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This article is a blast from the past.  I was reviewing some stuff on LiP the other day and came upon this article and thought it was kind of fun, so I decided to re-post it today. This incident happened before it was common to have a US phone number even if you live abroad.  Enjoy.

A funny thing happened as I sat in my office in Davao City, Philippines a few years back.  It is something I think about from time to time, but I don’t believe I have ever written about it before.

I was reminded of this incident the other day after I wrote an article about outsourcing in the Philippines.

There were a lot of comments about call centers, phone calls received during the night and such.

My friend, Macky, left a comment that kind of rang true to me:

However, Service/tech calls aside, I have a problem with the random phone solicitation. It bugs me when a telemarketer calls me.

I am on the NO CALL LIST and yet a few get through. Of course, many of the Pinoy operators have no clue what that is when I remind them. Sorry, countrymen, but cold sales calls bother me especially when they recognize that I am also Pinoy and think I am excited about this. woohoo.

Sometimes, during a 3am call, I think about asking the caller if they are in Davao. And if so, if they can wait 10 minutes while I drive to his call center and staple a NO CALL LIST printout on his forehead.

When Macky left that comment, it brought back the memory of this funny incident that happened to me some years ago here in Davao.

As most readers know, I have a US telephone number through Vonage.  I’ve been using Vonage service for about 8 years now, and with it I can call the USA for free (I pay a monthly charge of about $25).  Also, because I have a US phone number, people in the USA can call me for free.

Early one morning I was sitting in my office working.  My Vonage phone rang.  I figured it was my Mom, some other family member, or perhaps a customer of one of my businesses.

I answered the call:

Me:  Hello?

Caller:  Hi, this is Steve from Sears Siding.  I wanted to let you know that we have an installation team who will be in your neighborhood next week, and we thought you might want to have Sears Siding installed on your home.

Me:  Uh, let me just make sure I understood you correctly, an installation team from Sears Siding will be in my neighborhood next week?

Caller:  Yes, they will, we are installing siding on several homes on your street, can we include you?

Me:  Are you sure they will be on my street?

Caller:  Yes.

Me:  OK, that’s interesting.  I am curious, I don’t know of anybody in my area who has vinyl siding.  Are you sure it can hold up well to the weather where I live.  I have heard that in some areas of high heat that vinyl siding may not hold up well.

Caller:  Sir, no need to worry, we have a full warranty.  Any time that there is a problem with your siding we will send a technician to your home to repair the problem.

Me:  Really?  He will come to my home whenever I have a problem?  My home is really far from any of your outlets, are you sure he will come here?

Caller:  Yes, sir, he will be there within 24 hours after you report the problem.

Me:  That’s great service!  I can’t imagine a US company sending somebody thousands of miles like that just based on a single phone call.

Caller:  Thousands of miles?

Me:  Yes, thousands of miles.

Caller:  What do you mean?

Me:  Well, since your outlets are in the USA, and I live in the Phil…

Caller interrupts me: You don’t live in the USA?

Me:  No, I live in the Philippines.

Caller:  Can I speak to the person who lives in the home where you are now?

Me:  Yes, that is me, I am the one who lives in this home.

Caller:  But, you said you don’t live in the USA.

Me:  Yes, that’s true.  I live in the Philippines, and you are calling me in the Philippines.

CLICK.  He hung up!

Ha ha.  I really got a kick out of it.  If I had been in the States, I would have hung up on this telemarketer right away, but since this was my first time that I had ever received a sales call like this in the Philippines, I decided to have a little fun with it.  You can be assured that I do not have any Sears Siding on my home, though.

This was back in the days when VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services like Vonage were in their infancy.  Most people didn’t realize it was possible to have a US phone number and live in the Philippines back in those days.

I still get such sales calls from time to time here in Davao, but it is rare.  I never (or rarely) answer our Philippine line, I let our nieces or Feyma take care of that, they never want to talk to me anyway.  But, on the Vonage, I usually am the person who answers that line, so I get to talk to the telemarketers when they call, and I usually give them a little more than they expected!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. That is hilarious Bob. You had the wife rolling on the floor. Thanks for the experience. And thanks for the tips of vonage phones. We will have to send one home to the family now in Gensan.

  3. Hi Bob, I’m living in Legapi City now and brought a Magicjack. They work fantastic in case anyone is looking for a cheap way to call the states.

    Bill

    • Hi Bill – I personally recommend Vonage much higher than MagicJack. We all have our favorites… magicjack is not mine. Thanks for sharing, though.

      • Out of curiosity why don’t you like the magicjack Bob. I use Skype but am always looking for options and personal testimonials are always best

        • Hi Thomad – I like Vonage because I don’t have to use my computer to make or answer calls. Vonage hooks directly my telephone. I have two line telephones in many rooms of my house. Line 1 is my PLDT Philippine line. Line 2 is my Vonage US line. Even if my computer is turned off, I can answer my phone calls from the USA, or make a call to the USA. If I am watching TV, or if I am outside in the yard, I can answer my phone (for outside, a cordless phone, of course). With Magicjack, Skype, and others, I need to be sitting at my PC if somebody calls. With Vonage, I don’t. Also, in my experience, I have found Vonage better for line quality.

          • Thank you. You make an excellent argument. I guess I am limited to the computer based ones as we don’t use a land line as the country seems to be so cell dominated and affordable. Also I don’t knbow if I would make enough calls to justify the monthly Vonage fee even if I did get a land line. So if limited to a computer based service which one would you choose.

            • Hi Thomad – I think I didn’t explain it well enough! You don’t need a landline here for Vonage to work. But, what I mean is that you can use any regular telephone receiver for it, not the computer. So, even if you don’t have a landline, just plug a regular telephone into your router box that will be supplied by Vonage, and you are in business. Even if your computer is turned off, your Vonage line will still work, as long as you have an internet connection (you can be connected to the net even if your computer is off, using a router). So, even if you have no landline, you can still use Vonage. If you don’t make that many phone calls, Vonage has another plan for $14.99 per month you get 500 minutes of calling. On my plan, $25/month I have unlimited calling anywhere in North America, UK, Australia and a number of other countries.

              • Thank you very very much. Awesome. I’m sold!!! Get that Vonage affiliate link up on LIP will ya LOL

              • Hi Thomad – Actually, the links to Vonage in the article are affiliate links, so if you use one of those, I’ll get credit. Thanks for that! 😆

              • FYI, I just went to Vonage and saw the $14.99 month plus taxes/fees unlimited plan to 60 countries good for three months but then the pricing goes to $25.99 a month. There is also a 500 minute monthly plan but it shows $17.99 and both plans require a USA address. still cheaper than skype so I will probably make the switch.

              • Hmm… I have not looked at their plans for a while to be honest…. they may have made some changes since I was last there. I have been using them for 8 years already! 😆

              • BTW, I forgot to mention… yes, you are right, you must give a US address. I have a US address that I use for mail forwarding, and for things like this.

  5. Hey Bob,

    Excellent story, I would have told him yes, I want the siding put on my house, and to send a salesman out right away, and then give him your address. 🙂 It would have been the same reaction I am sure. Thanks for the smiles..

    Take care,
    Danny H.

  6. Hi Bob,
    I just loved your wind up,your a man after my own heart,Lol.

    We now have whats called computer generated calls,otherwise known as silent calls.
    The computer logs what time the call was made,so the live salesman knows what time you are normally at home,and can then make a live call later.
    However,apparantly,if you hit the hash button 8 or 9 times very quickly in succession,it throws the computer into confusion,Lol.

    BTW,never heard of “vinyl siding”,as far as i’m aware its not hit the UK yet,although we do have plastic guttering and plastic double glazed windows.
    regards,Chas.

    • Hmm, no vinyl siding in the UK, chas? Sears and the others will have to get busy and gain a new market! 😆

      Interesting about those silent calls… just another way to make themselves a pest!

    • Cahsdv,
      I’ve had a few of those silent calls to my cellphone, they must be from computer generatd random numbers. How else? Occasionally I get one from a philippine call plan outfit, real live people, real philippinas, coming from somewhere in California though. They really like to talk a long time. How did they get my cell number?
      Jade

      • Jade,
        Yeah they are annoying,fortunately i’ve only had the rare sales txt on my cell.
        How they get your No? Its quite simple really,so many companies these days sell mailing lists,bloody annoying,what happened to customer confidentiality.
        I’ve spent many years in sales,and even i find some of the tricks they get up to these days very underhand.Everybody is after a share of your hard earned money,and it appears to have got worse since the recession.
        regards,Chas.

  7. Lol a good posting bob

    yes thay can make a pest of them selfs we have 3 or 4 call day here at home and mom is hard off hearing and she will just drop the phone back down lol but thay have a job to to just like u mate and as i did say be for i have a wife that works in a call center so i know what it is like for them that work in one………l

    from peter martin tassie

  8. Good Morning Bob;
    You do funny very well! I for one do not miss those cold calls I used to receive in the states. One of the many pleasures of Philippine Living is eating supper with out 4 to 5 calls. In the states I sound very excited to hear from them, explain that I was very interested, and could I have their number so I could call them back. For some reason they hung up.

    • Hi Paul – Ha ha… I used to do the same thing in the States. Only difference was that I would ask for the caller’s home number, so I could call them back while they were eating dinner! 😆

    • Paul

      There’s a new kind of telemarketer that call’s business’s. When they call they ask for the owner. Well finally i told one to stop calling and bothering us and he said i still want to speak with the owner. I said i was the owner and he just hung up. No more calls. be safe

  9. Bob,
    About 30 years ago a department store called ‘Prange Way’ opened in the only enclosed mall in my home town. Their phone nimber was only on digit different from my partnts number. You can guess the result, my parents endured 20 nuisance calls a day. They had had their phone number since the late 1940’s and all of their friends knew it.
    Once the phone rang for the n’th time that day. I picked up the phone and said, Congratulations you are the lucky 100th caller today and you qualify for a $50.00 gift certificate on this day only. You are invited come down to the store today to retrieve it. Your claim code is “PW905”. Got that? Write it down “PW905” . Ok, Thank You for calling and happy shopping.
    I did that a few more times too. We all had a good laugh about it . My parents did not continue the practice though, They were too polite.
    The novelty wore off and the store closed 10 years later. Rest in Peace!
    Jade

    • That’s a great one, Jade! I bet some of those people were steamed when they went to the mall and the people looked at them like “what are you smoking?” 😆

      • Bob, Pehaps another interesting variation would have been: Thank You for calling Prange Way. We are having a gift coupon promo and are giving these out to random callers to our store. We have 50 $10.00 gift coupons to give out on our anniversary customer appreciation day. Sorry you just nissed by one call of winning one yourself. You are invited to call again and encourage your friends to call the store for their lucky chance at winning. Remember that only one in ten calls are routed to the gift coupon operator.
        Or something like that…

  10. Since being on the national ” Do Not Call ” kist for a few years that has filtered out a lot of the phone solicitor calls but some still find their way through it. I don’t answer the phone anymore until just after the 4th ring. That may fool those computer generated calls to think an answering machine or voice mail system is answering the phone.

    I recently tried what I assume was VOIP provided by Comcast Cable in my area to try and save on the 40% tax I get on my regular ” phone Company ” landline. Hated the VOIP from the cable company and in 2 weeks I went back to POTS ( plain old telephone service ), copper landline. In making numerous calls to Comcast during the short time I had their phone service, my call was answered in The Philippines. That was about the only enjoyment I had with my Comcast VOIP phone service, chatting to the Filipinas in the call center.

    At the conclusion of the call they would ask ” Is there anything else I can help you with today Sir ? ” . I replied, yes there is, next time you are out shopping say hello to the Jollibee statue standing outsede the entrance to your favorite Jollibee location.

    The few calls I still get from a telephone solicitor that I feel like talking to, I always ask where they are calling from. I once got a call from a call center in Manila. When they told me they were in Manila I reminded them of the specials being offered that week by Jollibee. LOL Talk about a reverse phone sales pitch LOL . At least I know about something I can talk to them about that they are familiar with.

    • Ha ha… Bob, you need to get paid by Jollibee for all of the promotion you do for them! I bet they don’t even know that they have a one man call center advertising agent in New York!

      • When I was a kid and we used to go on family vacations ( long before the interstate highway system ) I always liked it when we would stop at ” Dairy Queen ” for ice cream. We had nothing like it in the small town where I grew up so it was always something to look forward to when we went on vacation.

        Fast forward the calandar for…………well lets just say a ” few ” decades, and there is still something to look forward to as a special treat on vacation that I don’t have in my home town here. Makes me feel like a kid on a family vacation again.

  11. Yes, Bob, I’ve done the same thing with Comcast service calls here in Michigan. When I ask the assumed filipina operator “How’s Cebu?”, there’s usally a long pause or a “I’m in Bacolod”
    reply before the call resumes.

  12. When making my latest flight reservations to NAIA from the states I called one of the Travel websites and actually had a great conversation with one of the agents after she found out I was going to Manila. My wife got a little steamed cause I was on the phone with her so long but it was the first time that one of these agents admitted to being in the Philippines and was willing to talk for awhile.

  14. Funny post Bob. I used to ‘put on’ the cold callers a bit especially if they were calling at an inopportune time. You should have demanded that vinyl siding, lol. The ‘No Call’ list here has put the kibosh on most of those calls now. I kind of miss them…Ahh the good old days…I did get a call from an LBC agent the other day concerning a delivery. She called me at 3:30 PM EST and stated that no one answered the phone I had provided for the local delivery there at Samar. I informed her that on the island reception was spotty at best as the distance from the nearest cell tower was about 32 miles! She stated they would keep trying the number. I hung up then looked at the time. She was obviously Filipina but I’m not sure if she was in the States or the Phils. If she had been calling the island at that time I’m sure no one would have answered as it would have been 3:30 AM!!

    • I am on the US “no call list” (since my number is a US number). It has stopped most such calls, but from time to time one comes through, though.

      Haha… I’d be surprised if she was calling at 3:30am locally! But, you never know!

      • Hello BoB…I have a VideoPhone with a US number, free 24hrs to the US. I’ve been in the Philippines for a year now starting a Agri-Business ( Contract Growing) I’m tired of trading my time for money. I worked hard for someone else, now I work hard for my self. Im setting up several streams of Income here in the Pinas, My question is BoB? What can I do with this free 24hr US number I have in the Pinas, any suggestions?

        • Hi Jacob – When you ask “what can you do with your free 24 hr US number?” I am not sure exactly what you mean. I guess you would make phone calls with it anytime you need or wish to talk with somebody in the States or elsewhere. I feel you might be asking how you can use your phone to make money, since that is something you also mention, setting up streams of income. I have suggestions on how to make money with such a phone in my book, 49 Ways to make a living in the Philippines.

  15. Three weeks after we arrived in Dipolog, the mailman came puttting up to our door with an envelope from the USA. Sears had sent us our new credit card! Oh BOY, the only issue was where I was going to be able to use it here in the Philippines.
    Sooo…. if you really are interested in that new siding, give me a jingle, perhaps we can work out some creative financing with my unused Sears card. LOL

  16. We also use Vonage. One bonus we have found that since we have the bare minimum plan for our PLDT landline, it is cheaper for us in some instances to use our vonage phone to call long distance in the Philippines or to call a cell (versus calling at cell from a landline). At $.09 a minute, it works out to about P4 per minute which is cheaper than what it would cost from our PLDT.

    • Hi Kikas_head – I have done the same. I find that it costs less to use Vonage than local long distance, so we do that regularly! Ha ha… it’s kind of funny, don’t you think? I used to have an American friend who lived not far from me here in Davao (he has since moved back to the States). He also had Vonage. We used to regularly call each other over our Vonage phones, even though we were only a few blocks away from each other! 😆

  17. Bob, maybe you could write a posting about the various phone systems for calling internaitonally and receiving calls internaitonally. In my situation, my Mother is 95 and, big surprise does not have internet in her house (she lives alone!). With Vonage can I call her and she call me? We have only cell phones where I live. But, my bet is that there are many of your members who would like a layout of the situation. Thank you.

    BTW, in the U.S., in theory if you are on the “no call list”, the following can indeed call you to sollicit: 1. political parties; 2. non profit organizations; and any company with which you have done business, e.g., VISA.

  18. Hi Bob – I’ve been meaning to get back to you. Your siding is in and made it through customs okay. We’re having an installation team in your neighborhood next week. Which is a good day for you to enjoy your new vinyl siding? (btw, it looks just like our picture!)
    😆

  19. I got a call from Sears years ago with the man saying very much what you had to say, i was annoyed they called, so i acted interested, i agree that they can in fact send someone right over to give me an estimate, the next day they call again, we are going to come over can you verify your address i gave them the address and then explain that this was an apartment building and that i was NOT the owner of it, but i would be very interested in them coming over to give estimate and show me the colors, ( haha and they did in fact still come over anyways knowing it was an apartment building and i was not the owner ) they did get disappointed when i said there was nothing i could do for them because this is not my property, but that i loved the samples lol…

  20. That macky’s a jerk.

    One tidbit I can share about Philippine based calls I’d get when I was in the US:

    Most of the time the caller will know I am Filipino because of my name. I already knew the drill, which is that they would ask if I spoke Tagalog (easier for them to talk & make a sale). I usually say no, but on the times I say yes, some become quite chatty.

    I’m quite sure they knew the rules, but they start forgetting the sell & want to have friendly & (very) personal conversations in tagalog (more so if bisaya is in the mix). It made them sound quite lonely (and I’m the guy living outside the country). The type of personal chat at 3am looking for a phone pal when everyone’s asleep. Quite odd & somewhat inconvenient.

    Anyway, soon after, I became a US bred Fil-Am or Hispanic immigrant whenever they’d call.

  21. Speaking another language has it’s benefits. Quite often, as I’ve only said “hello” before they’ve launched into their spiel, I’ll start speaking mandarin. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever get someone who understands mandarin, as mine is so rusty that I just tie meaningless statements together, such as: “I speak chinese, a little, because, before, I lived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan”, “I want to go to the mall, turn right, here” and “What is your name and how old are you?”. Usually I don’t get through more than half of the mandarin equivalent of those statements before the caller hangs up.

  22. Bob, I’m on that “Do Not Call Registry” also. It does not work so well, especially right now when America’s mid-term elections are right around the corner. Apparently political calls are exempt from the “do not call registry”. In the past few weeks I have been bombarded by politicians (recording) – even one two days ago from Obama on behalf of a Florida politician.

    Earlier this week I got a call that I could not get rid of… Sure, I could and did hang up on it only to have the same recorded call daily for the next four or five days, from a computer, stating that this was “A very important message for Alahandro somebody” (which I have never heard of). To exit the call, I (Alahandro) was suppose to select one of three options by pressing numbers 1, 2 or 3. (Press 1 if it was Alahandro, Press 2 to put the phone on hold for him to come to the phone, and press 3 to repeat the message). There was no option to stop them from calling!

    To make a long story short, I finally gave in and called the provided long distance number and informed a lady that no such person was at this number and if she called again I was recording all the calls and would turn the matter over to the attorney general’s office.

    As a side note, for readers still in America who want to Opt-Out of receiving junk mail like free credit card offers, just dial 1-888-5-OPT OUT (1-888-567-8688). If you prefer to use the internet go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com.

    • Hi Rich – We rarely receive any mail here. I would say that maybe only once or twice a year do we get anything in the mail. I’ve never seen a piece of junk mail. It is truly one of the pleasures of living here! Ha ha

  23. What I do to have fun is tell the marketer, I do not speak english and cursed them in Tagalog, that was the best way for them to hang up. But one time, one telemarketer understood my tagalog and he got mad , I have to hang up the telephone fast. The telemarketer also like to call you during dinner time. Our phone has a light indicating it is from a telemarketer, so we just ignored it.

  24. Best I had on this was a letter to the US Post Office mail box I used to use for my business back in Colorado. The letter said, “Your lovely home at Box 76033 has been pre-approved for a second mortgage in the amount of $75.000. Please contact bla, bla, ba …..” I laughed and threw it in the trash.

    Two days later I received a phone call. “Mr Starr, this is Joan at XYZ Mortgage. We haven’t heard from you regarding the mortgage we offered you on your home at PO Box 76033.

    With great difficulty I resisted the urge to ask “Joan” if she had been born that stupid or if she had to be taught. “OK Joan, I accept, send me the check right away.”

    The reply? “Well sir, we want to send you the check but we can’t mail it to a post office box …”

    There went my big chance to go to Vegas and make a killing at the poker tables *sigh* (and people wonder why so many banks are in trouble for making risky mortgages..)

  26. I know. Talk about truth in advertising … NOT. Can you imagine if they showed up at the post office to start foreclosure proceedings on a PO Box? 😉

  29. nice one bob. when we were travelling there from the uk some years ago, i got a similar cold call on my cell offering me an upgrade. annoying. so i kept him on the phone chatting for 10 minutes as you did. when he tried to close the deal i told him i couldnt hear him very well, bad line, as i was in singapore. phone slammed down quickly.
    as you say satisfying

  30. My family here in the Philippines use the MagicJack for 5 years now and since I’d been here in Davao this July, I’m a very satisfied MagicJack user, as well as my family too.
    Anyway, that was freakin’ hilarious. I would also go play with the caller.
    But unlike you, my according to my family (including me , since using MagicJack last July), we never experience telemarketing calls from the US or from any other part in this country. My number is actually a U.S. New York City cellphone number which my mother purchased in New York. Yea, I tell you, not even once.
    Well, thanks for sharing this amusing story. 🙂

    • Hi Bingkee – I’m glad that you have been happy with the services that Magicjack has been able to provide. The sales calls like I received have been very rare, but it does happen from time to time. Glad you enjoyed the story!

  31. I think we got a call from the same guy from Sears about siding, way back when Vonage was new! We did a about the same thing, and they guy was so shocked to be calling the Philippines! Since then, we get calls from people marketing advertising for vacation rental, since we have one… in the middle of the night!! Ack! AND we are working through a loan modification in the USA and were getting three calls a week for a while– in the middle of the night. So. We now unplug our Vonage phone when we go to bed. 😛

    • Hi AmericanLola – 😆 It sure is a funny experience to get that call, isn’t it? I don’t unplug my phone… but I switch off the ringer! 😉