Sometimes a little tact and patience is the best way to avoid being frustrated by dealing with those who don’t take the word no for an answer.

Telemarketers keep wasting my time

Telemarketers keep wasting my time
Wikimedia

You think hanging up on telemarketers is rude.

But that doesn’t mean you need to listen to them.

Follow this script, and you’ll be off the phone in 20 seconds:

Cut the person short as soon as you realise it’s a sales pitch.

Say that you have a strict policy of not doing business with strangers over the phone; if they wish, they may send literature.

Ask to have your name removed from their calling list and say that you forbid them to rent it to other telemarketers.

Confirm that they heard what you said; then politely thank them and hang up.

Remember: You have no obligation to listen to telemarketers. They are intruding on your time, and a pleasant rebuff is fair and appropriate.

Never say yes to a phone offer unless it’s a company you have complete faith in. Scams are everywhere.

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How to curtail long phone calls

How to curtail long phone calls
iStock

Forget telemarketers—just try cutting off a long-winded relative.

You don’t mean to be rude, but sometimes there are just more important things to do.

Try these strategies for ending a call without hurting anyone’s feelings:

Open your front door and ring the doorbell, thereby alerting your gabby caller that a guest has just arrived.

Say the battery is dying on your mobile.

If things get really desperate, disconnect in the middle of your own sentence. The person on the other end of the line will assume there was a problem with the phone. Leave the phone off the hook for a while in case your talkative relative calls back.

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