Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Loan Consolidation

I don't know why I'm so nice to telemarketers and other random people who call to inform me about loan consolidation opportunities. Today I lost a little patience. This woman called to tell me about consolidating my loans by July 1st.

Woman: Is Mrs. Chai there?
Me: This is she.
Woman: I'm calling to tell you about your student loans. You can consolidate.....
Me: I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm not interested.
Woman: Why aren't you interested in consolidating your loans?
Me: Thank you for calling, but I'm not interested.
Woman: I'm not trying to sell you anything. By July 1st, you can consolidate.....
Me: Thank you for informing me about the loan consolidation, but I already know about it.
Woman: Then why aren't you interested in consolidating your loans?
Me: I'm not interested in talking to you about it.

(At this point, I feel really bad that I had to tell her my true feelings. But on the other hand, I feel like I'm nicer than other people who just hang up.)

Woman: I'm sorry to have bothered you.
Me: No problem. Have a nice day!

(I'm trying to let her know that there are no hard feelings. I know she's just doing her job. Maybe I should've just hung up? Or maybe I should use the line that my mom uses: "No speak English.")

By the way, anyone know what's happening with the loan consolidation thing and why July 1st is so significant? I've already consolidated, but can you RE-consolidate??

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi it's norma. we have caller id so when i know it's a telemarketer, i say "aidan, it's for you!" and he gets the phone and starts babbling into it. it's hilarious to watch!

Anonymous said...

My friend once worked a summer job as a telemarketer. He advised me simply to hang up on them, and not to feel bad about it. The telemarketers get hung up on all the time, so they are completely unfazed and unaffected by it.

That being said, I never do it. I just say, "Oh, HWH is not here right now, can I take a message?"

Also, didn't you sign up for the national no-call registry? That thing works. Nobody calls us anymore, only charitible organizations.

jieungrace said...

So next time, I should have Abby answer the phone? Ha!

It would be nice to have caller ID, though. Our phone only rings like one and a half times before going to the answering machine. So I never know who calls cuz people don't leave messages!

Anonymous said...

i like to do random things like start singing to them while they are talking or just not speak for a while and then shout, "bye!" and hang up on them. i dunno it's fun when people like that call bc you can pretty much do/say anything you want.

diva

Anonymous said...

you can't reconsolidate, but danny prolly already told you this

Anonymous said...

oh by the way- that was me, paul

Anonymous said...

you don't have to have caller id. a lot of telemarketers use automated software to call you now, these guys aren't dialing phone #'s anymore.

if the conversation goes like this...

(ring ring)
you: hello?
(1-2 second pause)
them: hello!

then you know it's a telemarketer. a normal conversation goes like this:

(ring ring)
you: hello?
them: hey vato, wassup.

no pause. if you hear the pause, just hang up.

but if you havne't done the national no call thingy, then you're missing out. i only get calls from my bank now to upsell me on something.

sunju said...

I thought the line "No English" infuriates you! I use it all the time...

Anonymous said...

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal about this issue.

The reason you are getting a rash of student-loan calls is because on July 1, Stafford loan rates are going up by 2% -- from 5%-ish to 7%-ish.