Telemarketers

Over the past week or so, I have been inundated with calls from telemarketers – specifically Bell Mobility but others as well - despite being on the no-call list. They usually call around suppertime and are a huge pain in the ass. On Thursday, they called again. I think that after our “conversation”, they won’t be calling again.

The phone rang around 5:30 with a distinctive ring indicating a long distance call. Eyes around the supper table started to roll, as we knew it was likely some telemarketer trying to entice us into buying into a “limited one-time offer” that would not only save us money, but would dramatically improve our quality of life. Seriously, how does having a different cell phone plan or cable package solve all of my problems? Who needs psychotherapy when you got Bell?

The conversation almost stopped before it began. I usually hang up after voicing my concerns and it’s normally not done in a pleasant manner. (There’s only so much of this crap anyone can stand.) But this time I took a different approach. When told that the call may be recorded for quality and training purposes, I said that I didn’t give permission to have the conversation recorded. The operator said that it was standard policy to record. I countered that it was not my policy. I asked him if he knew anything about Privacy Law. Silence. I then asked him about his background in law. Crickets. I told him that I thought recording a conversation without consent from both parties was illegal and that I would have to report it to the police. This was followed by the articulate uhhh.... hmmm… well, ahhh…I asked to speak to his supervisor who, I was told, was unavailable. No problem I replied, just give me his number and I’ll call him back. And while you’re at it, what’s your name and employee number?

Click. The telemarketer actually hung up on me :)  A small victory, but a win just the same. And supper never tasted so good.