I have triumphed over telephone marketers, and I've never felt sopowerful. Little things go a long way.
But of course telemarketing calls are not just little things. Anamazing dozen times a day at my house--naturally at the mostinopportune times--the phone would shrilly ring with those unwantedsales calls. During dinner, during the baby's nap, when I had a loadof laundry in my arms or was racing to meet a deadline, the phonewould jangle that dastardly ring.
Sure, I have Caller ID, but I'd still have to get to the phone tosee it was an "out of area," "unknown" or otherwise anonymous caller.And then, what if on the off chance it actually was someone I wantedto talk to? I mean, maybe it was ABC calling from New York aboutfilling Peter Jennings' slot. (He is getting older, you know.) Andmaybe ABC couldn't, or wouldn't, be "identified." So sometimes Iwould take the risk and answer, but of course there was always ashort pause before a perfectly nice but tinny voice would ask, "IsMrs. Hart available?"
And it wasn't ABC.
I would say "not interested" and hang up--as nicely as I could, ofcourse. I felt sorry for the poor guy or gal on the other end of theline. They were just trying to do a job, after all. Still, this wasmy home they were invading.
Sadly, I can understand why telemarketers sit on a lower socialrung than divorce lawyers.
I can also understand why there are growing demands for federallegislation that would curtail or stop telemarketing calls. Anotheralternative is apparently to demand that my name be taken offwhatever list these folks use, and then if they call again, "bammo!"Lawsuit.
But the latter seems cumbersome and probably ineffective and theformer seems a little bit unfair. There are, after all, a certainpercentage of the population who respond to telemarketers either bybuying their products or giving to the charities or causes for whichthey solicit. People may complain, but if everybody in Americastopped buying from or giving to telemarketers tomorrow, thetelemarketers would go out of business the day after tomorrow. Youcan't be outraged one minute and then agree to tour a "time-share"property when solicited by a phone call the next. And an unlistedphone number? Forget it, it's a waste of time.
OK, so absolutely everybody reading this column is thinking, "Whatdid she do?" No, I did not throw my phones into the river, though Imight like to. I gladly signed up to pay $5 a month to my phonecompany to get something called "call intercept." Every time it's an"out-of-area" or otherwise anonymous caller, the phone companysomehow grabs it before it ever gets to me. (Meaning my phone doesn'teven ring.) Only if the caller is willing to give his name and phonenumber to the "intercept" service, which telemarketers do not do, orif he gives a "code" I set up, does he then get through to me.
If not, no dice. Bingo. Since my "call intercept" went into effectone week ago, I've not gotten one, single, solitary telemarketingcall. I think with this new service, being offered by more and morephone companies around the country, the telephone utilities can undoany and all PR damage they've inflicted on themselves over the last50 years.
Though I don't mind admitting that the whole thing is a littleunsettling at first. Things are a lot quieter, and when the phonedoes ring I can't sort of avoid it altogether with the justificationthat it's probably "just a telemarketer."
But it does show the marketplace itself can "right" many of the"wrongs" in, well, the marketplace. So stop complaining, stop writingyour congressman, stop tearing your hair out, and stop being rude tothe poor guy just trying to make a buck by selling you a service thatapparently some schmuck somewhere actually wants. Just shell out thefive dollars and get "call intercept" or whatever it's called whereyou live.
Consider the five bucks part of the price of enjoying a freeeconomy. And talk about getting one's "money's worth."
I just hope I haven't missed ABC's call.
Betsy Hart is a frequent commentator on CNN and the Fox NewsChannel. E-mail: mailtohart@aol.com
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