I had a hard time deciding if this was Pit or MPSIMS material, but decided I was more amused/appalled than having a good rant.
I love to mess with telemarketers ala “Special-Ed”, from Crank Yankers.
YAY! Do you like banana pudding, lady? YAY! I do…
As if telemarketers don’t already give us enough reasons to so fiercely despise them … :rolleyes:
From the link (bolding added):
From the copy of the threatening letter (bolding mine again):
Apparently, a simple “not interested” was not enough, and it never is. I know from my pre-caller ID, pre-privacy manager, pre-DNC list days, when I actually had to deal with these morons, that they do not, in fact, take “no” for an answer.
Assholes.
(I know this isn’t the pit, but I have a feeling this thread will wind up there anyway).
If they catch the guy that sent the letter what sort of consequences is he looking at? Just a warning? or would he face charges?
I love it.
“Now, Ms. Beyer. . .don’t be mean to them because it could be somebody in a wheelchair. Think about what you’d be doing to the fragile psyche of someone in a wheelchair.”
A biker? I love it. Like it’s some kind of bogeyman.
Tell ya what. . .I guarantee she told the telemarketer to “(expletive) off” and “go to (expletive)” and “go (expletive) himself”.
There’s no way he wrote the letter just because she slammed the phone down really hard.
I think I posted previously about my series of rounds with the Texas State Fraternal Order of Police. I bet these yahoos called me 100 times over the course of a year or two, sometimes several times a day. What a bunch of creeps- the lot of them!
If you give $10.00 to the FOP, you would be lucky if 15 cents of that went to assist anyone. Sad.
I don’t see any threat in that letter.
Not that I think it’s OK he wrote her a letter at all. But I don’t see it as threatening. Certainly, the “my kids are scared!” bit seems a little…well, OK, a lot melo-dramatic.
I simply don’t see that receiving an unpleasant letter in the mail is cause for police action.
I really miss the “sticks-n-stones” days.
Before you say something like that in this thread again, Jim. . .keep in mind, I know where you live. I’m an ex-con. And I just don’t give a shit.
I love just trying to sell *them *something. That, or or saying (as soon as the identify themselves) something along the lines of “yeah, I’d like a large cheese (ect.)”
That way they hang up on thier own!
But, I see this as someone just generally being an asshole. I don’t see it as threatening.
The way I see it, if the guy was genuinely dangerous, he wouldn’t be sending a letter. Some one who’s going to hurt you because you hung up on them isn’t going to send you a letter about it first. They’re just going to do it.
I think taking it to the cops was a good idea, though. I do think she should have taken it to the telemarketing firm and ask they fire the guy. And I can see it escalating from there. So going to the police was the right thing.
But I don’t see anything inherently threatening in that letter. Maybe I’m splitting hairs.
I’ve got to agree with Jim here. I don’t see it as threatning. Maybe creepy, but not threatening.
On Tom Mabe’s site, you can listen to a few tidbits from his albums, I recommend “Stupid ass telemarketer”.
These two links are the very reason I’m not on the DNC list.
Those people are just too much fun.
Maybe it is splitting hairs.
As far as I’m concerned, telling someone,
-
Maybe you shouldn’t be so rude.
-
We have your address.
-
Telemarketers are bikers and ex-cons.
basically translates to, “you better act more polite or you might get hurt.”
Either you don’t take that as a threat, or you don’t think that’s what he’s saying.
I don’t know Texas law, but under California law, this would be sufficient to sustain a prosecution for attempted terroristic threat.
I don’t think that’s what he’s saying - I think he’s saying “I’m mad at you, so I’m going to say something that shows you I’m mad!”
I see it happen all the time. My wife will get mad at me and say “I hate you!!” My mother would yell “I’m going to kill you!” when she was mad. Heck, go read the Pit. How many people in there write down angry, violent things that they don’t necessarily mean becaues they’re angry?
People say things when they’re mad, which if you took seriously are extremely disturibing. But all they really mean is “I’m mad at you!”
And that’s how I read his letter.
Next week on “Semantics Central”, tune in to find the definition of “is”!
But he didn’t say it.
He took down her name and address from his phone list.
He wrote a letter to her, including not-so-vaguely intimidating language.
He put it in an envelope, addressed it, and stamped it.
He dropped it in the outgoing mail.
Writing a letter and sending it is a far more deliberate act than sitting at your desk and saying “What a &%! I’d like to punch her in the face!” after you get the phone slammed in your ear.
As far as I understand the average telemarketing business, you can’t just take a break any old time you want to, so at some point during the process, he more than likely would have had time to cool off before sending the letter. For some reason, he didn’t cool off. Why not? And if he’s stupid and angry enough that he’d send that letter, I’m not going to risk my neck betting that he’s not stupid and angry enough to actually follow through. Sure, he probably won’t, but why take the chance?
Hey!
Waterford is a town or three away from me.
That’s all I wanted to say.
Carry on.
About two years ago I also got a call from some guy claiming to represent a Veteran’s organization.
As I do with all telemarketers, I said “no thanks” and hung up. Not rude. Just quick.
He called me back and said, “who the hell do you think you are to hang up on me?!”
I was so shocked…at first I didn’t know what to say and then I said, “the same guy who is going to hang up on you again.” and then I did slam down the phone and unplugged it. Have no idea if he tried calling back after that, but the guy was a nut case.
I once had a telemarketer call me back repeatedly after I hung up on him. I had to unplug the phone for several hours to stop the calls.
On the other hand, I once kept a telemarketer on the phone a good 20 minutes when I was pretty wiped out on cold medicine. I read the TV listings to him, asking his opinion about what I should watch. Then I yelped, “I have to throw up,” and hung up.
IMHO the letter in the O.P. was threatening, and the fact the the telemarketer took the time to get the address and write such a letter shows that he’s capable of irrational unwarranted behavior. If you’re not emotionally capable of dealing with hang ups and a bit of verbal abuse, telemarketing is not the career for you.
I don’t see how anyone can not perceive that letter as threatening. He said he knows her name and address and people in his position are likely ex-cons or bikers (both groups with bad - deserved or otherwise - reputations) and that she better stop being rude to people like him. I would have called the police too. I wouldn’t be sitting at home quaking in terror but that letter sounds like it came from an unbalanced person.