(no subject)

[caddyman]

I should have been in Biscester today, playing games and generally enjoying myself with a bunch of friends. Unfortunately I feel a bit under the weather and decided to stay at home. Somehow I am managing to feel chilly and hot at the same time and have a bit of a headache.

I don't think trailing down the High Street to buy a new answerphone helped; but it had to be done. My old one died a few months ago and it dispensed with my ability to screen callers - I mean I don't get many, since most people call me on the mobile, but I do get the odd bod calling the land line and just recently there's been a spate of people cold calling me and trying to sell me something. Without screening ability I have been able to demonstrate my total inability to be assertive on the phone far more often that I would like.

I really do not know what it is about the old Lea psyche that makes it so dificult for me to tell people to piss off when I don't want to buy anything, but there we are. I have only rarely put the phone down on someone and that's been when they have been inexcusably rude or aggressive. I guess it's because I don't like that sort of behaviour that I find it so hard to just get rid of unwelcome callers. It's not as if I have that problem face to face.

Odd things, telephones.

Comments

[westernind.livejournal.com]

I recommend asking telephone cold callers "Have you been saved? Do you believe?" etc etc. You could develop a script beforehand.

[iwantmymookie.livejournal.com]

When i was about three or four and we got a telemarketer calling the house right around dinner time as usual, my Dad would hand the phone to me and tell me to tell them all about my day. lucky for them, i was very talkative as a youngster.

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

"I'm not interested right now, but thank you for calling, goodbye," click, in a cheerful tone so you don't feel as if you've been rude. (Important to me too, not least because I did some brief stints in telemarketing when I was a student. And really, you're doing them a favor letting them quickly get on to the next person who might actually buy something, though few of them seem to understand this).

[thalinoviel.livejournal.com]

I find it simplest to say 'Thanks, I'm not really interested in a new at any price, and you really can make better use of your time by calling the next person. Bye.' This is quite true and fairly polite and seems effective. Anyone dumb enough to carry on after that gets hung up on.

Go on, you know you can do it.