There are some days I hate the phone......

[poltr1]

Last week, someone from moveon.org called me and asked me to participate in their phone calling session. I was about to leave for my mens' group, but I took the call anyway. After hearing his spiel for a couple of minutes, I told him I wasn't interested in participating.

Today, someone from a mortgage company in Cleveland called and offered to refinance my home mortgage. I told him I didn't think I was eligible, in several different ways and reasons. He finally said something to the effect that I wasn't the expert on refinancing, but that he finally got the message. (I forgot that I had signed up for the Do-Not-Call Registry, and didn't think to tell him.)

I really hate the phone at times. Some days it's an instrument of torture.

I also hate myself for not having the balls to tell these people to back off, go away, and leave me alone. And I hate that my brain doesn't think of what to say until a few hours later, well after the moment has passed.

I'm so paranoid and distrustful about telephone solicitations that I won't do business with anyone who initiates the contact via telephone with me. I have no way of proving that the people at the other end of the line are who they say they are -- caller ID or not. I also won't give my full Social Security number over the phone even if I'm the one making the call. (Unless I'm on a secure telephone, like a STU-III or newer.) The telephone is one of the most insecure communications devices out there.

Comments

[zorya-thinks.livejournal.com]

We let the answering machine screen the calls. If I am home and I don't recognize the phone number I let the machine pick up. 99% of the time the people I want to talk to will start to leave a message, giving me enough time to pick up and talk.

The ones I hate are the robocalls. They talk regardless and half the time it's one of those "traditional values" groups urging me to vote for candidates who represent their values (but not necessarily mine).

[poltr1]

I have both caller ID and voice mail. I can screen by looking at the caller ID display on or near the phone. If I'm in a good mood, I'll give myself a second or two to mentally prepare myself, and then pick up. My rationale is "if they finally talk to me and I say 'don't call me again', they won't."

With voice mail, I don't get the opportunity to screen the calls by hearing them.

[poltr1]

The ones I hate are the robocalls. They talk regardless and half the time it's one of those "traditional values" groups urging me to vote for candidates who represent their values (but not necessarily mine).

Yeah, and they don't give you a "press 2 for No" option. I had one of those calls several months ago. It was either "press 1 if you agree with us" or hang up.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Anyone who programs or orders a subordinate to program a robot to call a person with an unwanted advertising message (whether it's for a commercial product, a charity, or a political candidate) should be impaled on the National Mall. When a human calls me because they want something from me when I have no reason to want to hear from them, it annoys me, but when a machine does it, it *really* burns my ass.