The do not call list does not include charities or political calls.  You won't get people who are trying to sell you something, but you will get the other kinds of calls.  Also, I believe you are still eligible for survey-type calls as well.  

I have to share my story about how I got Mom off the Harvard/Radcliffe phone list.

Mom got a phone call almost 10 years ago from some young undergraduate student at Radcliffe who was all bubbly and excited and wanting Mom to contribute to her alma mater. The girl just plain rubbed me wrong and she didn't listen to me when I said that Mom wasn't interested. Then I went into a combination of Mom and Daddy (Daddy owned his own realty firm and Mom wrote advertising copy for an advertising agency when I was a child) at their very best. I said "Excuse me. Mom isn't interested in going back to tour the campus." The girl kept on talking. I got more assertive. I said "Mom did something that I doubt that you'll be doing." The girl said "What did she do ?" I said "She graduated in 27 months with her BA degree." The girl said "Oh. Well doesn't she want to contribute to the fund ?" Then I went in for the kill by saying "Mom isn't interested. Besides, I'm too busy spending her money on things that she wants to buy me. " The girl gasped and said "Oh".

Now I was lying like crazy to the student because Mom told me to get her off the phone list. Mom was listening to what I was saying and she was howling with laughter.

Mom took great delight in the fact that she never got another phone call from Harvard after that. Her older sister kept on getting the phone calls. LOL. My aunt also graduated from Radcliffe, but she did it in 4 years.

Both my cell phone and the land line are on the Do Not Call list. I use the Caller ID to screen calls.

 

VN,  on the one hand, I understand what you're saying; on the other hand, I was one of those young students who was earning work-study money for college making those phone calls.  We were all very young and very earnest - and very aware that if we didn't get donations there would be short-term effects (no more job for winter break) and long-term effects (less scholarship money available).  So while it makes a great story, I'll stick with some variation on "I'm not interested, please remove me from your list" - and if they don't accept that, I just hang up, record who called in case they call back, and get on with my day; the amount of time that call must have taken is just not worth it to me. 

We simply ignore telephone solicitors, regardless of the cause. Our telephone is for OUR convenience, not for dubious charities or telemarketers. We do make donations to charities that we feel will use the money wisely. We have caller ID, and if the screen says "blocked call" or "out of area" we simply don't answer the phone since that is almost always one of those scum-of-the-earth telemarketers.

While I know that a couple of you on this board said they were telemarketers, couldn't you find something better to do than make a living by annoying people?

End of rant.

Karenteacher,

Normally I don't try to out talk someone on the phone, but this girl would not take "No" for an answer. Harvard is probably the most endowed university in the nation . Mom had told me to politely get rid of the caller and to make sure she wouldn't be called again.

Mom was very much aware of how much $$$ Harvard had at the time because she was the interviewer for potential Harvard students in our area. Mom said that the financial aid there is better than it is at other colleges.

Mom knew firsthand about financial aid. Her df had died her senior year in high school. Mom had applied to a number of colleges and for aid (in those days it was based on grades rather than financial need). The college of her choice did not offer her as much $$$ for scholarships as where she went. Mom apparently had scored very high on some tests that New York State required.

Don't take your anger out on the telemarketer,  most are on automated dialers and have no control over who is called,  just ask for supervisor up front and be done with it.  some days a telemarketer goes through 200+ calls a day [yes, its possible] and get really tired . you are constantly told to sell, sell, sell or you are out the door. Why do we do it???? Most will say for the health and dental insurance.

Jenny1984:

The do not call list does not include charities or political calls. 

 

 

Or business phone numbers.  I have our personal home & cell numbers on the DNC List but I can't list our business number.  Last call was by a young foreign woman telling me that this phone number (our business line) was selected to receive $200.  I said "yeah, sure, youbetcha!  - take this number off your list and don't call again".  But they always call again .....  wastes my time and ties up my phone line which could be receiving calls from actual customers! 

Get rid of your land line.  Everyone told me I would regret it but I don't.  I save over $20 a month for a phone I never, ever used (but kept because everyone told me I had to keep it (but no one who said that could ever explain WHY I had to keep it)).  I use my cell exclusively and always list the reception desk where I work as my phone number when required to give it out.

 The only other suggestion I can give is that when I had my land line, I had it listed under another name (very different from my own).  The minute I picked it up and someone asked for that generic name, I just hung up because I knew it wasn't a "real" call.

People I want a call from are on my caller ID.  If a toll-free number comes up, I don't answer.  If I answer and they want something.  I immediately say, "I'm not interested" and hang up.  They are trespassing on my property and time!

I get soliciting calls on my prepaid cell phone ... so any # is up for grabs now-a-days it seems. I just hang up on those since I don't want to waste any minutes.