Here are a few ideas for wasting a telemarketers time. Try one of these next time you get a call.

1 – Pretend the connection is bad and you can’t hear them. You can even say things like “I think…. connect…for to….wanted a big…always pay…charge my battery…Can you hear me?” pretending the line is a bad line. Since they’re calling from overseas anyways, this is fairly common. If you can play this game for 3 minutes, you’redoing pretty good.

2 – Talk over them like there’s a delay in the line. As soon as they start to speak, talk over them and tell them there’s a really bad echo on the line. See how long you can keep going that before they hang up on you.

3 – Pretend you’re someone else, like characters from your favorite TV show. Tell them about your day and pretend you’re in the last episode you watched. Most of the people in overseas call centers will have never seen the show, so they’ll have no idea.

4 – Pretend you know the person calling. Act like you were expecting the call and that you think the other person is your friend playing a practical joke on you. “Come on Joe, I know it’s you. Stop with the crazy accent.”

5 – Pretend you’re a telemarketer too. Tell them that this call may be recorded for training purposes. Try to sell them the latest in headset equipment for call centers.

6 – Pretend there are 3 or 4 different people in the house and after they talk for a few minutes, tell them they need to talk to your dad, or your sister or your psychiatrist, or your lawyer.  See how many times you can pass the phone to the “next person”.

7 – Pretend you’re at the office and tell them that a customer just walked in, but you are interested in what they just said. Then put the phone down for 2 minutes.

8 – Just keep asking questions about what they’re trying to sell.