When
my wife and I first discussed buying our first home we agreed that it would be
nice to finally have a landline again. For the past several years, with the
impermanence of renting, it was simply easier just using our cell phones for
everything that we needed. Having that simple luxury was hugely representative
of the permanence that we have both been seeking for some time. When we bought
our home it was one of the first things that we had set up and while it did
give us that feeling that we have been looking for there have also been brief
moment of regret for doing so.
Throughout
our first month in our new home, the phone would ring at least a couple of
times a day. Many times, fortunately, the calls came in when we were both at
work but there have also been plenty of other calls, usually right after we put
our son to bed, from various companies trying to sell us one thing or another.
This also included many companies wanting us to switch our newly connected
services or ADT resellers with whom the fact that we already had ADT installed
didn’t quite register. One conversation went something like this:
“Hi, my name is
Joe with [insert reseller] and we have some great deals on ADT home security systems…”
“You’re wasting
your time… we already took care of this.”
“Congratulations
on your new home… are you and your family protected by ADT?”
“We had ADT
installed last weekend.”
“But ADT provides
a superior product and service…”
“It is an ADT
system.”
“But ADT is the
leader in the security industry…”
“We had an ADT
system installed last weekend”
“Are you sure it
was ADT because there are knockoffs?”
“Okay, you got me,
I just have a stray dog chained outside the front door with a GoPro streaming
to my laptop. Please don’t tell PETA.”
“What?”
“Do you think that
qualifies as animal cruelty?”
“I… I…”
“I feed him
regularly and clean up after him. Heck, I even took him to the vet. I figured I
would make it easy on everyone so I decided to name him ADT.”
“I don’t know what
you’re talking about sir. I’m Joe from ADT.”
“I know. And now
that you’re listening I will reiterate. We had ADT installed last weekend.
Please add this number to your do not call list.”
However,
those were not the most exhausting calls. We also received a few interesting
calls from service providers that don’t even offer service to our area… someone
at Verizon needs to get a clue as we would have kept our service had it been
offered at our new place. Can’t say I was quite as jovial as I was with the ADT
guy but the conversation ended the same way… “Please add this number to your do
not call list.”
While
I understand and appreciate the fact that many of these people are just trying
to make a living, the sheer volume of these calls has become ridiculous. Having
the same company call four or five times a day for weeks on end is harassment.
And, of course, they don’t leave a message nor do they even know what they are
talking about when they call. Case in point being an electric provider that was
“concerned to see that our electric bill from [insert name of power provider
that we don’t use here] had increased so much over the previous month.” First
of all, I call BS. Second, put me on your do not call list, goodbye!
