Sunday, July 12, 2009

Unsolicited call

There was the welcome news that government has decided to put a stop to the telemarketing calls soon. Hopefully such pestering calls as below received at all odd hours would come to an end.
The telephone rang.Ranjana who was busy cooking something rushed to answer the call. There was no caller ID facility in the instrument.
Caller: Hello, can I speak to Mr.Srinivas please?
Ranjana: He is not available at the moment. Who is calling please?
Caller: May I know with whom I am talking?
Ranjana: His daughter. I asked who is calling.
Caller: When is he expected?
Ranjana: I am not prepared to answer you unless I know with whom I am talking. I am busy in the kitchen. Tell me quickly what do you want/.
Caller: Sorry madam, I am Sandhya
Ranjana: Sandhya of what? Can’t you be a little more specific? Are you representing any company or are you my father’s friend?
Caller: I am calling from BFC- Best Finance Company.
Ranjana: What is it about? Are you marketing some financial product?
Caller: No madam, we want to tell him about a new scheme that is very lucrative.
Ranjana: He is not interested in any investment.
Caller: But this is a once in a life time chance. I know he will be interested.
Ranjana:How do you know he will be interested? Has he invested in the past with you?
Caller: He is one of our valued customers and has been investing through us. We are particular that he is kept informed of all attractive avenues for investing. When is he expected?
Ranjana: Do you know how old he is?
Caller: No idea madam. But he is an important high valued customer for us.
Ranjana: Is it so? I can tell you on his behalf that he is not interested in any investment lucrative or otherwise. I am busy. Please do not trouble us any more.
Caller: Madam, what is the convenient time to call him.
Ranjana in an exasperating tone: I told you, I think clearly, that he is not interested in any investment. I am rather busy. Please do not trouble us anymore.
Caller: Nevertheless I would like to explain personally to him.
Ranjana in an angry tone: You are just being adamant. Tell me your home number. I will ask him to call you when you are cooking. He is past seventy five and has no money to invest. He is broke. He has gone out to find whether the bank would advance him a small loan on the strength of his monthly pension. He may not get it and he will be interested to explore whether BFC would lend him some money.
The phone at the other end went dead.
Later Ranjana was telling her father laughingly”Dad, that BFC is troubling me daily with telemarketing calls. I know you are not investing through them. Why did you enter your name and address when you collected some share application forms from them. I told them that you are broke and actually need an advance. I am sure that girl would bother us no more. I hope you are not upset with me”

14 comments:

  1. Very creative way to end a pestering marketeer. I too get many calls and use different methods of getting rid of them :-)

    cheers

    Vish

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  2. A very different story from you, dear KP sir. It was engaging and fun. I enjoyed it thoroughly :-)

    Write more such stories!

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  3. I really hate the the way the telemarketers bother us by not giving any information about them but continue to keep talking even after we say we are busy. I ought to try this approach some time. Nicely written.

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  4. My almost 75 year old uncle did exactly the same thing and the calls stopped coming!!
    And he had increased his age to 85!!!!!

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  5. Lol!I know many such funny incidences!these guys pester u so much that u have to set them right!:)

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  6. I like to guess that it happened with your daughter :)
    I remember once my boss speaking with a telemarketing executive who was wooing him to take a loan. He instantly agreed upon taking the loan, but on one condition. He agreed to take the loan if the executive was ready to pay the EMI for him.
    I am in awe of your ability to commute an incident into a beautiful post :)

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  7. that was a great way to attend the call! a different and yet engaging story.

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  8. Namaste....
    At least you get a good story and laugh out of it. Telemelemarkets can be quite annoying. They're fast becoming a staple just now we'd have to endure them as we do the whether.

    Have a good week.

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  9. dear partha,
    it's a cool post.i really enjoyed it as it reflected my experiences!how did you overhear my dialogues?;D
    at odd hours,the calls i used to get from telemarketers!
    really interesting,partha!sorry,i reached late.
    happy blogging!
    sasneham,
    anu

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  10. ha ha... I get such calls everyday... I really relate to it well...
    On just knowing their name I say, "Sorry, I'm not interested in any credit cards" and bang the phone down...
    Good one...

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  11. lol..absolutely huilarious and looks like a real life scenario.

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  12. professional telemarketers never call in odd hours & do have the courtesy to seek permission before continuing the conversation,so please dont blame all telemarketers,afterall they are doing it for their livelihood & its a part of their job,anyway ur kind of presentation was good.

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