Look at the time on this. Right now it’s midnight. I got a phone call an hour ago and I am still enraged.
I was making lamb meatballs at 10:55. It was such an early-evening thing to do that when the phone rang, it seemed natural, but when I realized the time I knew someone must be in crisis. In fact, I was so familiar with the adrenaline rush that came with Mom’s Lifeline calls I thought for a split second she had fallen and couldn’t get up.
I picked up, said hello, and was met with silence. Usually when that happens I hiss another annoyed “helLO” and hang up. The second “helLO” was met with:
“Mrs S_____?”
“Who is this?”
“I’m Brandon M_____ and I’m an investor. I’m calling about the property at [Mom’s address].”
“Are you SERIOUS?”
I wish I could say I was freaked out and alert because a stranger had my name and Mom’s address and the house hasn’t been put up for sale and a few days ago the probate lawyer submitted documents to the court.
But no. I continued with, “Are you SERIOUSLY calling me at 11:00 at night?”
“Well, Ma’am, I tried calling you earlier but you weren’t in.” And his voice hinted that: crazy lady, I’m doing you a favor here, no way would I be calling you at 11:00 pm if you had been by the phone waiting for my call all day like I expected.
“No. Thank you. Goodbye.” Hang up. No to what? And Thank you to what? And Goodbye to you. (This earworm brought to you by Patty Smyth and Scandal and whatever commercial that’s been on.)
I’m all freaked out. I can’t find what specific telemarketing scam I’ve almost been a victim of but it’s damn upsetting.
8 responses to “My Spidey Instincts are Tingling”
Ew. Creepy. I would say, next time make Gary answer the phone, but he’d probably start a conversation with the guy, just to hear what he had to say. Can you find the creepy guy’s number and do a reverse lookup on it? Just to see where he was calling from. Creepy. Creepy.
I would not have been so restrained. Of course, I turn my phone off after about 9 pm, I have no family to call me out to an emergency, and nurses get calls from work at all hours as they attempt to cover call-ins. Thus I shut the puppy off.
I might know this little twerp. Remind me to ask you at work.
I was in estate law for many years. The vultures get the info from the probate records at the courthouse. I actually had a client who got called about her husbands vintage mustang not three days after he killed himself. So I wouldn’t be freaked out that he found you, just pissed off that he had the balls to call.
I’m pretty sure the house is worth double its value after 10pm.Creepy.
Unless you have a pre-established relationship with him, OR have given him permission to call you, he has just violated the Do Not Call legislation. Turn him in to Jay Nixon.
But is that just for telemarketing? If he’s trying to buy rather than sell?
Becs – No, Gary has been walking around saying, “Why are you so upset? It’s a bad economy. These realtors are hurting.”Zayrina – But – family might be down or in crisis! We do have the talking caller id but it was just a wireless call.3- Okay. Sounds like this is SOP.Shania – Okay – that makes me feel better. I suspected such.Caroline – I would never sell moms house to someone who would call after 9!FTDS – But he knows where i lived. Ugh.3 – I have no idea. I still have him listed on my fridge calendar as “Jackass: 636 -” (etc.)