Telemarketers in Spanish......

[laepelba]

So my telephone number used to belong to someone else. (More than 15 months ago...) And I often get calls for that other person, and often these calls are in Spanish and her surname sounds Hispanic as well...

Anyway, this evening, I got the typical call for Ms. Parada, and when I said (in English) that they have the wrong number, they asked (in Spanish) if I spoke any Spanish.

My BIG mistake was to answer that question with "un poco". Thus, after they discovered that this was not Ms. Parada's number any more they proceeded to tell me all about how I need to have the ductwork in my house cleaned!

At least I understood most of what they were saying about how I need to have the ductwork in my house cleaned..........

Why, oh why did I say "un poco" when they asked if I spoke Spanish ... (sigh...) I should have tried to pretend I didn't understand..........

[HomoVulgaris]

Lo siento mucho. He tenido una situación igual.

He visto la única país dónde telemarketeros respetan sus clientes potenciales - Suecia. Allí, si no quiere recibir los volantes, anuncios comerciales y otra propaganda, pone una cartel en su buzón "No anuncios, gracias" y eso es suficiente. Increíble pero es verdad.
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I understand you... I have been in the same situation.

I have seen only a single country where telemarketers respect their potential customers - it's Sweden. If you do not want to receive advertising, you put a notice on your mailbox "No advertising, please", and that's enough. Incredible, but true.

[Perikles]

Annoying, but you could turn this annoyance to your advantage by practising your Spanish on them. It happens to me quite a lot. Cold calls from the telephone company. When I say un poco they launch into a sales pitch at incredible speed. After what seems like forever, I ask them to repeat it all. Oddly, some do, but others just hang up. I take it as a challenge to see what percentage I can understand, which is usually 10-20%.

I also find that if I reply in German, they hang up immediately. Very rude.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I also find that if I reply in German, they hang up immediately. Very rude.

[chileno]

[CrOtALiTo]

Also here in México, I don't get calls from sellers.

You should go to your provider telephone and present a gripe for the bad service.
When you have contracted a service more in the telephone services, you shouldn't get calls from other people unknown for you.

[JPablo]

In Spain we used to say, ¡País!

[CrOtALiTo]

What you say?

Where you have to use the word País?

Valla la redundancia in your country.

[JPablo]

I guess is a very typical usage of Spain, where you say ¡País! meaning something like, ¡Vaya país, en el que vivimos, ya no hay educación!
The shortening of the expression (just one word) makes more expressive and creates more impact. ("El Forges", a Spanish cartoonist, used to have one of his characters saying that.)

[laepelba]

Thanks for explaining that ... so, what, when you pick up the phone and it's a telemarketer, you say "país"?

[poli]

No, if you smart you hang up.
You know: Mr Click.

[JPablo]

@ Lou Ann & @Poli,

Yup, Poli may be right on that...
Also, if you say "¡País!" you'd have to be very emphatic... and I believe it would only "work" in Spain, I don't think Argentina, México, Colombia, et al, would use this expression.

It actually connotes a little bit of "resignation", and may open the door to the telemarketer to get on a roll... (But, if like Perikles says, you want to see how much you can understand of what they say, and use it to your advantage... be my guest...)

(Do you know you can always CONTROL the communication cycle?) You can always end up a conversation politely with full command of the situation, and you can also 'procrastinate' so to speak, or 'prolong' a conversation as long as you want by the skilled use of a "full acknowledgment" or a "half acknowledgment", respectively.
Full acknowledgment - "Thank you very much for this information. I'll keep it in mind whenever I want to buy a whatchamacallit. It has been a pleasure to listen to you today. Have a nice day..." And yes, Mr. Click takes over.
["Muchísimas gracias for esta información. La tendré presente cuando quiera comprar una vaina de esas. Ha sido un placer escucharle hoy. Que tenga un buen día."]
Half acknowledgment - (When you want the person to keep talking, talking and talking... every time he makes a pause, you just go: Mmh-mh?
In Spanish the same, or "¿Ajá?" "¿Sí?" "¿En serio?" "¿Mmh-mh?". (On the phone, you need to make any sound to encourage the guy to keep talking. In person, you can just look interested, and/or nod with your head... you name it...)

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Since hanging-up is not enough sometimes, in Mexico there is a governmental institution called "Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor". They keep a record of telephone numbers where consumers don't want to receive telemarketing phone calls and they divide it in different categories: tourism, telecommunications and sales of other goods and services. The firms that won't respect this record are sanctioned with high fines.

This has worked for me so far, after I used to receive 3 or 4 calls every day from long distance calls providers, internet, private television, credit cards...

It's just a shame I can't get rid of other telephone calls. There should be a service where one could block incoming calls from certain numbers. ;(

[laepelba]

Yeah - the problem with "do not call" lists (which my number is on) is that they don't work for when the number has been given to someone. Remember that I started by saying that my number used to belong to someone else. All of the "unwanted" calls I get start with "Sra. Parada?" In this case, when I told them (in English) that she no longer has this number, that was when they asked if I spoke Spanish. Obviously Sra. Parada had previously dealt with this ductwork cleaning company and they were calling for a follow-up appointment...

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Well, it's supposed to be illegal here if they call again, since you have already told them she doesn't live there. Of course, that doesn't mean they'll listen though.

[laepelba]

Oh, I'm sure that all of these calls are from different companies. It doesn't seem to me that it's only a few calling back over and over. It also seems that this lady had some, um, difficulties keeping up with her bills......