An unwanted phone call

作者:BBC22  于 2008-9-18 21:38 发表于 最热闹的华人社交网络--贝壳村

作者分类:Random Thoughts|通用分类:其它日志|已有3评论

I just received a phone call a few minutes ago. It was from a sales lady trying to promote a company’s windows and doors business.  She obviously didn't know my name, but somehow she managed to get my wife's surname. I realised that only when I answered the call and was addressed "Mr Chen", which is my wife's surname, not mine.  So, I hesitated for a second, wondering if I had to correct her mistake and defend my dignity as a man and a husband.  But I managed to hold back my urge to make the correction because I realised any explanation would inevitably hand out even more my personal details to her, which was precisely what she wants.

 


The saleslady was rather clever (or well trained) in keeping me on hold by telling me that my wife had talked to a colleague in the windows and doors company about our plan to install a new window, which was obviously untrue.  Obviously, she must have assumed that these days, husbands are often too busy (lazy?) to be bothered to disagree with their wife's decisions and that she could exploit the vulnerability and ignorance of husbands. Anyway, I didn't take her bait in the end.

What was annoying me more than addressing me as if I followed my wife's surname was that I have registered to opt out of the telephone sale service, which literally means there should be no salesmen harassing us over the phone. But for some salesmen, they are so desperate to sell stuff that all rules and regulations have gone out the window.  I’m not at all confident that was the last call of this kind.

The moral of the above incident: A good salesman(woman) should take cultural differences seriously, particularly when it comes to a foreign man's surname.

1

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发表评论 评论 (3 个评论)

1 回复 散落的雪 2008-9-19 00:20
hey, I've registered to a NO CALL LIST up to three phone numbers, and it worked pretty well, haven't got any such unwated calls. Wondering are we registering the same thing?
by the way, it's so true about the cultural thing.
1 回复 BBC22 2008-9-20 01:57
Many thanks for your visit and being the first to leave your comments here.  I suppose the American have a more rigirous system than the Brits -- ironically because high pressure sales tatics are more widely used  in the US than in the UK. Anyway, if it doesn't happen very often, it's a big deal, or perhaps we can take advantage of the occasion by polishing on our English speaking ;)
2 回复 散落的雪 2008-9-21 00:36
BBC22: Many thanks for your visit and being the first to leave your comments here.  I suppose the American have a more rigirous system than the
Wow, I see. You must be in UK, I naturally assumed you are in the states, my god, I am really Americanized, what a shame :(, It's my pleasure to leave my foot prints here, see you around.

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