[ale] OT - Rant - I don't want your toner cartridges

[Nathan J. Underwood]

Ok, this is VERY OT, and I apologize, but I wanted to vent and see if 
anyone else was getting it.  Basically, on Wednesday, Thursday, and 
Friday (or a combination of the three), I get a phone call.  The call is 
usually from a company calling itself World Tech, and they're selling 
toner cartridges.  Not just any toner cartridge, mind you, but SUPERIOR 
toner cartridges.  The first few weeks, I politely declined, and asked 
to be removed from the list.  This didn't work, so I stopped answering, 
and they left messages (which is a pet peeve of mine, but that's another 
rant).  Now, we're 2 years into it, and they're still calling.  So, I've 
been using them as tools to polish up on my *tact.  As condescending and 
belittling as that can be, they continue to call.  I've talked to 
supervisors (hey bob, tell this guy you're a supervisor so he'll leave 
me alone), I've talked to their (the supervisors) boss (see hey bob 
comment earlier), etc., but nothing seems to work.  Their spill is 
basically this:

Them : Hello <your name>, my name is <their name>, and I understand that 
you're the person in charge of making IT purchases for your company.<pause>
You : [Yes | Possibly | No | are you my mommy?]
Them : What kind of printers do you use in your company?<pause>
You : [this | that | I have to pee]
Them : Great!,  My company manufacturers a superior printer toner 
cartridge that is guaranteed to last <insert absurd amount of time 
here>, and we'd like to send you one for ABSOLUTELY FREE!  Does that 
sound like a good deal? <pause>
You : Do you like donut?
Them : Great!  All I need to do is get some basic information from you, 
and someone will contact you tomorrow to get you your free printer toner 
cartridge.<pause>
Them : Is your name <your name>?  Is your address <address>?  Are you in 
charge of purchasing IT products for your company?<pause>
Them : Great!  Someone from our shipping department will contact you 
tomorrow to setup the delivery.

Then, sure enough, the next day someone will contact you from their 
shipping department.  These folks just need a PO number, and they'll 
ship you a toner cartridge (or ribbon, ink cartridge, etc.).

Have any of you fallen into this trap (where they continually call)?  If 
so, have you been able to make them stop calling?  Either way, I do feel 
better to have gotten it off of my chest.


*Tack, as defined by a former boss (and mentor, who I am still in 
frequent communication with), is the ability to tell someone to go to 
hell in such a way that they not only smile and thank you, but pay in 
advance, and look forward to the trip.
--
registered linux user # 73046
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