Persistent Telemarketers Refused To Take No For An Answer, So One Caller Decided To Start Playing Along Just To Waste Their Time

Contractors chasing leads often don’t take “no” for an answer.
After dozens of unwanted calls, one clever target decides to make them regret ever dialing their number.
You’ll want to read on for this one!
Contractors keep calling my phone because someone else gave them my number
So for the past year, I’ve been getting calls from contractors asking if I want any work done on my property.
They start off by calling me by a name that isn’t mine and then asking if I live at an address that also isn’t mine.
They try to nip this in the bud right away.
I tell them I’m not that person and ask them to please stop calling my phone.
I tell them I don’t own any property and to please stop calling me. I ask them to put me on the do-not-call list.
But the contractors go right to gaslighting tactics.
Sometimes they just hang up, and sometimes they get rude, saying things like, “Why would we stop calling? You gave us your number.”
For a long time, I would just hang up without saying anything because when the call connects, there’s a beeping sound that lets me know it’s them before they even speak.
So finally, they just start going along with whatever the contractor says.
Well, after over a year of this, I decided to start saying, “Yep, that’s me,” when they ask if I’m that person.
When they ask if I still stay at the address, I say, “Yep, that’s my house.”
Then they start to really have some fun with it.
When they ask if I want any solar, landscaping, painting, or driveway work done, I say, “Yeah, I sure do.”
Then they tell me they’ll have someone come out to my property and ask what time is good for me.
I tell them a time when traffic is at its worst, like late afternoon.
Then, they call me when they get there and say they’ve been waiting for 10 minutes.
I tell them I had to run to the store real quick and will be back in 10 minutes.
It’s very satisfying.
Oh how the tables have turned!
What did Reddit think?

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A commenter in a similar situation knew just how to get those hounding contractors off their trail.

Waste someone else’s time? Start getting your time wasted in return.

While the solution may not be as clear cut as they hoped, it still feels good to get a little payback.

This redditor suggests a clever way to automate the process a bit more.

After all their pestering, it only seemed fair to give the contractors a little runaround of their own.
Turns out, poetic justice pairs nicely with rush-hour traffic.
If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.
Author
Benjamin CottrellBenjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture
Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.
As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.
When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.
Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.
Categories: Life & Drama
Tags: · annoying, annoying people, contractors, FUNNY, malicious compliance, phone scams, picture, reddit, top, unwanted phone calls, wasting people's time, wrong number

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