TELECOM | ‘Who’s that mysterious lady that wants to talk to my wife,’ Ahmad Humeid asks.

“Hello, Good Morning”

“Good Morning”.

“Can I speak to the Madame”

“Err, sorry, she’s not at home. Who’s speaking please”

“When will she be at home?”

“She’s at work. Sorry..But who’s speaking?”

“Well, I’d like to speak to Madame..”

“Sorry lady, can you please tell me your name first..”

“We just wanted to talk to Madame..”

“Yeah, but you still haven’t told me who you are and why you’re calling!”

“I am sorry, but it’s a private matter between me and Madame..”

” A private matter.. well I am her husband speaking. Maybe you can tell me about this”

“No I am sorry”

“Listen lady, you’re calling us at home. You’re asking to talk to my wife, you say you have a private matter. What are you talking about”

“Well, it’s a private matter..”

“OK THEN, so please give your name at least!”

“Err.. I am from [a vacuum cleaner] Company, and you have been chosen for a free demonstration of our vacuum cleaner”

“We have a vacuum cleaner and we are not interested. Thank you!!”

This is the transcript of a phone call that different members of our household had to go through over the past few weeks. The only additions to the more recent calls were our increasing demands that this company doesn’t call us again, and, later, threats that we will complain if the calls persist.

Welcome to the world of telemarketing. It’s just part of our society becoming more consumerist and marketing driven. How many free newspapers end on your doorsteps? How many promotional SMSs do you get? How much local junk email do you get? And now we can ask: Have you been called by the vacuum cleaner lady from hell? The one who wants to discuss ‘private matters’ with you spouse?

Over the years, I’ve become familiar with two types of telemarketers: the first is the fast talking girl who tries to sell you a hotel-club membership by overusing the word ‘Sir’: “Sir, if you become a member of our club, Sir, you will, Sir, 25 coupons, which, Sir, entitle you, Sir, to bring two guests to dinner, and you will get, sir a 25% discount on using, our swimming pool, Sir.”.

The second type is the smooth talking insurance sales man. He also call me ‘Sir’ quite a lot but his marketing strategy is to remind me that death exists and that I’d better insure my life.

These two types were easier to screen at the office. But now we’re starting to get called at home and frankly it’s annoying. Now, I have nothing against marketing and consumption. But I don’t think that joining the free-market world should immediately mean that we develop a US-like telemarketing culture.

It’s bad enough when your SMS mailbox gets filled up by useless ads. At least you don’t have to talk to these SMS intrusions. The same can’t be said about the telemarketing lady who refuses to give her name.

It is really worth it for the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to watch this phenomenon and make sure our private phones remain protected from unsolicited promotional calls. Especially those concerning private vacuum cleaning matters.

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5 responses to “Telemarketing rears its head in Jordan”

  1. Isam Bayazidi Avatar
    Isam Bayazidi

    🙂 I am pretty sure they are the Rainbow people :) .. they are the most annoying vacuum cleaner company in Jordan.. Anyhow, an interesting thing that had been done in USA to prevent such things from happening is National Do not call Registry, where my law, telemarketinc companies can’t call the numbers registered there. I am sure that the problem isn’t as critical as it is in USA, but I would like to have a “Do not SMS Me registery” :)

  2. Natasha Avatar
    Natasha

    Believe it or not Ahamd, I used to work as a telemarketer years ago during the long, boring summer breaks from school. I worked for a number of hotels including the Intercontinental where I used to sell club membership cards over the phone.

    Yes, you are right; saying sir (or said in Arabic) was part of our training for some reason. You’d be surprised to know that many responded to our phone calls and actually bought those cards. I must admit, I enjoyed this job! It was quite an experience. The most amusing part was witnessing how some men responded to the female telemarketers. Their first instinct was to hit on them and flirt to no end. I guess this comes naturally in the macho-society we are living in.

  3. Ahmad Sabbagh Avatar
    Ahmad Sabbagh

    Yes I agree, and I think most annoying thing is the free newspapers waiting for you on your doorsteps to be thrown in the trash bin with the trash bag every morning. Oh, I just remembered that these free stuff call “throwaway”! :)

    But Ahmad did you buy the vacuum from the most annoying vacuum cleaner company in Jordan or not? :)

  4. Ahmad Humeid Avatar
    Ahmad Humeid

    Isam: it was not the the Rainbow people but another company with a funny name :) A do not call me registry would be great. Better still would be an opt-in policy.

    Sabbagh: Yes of course we bought the vacuum cleaner. It really sucks (DUH) :)

  5. Yazan Aqrabawi Avatar
    Yazan Aqrabawi

    Dear all,

    As head of telemarketing department in an insurance company, I strongly believe that we in Jordan should take the whole concept of telemarketing into a new era.
    We all have been through annoying phone calls and insisting people who won’t give up until achieving the target, which is selling you a product. But on the other hand; are you saying that telemarketing is not USEFUL at all? From my point of view I think that you well wish that you bough that insurance policy that some ANNOYING girl tried to sell you in case you had an accident with out having insurance.
    Our dear friends in the USA are now using overseas telemarketing and customer care centers. You call a AT&T call center and an officer located In India answers you and insures your satisfaction. And we claim that telemarketing is not important?
    Come on

    Regards.
    Yazan.