Democrats, Do Not Harass Me
For the past few nights this week at the same time there has been a call to the house asking for me. I have not been available to take their call so they just keep calling back. Tonight, I had just finished doing the dishes and the phone rang. Of course it said “Unavailable” again on the caller ID. I answer and they ask for me and five minutes later the man is still going on and on about how I need to vote Democratically. That they need my support. That he hopes that I will not let them down.
He then says “Sir, can I count on you to donate some money which will be doubled. Whatever you can give will be matched.” Or something like that. I said, “Look, I don’t have very much money right now. I will definitely be voting Democratically when the election comes up.” He then cocks an attitude and says “BUT SIR, I appreciate that you will be voting Democratically but they need support and money. Can I count on you to give $20.” I said “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a job. I don’t have $20 to give you right now.” Then he said “What about $10, $5, anything you can give will be appreciated.” I said, “LOOK, I’m sorry, I do not have any money to give you right now. We can’t even afford to pay the electric bill right now.” THEN he kept going on asking me if he could send me a pledge card. I said “I won’t have money when it gets here.” He says “You don’t have to send it now, send it in a few weeks.” He just kept going on and on!
Finally I told him that I did not appreciate him harassing me. I told him again that I did not have any money. I told him that I appreciated what he was trying to do for our country as in getting support for the Democratic party. I told him I would be voting Democratically as I always do. He then said that he was sorry that I thought he was harassing me. The call was finally over after a couple more minutes of him trying to get me to accept a pledge card.
First of all. I’m really tired of these “Unavailable” number call centers calling and harassing. Calling and not answering. I don’t owe anyone any money so they’re not harassing me for a bill I owe money on. They are calling and begging money or they are calling and not even saying a word, just breathing. Seriously.
Second, don’t call me up and talk for 5 minutes, wasting my time without giving me the opportunity to tell you I am not interested. That is extremely rude. About two minutes in I’m not even paying attention to you. I’m asking myself “Will this person ever shut up?” “Is this a machine?” “If I hang up will the machine just call me back tomorrow night?”
Third, when I tell you I do not have any money to give you. I tell you that I don’t appreciate that you are harassing me for money. You should immediately end the call.
Lastly, this is the one that really bothers me. If you were to call a home where the residents are un-decided, do you really think that they will be voting for a Democrat after harassing them for money? Don’t you think they are more likely to say “Those Democrats will just harass you for money every chance they get. I’m voting Republican.” Or something like that.
I am always nice to tele-marketers when they call. If you hang up, they’ll call back. It’s much easier to just listen to what they have to say and tell them you’re not interested. Some of them are nice and say “Well thank you for your time” and that’s the end of it. That’s how it should be. I’m not going to be rude to someone because that’s their job. They’re just trying to make a living like the rest of us. But it really makes me angry when a (and I’m guessing) college aged kid (someone my age, actually) calls up and starts asking for money and won’t let up.
Anyways, I am going to go get some food, calm my nerves and get over it. At least I got a blog entry out of it, right? Thanks for reading.
Technorati Tags:
election, harass, pledge, democrats, money, republicans, call centers
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
It was probably the Republican Party, how can you really tell for whom a tele-marketer works? lol
It could have been John Doe down the road trying to scam you…
I’d never give a tele-marketer or door-to-door sales person money..
Before Christmas, I’d get calls while at my dad’s place all the time 3-6 times a day, and most of the time, not a word said, just silence or breathing. Before that started I’d answer calls were I’d here a musical interlude followed by “Thank-you for calling, goodbye”… I didn’t call them, they called me!? Why the heck would someone waste money for that call up to 6 times a day… I imagined a broken dialling machine or something.. lol
I feel tele-marketers are getting ruder, and more aggressive, I often used to suspect revenge call backs after refusing to buy tele-marketers products, as I’d get hang-up calls a few times following during that day.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Luke - I think you’re the only one who read my entry and actually understood what I was writing. Anyways, thanks for your comment.
I am the same way. The more I think about it the more I wonder if it was a scam to just get money. I wonder how many of these calls we get are scams. Thankfully, I never have money to give them so they don’t get any! HAHA!
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Never give the tele-marketer more than $2.99.
Tell them $2.99, take it or leave it, and if they ask for more hang up..
When they ask for an address give them a post office box or the address of a take out restaurant you hate! lol
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I ignore any calls that come from unidentified numbers. Usually, they’re credit card companies trying to sell me a service I don’t need.
Anyway, the guy who called you sounds like a total jerk.