A FEW weeks back my NewsLocal colleague Nick Calacouros, the editor of the Manly Daily, wrote about his frustration at the number of uninvited and unwanted telephone calls he receives at home.
My bet is you know exactly what sort of calls he’s talking about. They fall into two categories. Ones offering an opportunity too good to say no to, be it wine or tupperware and others more sinister.
These are the scams which make a thinly veiled threat insinuating that money is owed, mostly to either the tax office or a utilities provider, which, if you make an immediate payment, can be settled right away.
Just about everywhere I’ve worked I’ve had calls from locals saying they’ve received a threat like this.
Thankfully, most of them are just wanting to raise an alert and get word out about the scam. But it makes you wonder how many people fall for it. Nick’s unhappiness about these calls is that it’s put him in a situation where he’s left with little choice but to be rude to people he doesn’t know and, for all he knows, are doing this to make an income.
I agree, but having had so many of these I’ve now decided to look upon this as a blood sport. If you’re ringing me at home and don’t know my name, I’ve automatically made the assumption you’re trying to sell me something. If you start the call with a question along the lines of “Are you the main householder?” then you’ve confirmed it.
If I’m in a good mood I hang up on you. If I’m feeling off colour I’ll start toying with you, dropping hints that I’m interested in what’s on offer, before I hang up on you. In essence though I will hang up.
But recently I had one call I was happy to keep on the line. It came direct from the US, offering me the opportunity to invest in the American stock market. I was intrigued. Why me? I asked myself as I let Brad, or Chuck, or Woody or whatever his name was go through his schtick.
At the finish he asked me to detail my current investment portfolio. At this stage I nearly burst out laughing and after I’d given him some detail about the sad state of my finances I think he was about to burst into tears.
The call finished with him thanking me and the promise I’d be hearing from him again. So far there’s no call. I almost felt betrayed, and for the next week, as an act of revenge I was extra short with the calls I received. I’m over it now though.
But let me finish with a couple of things unrelated to telephone canvassing.
To the GWS Giants and their band of fans, take a bow. You mightn’t have made it to the big one in Melbourne, but you came so close, and the way you got there can only be admired.
Finally, this week the Leader says goodbye to Marie Hogg, who’s joining NewsLocal’s Southern Courier. Marie’s been covering politics, council and sport for us and has done an outstanding job. We’ll miss her but wish her well.