Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Dear Diabetes Association

You are now trying to raise money for your very fine association by calling people on the phone. I'm sure the Diabetes Association does great things with the money you raise, but you have some stupid little pissant who, after waking me up at 8:01 AM on last Thrusday morning, much to my displeasure, has decided to wake me up every morning at 8:01 AM. The number this immature cretin is calling from is 703-398-0004. I'm sure this kind of behavior from your telephone solicitors is not what you encourage nor condone. But since you've had the poor judgement to hire someone who is stupid enough to engage in this behavior, I will cease to contribute to the National Diabetes Association.

I have called the number back to have my number removed from your call list but have been informed that it may take up to a 30 days for my number to actually be removed from your call list. So every morning I get another wake-up call will be one more year I stop giving my $25 contribution to your organization. If it takes 30 days that's $750 you will not receive from me. If this childish asshole is doing this to anyone else besides me, you may be losing a great deal more than my $750.

I'm on the National Do Not Call Registry. I have never responded well to telephone solicitations. I respond especially poorly to ones that wake me up when I could sleep in just 30 minutes more. So stop calling me. I don't know the cost benefit ratio on phone calls versus mailings. But if a respected and worthy cause such as finding a cure for diabetes sends me a mailing with an envelope in which to send back my contribution, I am far more likely to respond with a contribution than I am if I'm awakened by some immature crank like the one calling me first thing every morning. I'm sure it's gratifying to know your call staff is getting to work right on time, but not everyone is thrilled to get an early call. And though I do not reach thousands of people every day, twitter does. I will be tweeting this message. It has not been a pleasure doing business with you. I will now start searching for a better charity to send my $750 to. Have a nice day.

13 comments:

Sherry Pasquarello said...

i hate phone solicitations and i HATE door to door evangilizations even more and i have had them both in the last 24 hours.

if i want to give money- i do and if i wanted a different belief system to explore i'd find one on my own and you can damn well bet it wouldn't be one that requires me to "spread" the word, whatever it might be!

Utah Savage said...

I guess since it was the National Diabetes Association nobody's willing to weigh in. It's not about the particular "charity" it's about the crank caller who works for the "charity." Thanks Sherry, it's a good friend who'll stand by you when you're giving shit to Big Diabetes.

Nan said...

I think the charities got an exemption to the No Call list -- it doesn't apply to them. Pushing for that was a stupid move on their part. I will say that after I got one phone call from Doctors Without Borders where I told the nice young man that I never, ever respond to phone solicitations they never called again. The Red Cross, on the other hand. . . except they don't want money. They want my blood. Literally.

Utah Savage said...

Nan, the one good thing about being bipolar and having heart problems is nobody would take my blood.

It wouldn't be so bad if I actually wanted an 8 AM wake-up call. I must not be very nice when I first wake up. But is that any reason to poke the bear each day just for fun?

Anonymous said...

Legitimate non-profits are, as someone pointed out, exempt from the DNC registry. That said, it shouldn't take more than one attempt to get you off their list.

This may be more than you want to do, but I would suggest calling your local ADA chapter and telling them about the calls and why you won't be making future donations if they don't cease. Just a thought.

Steve said...

they are not calling me yet they are just sending me mail with a nickel in it for some reason

Fran said...

I never give over the phone *never*... and like you, they just piss me off.

Sometimes I just mess with them.
I got some marketing call asking what beverages we drink.

I told the man we do NOT drink beverages!

If I am in the mood I will do a political survey, but even then I will change the option to *oh hell no*... or some flourish. I like to hear the person conducting the survey have a good laugh.

Of course there is always the Seinfeld solicitor approach--- give me YOUR number & I will call YOU back.

I once slammed the door on some door to door jehovah's witnesses..... I was on a long distance call & not interested. I did not really slam it per se.... more closed it when I decided I was not interested.
I just did not have time to tell them I was not.

Apparently, they got the message & went away.

I have a no solicitations sign on my door.... but an occasional stray rings the bell anyway.

I sometimes wish them a good life.

I like the calling them & telling them how the rude awakening has had a negative impact.

Jeez.

Utah Savage said...

Steve, you're luck, so far...

Fran, I love your spirit. I haven't my wits about me when being called by someone I don't know at 0 dark hundred--which is anything earlier than 10 AM. Buy then I might be drinking my first latte and smoking dope. I think when the phone rings early it's an emergency. So I fly out of bed. Now I'm rolling over and letting it ring. Tomorrow if the little fucker calls again I'll answer and leave the phone beside the bed. Then tomorrow I'll call the local chapter of the ADA and tell them to please fix the problem or I'll seek legal recourse for the harassment. I want them to be able to find the specific person who thinks it's so funny to fuck with me.

Kentucky Rain said...

I'm with you on this Utah. I hate telephone solicitations, door to door sales people, in particular Goddists, and everyone else that tries to annoy me. As a result I now have four very large German shepherds that roam my little farm and keep me safe from those personal annoyances. Now if I could only figure out how to train them to stop the phone calls.

La Belette Rouge said...

Once I got on the Do Not Call Registry my solicitation calls went way down. I also don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the phone #.

Utah Savage said...

Mike, this morning when the asshole called, I pushed the on button as if I were answering it and then set it on my bedside table. I don't know how long he stayed on the line, but it was a satisfying thing to do. I went back to sleep.

jadedj said...

I don't think there's a person in America who is not with you on this one...unless of course, they are the callers.

We found that even being on the no call list didn't really help that much. So, we kept a whistle next to the phone, and yes when we received an unsolicited call, we blew the whistle into the mouth piece. It fucking works, believe me. That particular caller will not call back.

We have totally gotten rid of that kind of call by dumping our land line and using only our cell phones.

My feeling is, no matter the "cause" be it non-profit, or profit oriented...that is YOUR hallowed space, and you should decide who can enter it. Not a damned automated dialer.

Utah Savage said...

JadedJ, I like your style. I'm going shopping for a whistle tomorrow. I've never owned a cell phone. I'm trying to keep it that way. I'm not sure why; perhaps it's just stubborn perversity.