It's 9 am and you're barely awake when the phone rings. You initially fear it's bad news until you find out it's worse...it's that dreaded telemarketer!

"How many times do I have to tell you, "I'm not interested"?"! CLICK! You hang up the phone.

You think you've beaten them and you'll never hear from them again. WRONG!

A few days later you get another call from another TM (telemarketer). You tell this one you're on the DNC list...like that makes a difference.

How do you stop these pains in the butt? Follow these steps and you shall have peace.

But first allow me to explain something...

Every time you fill out any form that asks for your phone number, be it a piece of paper or online, you make yourself available to being called for one program or another. Especially if you did so with any financial institution (bank, mortgage company, refi site, credit cards, etc).

(Since they all ask for a number, go to PrivatePhone.com and get one. It never rings in your house. It's an internet number that has voicemail that, if you ask it to, will send you an email of incoming calls. Use this number and when they (TMs) call, they get an answering machine, will denote it as such on their computer and the calls will stop).

Short of this, here is what to do:

1. Get TMs info (name/rep number/company(ies) they're calling for and what other programs they have to offer. You'll see why later). Ask to be placed on DNC (Do Not Call) list.

2. Keep this info near phone. TMs are trained to tell you they'll place you on their DNC list and will take up to 30 days to complete. Track the date and time of this call and if they are still calling you 6-8 weeks later, make a report. The company has to pay a hefty fine for violating this mandate.

3. Many TMs are calling with various offers from one 'parent company' (insurance offers with differing plans, et al), make sure you have recorded the info above (see #1) and track all dates.

Why not just hang up? When you do this, the TM will denote with a simple click "HUNG UP" on their computer screen. This will simply put you on a list of people to 'not call' for a couple of weeks and then the onslaught will begin again.

Take it from, I am currently a TM, I know whereof I speak.

Happy Phone Time!

Learn more about this author, daRevn.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Tips to get rid of telemarketers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!