New Hampshire Real Estate & Consumer Resources

Archive for December, 2007

I didn’t realize how annoying unwanted calls are until I was accustomed to getting almost none of them since I signed onto the “Do Not Call” list a few years ago. It was so quiet for quite a while.

This year my “friends” at CitiMortgage were most likely to blame for a bunch of telemarketing calls I received. Their “partners” called me a few times which I did not appreciate. Even getting me down off a ladder one day to answer the phone. Yes, literally!

As I mentioned before, the latest group of idiots calling me are these political pollster nitwits. With all the attention that we get here in New Hampshire every four years with the nation’s first Presidential Primary, we are a big target for pollsters.

I actually picked up one of these calls a couple of weeks ago and when asked about participating in a poll, I asked the caller if I was going to be paid or at least receive some kind of free gift for my time. The woman and I exchanged a few good-natured comments back and forth and laughed about it but ultimately I told her my time was too valuable and said goodbye.

A few nights later a call came in that read “Info Specialist” on the Caller ID with a telephone number of 952-277-0189. It was 7:38 in the evening and I was watching a little TV and as usual, I did not get up to answer a call that was most likely someone that wanted to waste my time.

Three days later a call came in from the same number at around 4:45 PM. Again, I did not bother answering it. When it rang again at 8:54 PM on that same day, I decided to try something.

I picked the phone up and just set it down on the desk. I did not say “Hello” or anything at all. I just set the receiver down and went about my business. After a couple of minutes I hung it back up, figuring that the person on the other end got sick of saying “Hello, is anyone there?” and hung up.

The good news is that it has been three days and I have not heard from these people again so far. They seemed pretty persistent at the outset, so I am hoping this latest tactic gave someone the message that I don’t want to talk to them and they crossed my number of their list of people to annoy.

It’s way too early to declare victory, so we’ll see what happens in the coming weeks. Hopefully, the crap will die down after the primary on January 8.

As most everyone knows, New Hampshire is quite well known as the state that holds the first Presidential primary in the nation. Every four years, this makes it annoying to have a telephone in the Granite State.

Tonight was the night it started. The first call lit up the caller ID box with “CBS 4 New Poll, 202-552-1984″ at about 6:24 PM. I will give them a little credit for sending their true identity to my caller ID box. I knew what that call was all about so I did not bother answering it.

At exactly 8:00 PM another call came in. This one displayed the infamous “Out of Area” on the caller ID. I did not answer that one either.

At 9:17 the telephone rings again. “Out of Area” again. This time I am starting to get a bit annoyed so I picked it up and demanded to know who is calling. Some dude with a foreign accent (they outsourcing political polls now, too?) identifies himself as “David” and mumbled something about the Republican something-or-other.

That’s about as far as I let him go before I told him in not to call again, say “Goodbye” and hang up.

A few years ago I actually used to look forward to the calls from the political pollsters because I wanted to share my views on various issues. Things change.

As someone who is utterly disillusioned with the political process in this country, I have very little interest left for any of it. Besides, I’m pretty damn busy a lot of the time and I don’t care to donate 10 minutes or so of my time so someone can compile a political poll.

Not to mention the fact that the media are making money off these polls as part of their usual outpouring of crap that the public seems to eager to lap up. I really feel like asking them if they are going to pay me for my time or at least offer me a cheesy gift or something. Why should I sacrifice my time to help them make money without getting anything in return?

As you may know, these kinds of calls are not subject to the “Do Not Call” regulations that protect us from telemarketers if we choose to be on the national “Do Not Call” list.

I’ve got two phone numbers here and the calls are hitting only the one that that starts with a one. As in 603-XXX-1, if you know what I mean. My other number starts with a four, so I suppose they will be ringing that one in a few days.

Ah, the joys of New Hampshire during the political season. Makes me want to puke.