Yes, it’s a new record alright, and it gave me a GREAT idea and wanted to share it with you all!

I got a call today, you know the ones, that have a caller ID that says “New Brunswick” or something to that effect. Since I already know what to expect, I can kind of feel my blood boiling, but I took a deep breath and answered it anyways.

Click “This is our final attempt to reach you regarding lowering your monthly bills” – oh, boy here we go… ya, final time like twenty times ago.

So, I press one to speak to a counselor. Now, here’s the tricky part… you can’t be too cute or they’ll hang up immediately. So, you got to play a bit dumb at first, then play along with their dialogue. It took me a few times to get the script down as far as: how much do you owe, how many cards do you have, what’s your APR, etc.

Now for the best part – they ALWAYS ask you for the phone number for the credit card company so they can verify your account and blah, blah, blah…

Tell them you have to go get the card and mute the phone. Put the phone down and leave them on hold as long as humanly possible. I actually forgot I had the guy on hold and clicked “talk” on the phone and he was still there! I told him I was still looking and he said “don’t worry, I’ll wait, I’m getting paid by the hour anyways”.

Then the light went on: EVERYBODY should make them “hold” while they look for their credit card number… the longer they are on hold, the less calls they make, the less money they make, and eventually THEY WILL GO AWAY.

Does that make sense? It can’t hurt, especially if you are doing work around the house anyways and it doesn’t keep you from anything (other than pissing off unsolicited telemarketers).

Have fun!