This article made me chuckle. So AT&T is getting fined. When I saw this, the first thing I thought was how often I got harrassed by AT&T. I wouldn't even answer the phone, they called every morning at 8:50am. It was always 10 minutes before my alarm went off. Finally after a month, I answered the phone. When I was given a chance to speak, I told them to put me on their no call list. The lady seemed offended that I would equate her with an average telemarketer. I guess she figured she was on a higher level of annoying people and should be treated differently. She said she needed my address to confirm my request. So there was an awkward silence until I finally asked, so are you going to confirm it or do you need it from me so you can write it down? So I guess for AT&T to confirm my request they need to have my address so they can badger me a different way. BTW, the law says I need to give them 30 days to process the request. The law says nothing about them requiring my address. Anyways, the calls stopped after that. This is just my personal belief, but I don't need people to come to me to give me ways to spend my money. I like to make that decision for myself. And as far as phone service goes, I have the lowest rate, and I know no one can beat it since they wouldn't make any money. I love it when they try to offer me long distance service now...

Them: You can get long distance service for as low as 5 cents a minute.
Me: I don't have long distance at all. Can you beat 0 cents a minute? (My cell phone has a free long distance plan.)

Or when they try to offer me a loan to get rid of my debt?

Them: We can offer you an introductory 4.99% APR loan to get you out of credit card debt!
Me: I don't have any credit card debt.
Them: What?
Me: Bye.

Living with 3 other adults, the responsibility of head of the household has always been somewhat ambiguous...

Them: Are you the head of the household?
Me: Uh, no.
Them: Can I speak with the head of the household?
Me: Um, no.
Them: (awkward pause) Ok, well...thank you. (I think it was the first time she ever got that response.)

But the best are when UCLA Alumni Association calls me. I don't know why they think I'm super rich now that I have a UCLA degree and can afford to just give them more money. What about the $20K I spent in tuition over 5 years? Haven't they got enough from me?

Them: A donation of $100 or more would really help out the school.
Me: Sorry, I can't.
Them: I understand that the times are tough, a donation of $50 or more could really help specialized programs at the school.
Me: Sorry, I can't.
Them: I understand, sir, even a donation of $25 will help. We are in need of alumni that can donate funds to helping our cause.
Me: Well, best of luck with that.
Them: Huh?
Me: Bye.

Anyways, I suppose the best way to deal with them is to hang up before they even call. There is a period of 1 or 2 seconds when you answer the phone where there is just silence on the other end. You know it's them, but you wait just in case it's someone you know. Just hang up. Then you don't even have to tell them you're not interested and their autodialer connects them to someone else. If it's someone you know, they'll call right back. I also hear those call zappers you can get at Radio Shack work pretty good, too. Our apartment doesn't really get those annoying calls that much. I think it all depends what credit card you have. My roommate gets all the telemarketer calls in our apartment. But his name is also on the phone bill.

Oh one more fact, did you know it's illegal for telemarketers to call your cell phone? I want to just get rid of my regular phone altogether and just use my cell phone. The only problem with that is you can't sign up for a credit card using a cell phone number. Hmm, maybe when I move I won't get a new phone. I already have a credit card. People might say, you can't get on the internet then. Oh well, I spend enough time on the internet at work. I really don't need it at home.

Oh BTW, my Wendy's plan didn't work out. She wasn't there. I'll keep you posted on new developments (if any), but I doubt Gio will want to go with me every Friday night. Ha ha.