IT wasn't long ago that if I had asked to borrow thousands of dollars from a financial institution, loan officers would have begun rolling around on the carpet laughing. We need not be polite
to nitwitsNow, I can't stop people from trying to throw money at me. Literally.
Just about every other night, I get an unsolicited phone call from some company trying to refinance my home mortgage or set me up with a line of credit or a new credit card. I don't need the money. Ergo, it's there.
I used to be polite and just say, "No thanks." But the calls continued and always at the worst possible times, like when I was serving dinner or visiting the, well, you know.
Why was I being nice to these nitwits? Sure, I was brought up to be courteous on the phone. But that assumed that the caller deserved it. What we have now are companies who use the telephone as a marketing tool, with no consideration to whether you are interested in talking to them or not. They are imposing on us. They are asking personal questions about our finances and homes. And they are doing it through sweat-shop phone room operations that merely pay people to make as many phone calls as possible.
Why should we be polite to these people? They are exploiting our basic good nature. In the public interest, I've compiled a number of ways to deal with these unsolicited sales pitches. (I confess that I did not think of all of these by myself. But I really like them.)
After the caller makes her initial pitch, tell her the offer sounds interesting and ask her name. Then ask her phone number. Then ask for her home phone number. Ask her what kind of a house she lives in and what time she eats dinner. Pretty soon, she (or he) will become upset at your prying. I actually had one last week who said, "I can't tell you my home number! That's private!" And I said, "Oh. I see. You can know my home number. You can call me at home at dinner time. You can ask me personal questions about my finances. But I can't do the same to you. Gee, that doesn't seem fair. Take a hike."
Try a few of these ideas and you'll find yourself actually looking forward to getting unsolicited calls. Don't feel guilty. It's your telephone. It's there to make your life easier, not to help some salesperson make a fast buck.
