Wednesday 1 October 2008

ENG: Boycott Against Telemarketing Offers

Since my family moved here, several times have we been irritated by the many telemarketing calls we receive. Some years ago, the worst cases used to be people who tried to maximise the length of the phone call by making the most of the long vowels and slow speaking typical for Spanish dialects, but recently it is pre-recorded offers which make us feel the most offended.

My wife and I do not have anything against advertising, we just do not want to receive it by telephone. As a consequence of what has happened to us during the last few days, we will like it even less.

September 25, our Internet connection at home was interrupted and our provider Ya.com promised an explanation and solution within 72 hours. Today, much more than 72 hours and many phone calls later do we finally know why. The reason makes me so angry that I have almost forgotten my frustration with Ya.com’s slow service.

Apparently, we nowadays have a contract with another provider, but for privacy reasons, Ya.com does not have access to their name. Interestingly enough, my wife and I do not know their name either. The technical staff at Ya.com regret the situation, but inform us that some Internet providers are so aggressive to win new customers that they do not wait for their consent, but simply switch them over after having called.

Ingenious, is it not? According to Ya.com, Telefonica will be able to tell me which this company is. Telefonica - lovely! Why do I have a feeling that the last telemarketing call I answered – and it was last week - came from them? Well, whoever has deprived us of Internet access can rest assured that I will do my best to spread negative publicity about them. And, from now on, I will not even start listening to what telemarketing people have to offer.

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