Other commenters seem to like Peg C's device for handling tele-marketers these days from the discussion thread for my Census taking post. Having worked various types of jobs before and during college to pay my way, I was in a family's home doing some minor electrical repair work one evening and had the hilarious good fortune to witness an all-time classic in the handling of tele-marketers.
Oh, a bit OT: my new tactic for dealing with telemarkers and tele-beggars is to demand first to know whether they support ObamaCare. Great way to get rid of people.
The family was eating their usual late dinner, as they were Long Island Jewish expats now living in New Jersey and the Father still slogged back every day to what I could only imagine to be a Long Island carpet store, or the equivalent. He was classic, too. Cranky, boisterous, loud, maybe a great guy to friends and family, still a typical mildly successful NYC shopkeeper with no time for BS. The wife answered the phone and was having trouble getting out of the phone call. You knew the tele-marketer kept going on.
So, this guy is eating his dinner, mouth full and mostly open while he chewed, and he sticks out his arm and starts motioning for the phone with his meaty fingers, not even looking up from his plate. The wife obliged. He gulped down a wad of food and started to speak, loudly as was his way.
"What's your name?" he asked, to which the guy must have responded. Obviously I couldn't hear that end of the call.
"Okay, Darrel. Where do you live?" (response)
"Alright, now give me your home phone number". (r)
"Because I want your home phone number?" (r)
"Huh?" (r)
"Because I want your home phone number, just give it to me." (r)
Yelling: "Because I'm going to wait until you're trying to eat your fawking dinner and I'm going to call you at home and bother the shit out of you. Now, how do you like that, you fawking asskole?"
His wife took back the phone and hung it up and he went face down back to his plate as I finished up my work and left.
LOL!
Posted by: Philip McDaniel | Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:29 AM
I saw that on an episode of Seinfeld once; great stuff indeed. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Jacksonian Lawyer | Friday, August 28, 2009 at 11:08 AM
In all reality, I got a call two weeks ago from some company wanting to do a political survey. They asked me if I was talking to them from a cell phone ? And..if I was please give them the number. I told them I did not wish to participate in any damn survey and they sure as hell were not getting my cell phone number and I hung up. MF'S.
Posted by: WBestPresidentEver | Friday, August 28, 2009 at 07:18 PM
All you have to do is tell them "No, and don't call here agin." Its real simple, why be a jerk?
Posted by: serfer62 | Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 05:47 PM