Phonecall at 8am today...

[Carrotsandcelery]

The phone went at 8am today - a national holiday I thought.

I was still dozing in my bed but was wide awake and feeling sick in seconds.

I received an early morning phonecall the day my dad had a heart attack during the night and I always have a lurch of the stomach etc when I get them now. Usually it will be a friend needing some help with childcare or similar but I always have that initial panic.
This one turned out to be a sales call! Yes a SALES CALL! At 8am on a national holiday. I asked if they realised the time and they said they did. I then said, "Ok I am going to hang up now" and did. I didn't do it in an angry voice or anything - I was still too baffled for that. I tried to get back to sleep but the sicky stomach wouldn't go away so I had to get up.
I normally try to be polite to sales callers but I felt this was beyond necessary.
Was I incredibly rude - I know people have to work?

Good!
Fwiw I didn't realise it was a bank holiday until I looked at the gym timetable yesterday

oh crikey - glad I read this thread.

I knew yesterday was a Bank Holiday - but I had in mind that today was a normal day - I was going to go into town and put a cheque into my account !

Will wait until tomorrow

Trapped I always try to remember people have to make a living when I get these calls. My SIL used to do it too. 8am on a schoolday wouldn't have been quite such a scare - when I am enjoying a very rare lie in though it does give you a fright.

ooooooooo!!!! that will be why the money i was expecting into my account hasn't arrived - it's not going to go in until tomorrow

duh!

8am is shite - especially for the poor sod having to work

Well Baroqin at least some good has come of my phonecall - there is always a silver lining!

I am ALWAYS rude to cold callers. Yeah Yeah, I know that they are doing their jobs but I spend my whole life being nice to people in real life so I'm not going to do it when I am relaxing at home.

Worse still than cold callers ..... machines that ring you and can't understand "fuck off you fucking fucker"

Was Seinfeld ever shown in the UK. One great episode where Jerry answers a marketing call & tells the guy he's busy but asks for his number so he can call him later that night when he's at home... Ok it was funnier when he said it.

festive - those people are in "real life" as well - they're not robots

Carrots - absolutely - you've saved me dragging 3 reluctant boys to town only for me to drag them back again with me in a foul mood as I'd forgotten the Bank Holiday

they are not in my real life

festive do you really hurl abuse at sales people who ring you up?

yep

Why?

And you do understand that they are actual real people who have to work. Have you ever made anybody cry, would that make you happy?

Do you scream abuse at chuggers when out and about? Or do you just reserve it for people who you can't see?

Do you think it's funny, or does it make you feel superior? What's the purpose?

The purpose is to get them to stop hounding people when they're at home enjoying some privacy.

People in call centres don't care that they're annoying anyone. They know that for every 10 people who hang up on them, 1 will fill their survey or buy something crap.

we all have a dark side ...... I don't always hurl abuse, I often claim to be dead or in prison .... just depends how the mood takes me.

How do you know that showdown? How do you know they don't care? You think they are not people with emotions? That's a really weird attitude.

If you want to get it stopped, then you need to register with TPS and take it up with their managers/the company. Hurling abuse at someone who is in a crappy job to make ends meet is not on.

I am rude to both cold callers and chuggers

how fucking dare they?

where do I get my medal?

my favourite with cold callers is to say "Oh hang on a minute" in a breezy, cheery voice and put the phone on the side - I'll go back eventually to hang it up

My eldest used to like to take the phone and try to order a pizza - getting louder and more irate

Do you two react like this to "chuggers" on the street? Tell them to fuck off etc?

We have christian aid week around here, someone knocks to pick the envelope up. How do you react to that?

showdown you are a bit stupid if you think that hurling abuse at someone who is employed in this job is going to stop cold calling happening. You might succeed in really upsetting the person who called, but it won't stop the companies making the calls.

what is a chugger?

activate do you scream obscenities at them?

festive a chugger is a person collecting for charity on the street.

Why?

Why are people behaving like this?

when somebody dials my phone number of rings on my doorbell they are invading my personal private space and should only do so by invitation or because they are part of my social circle.

They should not be doing so if I do not know them and they are trying to make money from me - it is not right!

I just cross the street to avoid them ....scum

But do you shout obscenities in their face, activate?

If you do, why do you do it? Why not complain to the person/company who sent them around. Shouting abuse at the person isn't going to achieve anything, except presumably making you feel better. Why does hurling abuse at strangers make you feel good?