Cablevision tried to telemarket Greg Scoblete phone service during a funeral:
Two days ago I attended a wake. During the wake my cellphone rang…I couldn’t answer the first call, but shortly thereafter it rang again. “Must be important,” I thought, ducking out of the room.It turned out to be a Cablevision telemarketer trying to rope me into the triple play. Fair enough. I told the rep that I wasn’t interested in the triple play and in any event, I was at a wake.
“I understand that,” he said, “but I’ll have you off the phone in five minutes saving money on your long-distance bills.”
Congratulations, Cablevision, you’ve taken the definition of shameless marketing to a whole new level.
(Photo: Getty)
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@Rhyss: I’ve been to wakes in southern Indiana, which isn’t far from Ohio. I had to do a bit of research, but wakes appear to be mainly an Irish Catholic thing. The term is English, and probably the tradition has sort of seeped into broader U.S. culture (the relatives whose wakes I attended were not Irish but German).
Wiki has a post on wakes too, just browsed over it quickly but mentions mostly Irish Catholic practices though a couple other countries are mentioned as well.
Oh, and for those saying just hang up DONT!!! Just politely/angrily say “not interested” or “no thank-you” I make follow up calls for company services and if you hang up it call be a disconnection, wrong number, etc and that number WILL BE CALLED BACK. But remember Mrs. Reagan’s advice and “Just say No” and you’ll be deleted from the system and never called again (at least from the firm I work at).
^ COULD be a disconnection, sorry put wrong word in. Sigh lack of sleep…. calling so many people at dinner time in all time zones
@ZugTheMegasaurus: I swear, everyone should have to work telemarketing at some point in their lives so they stop with this “the telemarketer is an asshole” stuff
No. If you work as a telemarketer, BY DEFINITION YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE. I have ZERO sympathy for telemarketers. Should everybody have to push heroin to schoolkids once in their life just so they can understand the problems facing underprivileged drug dealers in today’s society?
Get a REAL job that actually contributes something to society. Work in data entry or get a job as a dispatcher or something. Telemarketers are the scum of the earth. Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it moral. Remember, “slave auctioneer” was once a respected job in America, it was still a scummy thing to do.
Maybe this is too difficult for you to grasp, but here goes:
@ZugTheMegasaurus: Their job is at stake, and they’ll get fired if they don’t push, even when you use a cute little line like that (or, as in the case of the situation discussed here, when it’s really the issue).
Phone sellers do not have a right to call. Unrequested phone calls deserve the same response as the door to door salesmen who ignore the “No soliciting” sign I have.
Or would you suggest I put a “No soliciting” sign on my phone inside my house and hope the telemarketer can see it through the wire? Just because I can’t put up a sign on my phone does not mean they have a right to call.
@ZugTheMegasaurus: Besides, not everyone who works telemarketing is a bad person.
When you take part in something immoral, you’re part of that immorality. People who work for telemarketing companies can not claim to be ethical any more than a charity that takes money from drug dealers or thieves.
If they were “good people”, they wouldn’t be working as telemarketers. McDonald’s pays the same wages and one can still go home with a clear conscience.
@ZugTheMegasaurus: Just politely say, “I’m not interested, please put me on your Do-Not-Call list.” Make sure they heard you and hang up. Is that really so difficult?
And what do you recommend when I or others politely say “Do Not Call List”, and the telemarketer and the company say “Fuck you, I have a right to call you”?
Telemarketers are on par ethically with mafia thugs who ask for protection money. They just do it without violence.
Re: Leaving the cellphone on during a wake
In order to help the short sighted people out there who can’t imagine a legitimate reason to leave one’s cellphone on during a wake, let’s start a list.
1. Could be a parent who left children with a babysitter
2. Could be a Dr/nurse who is on call
3. Could be the POC for out of towners trying to get to the service
…your turn…