Was the 6/13 NBC Rerun the one in which Elaine supposedly said "Shit!" as she rean to the microwave, or is that another one? I've been waiting to see that again. She was using Jerry's mic last night, but there was no such scene. Was that a different episode, or did they actually edit that scene out? I seem to remember that she put something other than muffins in the mic in the "Shit" episode. (I thought she said "shoot" anyway, but I've been wanting to double-check since seeing the debate on here last fall.)
mispronounce your name, read a script to try to sell you something, and not take no for an answer until the fourth refusal? If you have found a way to deal with these people that is more fun than merely hanging up on them, get in touch! >:)
As soon as I start hearing the speech or even my mispronounced name, I say, "I'm sorry I don't want what you're selling, goodbye," and hang up without the person having a chance to say one word. Either that or I screen my calls, especially during the dinner hour when they're known to strike.
Diane M. dos Santos Chicago, IL "The barn's burnt down. Now I can see the moon."
I take objection to anyone who treats a telemarketer with anything but respect and polite declination. Generally, the person on the other end of the phone is an unskilled worker making piss-poor wage, hating his/her job, and then confronting asswholes who treat him/her as though he/her were single-handedly responsible for the telemarketing phenomenon. How hard is it to say "No thank you. I'm not interested."? If they harass you, fine, then harass them, but otherwise, lay off America's working class. Write the company if you have a beef.
Y'know what, pal? You're absolutely right. And I feel the same way. The harassment is what pisses me off, and I get it in every phone call. Saying exactly what you say above (and I *do* say "but thanks anyway") simply does not keep them from arguing with you. Here's something I wrote in another newsgroup to a response similar to yours:
In article , (name deleted to protect the innocent) wrote:
Budgie wrote:
It's mostly because that task involves making a call that is unwanted, and then puts people in the position of either having to waste their time refusing the product 3 or 4 times or being an asshole. When you receive these calls on a regular basis, it becomes a real intrusion and can often take people away from important things that they're doing. It's bad enough that they keep calling (don't even get me started on the Discover folks) and can't pronounce my name correctly half the time...but if I say I don't want yer damn credit card, then I DON'T WANT YER DAMN CREDIT CARD! They can do whatever distasteful things they want, but don't bother me with it. Incidentally, I'm normally quite civil to these people, and I have a very hard time being rude. (Ask me sometime about the "quick" telephone survey that I did that ended up taking 50 minutes.) Even when I want to flip them off, I usually end up being nice, refusing 4 times, and being annoyed for the next few minutes at having had to deal with it *again*. What's even more annoying sometimes is when they call for someone who hasn't lived at this residence for 8 or 10 years, or they invite me and the wife I didn't know I have to come see their product. A couple of people have suggested telling the telemarketers that the people that they're asking for are dead. I'm sure that it's actually the truth sometimes. There's just no reason for this. Sorry, didn't mean to spout off quite that much.
Big difference. *I'm* going *there* because I want something. I'm seeking their service. They're not making an unwanted intrusion, they're not pressuring me to take their food, and their not arguing with me when I say that I don't want something.
I've gotten a lot of responses to my .sig so far, and I even (accidentally) ended up starting new threads in at least two newsgroups with it. I think I'll keep it for a while. :)
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Hope that clears thing up. In the meantime, here's the (in)famous .sig for y'all. :>