On Fri, 2013-01-25 at 16:56 +0000, Victor Churchill wrote:
> I, somewhat to my shame, 'toyed' with one of those "Hello, my name is
> Tom and I am calling to tell you that Microsoft have found a problem
> with your computer" calls for a while, to the point where I departed
> from the script by not having an Internet Explorer to open, and then
> not having a Start button.
For a while I was getting them around one-a-day. I eiter sent them
packing or did what they asked whilst I carried on working (I'm not
letting them waste my time!). I was always honest with my answers, quite
often mentioning Ubuntu, always no start button, always "nothing
happened" with Win-key+R and so on.
I've had some ask within the first minute "what operating system..", I
tell them, they go.
I had one guy for 20 minutes, "escalating" to his supervisors, before he
thought to ask. I dropped plenty of hints.
> Just before the (rather explosive) end of the call "Tom" asked me,
> rather plaintively, "Why have you been wasting my time?"
Speaking for myself, I don't waste their time, they waste their own
time.
> Looking back I actually feel rather sorry for the guys actually doing
> the calls (at least in some of the operations). Though the
> perpetrators are contemptible, the droids are really more just
> pathetic.
True enough, and up to a point, I feel sorry for them.
But they called me, not vice versa.
FWIW, because of the ludicrous number of cold-calls and scam calls, I
now have caller-ID and generally I just let all international and
withheld number calls go the the answering machine. I can pick up the
call from there if I want to, or feel I should.
Gordon.
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