There are two ways that it goes, depending on my mood at the time.
The first way, when I'm in a good mood, is this.
The telephone rings.
I answer it.
Someone asks me if I am Mister Hale.
I reply that I am.
They launch into a spiel about conducting a survey/ not wanting to sell me anything/ offering me a free gift/ any one of a dozen other things.
I realize immediately that whatever they are saying they want me to buy something.
I tell them that I'm not interested and hang up.
The second way, when I'm in a bad mood, is the same except for the last step, which is replaced by this.
I ask them their name and company.
I tell them that I am registered with the telephone preferences service and that by making cold calls without checking the register they are breaking the regulations governing their industry.
I hang up.
If I were in a really bad mood I might pop onto the TPS web site and register a complaint, though that hasn't happened yet.
The trouble is that this is what happens when I'm at home to receive the call. When I'm not at home my Dad answers the phone and that's more problematic. The trouble is that his generation consider both of my responses to be very rude. He feels, like so many of his age, that whether people are ringing you up or knocking on your door, you have to talk with them. You have to engage with them and only later, as politely as possible, hint - never state - that you aren't interested.
I got just such a call about an hour ago. I dealt with it with option one above. My father had heard the phone ring and asked about it. I told him what it was and what I'd said and he was horrified. I should, he told me, have enquired into what the survey was all about. I should have answered whatever questions they wanted to ask. Only if they actually offered to sell me something should I have indicated that I wasn't interested.
This is what he would have done, although his deafness would have probably frustrated the caller.
In vain I have told him that you should never engage in conversation with these people. He simply cannot grasp that people who are cold calling either at the door or on the phone do not have your best interests at heart. They wouldn't be calling if they didn't want something, usually money, from you. Engaging them in conversation simply encourages them and gives them a chance to convince you.
Of course the worst, the very worst thing about the way that he insists on talking to them, is that he inevitably ends up saying that I handle financial matters in the household and they should call back later and speak to me. Then I have to tell them I'm not interested and, when they have been led, by him, to believe that I might be, they often get quite agitated.
It would be so much easier if he just learned to hang up or to shut the door.
The first way, when I'm in a good mood, is this.
The telephone rings.
I answer it.
Someone asks me if I am Mister Hale.
I reply that I am.
They launch into a spiel about conducting a survey/ not wanting to sell me anything/ offering me a free gift/ any one of a dozen other things.
I realize immediately that whatever they are saying they want me to buy something.
I tell them that I'm not interested and hang up.
The second way, when I'm in a bad mood, is the same except for the last step, which is replaced by this.
I ask them their name and company.
I tell them that I am registered with the telephone preferences service and that by making cold calls without checking the register they are breaking the regulations governing their industry.
I hang up.
If I were in a really bad mood I might pop onto the TPS web site and register a complaint, though that hasn't happened yet.
The trouble is that this is what happens when I'm at home to receive the call. When I'm not at home my Dad answers the phone and that's more problematic. The trouble is that his generation consider both of my responses to be very rude. He feels, like so many of his age, that whether people are ringing you up or knocking on your door, you have to talk with them. You have to engage with them and only later, as politely as possible, hint - never state - that you aren't interested.
I got just such a call about an hour ago. I dealt with it with option one above. My father had heard the phone ring and asked about it. I told him what it was and what I'd said and he was horrified. I should, he told me, have enquired into what the survey was all about. I should have answered whatever questions they wanted to ask. Only if they actually offered to sell me something should I have indicated that I wasn't interested.
This is what he would have done, although his deafness would have probably frustrated the caller.
In vain I have told him that you should never engage in conversation with these people. He simply cannot grasp that people who are cold calling either at the door or on the phone do not have your best interests at heart. They wouldn't be calling if they didn't want something, usually money, from you. Engaging them in conversation simply encourages them and gives them a chance to convince you.
Of course the worst, the very worst thing about the way that he insists on talking to them, is that he inevitably ends up saying that I handle financial matters in the household and they should call back later and speak to me. Then I have to tell them I'm not interested and, when they have been led, by him, to believe that I might be, they often get quite agitated.
It would be so much easier if he just learned to hang up or to shut the door.
1 comment:
They do something alike over here as well, selling loans, telephones or icons through the telephone - which I thought of to be illegal.
After we had our son suddenly all kinds of people would come to us, selling cooking pots, books and much more. Not leaving the house, as my wife can't keep the door closed or just say no (as well), under one hours, sometimes even offering to cook us a meal.
Life is pretty strange sometimes during these days.
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