I finally got rid of a telemarketer in record time last night!

MCI called wanting me to switch my service from AT&T. After my 5 year old put him on "hold" for 5 minutes, I told him that I did NOT want to switch because AT&T was much further ahead in Y2K remediation than MCI was. He began sputtering that this was not true. I told him I would consider it if they would send me a guarantee that MCI was/would be compliant (which he said he would get in the mail to me) and hung up.

I'm not expecting to hear from them again...

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), February 25, 1999

Answers

Roland,

This MCI---- come baaaaaaaack.......

-- icu (icuroland@tele.com), February 25, 1999.

OT response but...

The response I gave a friend to use is true for everyone but MCI I believe--but it shuts all of them up.

"Well, I'm a gunsmith and your company donates money to gun control organizations, so why would I want to help you put me out of business?"

-- Tod (muhgi@yahoo.com), February 25, 1999.

Me: Hello? Them: "May I speak to Thelma Brown?" Me: "Just a minute, I'll go get her." Lay the phone down next to your scanner and turn your scanner on. Confuses the heck out of them. Ten minutes later, put your phone back on the receiver. Me: Hello? Them: "This is MCI calling, may I speak to Thelma Brown?" Me: "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Thelma has passed away, would you please remove her from your mailing list, it's very upsetting to get phone calls like this." Me: Hello? "This is XYZ newspaper and we are running a special today only." Me: "No thank you, I have a computer now and will never need your services again, as a matter of fact, if I were you I would start looking for another job because the internet will put your newspaper out of business."

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), February 25, 1999.

You are a cruel woman, bardou. But pretty funny to have around.

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), February 25, 1999.

Or you could buy one of those little gizmos that attach to your phone--you just push a button and it says, "I'm sorry this number does not accept this type of call. Please remove this number from your list and do not call again." Or something like that. Then it hangs up for you. Of course, you could just SAY that too. . . I find that a very sharp, "Where did you get this number, it's unlisted!" throws them right off. "Came from a computer." "Well, take it off and don't call back. Goodbye." By the way, if the same company continues to call after you've told them not to, call your local FTC office--it's classed as harrassment if they keep calling.

-- Impatient Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 25, 1999.

When they ask for Mr._____, I give them to my 3 year old son. After all he is Mr. ____, too. Plus, he loves to talk on the phone. Most never call back.

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), February 25, 1999.

Bill--That's a good one, do you suppose I can teach my dog a new trick?

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), February 26, 1999.