Her name was Joanne

I know how annoying they can be and that we should all find the quickest way to end such calls but tonight I couldn’t help myself.

I’m sure you’ve had the experience. The phone rings; you answer; there’s a delay and then finally an Indian voice with a western name starts telling you how lucky you are to have been chosen for a particular promotional offer.

‘Joanne’ phoned me this evening to try and sell me on some ‘free’ accommodation. She could offer me 10 days and 10 nights free accommodation at a variety of places around Australia. How free? Well I would need the vouchers which would cost me around $119. After that I would need to buy breakfast and dinner at the place of accommodation up to a certain spend level. Free? I think not.

I knew right from the start of the call that I wasn’t going to buy whatever she was trying to sell but I couldn’t help myself. I just sat on the other end of the phone listening. I wasn’t listening as much to what she was telling me as to her wonderful Indian accent. I wonder where in India she was. Maybe she was calling from Delhi.

Eventually I had to tell her that I wasn’t going to take her up on her very generous offer. She hung up faster than a seagull pouncing on a stray chip.

I should have ended the conversation earlier but her accent was so lovely. Sorry Joanne.

Oh well, at least it gave me opportunity to post another one of my photos from the Nek Chand’s Rock Garden in Chandigarh as mentioned in my last post. Click on the photo for a closer look.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He has worked in radio at Perth's media ministry Sonshine for over 25 years and has previously worked at ministries such as Compassion Australia and Bible Society.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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2 Comments

  • I was amused with your story othe Indian Telemarketer.
    I was having a really bad day recently when the phone rang and you guessed it .well I have forgoten what he wanted to sell me as there are so many. After we got into his story I interjected and suggested to him that if I wanted what ever the product was I could and would go to a shop and buy it. Without hesitating I asked him where he was ringing from. Naturally it was Sydney. I asked was that Sydney Australia..”oh yes mate” came the Indian accent. Now there had been a local News event in Sydney that day where a company had announced it was sending its work offshore and of coarse any Sydney – sider would know it So I asked him what the event was that was announced in Sydney Australia. “blblblblblblb”!! Ah-Ha I said to myself and said to him “you should know what the event was and that as it was serious. “blblblblbllbl” I could not resist it then so I stated I doubted he was calling from Sydney Australia. Oh but Mr Thomson ….and he tried one last sell. Not to let it go I asked is it a fine day in India and blow me down, it was and yes he admitted to he was calling from India. I had hooked him. As it is not much use catching a fish unless you are going to eat it I continued. I explained how a truck load of Australian Jobs were be sent offshore and did he think it was fair to be doing the job an Australian could be doing. blblblbl. I then went onto explain that the reason for this was so this company would only have to pay a 1/10 or less of the wage the Australian would have got. “blblblbl” How much was he being paid to do this? “blblblblbl” It was at this point I had taken him right out of his comfort zone so he offered to put on his supervisor to answer my question. On came his supervisor with what would be best described as a perfect Oxford educated accent with a hint of the sub continent mixed in. I could imagine him reciting English poetry. At this point I wanted to know where he had got my phone number and he explained it was from their list. I asked could he see my name on the list in front of him…he could so I asked him to make a note along side my name and number to never, ever call it again and asked him to repeat never ever for me. He did. Iwished hi a good day.
    As I said I was having a bad day and these poor guys got me at my worst however, the number of cold Calls has decreased markedly since that day several months ago. Perhaps the blowing of his cover and the Never Ever words did the magic trick for me.

    I will be in Perth Mid MArch and having several (X) months there as I need a change of scenery. I am looking forward to hearing Sonshine FM and catching up with friends. Needless to say I wll be seeing your brothr and hopefully we will cross paths as well

    neil

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