Like everyone, I've had some downright weird calls. Latest ones:
3 weeks ago I had a call from a female who mumbled her intro so badly I couldn't tell
who she was or even if she was a friend or relative.
Me: Sorry, I can't understand you. Could you repea...."
Her: "Yeah? What part can't you understand?"
I assumed she was from a telemarketer but also could have
been from the bank/council/workplace personnel etc so I asked her politely to repeat
who she was calling on behalf of.
Her, shouting: "CAN I SPEAK TO (MY NAME)?
Me: Who are you, please? ( now convinced dealing with a t**t.)
Her: CAN I SPEAK TO -------------- ------------------?"
Me: You're not going to get very far shouting. Tell me who you're calling from, please.
Her: (mumble)Is this 52 ----------------- Close?
Me: Who are you again?
Her: IS THIS 52 ---------------- CLOSE?
Me: Sorry, you've got the wrong number.
Whoever she was she was so downright rude and unprofessional it was clear she couldn't
be calling
from anywhere "respectable". Yet Telemarketing companies should be no different.
After all, so much of our information, including name and address, comes up on the
seller's screen that their employers really ought to be careful who is privy to it all. I don't
care if she's had a bad morning; if she's paid to man the phones she should be polite or
simply find another job. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who can be so aggressive at such
slight provocation should have such personal info at their fingertips.
A few years back a man phoned from a well known High Street company, with whom I'd
never had any dealings. I was on my way up to the lav so I said: "Not interested" half-way
through his spiel and put the phone down.
What happened the rest of the day and for the following day was close
to 50 silent calls, all with the number with-held. What I believe, and I may be wrong, was that
this man was so insecure and vengeful that he jotted down my number and decided to play
silly buggers for the next 48 hours. If he did that to a lot of people it's very unlikely he'd be
caught. Who goes to the police about such a short campaign?
My mother had a really disturbing call a few years ago. She answered the call and a man
asked her what type of knickers she wore. The thing is, my mother has a very squeaky voice.
People joke about it often. She's called me at work before and people assume she's a child. She
phoned up for a pizza once and the staff wouldn't take her order unless her "Mummy came
to the phone". So this perv may well have assumed she was a child answering the phone. My
brother was in the house at the time and he dialled 1471 and discovered it was a number that
had the same area code. He phoned up and unexpectedly a woman answered. He asked
to speak to her husband and she said he'd just "gone back out to the garden". My brother,
perhaps misguidedly, told her that if her husband ever made another dirty phone call, he'd
*$£$£$ %$£$)($£ )($£$)($£$£$£.
The poor woman went totally silent. After all, it wasn't her fault. One can't help but feel sorry
for her having to suffer for having a pervy husband.