To paraphrase Shakespeare: "The first thing we do is kill all the telemarketers..."

At the moment, I really, really hate telemarketers, with a deep-seated burning passion...but not for the reason Bunbun of Sluggy Freelance does.

The reason my ire is up right now that, when they piddle all over a poor, unsuspecting customer, guess who gets to clean up the mess after them?

I usually get at least one or two of these calls per day...cases where the sales rep has told someone something that is patently untrue, just for the sake of making a sale. The most common is "They told me I wouldn't have to pay any more per month than [plan fee]! They didn't say anything about [or, in a rarer variant, "they specifically said there wouldn't be any"] taxes and surcharges!" Often enough, the whole reason they switch over to us in the first place is that they're led to believe, via the sales rep, that we're much cheaper than their former phone company, when the fact is we're really about the same, or even a little higher, due to those darned taxes and surcharges.

I mean, I could understand it if they misspoke, or made a slight mistake in phrasing and the customer misunderstood. But at least when we CS reps were trained, one of the most important ground rules that was laid down was that we should never quote a plan fee without adding on the litany, "...not including taxes and surcharges." We're not even supposed to say "plus taxes and surcharges" because some people think "plus" means "including". I don't know what kind of training the TM reps receive, but I find it hard to believe that, as worried as the company is about regaining and retaining its reputation, that they wouldn't put just as large an emphasis on it in their section. So no way can this be a mistake. They're just leaving off that awkward little phrase because it would endanger the sale.

Today I dealt with one of those calls with the added twist that they were told their calls to Mexico would be at six cents per minute instead of the twelve they are in actuality.

I just don't get it...what on earth leads these people to flat-out lie just to make a single sale? What, do they think that if they don't mention the tax, it won't be charged? Don't they know that their identities are linked to these accounts they create, and that when the customer finds out that all is not as they were promised, it's going to rebound on them? Doesn't honesty have any value at all anymore? This sort of thing is really not helping the company's reputation.

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In other news, something rather bizarre happened to me tonight. While I was taking a shower, I noticed a pink hairbrush hanging from a nail set into the wall just above the curtain rod above the window. As tbutler had just been visiting last weekend, and I already knew he'd accidentally left one of his DVD sets behind, I just assumed it had belonged to him and he'd left it here too...but he denied everything, saying that the only brush he'd used in my room was a toothbrush.

Now, the only way that brush could have gotten there is if someone had physically entered the shower and reached up to hang it. It's not something that a casual bathroom user—like my Mom or Dad or anyone else who just stopped by for a little while—would have put there. And the only other person than myself to use my shower since I've lived here has been Travis. So, if he didn't leave it...

...has it been hanging there since March of last year and I never noticed it?

(I suppose it could be explained by perhaps having been behind the plastic curtain that was pinned in place with thumbtacks to protect the window...still, I don't know why someone would have put the curtain in place over it, and even so, I'd think I would have noticed it before now.)

Thursday Report

Today when I arrived at work, I was greeted with the option to take a half day of undertime and come back at 4. At first, I didn't want to...after all, that's about $32-36 in salary. Then it occurred to me, there were some errands and shopping I needed to accomplish, one of which could only be accomplished during business hours, which is usually when I'm at work. So promising myself that I would get this task done that I had been putting off, I took the undertime and went shopping, then home until four. Luckily, I was able to get the task accomplished. Then I came back to work, and here I am.

For some reason I'm a lot more tired than usual for this time of the evening. I wonder if it was because I had a turkey sandwich for lunch?

Can't think of anything particularly urgent to report. Might as well put this post to bed and say more later.

( Obligatory LJ movie meme )

Introversion

I've just found an article that describes me right down to a T. It's just so...perfect. Anybody who deals with me on a regular basis should read this article. Props to oakthorne for pointing it out.

Caring for your Introvert

When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed.
Say something once...why say it again?
—Talking Heads, "Psycho Killer"

To the Moon, Alice! And then to Mars!

In the "about darned time" department, just found the following in this news story:

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — President Bush will announce plans next week to send Americans to Mars and establish a permanent human presence on the moon, senior administration officials said Thursday night.

Bush won't propose sending Americans to Mars anytime soon; rather, he envisions preparing for the mission more than a decade from now, one official said.

In addition to proposing the first trip to the moon since December 1972, the president wants to build a permanent space station there.

A little premature to celebrate, given that he hasn't even announced it yet, and when his his daddy said something similar almost 15 years ago it didn't come to anything.

But oh, man, I'm so hopeful...