Today I listened to a man on the radio describing his experiences as a telemarketer. It did NOT at all sound like a rewarding way to make a living, not something anyone would be doing if there were ANYthing else available for them to do. With all the people losing their jobs these days, more & more folks will be accepting work as telemarketers in their desperation to make a few $$$ to keep their households going.
Please try & find a little compassion for these sales callers, try and raise your threshold of tolerance a little. At least you can be grateful that you yourself don't have to work as a telemarketer. Yet.
All you have to do is say "No, thank you, go on to your next call. Good luck with your sales." And gently hang up the phone. A well-trained sales caller will try to keep you on the line, using their list of phrases to refute your excuses. But you needn't take offense, they're just trying to do their job. I imaging they're more interested in the paltry commission they'll earn than the product they're selling or the success of the company. Still, there's no need to be mean, just repeat "No, thank you" and hang up. That's all.
The man on the radio described his work in an office of cubicles, wearing earphones hooked up to a computer that automatically dialed the next number for him. It was completely automated, he had no choice. Once he got his own grandmother, who took that time to tell him his grandfather's cancer had just come back, another time he got his own home phone. At the end of each call the computer would immediately dial the next number for him.
It sounded like work in a factory farm, like a dairy cow hooked up to a milking machine for 8 hours a day. Give these folks a break, there's no need to be so cruel.