Vent: Telemarketers who ask stupid questions

Wow, he was ballsy to do that.

I received a call the other day. Guy said, 'I'm calling about the issues you've had with your Windows operating system.' I said ok and let him babble for a while before I told him that we don't have any Windows computers. He hung up very quickly.

Can't believe Dictionary's story of the guy following up on her husband's license!

I once signed up for some information on health insurance on line.

I ticked only contact me by email.

HA! They must have sold my number and called over 100 times THE FIRST DAY! I am not exaggerating. It was hell.

Each one was from a different number and area code. they would call constantly.

Finally I started responding in perfectly clear English.. I am sorry I don't understand English.. and then also in English do you speak.. insert language of the day.. Chinese, French whatever.

it took weeks but calls slowed down. Now I still get a call every 6 months or so. UGH

Back in the day before cell phones, I moved into my very first apartment and had my new landline set up. That was the start of tons of telemarketing calls for "new homeowners". The most obnoxious one was for a roofing company. They left so many messages on my answering machine. One afternoon, I had had enough and decided to answer their call. I let the woman go on and on about her company's services. When she was done, I told her that it all sounded great, but she would need to contact the building owner since I couldn't afford an entire apartment complex's roof and would she like his number? I never received another call!

I can't believe he'd call you and then ask if you were going to let him talk! Uh, no! You are under no obligation to listen to anything he has to say.

Our most recent wrong number was someone who was convinced that this was his podiatrist. To the extent of leaving a message on my answerphone (which has my personal message on it) and then phoning back to complain that his podiatrist hadn't returned his call!

I have several stories, but my favourite is when I lived in a rented flat with a friend. We would get several calls each week from a double-glazing company. Telling them that we were tenants and had no control over the windows didn't seem to stop them calling back, and we didn't like to be rude. Having had plenty of time to think about it, finally I said actually I WAS interested in a conservatory (sunroom), and I gave them all sorts of details about what I wanted. We had an appointment for a salesman all booked and then I said "If I get stuck in traffic on my way home from work, just knock on the door of the downstairs flat." There was a silence as that sank in. Then they hung up. They never called back.

Snigger.

You gotta hand it to those breast cancer organizations- they will worry the crap out of you.  When they start calling, I usually get 3 a day.  Then I block them and then of course they have different numbers, so I have to do it again. But I do get peace for awhile.  They have turned me off to donating.  Same with our local fire dept- caught him looking in my windows one day because I would never answer the door- pissed me right off. 

Not hanging up or taking no for an answer isn't 'dumb'. If telemarketers did that, they would be out of business. It is in pretty much every rule book that you keep selling until you are hung up on or the person tells you to take them off the list. Ifyou 'let go' of a customer first, you will be fired, and rightly so because you probably will not be successful at phone sales. I know how much people hate telemarketers because i put myself through college by being one. I have heard every insult and taken every abuse you can dream up. But I'm not dumb. I made good money selling (for a college student living on her own).

Keep in mind that the person on the other end of the phone is an actual person. And they are doing a real job and making real money, you know, the kind of ethic that were supposed to hold in esteem. They are probably trying to feed their kid or work their way through college or get their car running again.

I was once at a family party and someone told the woman i was talking to that i was a telemarketer. The woman looked me in the eyes and said "oh god, i hate you people. "...

Okay, I'll bite. What is HBIC?

OMG! I just had one of these calls this afternoon.

My dh answered the phone and knew it was a telemarketing call. The guy told him that we were friends. I guess he was convincing enough my husband handed me the phone. I get on the phone and he tells me he's following up on an online survey I took for their car insurance. 

I.LOST.MY.MIND!

I cussed at him (oops....    ), called him a liar, and forcefully hit the "off" button! (So not as satisfying as slamming the phone down!). 

Why? Why do they lie? I swear, I know it can't be easy to be a telemarketer, but man, they're just sneaky and rude about it sometimes!