Telemarketer

My phone rang a few weeks ago. I didn’t recognize the number. I usually ignore calls from unrecognized numbers as nine times out of ten they are from telemarketers. Very rarely do I receive such calls, when I was caught off guard or when my curiosity got the better of me. I answered the phone. It was a telemarketer.

Good afternoon, may I speak to Mr Ahmad Nazri?
[Already regretting answering the phone] Speaking.
Oh, hello Mr Ahmad Nazri! My name is [missed it, don’t care], calling on behalf of [insurance company I have nothing to do with] in cooperation with [some other company I actually do business with] ...
What is this about?
We would like to offer you …
Not interested.
Would you at least let me explain it to you?
No, I am really not interested.
It will only take two minutes.
Instead of you spending your precious time explaining it to me, after which I will still say no, wouldn’t it better for both of us that we end this conversation now?
[Brief silence]
Would you provide me with contact numbers of your friends or relatives who might be interested in our product?
[Unbelievable!] No. Bye.

Yes, I could have just ended the call as soon as I realized it for what it was. However, as much as I hate getting calls from telemarketers I still think that it’s rude to just hang up on people. Besides, I don’t think anybody would dream of growing up to become a telemarketer.

I really hope that we introduce a do-not-call (DNC) registry here. It is a list of phone numbers, usually maintained by a government agency, telemarketers are not allowed to call. If you are like me, you can register your phone number into the list and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, it is not so straight forward.

Read more here.