… annoying, cold-calling vendors.
phone rings
me: Hello, this is Beth.
Them: Hello, may I speak with <insert name of woman who has been retired for 18-20 months and whose phone number I have apparently inherited>?
me: I’m sorry, she doesn’t work here any more, she retired.
Them: Are you the person in charge of email security?
me: . o 0 (been in the email-admin bizniz, no way in hell I’d do that again) I’m sorry, no I’m not.
Them: In that case, could you forward me to the person who is in charge of email security?
me: . o 0 (NO WAY IN HELL am I foisting you upon our email admin, even though he’d win and would be much less gracious about it than I am) I’m sorry, I don’t know who that would be. Could I take your name and number and when I find out I can have that person call you?
Them: No, how about I call you back in a couple of hours so when you find out you can tell me then?
me: . o 0 (tricksy bastahd. Why don’t you just save us both from this back-and-forth crap and go to our website — surely you have that information — and look for the email admin there? His name and contact info is public.) To what is this in regards? . o 0 (why o why am I unable to just hang up?)
Them: I’m from <insert name of company here> and I’m calling around to invite email administrators to our webinar on email security.
me: . o 0 (in other words, you’re looking to beef up your e-rolodex so you can spam contacts with content they really don’t care about, just like <insert name of other company that keeps spamming me just because I’m in their db of ppl who attended a webinar>) Yeah, well. Hurm. I don’t think there’s anyone in our department who would be interested.
Hateses vendors who cold-call, particularly when they don’t even really appear to know who they’re calling. Hateses them, I do.
