Joke: 10 Ways to Terrorise a Telemarketer

1. When they ask “How are you today?” Tell them! “I’m so glad you asked because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my dog just died.”
2. If they say they’re John Smith from the Flibblepenguin Company, ask them to spell their name. Then ask them to spell the company name. Then ask them where it is located. Continue asking them personal questions or questions about their company for as long as necessary.
3. Cry out in surprise, “Laura! Is that you? Oh my God! Laura, how have you been?” Hopefully, this will give Laura a few brief moments of pause as she tries to figure out where the hell she could know you from.
4. If BT calls trying to get you to sign up for the Family and Friends plan, reply, in as SINISTER a voice as you can, “I don’t have any friends… would you be my friend?”
5. If they want to loan you money, tell them you just filed for bankruptcy and you could sure use some money.
6. Tell the telemarketer you are confined to your house under a court order and ask if they could bring you a case of beer and some chips.
7. After the telemarketer gives their spiel, ask him/her to marry you. When they get all flustered, tell them that you could not just give your credit card number to a complete stranger.
8. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment and ask them if they will give you their HOME phone number so you can call them back. When the telemarketer explains that they cannot give out their HOME number, you say “I guess you don’t want anyone bothering you at home, right?” The telemarketer will agree and you say, “Now you know how I feel!”
9. Insist that the caller is really your friend Katherine, playing a joke. “Come on Katherine, cut it out! Seriously, Katherine, how’s your family?”
10. Tell them to talk VERY SLOWLY, because you want to write EVERY WORD down.

You could, also, download and use the Telemarketer Counter Script and see how long you can torture the telemarketer for. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to get many telemarketing calls so the chances of me actually utilising the script is extremely low.