I got a call from a telemarketer the other day. He was trying to sell me some kind of phone, internet and television service. Normally I politely interrupt these people and ask them to take our name off their calling list, but I was bit bored - actually I was a bit procrastinating working on a story that was putting me in tangles, and so I thought I would chat him up. I asked him about the weather in India and where he worked and I told him that it was minus 25 Celsius here and he asked how in the world we lived in that kind of weather. Things were going just swimmingly and then he got back to the job at hand which was to sell me this satellite television package. I told him we don't have a television. This was followed by a shocked silence. He said, in a very confused tone of voice, "You don't have a television?" Now just for the record we do have a lovely plasma television hooked up to a DVD player and me, being the gadget freak I am, an Apple TV. But I knew what he was selling and said no, no television and no television plan and absolutely no intention of getting one. We liked to spend our evenings reading, not being yelled at by people selling cars and listening to endless negative effects of endless drug commercials. He paused, then said,very slowly, in a tone of voice reserved for talking to serial killers and bank robbers, "I'm going to hang up now." Now it was my turn to be confused. Hanging up is the prerogative of the callee not the caller. Especially with telemarketers. But then I heard a click and realized the impossible had happened. A telemarketer had actually hung up. On me. How rude! See if I ever talk to any of them again.
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How funny! I loved your post, it's almost impossible to get them to stop their sales talk, so we can hang up. :-)
ReplyDeleteI am totally laughing at this. What a unique way to handle one of THOSE people. I'm another person who just hangs up on them if I even answer. I have caller ID and if it doesn't give me the name of the person I don't answer.
ReplyDeleteLOL! That is SO funny! We have been taken off of most telemarketers lists, but we still get the occasional annoying interuptions....
ReplyDeleteHannah
Oh thats so funny. I have had a couple hang up on me when I said I didn't have a mobile phone and couldn't see the need for one and when they tried to tell me how much cheaper it would be I said I spend less than $20 a month on phone calls and over half of them are long distance so how would I save? then they hung up.
ReplyDeleteThe last one hung up on me accusing me of being rude to her. I was in the right and maybe a little strong but told her it was againt the law to ring on a sunday. She said im not a telemarketer im doing survays and we can. To which I said I dont think so in South Australia I have checked the info. She said if I was going to be so rude she would hang up and did. I did feel bad but then check the info. Yes she can ring but only between 9am and I think it was 5pm on a sunday and she rang at 8pm.