How do you get rid of cold callers on the phone?

[bubblewrap]

I'm intregued (sp) BW - how do you tell a mormon from a JW?

I've found mormons tend to dress in black and have at least one Donny Osmund look a likie - JW round here seem to be female, middle aged and rather like your mum!

They DON'T look like MY mum. My mother @ 80 is still better looking than any JW.

[miffy]

I send in the heavy guns to get rid of cold callers, Mr Miffy is fab at it! He doesn't reply to anything they ask him and when they eventually ask if he is still there, he just asks them have they finished and then he begins, he gives Victor Meldrew a run for his money and just repeats a long diatribe of every reason why he wouldn't either buy anything from their company all in a dead pan voice it is magic to listen too!

[dexterdoglancashire]

I think that the young Mormon lads who come round knocking on our doors have to do it as part of their studies (for want of a better word). I think that the lads come over here from America, and Mormon lads from here go across there for a few months.

[Geordie]

for cold callers trying to sell something just ask if they have a payment plan for bankrupts.....there isn't much they can do after that.

[bubblewrap]

I was once stopped by a moron in Loughborough market place & I ask him if he were a missionary he said he was I said there was a country crying out for missionarys when he asked which one I replied the USA .................end of conversation. On most occasions I am not so polite.

[bubblewrap]

From my posts you would think I'm anti religion I'm not, people can believe in what god(s) they like just don't inflict it on me.

[Hilary B]

Most mormons I have met would accept the 'Thanks, but I'm just not interested', unlike JW types.

[rogesse]

Thanks BW - mum once told mormons she was a married catholic and when dad came up the path behind her, she said to the mormons - 'oh here comes my lover...' I died laughing, they went away quick.

I have no problem with anybodies belief - it's the not taking no!

[Creemteez]

Once I have established that they are selling something, I start replying, then break off in mid sentence and do a very good impersonation of the Loony Tunes Cartoon Tasmanian Devil. I then stop as suddenly as I began, listen quietly for a few seconds to the confused noises at the other end of the phone, then quietly hang up. Very. Sat. Is. Fying!!!

[bubblewrap]

Sorry about that one I have deleted it.

[FionaH]

could we please get back to the theme of the tread How do you get rid of cold callers on the phone?

I always find hanging up works, or is that too obvious?
I also tell religious callers that I am a born again Christian, they tend to run for the hills at that point

[Marthaclematis]

I don't answer the door... as one police officer told me after a burglary 'you don't have to you know? Its YOUR door - you choose to open it or not, and if its someone you haven't invited to knock, then don't." I have taken that advice and now I speak through the kitchen window........ usually to say 'not today, no thankyou'. I have never been rude to JW's but I do seethe inwardly at their cheek, I mean how DARE they come to my house, uninvited, and try to convert me to their - and I'm sorry to say this but common sense tells me - totally wacky beliefs. I cannot stop them from believing, just like I cannot stop people believing in Detox (which is also a load of nonsense), but I'm darned if I'm going to say I don't mind because I do, then again 'whatever gets you through the night' is your business.

[Eyren]

We rarely get cold calls by real human beings these days, just the annoying pre-recorded ones - I put the phone down on those the moment I realise it's not a person.

The occasional window company phones, but I just say 'sorry, not interested' and put the phone down. It means the poor b***er on the other end can get straight onto their next number on the list with minimum fuss and inconvenience, and I get rid of them without any hassle - win-win situation!

(I used to get rid of JWs by saying that if evolution is false, did that mean that Noah's three sons were black, white and Asian? Confused the hell out of them! Mind you, this was before creationism took off, so these days they probably have pre-prepared answers. As Marthaclematis says, if you see them coming, just don't open the door to them (I can't ignore callers at the door completely, as my husband works from home and gets deliveries throughout the day).)

[Hilary B]

I don't answer the door... as one police officer told me after a burglary 'you don't have to you know? Its YOUR door - you choose to open it or not, and if its someone you haven't invited to knock, then don't." I have taken that advice and now I speak through the kitchen window........ usually to say 'not today, no thankyou'. I have never been rude to JW's but I do seethe inwardly at their cheek, I mean how DARE they come to my house, uninvited, and try to convert me to their - and I'm sorry to say this but common sense tells me - totally wacky beliefs. I cannot stop them from believing, just like I cannot stop people believing in Detox (which is also a load of nonsense), but I'm darned if I'm going to say I don't mind because I do, then again 'whatever gets you through the night' is your business.

That works if you can see who's there before you open the door. We can't, but I often have my dog Gemma with me, that deters most of them..... (her picture is my avatar).

[valmarg]

It's a difficult problem. With the cold callers from a call centre, they are trying to do a job, and in these parlous times they are lucky to have a job, rather than being on jobseekers allowance (£50.00 per week). As such I try to be polite, and say no thank you, but if you are expecting an important call, and it is a cold caller, it does stretch the tolerance level.

With regard to cold callers on the doorstep, I tell them firmly but politely that I do not conduct any business on the doorstep.

The basic rule of thumb when you get a cold caller at the door. Whatever they are selling, whether it be double glazing, block paving drives, tree lopping, you have to ask yourself, when I woke up this morning were any of those things a 'must do today' item. If the answer is NO, send them packing.

The other don't do, particularly if you are elderly, is let them in to your house. There are a lot of conmen out there, and will do their best to rob you.

It's getting to be a very sad world when you feel unable to trust anyone.

valmarg