A couple of years ago I wrote the following…
“When the sea of societal ills is so shallow that “phone calls I don’t like” is scraped from the bottom and added to the legislative agenda, when the public tolerance for disagreeable things has dropped so low that “I have to hold my breath” is a complaint worthy of the commiseration of 100,000 radio listeners, we have a problem.”
Well, with two years of said “no-call” legislation under the nation’s belt, it seems that it isn’t having the intended effect;
The 2006 legislation underpinning the do-not-call list appears to be a huckster’s dream. The process of investigating complaints and meting out penalties is dawdling along at such a leisurely pace that it’s hardly a deterrent to flouting the rules.
This is beautiful with a capital “B”. Unlike most nanny state regulations that afflict the unsuspecting and uncomplaining, this one is coming back to bite the very people who wanted it most.
So, I hope that list is sold to every third world call center on the planet, ’cause my number ain’t on it.
Via Chuck Adler.
A couple years ago, we”d put our youngest son at 2yrs on phone answering detail:
R-I-I-I-I-I-N-N-N-G !!!
Telemarketer: Hello
2yr Son: Hiyeeeee
T: Is your mommy home?
2yS(happily): Mommmmeeeeeee!!!!!!
T: Can you get your mommy for me?
2yS; Mommy.
T: Is your mommy around?
2yS: Uhhh…. Mommy.
T (getting a bit frustrated): What about your daddy? Is he home?
2yS(with feeling): Daddeeeeeeeee !!! :
T: Is anybody home??
2yS(declarative): Me see TVeeeeeeeee
T: Can you put somebody on the phone?.
2yS: Uhhh…. TV
T(exasperatingly): Can you PLEASE put somebody on the phone?
2yS: Me see Tewetubbies. TEW’TUBBIES!!!!!!!!!
T: *click*
(All the while, me and his 2 other brothers are listening over his shoulder, tittering like schoolgirls)
Repeat when telemarketer calls back. Repeat again, if necessary.
Exeunt.
This method never failed. EVER. And it was great fun: no stress, no anger, nothing. In fact, we actually began looking forward to telemarketers, calling the little guy (who loved chatting on the phone) each time a weird number showed on call display, “Quick – phone call for you”!
mhb23re at gmail dot calm
You people still have home phones? Heh, that’s adorable.
Posted by: mhb at July 10, 2010 10:18 AM
Oh my. Oh my, oh my, oh my. What an absolutely brilliant approach!
As the father of a 4, 2 and 1 year old, I think I might just give this a try. If only so I too can titter like a schoolgirl. 😉
Just ask them how much they will pay you for your time. They get off the line right away.
My issue is not with telemarketers with a real person calling, but with fax machines. I don’t own a fax machine and refuse to buy one. It is archaic technology.
I opted for the DNCL because of the faxes. I sent complaints to the DNCL people every time I received a fax call. Nada. Calls came anyway. Said I would send my next complaint to my MP if they didn’t resolve one very persistant fax caller. Nothing. Sent the next complaint to my MP. He replied and sent it to the Minister of Industry. I received a call from an assistant in his office who went through my complaint in detail and then sent me a toll free no. by e-mail to get off their list. I called it and was told that my number was now off their list. The calls still come. Three in a row – all to my answering machine – filling it up with beeps. One of these persistant callers calls at midnight my time.
Sasktel says I should change my tel no. and for that change, pay them $35.
Crap.
I believe we’re showing the signs of an overpoplulated & underworked bureaucracy. Dreaming up nearly unenforceable laws such as the “Do Not Call” list, illegal “Weed’n Feed” applications on dandelion choked urban lawns, jaywalking tickets and the recent push for noise check-stops shows an increasing reaction to those with thinner skins in our neighbourhoods.
I suppose it proves that the squeeky wheel gets the grease but it doesn’t do anything to enhance individual life and liberty. Every stupid law tightens the noose around the Grey Lady’s neck a little tighter under the “Law of Unintended Consequences”. We’re pushing her over under the weight of inefficiency.
I’m not saying that laws aren’t needed for very specific purposes but the wide application of responsibility, common sense and empathy goes where man’s laws…especially stupid ones can’t go. Those are the keys to an effectively manageable society – the source of which are empowered individuals and not an eternally growing list of rules.
Individual Empowerment – there’s something for our bureaucrats to ponder.