[linsomniac]

I started doing that once. After 2 or 3 of those time wasting calls, I got one that the person said "Thank you for playing <my phone number>, you will continue to receive calls" and they hung up.

IOW: They have so many resources available, and it is so cheap for them to make the calls, that even after they knew I was going to waste their time, they continued the calls.

This was after I had tried their options for "press 1 to be removed" and talking to someone and saying "please remove me from your list".

The thing they may not have been anticipating: I had 3 numbers forwarding to my cell phone. Up until this call I didn't know which of them was on their list. I cancelled that phone number, and the calls dropped to almost 0.

[ThinkingGuy]

and talking to someone and saying "please remove me from your list".

This could very well be an urban legend, and I know that most telemarketers are untrustworthy anyway, but I've heard somewhere that you actually have to explicitly say "put me on your do-not-call list" because the phrase "remove me from your list" allows them to interpret it a request to remove you from the do-not-call list.

Like I said, probably an urban legend.

[nulbyte]

It's one of those technical things that makes sense when it's said, but doesn't really hold any merit. Here is what the law requires.

> If a person or entity making a call for telemarketing purposes (or on whose behalf such a call is made) receives a request from a residential telephone subscriber not to receive calls from that person or entity...

This is from 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d). If someone says "please remove me from your list," I believe any reasonable individual should understand that as a request to stop calling.

If they get a request to stop calling, a telemarketer must immediately record the number to the company's do-not-call list and comply with the subscriber's request in a reasonable period of time not exceeding 30 days, and the telemarketer must honor the request for 5 years.

If you want to get technical about it, it doesn't even say the request must be made on a phone call. Presumably, one could make a written request. Perhaps someone could even offer as a public service a way to preemptively send copies of form letters to the addresses of known telemarketers requesting no calls. Someone like the postal service.

[paulie_a]

Don't bother asking to be removed. Give them bullshit info and waste their time.

Considering they are committing a felony by simply making the phone call. It's a felony to spoof phone numbers. Everyone from the top down should be facing 20 years

[ceejayoz]

I've taken to pressing one and just shouting at max volume "LAAAAAAAAAAAAA" into the phone until they disconnect. Seems to work; they tend to taper off fairly rapidly.

No one wants the hearing damage, I suspect.

[Scoundreller]

I do the same thing for Mandarin calls.

I need a Mandarin sound board to keep them on the line since I don’t know any more than “Nihao”.