Telemarketers

Okay, I know picking on telemarketers is like shooting fish in a barrel. Its like hunting on one of those ranches where the hunters pay and the "catch" is in a pen. Its like making fun of politicians. Its like making fun of softball guy who hits a home run and circles the bases like Barry Bonds. Heck, its like making fun of softball guy who LOOKS like Barry Bonds and probably has roided up! But, here goes.

So, a telemarketer calls me today. He is trying to get me to trade in my car. I can hear the 200 people in the background making similar calls. And despite his assurance that he is from a dealership where I have bought cars in the past, he doesn't know how to pronounce my name. So, I know he is sitting in Indiana or Tulsa or some place like that and trying to make me think he is local.

He starts by asking me how I am. My standard response: "Fine. How are you?" He then says "I am calling you today from ..........." HELLO? I asked a question. I was trying to have a conversation. That is how this works. You say something. I say something. You ask a question. I answer it and ask a question. You then answer my freaking question. Don't ignore it like I said nothing. Don't skip it.

Oh wait. I know. He was reading his script. And the people they hire to do this can only read the script. It reminds me of a training I went to. We had a script in front of us and were asking questions. The question was "Do you agree to let me record this?" Answer: "Yes." Question on the script said "If yes, then ask.........." What did the person on the tape say? That's right!! "If yes.........."

Hello? Really? You felt it necessary to read from the script word for freaking word? You couldn't figure out that you could skip the "If yes" part. You decided that you needed to say everything.

This guy was the same way. He kept asking me questions without listening to my answers. So, am I interested in trading in my car? No. Do I know that they are selling cars at a discount? Yes. Am I interested? No. Do I want their financing? Again - did he miss it where I said I was not interested. He just kept on going.

I might as well have put the phone on speaker, sat back, relaxed and let him kept talking. It would have accomplished the same amount for him. He was talking for the sake of talking. That is the worst..........well, except for the people who talk because they like to hear their voices!