The Magic Word?

I’ve been getting these calls a couple times a day.  “This is your second and final notice that your automobile warranty is about to expire…”  Or some variation on that theme, anyway.  I ignored it for a few weeks, but it didn’t stop or even slow down the calls.

So yesterday, when I got the call again, I dutifully pressed 1 to speak to an operator.  As she started into her fast-paced scripted sales pitch, I interrupted and asked how I could be removed from their calling list.  Before I’d even finished the sentence, I was hung up on.  The nerve!

Today, they called back again.  I did the same thing, pressing 1 for a human, and once the girl started her spiel, I interrupted again, speaking more quickly than usual (that’s pretty fast, if you know me) to try to get everything in before I was disconnected.

“Hello Sir, I just have a few questions to get started…”

“Hold on, I have a few questions for you.  How can I get off your calling list?  I tried to ask the last time I was called and the girl hung up on me!”

I didn’t expect to finish the thought, but when I finished, there was silence on the line.

“Hello?” I asked.

“What’s the magic word?”

I was pretty incensed.  Here she was calling ME, and she had the nerve to ask ME to say “please,” like I was some malcontent toddler?

“Please?  Are you kidding me?  I have to say PLEASE to get off your list??”

“Yes…”

“Please take me off your list?”

“Thank you sir.”  *click*

I guess I’ll see if she really did take me off their list.  Or more likely, this is more than just one company harrassing the public, and there are dozens of others waiting in the wings to try to sell me questionable warranty coverage for which I have no use.