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From: ron@hpfcla.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Re: Phone calls selling stuff
Message-ID: <17000010@hpfcmt.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 16-Oct-85 22:01:00 EST
Article-I.D.: hpfcmt.17000010
Posted: Wed Oct 16 22:01:00 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 30-Oct-85 07:02:48 EST
References: <242@drutx.UUCP>
Organization: 16 Oct 85 18:01:00 MST
Lines: 66

More junk phone calls.....


The line at our house is "We NEVER take advantage of any deals offered
over the telephone. We feel telephone soliciting is an invasion of
our privacy. Good bye."

It works in most cases. (1 at a time)

Anecdote:  My wife laid this line on a female who was soliciting for
XYZ (name was known at the time) Insurance. Almost immediately there
was the phone ringing again. Answered, there was one word," Bitch!" followed
by a click.

A quick look at the yellow pages indicated there were several agents in town
for this company but we thought we'd talk to one to see if there was anyone
we could discuss this with from the XYZ company. Surprise ! The person who
answered the phone was the same one who had hurled the insult ! How did we
know ?  When my wife started describing the problem, the person on the other
end fired up with , " I don't what you're talking about. I have another call
and have to go. (click)"

I then called (switching voices now) and left a message for the agent to call
me back. Just in case the message got 'lost' with the female voice, I also
called his home (they put home numbers for insurance agents) and left the 
same 'please call back' message there too. 

The agent called a few hours later and I explained the situation and why
we thought his solicitor was the problem. He  reacted in an unexpected
manner and denied that such a thing could happen even though his 14 year old
daughter and her girlfriend were doing telephone soliciting UNSUPERVISED that
afternoon. He pointed out that 'they are trained to not do such things.'
We parted after strongly but politely disagreeing.

I then called a different XYZ agent and asked this sympathetic person who
the other agent's boss was. I then called the boss and explained the 
whole story.  My point was that I was looking for satisfaction,not denial.
If the agent had said he would make sure his daughter never did it again,
I would have quit then but he didn't so I didn't.  The supervisor understood
and rendered the sympathetic reaction I was seeking and promised to 
show his agent how he hadn't done the reasonable thing and agreed with me.

Now, picture the 14 year old girl: does naughty thing, victim calls back
and recognizes her voice (what totally random luck !!!), her father comes
down on her after talking to the victim's husband, THEN her father's boss
comes down on her father !!!!   (chortle, chortle)

That's exactly the kind of thing that happens to me when I try to do 
something naughty.



Ron Miller


No one has ever gone broke UNDERestimating the intelligence of the American
public !


FSD Service Engineering  (Hardware Support)
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Ft. Collins Systems Div.
Ft. Collins Colorado
303-226-3800

at: {ihnp4}hpfcla!ron