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

[tfreeman at intel.digichem.net]

Two years? You are much too patient with them.

If this is happening on your home phone, have the phone company change 
your number and pay for being non-directory. (That cuts an amazing number 
of phone calls from telepests right there.) The fee for being not in the 
phone book has been well worth the money for me over the past 16 years. 
This is not appropriate for a business phone obviously.

Possible tactic 2, if the above either doesn't work, or is inappropriate: 
if the calls are from a single (or limited number) of phones, have the 
phone company block the calls, or use caller ID and some Linux fu to 
divert them to an answering machine black hole. Rolling your own at least 
earns geek points...

Possible tactic 3 will need research of the law. Basically, ask one more 
time to be left alone, and when they call back yet again, sic the fuzz on 
them (to the extent allowed by relevant law). Of course, this might end up 
resembling wreseling(sp?) a pig in a wallow if you don't dot your "i"s and 
cross your "t"s properly. 8-(.

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004, Nathan J. Underwood wrote:

> 
> 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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If you think Education is expensive
Try Ignorance
                   Author Unknown
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