Was sitting at office and was staring blankly into the 17inch ‘not so blank’ screen in front of me when my state of bliss was broken by a harsh ringing of the telephone at my neighbor’s desk. I Am reminded of this poet who compared a woman’s laughter to a telephone’s ringing. I would remain a bachelor all my life if all women laugh like that.
Coming back to the telephone, my neighbor was not at his desk, and that darned piece kept screaming on. With no option left, hauled myself out of my cozy chair and took the call. The lady on the other side as expected wanted to speak to my neighbor and when I told that he is not in his seat , she said that would not be a problem and that I could help her. Thought this was some query about some Bill of lading, but soon, horrors of horrors realized that this was another of those “Are u interested in a free credit card” calls!!
Everyday there is at least one such unwanted crank call that I get. It mostly is for a credit card and on other occasions they have been for loans, additional SIM cards and the like. These calls bug me no end and there are a lot of reasons for them.
The person on the other end actually is mostly a female and in 9 out of 10 cases can’t speak proper English. They hit the vernacular highway right away and speak in such a chaste tone that u start wondering if the roadside hawkers have opted for a career change. And if they do speak EnglishIf they do speak, they try to put on a coy sort of tone and speak like some pre teen girl talking to her Barbie doll while staring at the stars.
They don’t seem to keep track of the people they call and the responses given. I am sure it’s the same female who calls me every week and so very sweetly says that I could do with another SIM card. But they don’t seem to take note that every week I give the same reply which certainly is not – call me next week – but a big NO.
They call from anywhere: I initially had thought that these people used to sit in offices and fire away. But many a time now, I ve heard in the background , among other thing, babies crying, rattling of trains, cars honking , a sound very suspiciously similar to a pressure cooker letting off steam and heavens be damned- the opening lines of the title track of a TV soap. Guess these people are temps who are given a sack load of phone numbers and asked to make cold calls whenever they want. Just meet the damned target and that’s all.
That brings up the question, from where do they get the phone numbers?? Even mobile numbers are not spared. I changed by mobile phone number many months back and had not even informed all my friends about the new number, but I get a call for a new credit card. The only source I can see having given out the number is the mobile service provider from whom I got the number in the first place. And I think even the banks with whom I deal with are also culprits. I remember giving my office landline number to my bank only and then within a week get a call for, what else, an extra credit card. But, strangely the person speaking to me was offering a rival banks loan scheme.
The only advantages of such calls are when u in the middle of a useless team meeting or in grave danger of dozing off post lunch. You could help yourself to a much needed break thanks to the squeaky voiced female on the pone offering you yet another credit
Its now 2 o clock so far the day has progressed without any such calls. Must be my lucky day.
Coming back to the telephone, my neighbor was not at his desk, and that darned piece kept screaming on. With no option left, hauled myself out of my cozy chair and took the call. The lady on the other side as expected wanted to speak to my neighbor and when I told that he is not in his seat , she said that would not be a problem and that I could help her. Thought this was some query about some Bill of lading, but soon, horrors of horrors realized that this was another of those “Are u interested in a free credit card” calls!!
Everyday there is at least one such unwanted crank call that I get. It mostly is for a credit card and on other occasions they have been for loans, additional SIM cards and the like. These calls bug me no end and there are a lot of reasons for them.
The person on the other end actually is mostly a female and in 9 out of 10 cases can’t speak proper English. They hit the vernacular highway right away and speak in such a chaste tone that u start wondering if the roadside hawkers have opted for a career change. And if they do speak EnglishIf they do speak, they try to put on a coy sort of tone and speak like some pre teen girl talking to her Barbie doll while staring at the stars.
They don’t seem to keep track of the people they call and the responses given. I am sure it’s the same female who calls me every week and so very sweetly says that I could do with another SIM card. But they don’t seem to take note that every week I give the same reply which certainly is not – call me next week – but a big NO.
They call from anywhere: I initially had thought that these people used to sit in offices and fire away. But many a time now, I ve heard in the background , among other thing, babies crying, rattling of trains, cars honking , a sound very suspiciously similar to a pressure cooker letting off steam and heavens be damned- the opening lines of the title track of a TV soap. Guess these people are temps who are given a sack load of phone numbers and asked to make cold calls whenever they want. Just meet the damned target and that’s all.
That brings up the question, from where do they get the phone numbers?? Even mobile numbers are not spared. I changed by mobile phone number many months back and had not even informed all my friends about the new number, but I get a call for a new credit card. The only source I can see having given out the number is the mobile service provider from whom I got the number in the first place. And I think even the banks with whom I deal with are also culprits. I remember giving my office landline number to my bank only and then within a week get a call for, what else, an extra credit card. But, strangely the person speaking to me was offering a rival banks loan scheme.
The only advantages of such calls are when u in the middle of a useless team meeting or in grave danger of dozing off post lunch. You could help yourself to a much needed break thanks to the squeaky voiced female on the pone offering you yet another credit
Its now 2 o clock so far the day has progressed without any such calls. Must be my lucky day.
