Saturday, April 22, 2006
No. I really mean that.
A friend of mine says she thinks that those of us who are not on the "Do not call" registry are getting more junk calls than ever because we are in a smaller pool now. I can't really tell. I seem to be getting a lot of calls from just a few vendors. I don't see what could possibly be the percentage in calling the same person over and over pushing the same offer that they turned down already.
When they first came out with the "Do not call" registry, I know people who rushed to sign up. I did not, for two reasons. First, the registry exempts political groups and any company with whom you've done business before, so I wasn't sure how much difference it would make. Plus, it seemed a little rude.
I've had caller i.d. on my phone for a couple of years, so for a while I just screened calls from numbers I didn't recognize. The problem with that was that I'd come home from work in the evening and see a whole bunch of messages lit up on the machine. Nine out of ten of them were hang-ups (apparently dialed by a computer or something) and I'd have to wade through them to hear any of my actual messages. I also have a couple of people who call me using calling cards with numbers I wouldn't necessarily recognize.
Most of the time now, I just answer the phone and as politely as I can tell the person I'm not interested. Later, sometimes in the same day, a different voice calls and tries to sell me the exact same resort vacation, credit card or satellite television service. When I inform them that they are the fifth or fifteenth person calling me, some of them offer to put me on their company's "Do not call" list.
Why should this be necessary? Can't the first caller just note that I said "No, thanks" the first time? Do they think they are wearing down my resistance with all these calls? They're just making me mad. If I ever did want any of the crap they are pushing, I would now make a point of finding it somewhere else, not to buy it from them.
When they first came out with the "Do not call" registry, I know people who rushed to sign up. I did not, for two reasons. First, the registry exempts political groups and any company with whom you've done business before, so I wasn't sure how much difference it would make. Plus, it seemed a little rude.
I've had caller i.d. on my phone for a couple of years, so for a while I just screened calls from numbers I didn't recognize. The problem with that was that I'd come home from work in the evening and see a whole bunch of messages lit up on the machine. Nine out of ten of them were hang-ups (apparently dialed by a computer or something) and I'd have to wade through them to hear any of my actual messages. I also have a couple of people who call me using calling cards with numbers I wouldn't necessarily recognize.
Most of the time now, I just answer the phone and as politely as I can tell the person I'm not interested. Later, sometimes in the same day, a different voice calls and tries to sell me the exact same resort vacation, credit card or satellite television service. When I inform them that they are the fifth or fifteenth person calling me, some of them offer to put me on their company's "Do not call" list.
Why should this be necessary? Can't the first caller just note that I said "No, thanks" the first time? Do they think they are wearing down my resistance with all these calls? They're just making me mad. If I ever did want any of the crap they are pushing, I would now make a point of finding it somewhere else, not to buy it from them.
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It's like when you shop at any store and they offer you their credit card. The CEO has been reeled in by the credit company's promise that a credit program within their stores will boost sales by XX% and that the average customer spends X amount of dollars, but a customer with a card spends twice that amount and so on and so forth. The minions have to ask you every time you buy something if you want the damn card. Then, when you politely decline, they are obligated to keep nudging you with incentives. It's rude. It's pushy. But, oddly enough the CEO's and corporate people can't see that. Kurt Vonnegut explains this; People who are taking charge of everything are PP's (psychopathic personalities). PP's are born without consciences. They are bright, presentable and decisive. They can be so darn decisive because they don't care about what happens next. Thanks to Rosebud for the book recommendation.
The sales associates-and telemarketers-are reviewed on how often they ask AND how many they open-so they have to keep asking or lose their jobs...or get written up!! I have been amused today by the full page ads from the oil companies defending their huge profits while price gouging. And now I see that Sudafed will be locked up as part of the Patriot Act...thank goodness for a sense of humor to go with our outrage. But seriously, Dorothy, just sign up for the Do Not Call registry-it saves a lot of phone calls and aggravation. No one calls me offering to clean my chimney anymore. Glad you enjoyed the book-you should write the sequel!
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