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New Sport: Taunt the Telemarketer

I must have metaphorically ticked the wrong box when I phoned up BT to get our landline connected back in January, as we have been receiving occasional cold calls ever since we got the line. It actually doesn’t bother me that much (I think Sally’s more bothered, because they always phone up to ask for Mr Armstrong, or even ask her if she’s Mrs Armstrong…), but for some reason, they’ve become more frequent over the last couple of days, so I’ve finally cracked and got us listed with the Telephone Preference Service, the UK’s version of the “Do Not Call” list.

It takes 28 days for the request to become effective, so in the meantime, then, I’ve come up with a new game: trying to find the funniest way to tell them to go away. I think drawing them into conversation is probably the way to go, or perhaps asking for a contact (home) phone number and an inconvenient time to call them back. Or perhaps I will just put the next guy on hold for a while. And if they continue to call after the 28 days are up, well then I really get to have fun with them…

4 thoughts on “New Sport: Taunt the Telemarketer”

  1. I’m sure you’re aware of the Seinfeld tactic: “I’m sorry, I’m a little tied up now – give me your home number and I’ll call you back later…oh, you don’t like being bothered at home?”

  2. Yes, that was what I was thinking. I’m actually quite looking forward to the next call–should be fun!

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