by Chris Bodenner
A reader vents:
Portraro claims that "telemarketing is based on a script. Veer away from the script, and you’ll get a serious talking-to by your supervisor. You begin with the same introduction every time, “Hello, this is Name calling on behalf of Newspaper X. How are you today?”
Ha, I wish the telemarketers who called me were always this pleasant! The vast, vast majority begin the phone call by asking "Hello, is (name) there?" No introduction at all, but an immediate demand to speak to a specific person. This is beyond rude when you're calling a complete stranger's number.
Call me old-fashioned, but even when I call my family, and they can clearly see my name/number on their cell phone screen, I still say "Hey, it's Mark." Whenever telemarketers call my house and say "Hello, is (name) there?," I wait about 3-5 seconds, hoping they state who they are, before replying very sternly, "Would you mind if I ask who is calling?" before hanging up after their introduction.
If there is indeed a script for telemarketers, I'm only hearing the lousy and rude one. I'd be less inclined to hang up on them if they had any sense of phone manners. Otherwise, they are simply wasting my time … and my number is on the Do Not Call list!
The Dish 