I just got a call from a telemarketer. I have caller ID, but if the call is out of the area, it simply says “out of area”. Now, only two people call me from out of area, and those are my parents and my fiance. My parents called last night, and I haven’t heard from Sailorboy in a while, so I was expecting him. In other words, I was a little put out from the begining. My fault, I admit that. Anyway, I pick up the phone, thinking it is gonna be Sailorboy, and say hello. No answer for a few seconds. Then just as I am about to hang up, a woman says hello and goes off into her sphiel about international credit cards. I have NO intrest at all in an international card, so I say so, and add could you please take me off your call list? I’d appreciate it. Then she asks for my name. WTF? She called me! They can’t even have the name of the person they are calling? I am outraged. I say, you called me, shouldn’t you already have my damn name? She says Do not say damn to me. I am not your child. No SHIT, woman! I am so pissed I hang up. Was I out of line being upset that she didn’t already have my name? Is anyone else outraged? I mean, if she didn’t know, I wasn’t about to tell her. It’s none of her business. Was I rude? OY!
(this is in the pit, 'cause I thought it would be the most appropriate. Sorry if I am wrong.)
Were you rude? Yes, but you knew that already.
Were you out of line? Not really. As some might remember from previous threads, I generally don’t hold with being rude to telemarketers. But asking you for your name was inappropriate, especially after you tried to terminate the call. In light of that, your remark was not unreasonable.
Otay. I needed to hear that I wasn’t out of line. Thanks.
Actually, if you remember how the call started, there was a pause before the salesperson came on the line. In fact, it is quite possible that she had no idea who she was talking to. Most telemarketing is now done with a partially automated system that simply dials one sequential number after another for each phone prefix. When a person answers, the machine/software “passes” the answered call on to a person to handle the sale. This eliminates the need for each telemarketer to hang on the phone for six or nine rings while there is no answer.
There is probably software that links your phone number (just dialed by the machine) to your name in a database, but it is possible that not every telemarketing firm has invested in this linkage. Many telemarketers have no idea who they’re addressing. (This explains why, if you give in to their sales pitch, they ask you for your name and address–they don’t have it. If they ask to verify your name and address and they call you by name, then that company has invested in the name/address software and database, but not all do.)
To be sure that they have added the correct name and address to their “do not call” list, they probably do have to get it from you, directly. (This also lets them off the hook, of course, that if they put Jane Doe on the “do not call” list and the phone is listed under John Doe, they can claim, if you catch them calling back that they weren’t trying to bother you, but your husband or father.)
Were you rude? Yeah. On the other hand, you didn’t ask for the call and no telemarketing firm has ever sent you a description of their policies and procedures, so you were acting out of frustration at an event that you wouldn’t know about.
Hint: any time you pick up the phone and “hear” that particular “dead air” sound, the machine is interpreting your pick-up as a “live one” and ringing a second phone on a telemarketer’s desk. Hang up before the marketer can come on the line.
I do do that, but the pause was too short. Damn her fast reflexes! 
There is absolutely nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, you can possibly do, including first degree homicide, that is out of line when it comes to telemarketers. They are the scum of the earth and should all be rounded up and executed.
Whew. That feels better. Oh, gotta go the phone’s ringing…