Scammed!

I just hung up on an important client. The office phone system can be quite the pickle sometimes. I put them on hold, I bring the person they are trying to reach up on the intercom, and if I am lucky I will transfer the call without hanging up on them. Oops.

Nine out of ten times, the transfer will go smoothly, but we all know that the one time I do mess up a call, it turns out to be someone important.

I enjoy the calls I get in a day. Interacting with someone else, somewhere else, with an entirely different life than mine. It is always a breath of fresh air, when I can speak to a real human being who is remotely happy about life. There are always stinkers who assume I have no feelings and have no consideration for me as a friendly cubicle dweller ready to talk.

It's easy to get used and abused on the phone. My favorite is when a telemarketer calls me and says that she is not trying to sell me anything. I give her about three seconds to talk then I say, "sweetheart, can you hold for a minuet, I have someone else on the line." Usually they don't hold, but for those who do, I give them a good eight minuets of waiting time. If they last that long, I pick back up the phone, tell them I forgot about them, and give them another five minuets to give me their speal.

Now, you have to be careful because some callers will manipulate you into agreeing to something phony. I did a little investigating into the telesales market to figure out what real profit they are making if everyone hangs up on them before they get a chance to talks.

The Federal Trade Commission said, "Telemarketing fraud is a multi-billion dollar business in the United States. Every year, thousands of consumers lose as little as a few dollars to as much as their life savings to telephone con artists."

The TFC says to be wary of people offering Medical Discounts, Foreign Lotteries, Travel Packages, Charities, and Investments. Which basically means, if you don't know the person, don't talk to them. Of course, I am too smart to fall into any of that kind of business...

Isn't that sad? What if someone really had something good to say?