Please hold for an important message….
Nov 17th, 2006 by Debbie
If it isn’t annoying enough that telemarketers and bill collector’s call you several times a day, usually at dinner time, very early on a Saturday morning, or any time on a Sunday, now they have a new tactic. This is what I get when I answer the phone: “Please hold for an important message from _______ (name of company)”. Wait a second! Didn’t they call me? Why in the world would I hold for THEM? Oh this drives me crazy! If their call is so important, why can’t they have a live person on the end when I answer? Not that I would talk to them anyway, but that’s not the point! LOL
Having caller ID screen them doesn’t seem to work, because that computer of theirs will keep dialing your number until they actually speak with you. I’ve had several messages daily sometimes from the same computer voice saying “Please hold for an important message…” Even if I wanted to talk to this company, once I hear that computer voice, I just hang up. Why should I waste my time holding when they called me? The nerve!
Oh yes, it’s extremely annoying, but I think I’ve got one to top this.
We moved into a new home in a new town 6 months ago, so consequently, we had to get a new telephone number. Apparently another family, I’ll call the “Smiths” had this phone number before us and also apparently, they had bill-paying problems.
Even now, after 6 months, we continue to get phone calls for the Smiths, asking us to pay our bills. When I tell the caller, “The Smiths no longer have this phone number. They haven’t had it for at least 6 months”, sometimes, I am accused of lying. “I know this is Mrs. Smith! I recognize your voice! Why lie? We know it’s you. Why don’t you just pay your bill, Mrs. Smith?”
Absolutely bewildering…
Here’s another one that is more related to Debbie’s post. How do you like it when a telemarketer calls and says, “Is this Mrs. Smith?” And you answer, “No, this is Mrs. Jones”, and yet, even though you’re not Mrs. Smith, the telemarketer says, “Oh, well I’ll talk to you then.”
When I receive a call like that, I say, “No, wait a minute, you called to talk to Mrs. Smith. This is not the Smith residence, and I’m not Mrs. Smith, so you don’t get to talk to me!”
When the telemarketers call to talk to me, and they ask for LaZehI (butchered and mispronounced) I simply say “Sorry you must have the wrong number” and politely hang up. Hmmmm….it pays to have an unusual name!
Ya know what REALLY freaks them out when they call? We have caller ID so when they call you pick up…push a whole bunch of buttons and if it’s computer dialed it messes up the system (read this)and you will be dropped from the call list. It does seem to work as the same numbers do not call again. And to share…I am not proud but I have told them the person they asked for had moved…or even was dead….I seem to do this sort of thing on days where I’ve had too much caffeine and I’m hormonal. :)
The newest and most annoying thing they do now is call and say..”we called you in april and you told us to call you back in a couple a months…”…NO YOU DID NOT and NO I DID NOT. Then its “…oh sorry..must be an understanding…sorry”. Do they think we’re stupid or something??? Aarrrggghhhhh…i hate these people.
Here’s another remedy to telemarketers, and you don’t even have to lie. The moment they finish with their first “shpeal” (spelling?), say to them, “It sounds great and everything, but here’s the problem, I don’t have any money.”
I’ve done this several times, and there is usually a long pause on the phone and they say, “Thank you for your time.” and hang up. If you don’t have the money, they don’t want to talk to you. :)
I get the 20 clicks on the phone, then the butchering of my name. They obviously are calling me from some list. So I take advantage of the fact that my voice sounds young and they think I’m a teenager. HA!
oh I have there game – were registered for TPS (Telephone Preference)= no cold calls. Threaten them with this and the fine once you have kept them chatting enough to get their name and phone number and report them.
Or say “just one moment I will get them” put the phone down and walk away for 5 minutes. They are often gone by the time you come back.
Or if for my daughter I tell them she is married and moved and new married name is Smith (It IS true!)
If they were in contact with her they would know.
I have a friend (who was a policeman) who gets rid of them – he used an old police whistle – strange when he said hello after they had gone!!
Not to disagree with the general anti-telemarketing sentiment and hints, but I’d like to repeat the original message … how do we eliminate the “spend your time waiting for me to sell you something” madness. I think it should be just outlawed!