My Frustration with Telemarketers
I think I can speak for most of the general population when I say telemarketers drive us crazy. Just because I am at home does not mean that I have time to answer surveys or listen to some sales pitch or whatever else it is that they are calling about. Most of the time I’m in the middle of something with the kids (well when am I not in the middle of something with the kids!) and go running to the phone only to find out that it’s a telemarketer. It’s so frustrating! And not only that but they can be so pushy and rude!
The other day when I was busy feeding my kids lunch, a telemarketer phoned – well actually two of them called in a row, both from the same company. They got me really upset and I ended up yelling at them. My kids stopped eating their lunches and just stared at me with this “oh my gosh – mommy’s mad” kind of look on their faces. That was it, that was my breaking point! I now have call display on my phone (which in my efforts to consume less and save money had not used) and have put all four of our numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry (which apparently is not very effective). So now I am only going to answer the phone if I recognize the number.
Back to why I was yelling at a telemarketer. The first person I was talking to asked me if she could take a couple minutes of my time to answer a few questions. I told her no, I did not have a couple of minutes and asked if I could be removed from their calling list. She proceeded to say that she has some sort of free gift if I just answered a couple of questions. At this point I should have hung up the phone but I really wanted to get my number removed from their calling list. So I asked again if I could have my number removed. She said she just had a couple of questions. So I said fine ask me the questions. I answered her questions, she then proceeded to tell me that I had ‘qualified’ for a free gift (which previously she said would be mine if I answered a couple of questions – no mention of qualifying) and that I could come by & pick it up at some sort of presentation and she proceeded to give me an address in a city located an hour and a half away. I then told her I didn’t have time to come & pick up the gift and that I wanted to speak to her supervisor. She said “But it’s a free gift”. This is where I started getting mad – I just want to be taken off of their calling list! I told her again that I do not have the time and that I want to speak to her supervisor. After a little bit of yelling I finally got her supervisor on the phone and asked him to take me off the calling list. He started with the whole “But it’s a free gift” thing, so I yelled at him too. Why can they not understand that I’m busy, I do not have time to drive an hour and a half any where to pick up some “free gift”! So finally I got the supervisor to agree to take me off of their calling list. Then not even a minute later a different guy from the same company called again asking me if I had a couple of minutes to answer a couple of questions. I blew my lid!!
The other type of call that we get daily is a recording asking if we are interested in their product to press #1. Again, in an effort to get my number removed from their calling list I’ve pressed one. When I do get someone on the other end and ask if I can have my number removed from their list, they simply hang up with nothing said. Rude & frustrating. The last time they called, I asked if I could have the name and nubmer of their supervisor and if I could speak to them. The guy told me that his supervisors name is “Dial Tone” and game me some fake phone number. I guess that was his way of being funny!
So I guess I’m just going to wait and see how the call display works on the telemarketer situation and maybe the National Do Not Call Register will actually work as well. Save me some stress in my day hopefully!
