The phishing tournament; who’s winning?
The call was like many you probably receive. After a brief exchange to confirm I was the person sought, the caller said he’d be in the neighborhood the following week, had a couple of open time slots, and wondered what day would be best to discuss replacement windows. I said I had no interest in replacement windows. He said he had openings on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings and just needed to know which I preferred. I said neither; that I didn’t want replacement windows. He noted that a lot of people failed to realize how much they’d benefit from more efficient windows until having a professional inspection, which he’d perform without charge.
I’m reluctant to be rude to these people; they’re working, trying to make a living. One of our sons had a part-time telemarketing job while in school. He made a little money and learned to deal with rejection.
I told this one my dinner was on the table. I was going to partake. If he wanted to keep talking, I’d put him on speaker. With the phone in the center of the table he continued the pitch while my wife served the meatloaf. He did not hang up until she asked if he cared for brussels sprouts.
The Do Not Call law, I think, Does Not Work.
Politicians, as is the case with many laws they pass, made themselves exempt. They believe it noble and necessary to generate millions of educational calls each election cycle; mostly robo-calls telling us who to vote for.
The list of other exemptions include some that are a bit fuzzy—charitable organizations under certain conditions, surveyors, and if you’ve established a business relationship with any company you’re open season for them and, it seems, their affiliates. The list is such that it might take a lawyer to sort out which calls are within bounds and which are not.
A recent news story printed in the Orlando Business Journal reported that the top consumer complaint in Florida was—as it has been for several years— Do Not Call violations. During 2014 more complaints were filed over this than the other top five combined.
The web page which carried this news story included 22 (I counted them) advertisements, plus a large pop-up I had to figure out how to close before reading the news item. In addition to 23 advertisements obscuring the article there were enticing links to pages that would have taken me to hundreds more.
The day after the brussels sprouts phone call my postal mailbox was full of magazines, none of which we subscribe to. One promotes vegetarian living. Another has on the glossy cover a picture of an attractive man and woman. The caption has him saying he’s a toe-sucker, while she tells us she eats nothing but baby food. The purpose is to promote a TV dating program, and the entire magazine seems to be nothing but more of the same.
I truly don’t care if he’s attracted to toes or doorknobs, and it matters not if the lady prefers strained pears or the yummy carrot puree we fed our infants. I do care about intrusive and objectionable mail and phone calls. I do not want these magazines and think it absurd that our postal service delivers them at a subsidized rate.
We do like, and actually look for, local ads. My wife does most of her shopping with them. We want to know which grocery has what on sale. We’re thinking lawn and garden and making buying decisions based on local ads. My wife clips and uses coupons.
Beyond that, I’m fed up. Telemarketers keep calling. My spam filter can’t keep up. We’re phished for every day. Television has shrunk in content and expanded in ads to the point I rarely watch. Remember when the promise of satellite and cable TV was a system that offered commercial-free programing in exchange for a monthly fee? That may have lasted a week.
Get used to it, I suppose, as there seems to be no escape.
Roy Marshall is a local historian and columnist for the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at news@redoakexpress.com.