How to End a Phone Call Without Being Rude

If you get a phone call from a rude telemarketer, you can simply say that you are not interested and hang up the phone in case they are not willing to finish the conversation on their own.

Now consider a slightly difficult situation – you are stuck on the phone with a friend or a family member who won’t stop talking while you want to finish the call as you have to leave for something important or because the conversation is turning out to be very boring.

How do you end such a phone call without hanging up* (as that would be considered extremely impolite)?

Sounds to help you get off the phone ASAP

You can try giving valid reasons why you need to get off the phone but if that honest approach doesn’t work, try the phone excuse machine. This key-chain sized device lets you play six realistic sounds from a door bell, a crying baby or a food delivery boy. Hit any of the buttons on the device and you can quickly excuse yourself from the call.

To know how the device works, watch this video demo of the phone excuse machine on the Live with Regis and Kelly show.

The phone excuse machine costs $10 but if you are looking for some free alternatives, check out SorryGottaGo.com.

This site has a great collection of free MP3 audio clips that you can download on to your computer and play the sounds whenever you need a creative excuse to get off the phone quickly. It features a vast selection of sounds ranging from ringing cell phones, street noise to crying babies, to be played in the background for people on the other end of the line.

Here’s a partial list of sounds that you will find on the site:

On the train

My other phone is ringing

Someone knocking at the door

Caught in a traffic jam

*Hanging up may be an option if you are on the move and taking the call on your cell phone. The caller will then assume that the call dropped due to bad signal or some other network issues.