cynic on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 18:26

Two telemarketer calls already this morning. My shrill whistle sure is getting used a lot.

Our number is unlisted and we have Caller ID which works fairly well but it's not absolute. If I suspect the call is from a computer generated call list I don't speak when I pick up the phone and wait a moment to see if there is a person on the other end who might say 'hello' first. Then instead of saying 'hello' I usually say "Yes?" I don't know if the computer is programmed to respond to the word hello but it seems that most of the time when I answer with a 'yes' the phone call gets disconnected.

Robo dialers can sense when the phone has been answered. It can filter many voicemail and answering machines and on those, most will mark the number as working and put it back into the queue for future use/sale. Picking up the phone tells them it's an active number. And of course when you talk to them, it's marked as verified working which increases the value of the number for resale.

What has been surprisingly effective for me is using the SIT tone (special information tone) and a recording of "the number you have reached has been disconnected..." on blocked calls. I tried it once before on my answering machine but a few legitimate calls it confused people so I quit using it on there.

I should add that there are a few legitimate places who will put you on a DNC list, but that still doesn't excuse waking me from a nice nap or interrupting me when busy.

Keep in mind that people often bring on these calls to themselves by calling 800 numbers of less-than-reputable places, giving numbers for contests and the like. So to get control, you have to control who gets the number(s). That won't help for wardialers, that just dial number after number (and not from a list), but will help for others.

Hit the music!
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be telemarketers...