When I get a spam/sales call, I tell the caller he has reached General Hardesty at Strategic Command Headquarters in Omaha, and I urgently need the launch codes. Childish, but this is sometimes the highlight of my day.
@fesshole I always give the correct answers to the automated system to get me to a human being, then when the human joins the call there is “someone at the door, hold on a second” and I leave the phone alone until they hang up. They will only stop doing it once it’s clear their time is being wasted unprofitably.
@fesshole I used to hold the receiver next to my smoke alarm and press the test button. Now robots do the calls, it’s not as much fun so I don’t pick up.