Just say er, um, uh, no?
I am the world’s worst decliner.
Me. Moi. Tres stupide.
Since coming to the US, Lokes and I have received, oh, about two thousand calls from strangers asking for money. From puppy patrols to cures for cancer, from park rangers to the neighbourhood Save the Whales drive, I have fielded more than a few of these calls, and perhaps forked out close to $200 to save possibly every living thing on the planet - and perhaps even bring to life a few dead ones. And I have all sorts of decals and magnetic stickers to prove it.
I shouldn’t be saying this out loud - and blogging about it - but Lokes and I are the absolute worst at saying no. Me worse than Lokes, and it’s even more dire now since I’m giving away his money.
“Oh babe, just in case, I just donated $50 to some very important crack-smelling dogs.”
“What? Crack-smelling dogs? What crack? Whose crack?”
“Crack, as in drugs.”
“B-but $50?!”
“Don’t you want our neighbourhood to be safe from like, druglords and stuff?”
“Still, $50?! What does the $50 buy?”
“I dunno, maybe bullet-proof vests. For the dogs?”
Today, at about 10.30am, some lady called from like a police station or something (I dunno, I’m not from here, it all sounds the same to me!) to say she sent me a decal and if I’d like to give her $35 for it.
For the first time ever, I said no.
I swear, the universe shifted a little.
“Could we interest you then in a more-than-generous gift of $25, ma’m?”
“Um (polite smile to the phone receiver), no thanks.”
“How about $15, ma’m? This is for a good cause, ma’m?”
My eyes water.
“Er, no, really. No thanks.”
“How about $10 then? We could really use your help, ma’m.”
Blood is dripping from my nose.
“No, no…no?”
The conversation lasted a torturous minute or so and by the end of it, I was whimpering a little, wanting very much to bury myself somewhere deep and dark, far away from orphans and puppies and dedicated firemen who are now in MORE mortal danger of burning to death all because I could not spare a miserable $25 to help buy like titanium flame-retardant boots.
Truly, after I thumbed the “hang up” button, I felt like shaving my head bald and almost gave up meat.
Okay, almost.
Well, this will teach me to LET THE ANSWERING MACHINE TAKE THE DAMN CALLS!
Posted in Imperfect America
February 25th, 2007 at 4:29 am
Me too!! Me too! I can never say “NO” though deep down inside I mean it. And that’s why my bf says I’m living my life for other people instead of for myself
February 25th, 2007 at 10:44 am
oh i used to have the problem as well. i have donated a few then more came haunting for me. I said “No, not this round. Maybe next drive. Thanks for calling.” Or if you have been getting lots of other spam calls like selling you stuff, you can register your number at https://www.donotcall.gov/ .
Telemarketers should check that at least once a month before they make any call, so after a month of registering your number, allow a month time before you file any complain. This targets especially those who try to sell you stuff, but it also cut down some of those charity-driven calls. Works for me now. Even complained a few that tried to sell me credit cards, not sure what consequences they are getting though, who cares, as long they don’t bug me anymore.
February 25th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Jenn, I was like you before, then my hubby taught me to say “Not interested. Please take me off your calling list” which works. And register your number at donotcall.gov as what Sharon said.
By the nice blog you got there. Simmie told me about it.
February 25th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Perhaps you and your husband can choose a charity to donate to. Then when you get a call, you can tell the telemarketer that you have already donated to your chosen charity. We might consider you next year. Please take us off your call list or we will never consider you.
February 26th, 2007 at 8:45 am
I have a policy that saves me from the agony of those calls. I tell them that I only donate online. Sometimes I get calls from charities I have donated to in the past, and even if I might be inclined to give yet again, I always tell the person on the other end of the phone, “Thank you, but I only give online.” I might even ask them what their web address is, just to give them a small amount of satisfaction - but it seems to end the call much sooner.
February 26th, 2007 at 10:08 am
oh me too! i once had us switched over to another telephone service just because i couldn’t say no, and had to switch back to our original after a couple months because the service was horrible. thankfully it didn’t cost anything. that was during my first year here.
now, we have an unlisted number and are registered on ‘donotcall’ for both landline and cellphones. it’s really cut down on the telemarketers, and those who do call get the machine anyway since we never answer the landline. (all friends/clients call our cells)
pretty good system for me i guess, since i always tend to feel bad for the person on the other end. after all, i would hate my job to be having to cold call strangers all day and ask for money.
February 26th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I’m super good at saying no - this comes from my father who would yell “no!” and slam down the phone (sigh..). Thankfully, I’m nicer than he is, and I let them say their piece, and then say, “I would love to, but my son has autism, which costs $70,000 a year for his various treatments and therapies….” they’re very disinterested in me after that. I need to come up with something else though, because I don’t want my kids really hearing that, you know?
So I’ve switched more to ignoring what they say and then politely ask to be put on their do not call list. They’re usually cool about it.
I like Julie’s suggestion; you could also say that your charity budget has been used up for the year. Or to have them send you information.
Something to note: if you don’t want them to call you again (take you off their list), you MUST say the following phrase exactly: “Please put me on your do-not-call list.” If you say ANYTHING different from that exact phrase, they don’t have to do it, by law. In other words, if you say, “Please take me off your calling list” then they can totally ignore what you just said. Read more here: http://www.classbrain.com/artfamily/publish/article_158.shtml
So put that on a post-it-note by your phone and you’ll enjoy fewer callers!*
*I believe, however, that those exempt from this are those places that you’ve previously given money to, and political calls.