That provoked a cynical smile when I heard the news today. I was plagued for months with these calls. Every hour on the hour right up till 11pm. When I was out the answering machine would pick them up and when I got home my message box would be full, so that no-one else could leave a message. I was incensed. My number is ex-directory and I don't give it out to many people so the machine is there for what I'd call important calls.
I tried to catch the caller but was always too late. I even phoned BT to try to find the source. No joy.
Then one evening I decided enough was enough, I waited by the phone and when it rang, I POUNCED!
"Oh... er...".said a startled voice at the other end, "Good evening, I'm calling on behalf of -"
"Aha! Didn't expect me to pick it up in time, did you?" I interrupted. Then I launched my attack. "Your company has been harrassing me for months on end with your silent phone calls... ", etc., etc., etc.
"I'm terribly sorry", said the rather shaken caller, and went on to explain all about the automated call system.
"Never mind all that!" I barked, "If you do not immediately stop making these calls and remove my details from your database, I will report you to the authorities. Is that clear?"
"er... yes, but -"
"And what", I sneered, "could possibly be so vitally important that you had to abuse my privacy in this way?"
"Oh, well, I'm just calling to say that, as a valued customer, you might be interested in trying one of our new price deals. Here at British Telecom we have a new range of..."
That's when I dropped the phone.
