18 December 2009

Oops. Sorry. My Mistake.

If there's one thing I hate, it's telemarketers.  And dead lizards on the lawn.  That's two.

If there's two things I hate, it's telemarketers and dead lizards on the lawn.  And cleaning up after people.  That's three.

If there's three things I hate, it's ... well, okay, to be honest, it's probably just three telemarketers.  I just really hate the whole telemarketing idea.

Some time ago, the Australian Government (Australian Communications and Media Authority) instituted the Do Not Call register.  According to the Do Not Call Register's webpage"Under the Do Not Call Register Act 2006, telemarketers can check their calling lists against the Do Not Call Register. If a telemarketer calls a number on the Do Not Call Register, they may be in breach of the Act, and may face penalties."

Of course I listed all our numbers as soon as the register became active.  Therefore, I get cranky when I get calls from telemarketers.

Recently, I got pretty hot under the collar when I had just started to feed Joseph and jumped up to answer the phone, only to hear the caller say in an accent I could hardly understand, "This call is to inform you that you have been selected to receive a blah-blah-blah mobile phone ..."

Man, I was annoyed.  I said in a calm voice (for the caller herself was not at fault) "This is to inform YOU that this phone number is listed with the Do Not Call Register, and therefore your company is not allowed to contact me on this number."

And I hung up.

Then I remembered.  I moved house in April.  This new phone number is not listed on the register.

Duh.

8 comments:

veiledturnip said...

Oops! That's funny. :)

Tracy P. said...

Surely they could track the phone transfers via address changes!

Swift Jan said...

OOps LOL I too loathe telemarketers. I would have been slightly ruder than you were I fear :S

Givinya De Elba said...

Tracy P: The Do Not Call register is only a og of numbers we desire not to be contacted. It's not linked to the White Pages or anything. So I guess it was my responsibility to add the new number (which I have!)

Swift Jan: She wasn't rude to me, she was just trying to earn a living. Her company though, when faced with the question of how to build their profits ...!

Hippomanic Jen said...

Yep, hate 'em too. Unfortunately have a BUSINESS number, which leads to all sorts of business spam, I mean cold calls. Grrr.

Joy said...

Oh Well...
I just added another phone line to my house for a fax machine. It has been ringing off the hook. I need to add it to our D N C list.
I just let it ring and ring and eventually the fax squeal comes into their ear. Hopefully they get the message and quit calling it.
Do you have caller ID on your phones there. That has been a huge lifesaver for me. Charity groups are still allowed to call even if we are listed with the D N C list.

joy

Allegro ma non troppo said...

I've never had one, since we're unlisted. So the only phone calls I try to avoid are the ones from the church minister trying to get me to play the organ on Sunday...

Allegro ma non troppo said...

Oh, and LOVE the Spanish Inquisition picture!