The guy was pretty persistent. I couldn't even get the whole sentence out before he would interrupt and start the whole thing over again. From now on, no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's going to be "No, thanks!" and click.
Actually, it's far more effective if you ask them to hold for, "a minute," set the phone down, and go back to dinner with your family. The last I read, telemarketers make sales on approximately 4% of their calls, i.e., they have to make 25 calls for every sale...and many work on commission. The least subversive thing for someone not interested in their offer is to hang up...they'll just go on to try the next guy (which, btw, their calling you back is an indicator they are not trying to make a legitimate sale or offer.) If you can are in a job or position where you can live w/ out your phone for about 10-15 minutes, express interest but ask if they can, "just hold on for a second, ok?" Set the phone down, and go back to what you were doing. The more time they spend waiting for you, the fewer people they are bothering, the less calls they are making, and the fewer sales they are making.
Or you could just be like my old man who doesn't get out much anymore, and actually looks forward to these calls for the opportunity to mess with people...
Caller ID speaks for itself; however, MANY telemarketers buy old switches deliberately so the equipment cannot send the caller's name & number to your Call ID terminal.
So, all you see is, "Unidentified" or something like that, which, could be someone calling you from a shopping mall who needs to get in touch with you.
But, "Call Manager" will *answer* the "Inidentified" *or* "Blocked" calls & make that caller FIRST identify themselves, then, contact you to ask IF you want to *accept* the call. (~it's a totally automated service.)
If these are available, get 'em; about $8 extra p/mo.
Almost guarentees stopping telemarketing calls -- all telemarketing calls -- cold.
...doesn't get any sweeter than that.