I got a chuckle out of this guy's approach: (See https://plus.google.com/+ChrisBlasko/posts/GzCuzTyUXNq) Today is a good day. I just had a call from a telemarketer. Did I yell and scream at them, you ask? Certainly not. Like a good IT administrator I put my skills to use for their benefit. Here's how the conversation went: Computer: "Press 9 to not be contacted in the future. Press 4 to speak to someone about your mortgage issues" <presses 4> TM: "Hello, are you having problems paying your mortgage?" Me: "Hi, this is the IT department. We intercepted your call as we detected a problem with you phone and need to fix it." TM: "Oh... ok, well what do we need to do?" Me: "We're going to need to fix the settings by pressing 4-6-8 and * at the same time" TM: "Ok, nothing happened." <alright, so he's not using a Polycom> Me: "Are you using the new Polycom phones that we deployed?" TM: "No, it's a Yealink" Me: "Ok, I see. You haven't had the new Polycom phone deployed to your desk yet. Let me check our technical documentations for the Yealink." <did a quick Google search, "yealink phone factory reset"> Me: "Alright, do you see an "OK" button on your phone?" TM: "Yes I do" Me: "Alright, you're going to press and hold that button for 10 seconds." TM: "OK, pressing it now" Me: "Perfect, let me know if you get a password request" TM: "OK, nothing has popped up ye----" <click> That's right. I made a telemarketer unwittingly factory reset his phone which means he will be unable to make anymore calls until someone is able to reconfigure his phone and that will take at least an hour or longer if they can't do it right away!? On 08/09/2014 11:40 AM, Peter Sjöberg wrote: > On 08/08/2014 03:56 PM, dpatte wrote: >> I usually put them on hold and see how long they last. The winner so far was6 minutes > Done that when they start the call with "I'm calling long distance from > xxx", listen long enough that I can say "please hold while I get my > credit card".. > >> On 08/08/14 13:06, Richard Guy Briggs wrote: >>> I've strung a couple of them along... One guy told me my computer was >>> infected with a virus. >> Try following their instructions with "unhuh" and "yup" trying to use >> your memory of what windows looks like. And when they say "now you see >> dis says you have how many viruses" You say, "It says zero, >> everything's good". Another script breaking ploy making them question >> their own scripts and tools ($$$). >> >>> Any idea how to also get rid of the "Air Duct Cleaning Service" and >>> "Credit Card Services" liars too? >> Got a 6 year old? Say "Sorry, I need to hand the phone to the decision >> maker in the house". Train your kid to ask questions like "what's your >> favourite colour?" and "if you were a my little pony, which one would >> YOU be?" >> >> Also worth recording for future use ... like their wedding. >> >> >>