I don’t like picking up the phone. Or more specifically, I don’t like picking up the home phone.
For some reasons, I keep calls from strange old women insisting for her granddaughter be put on the phone. Or silent people, not talking at all but there’s someone though as I can hear them breathing! But mostly, I avoid the phone because of extremely determined telemarketers.
So much so, that my MIL chided that it was so hard to contact me. With wide eyes, she’d go, “Ti ho chiamato tantissime volte. Ma non rispondi mai!” And then, I’d feel bad but what I don’t understand is why she couldn’t just call me on my mobile.
Anyway, It’s not so bad when I’m in Singapore, because I’m very comfortable at saying, “Oh. Really? Not interested. Bye!”
But here in Rome, I need a bit of time to catch what they are saying and then find the correct words to respond. Telemarketers tend to speak really fast, and if you pause, they pounce on it and not let you have a chance to think and reply back. So, when it progresses this far, I’d usually be dumb-struck and paralysed and confused at what to do.
One managed to get me to change my phone plan, and I said yes to whatever he said, mainly because I wanted him to get off my back. Luckily for me, I could go online and change my plan back to how it was originally.
Sure. I could always use the,”Non parlo Italiano” excuse. But while that might work for some, the rest doesn’t care! As long as they have you on the phone, they’ll continue talking and insisting on explaining about their promotions. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a more determined telemarketer while in Singapore.
On the one hand, I do feel empathy for telemarketers. Because I used to work in a similar line during my school vacations and we only get paid based on commission. Thus I know it’s not an easy job. But on the other hand, being overly aggressive really doesn’t do it for me.
So nowadays when the phone rings and it’s a telemarketer, I try hard to say, “Non mi interessa” and just put down the phone. Part of me feels guilty for being so rude, but you got to do, what you got to do.
We dont have a fixed line and sometimes I get calls on my mobile. I always use the same line as you ‘Non mi interessa’ and put down the phone or the telemarketer will say his goodbyes. But when you get too many calls or no plan to change yr package, it’s only right to decline.
I think one reason for that your MIL to call you on the fixed line is habitual, and because it is much more cheaper, especially if she calls you from a fixed phone. I think one solution is to have a phone that displays the number of the caller.
yeah I have been getting such calls on my handphone too since we don’t have a home phone and usually I either 1) not answer if I know it is a telemarketer 2) tell them I am not interested and then put down the phone without waiting for a reply 3) simply put down the phone if they are insistent or if they go blah blah blah blah and give me no chance to react………
OMG! I totally feel you! Telemarketers are exactly the same in Switzerland, I tried to play the “I don’t speak…” card, they would switch to another language. In short, they’d try to pitch in all four Swiss languages and even English! It’s exhausting! Once, I’ve answered the phone in Malay but that didn’t even deter them from pitching their product. I hung up the phone midway when the telemarketer just wouldn’t stop talking. So now, I simply don’t answer the home phone anymore.
You answered in Malay?! I should have thought of that before! Hahaha! I’m sorry it didn’t really work for you, but I might just try using that method the next time!
Yeah! I went, “Helllloooooo?” (exactly the same way makcik2 would when they answer the phone) hehehehe… And then I go, “Huh? Ape ni? Tanak3… Eh tak paham lah…” Please tweet or blog about it should you ever use that method. I’d love to know what happens… 😉