Hilarious gag pulled on a telemarketer

[JackS]

And quite often there's a pause between the time you say hello and the time they start the spiel. Two seconds of silence and then I hang up.

I do that a lot after the pause too, but occasionally not doing it pays off. I just recently got a call from a research company that asked if I wanted to view a bank commercial and then take an online survey about it in exchange for $20. I did it and never got a check for $20.

It was $25. And it didn't bounce.

 

[alleyallen]

I loved getting calls from Houston Chronicle subscription hags, simply so I could tell them I worked for a competing newspaper in the area and I wouldn't buy their rag if my life depended on it.

Then one day I got a solicitation call from my own paper's subscription department. Grrr.

 

[User 1019]

I realize it's not their fault they're stuck doing that crummy job.

And, there, folks, is the problem with America in a nutshell.

 

[outofplace]

I loved getting calls from Houston Chronicle subscription hags, simply so I could tell them I worked for a competing newspaper in the area and I wouldn't buy their rag if my life depended on it.

Then one day I got a solicitation call from my own paper's subscription department. Grrr.

Hell, at one of my former stops, we used to get calls from telemarketers trying to sell us our own newspaper IN THE ****ING OFFICE! Actually, the first couple of times it was funny, but by the time they had finished ringing every single phone in the building, it got pretty damn annoying.

 

[alleyallen]

I loved getting calls from Houston Chronicle subscription hags, simply so I could tell them I worked for a competing newspaper in the area and I wouldn't buy their rag if my life depended on it.

Then one day I got a solicitation call from my own paper's subscription department. Grrr.

Hell, at one of my former stops, we used to get calls from telemarketers trying to sell us our own newspaper IN THE ****ING OFFICE! Actually, the first couple of times it was funny, but by the time they had finished ringing every single phone in the building, it got pretty damn annoying.

That circulation manager should have had his head dunked in a toilet for that.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

I realize it's not their fault they're stuck doing that crummy job.

And, there, folks, is the problem with America in a nutshell.

Exactly. Not to pile on, but it IS their fault they're in that job. Somewhere along the line they made a decision that led them down the road to that job. Kudos for doing whatever they can for making a buck now, but they are where they are because of their own choices. Because I believe that, I have no qualms about giving them a hard time or hanging up on them when they call.

 

[daemon]

In every SportsJournalists.com thread, no matter the subject, there is a point where the discussion turns into a political pissing match.

But to save bandwith, let's just get it all out here.

LEFT: Oh so people completely control their own situations?
RIGHT: Damn right!
LEFT:Except the economy sucks and the national debt is skyrocketing and we're spending all our money in Iraq!
RIGHT: Maybe because democrats created a welfare state where nobody knows how to fend for themselves!
LEFT: Only because Republicans' fiscal policies stratified our economy so much that we NEEDED to put people on welfare!
RIGHT: Clinton got a blowjob and Ted Kennedy is crazy!
LEFT: Mark Foley! Halliburton! Mexicans!
RIGHT: Cut and run!
LEFT: Stay the course!
RIGHT: You're an asshole!
LEFT: Bush sucks!

Yay. Now I'd love it if someone would post another telemarketer prank call. That was pretty damn funny.

 

[clancy brother]

General Pinochet!
The Haymarket Martyrs!
WHO KILLED KAREN SILKWOOD, DAMN IT!

 

[User 1019]

In every SportsJournalists.com thread, no matter the subject, there is a point where the discussion turns into a political pissing match.

But to save bandwith, let's just get it all out here.

LEFT: Oh so people completely control their own situations?
RIGHT: Damn right!
LEFT:Except the economy sucks and the national debt is skyrocketing and we're spending all our money in Iraq!
RIGHT: Maybe because democrats created a welfare state where nobody knows how to fend for themselves!
LEFT: Only because Republicans' fiscal policies stratified our economy so much that we NEEDED to put people on welfare!
RIGHT: Clinton got a blowjob and Ted Kennedy is crazy!
LEFT: Mark Foley! Halliburton! Mexicans!
RIGHT: Cut and run!
LEFT: Stay the course!
RIGHT: You're an asshole!
LEFT: Bush sucks!

Yay. Now I'd love it if someone would post another telemarketer prank call. That was pretty damn funny.

OOOOOOOOOK!

 

[novelist_wannabe]

In every SportsJournalists.com thread, no matter the subject, there is a point where the discussion turns into a political pissing match.

But to save bandwith, let's just get it all out here.

LEFT: Oh so people completely control their own situations?
RIGHT: Damn right!
LEFT:Except the economy sucks and the national debt is skyrocketing and we're spending all our money in Iraq!
RIGHT: Maybe because democrats created a welfare state where nobody knows how to fend for themselves!
LEFT: Only because Republicans' fiscal policies stratified our economy so much that we NEEDED to put people on welfare!
RIGHT: Clinton got a blowjob and Ted Kennedy is crazy!
LEFT: Mark Foley! Halliburton! Mexicans!
RIGHT: Cut and run!
LEFT: Stay the course!
RIGHT: You're an asshole!
LEFT: Bush sucks!

Yay. Now I'd love it if someone would post another telemarketer prank call. That was pretty damn funny.

Good stuff there Daemon, and right on point, which is why I generally avoid the political threads. Moment of weakness on my part. It's just that that "it's not their fault" stuff really gets under my skin pretty quickly.

 

[daemon]

No qualms, N-dub. I understand your sentiment, and I wasn't ripping you for posting it. Usually it isn't the first statement that sets it off, it's the defensive retaliation, often by a party who has no reason to take offense. When, in reality, we should all be sitting back and laughing together, because foibles are the most bi-partisan aspect of politics.

It is very rare that one logs on to a SportsJournalists.com thread at the precise moment a ****storm is about to ensue. I happened to get here at the right time. And I decided that a pre-emptive strike was appropriate.

LEFT: Why don't you ask Bush how appropriate a pre-emptive strike was?
RIGHT: Why don't you ask Hilllary and Edwards and the other dems who voted for it you revisionist *****!
LEFT: *****? Go ask Mark Foley how he likes *****. Oh wait! He doesn't!
RIGHT: Yeah well at least he didn't stick a cigar in a *****!
LEFT: Well at least Clinton worked to provide health care to the Cuban immigrants who made that cigar!
RIGHT: Well at least Bush isn't in bed with the Big Tobacco companies that put the stuff in cigars!
LEFT: You're right he's in bed with the oil companies who provide the fuel to fuel the trucks that distribute the cigars!

And on. . .

 

[User 1019]

Sorry to interrupt, but when did I mention:

Clinton
Bush
Blowjobs
Left
Right
Halliburton
Mexicans
Mark Foley
*****
Big Tobacco
Cuba
Cigars
Cut and run
Stay the course
Ted Kennedy
The economy
Republicans
Democrats
National debt
Iraq
John Edwards
Wal-Mart
Pre-emptive strikes
Hillary
Welfare
??????

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Sorry to interrupt, but when did I mention:

Clinton
Bush
Blowjobs
Left
Right
Halliburton
Mexicans
Mark Foley
*****
Big Tobacco
Cuba
Cigars
Cut and run
Stay the course
Ted Kennedy
The economy
Republicans
Democrats
National debt
Iraq
John Edwards
Wal-Mart
Pre-emptive strikes
Hillary
Welfare
??????

Just now?

 

[JackS]

And quite often there's a pause between the time you say hello and the time they start the spiel. Two seconds of silence and then I hang up.

I do that a lot after the pause too, but occasionally not doing it pays off. I just recently got a call from a research company that asked if I wanted to view a bank commercial and then take an online survey about it in exchange for $20. I did it and never got a check for $20.

It was $25. And it didn't bounce.

Update: same company contacted me by e-mail yesterday and had me take another survey, and is now supposedly sending another check.

The telemarketing call that just keeps on giving!

 

[SnoopCoog]

Uh, the Houston Chronicle doesn't have a competing newspaper in the area. And please don't say the Houston Press or any suburban piece of trash.

 

[sportswriter not a junky]

Uh, the Houston Chronicle doesn't have a competing newspaper in the area. And please don't say the Houston Press or any suburban piece of trash.

Good point. Whether it's right or wrong, lots of big papers see the smaller suburban dailies and weeklies as resources, not "competition." So, that's probably why you see big papers find story ideas for little weeklies all the time without attributing it, and then passing it off as a scoop. But, hey, the Houston Chronicle can talk to anyone the Houston Press talks to, but not vice versa, so why not? Like they say: It's okay to "steal" a story idea from a smaller paper, long as you write it better.

 

[SnoopCoog]

Well, that goes both ways.

 

[jay_christley]

Who still has landlines?

 

[KP]

And quite often there's a pause between the time you say hello and the time they start the spiel. Two seconds of silence and then I hang up.

I do that a lot after the pause too, but occasionally not doing it pays off. I just recently got a call from a research company that asked if I wanted to view a bank commercial and then take an online survey about it in exchange for $20. I did it and never got a check for $20.

It was $25. And it didn't bounce.

Update: same company contacted me by e-mail yesterday and had me take another survey, and is now supposedly sending another check.

The telemarketing call that just keeps on giving!

Give totally different answers.

 

[JackS]

And quite often there's a pause between the time you say hello and the time they start the spiel. Two seconds of silence and then I hang up.

I do that a lot after the pause too, but occasionally not doing it pays off. I just recently got a call from a research company that asked if I wanted to view a bank commercial and then take an online survey about it in exchange for $20. I did it and never got a check for $20.

It was $25. And it didn't bounce.

Update: same company contacted me by e-mail yesterday and had me take another survey, and is now supposedly sending another check.

The telemarketing call that just keeps on giving!

Give totally different answers.

I probably would without even trying, given my memory. But in this case, the questions were different.