It could be a skit on “Saturday Night Live,” I guess, if it were not so annoying.
I was doing some research for a friend. He is considering moving into an assisted-living facility but not sure he would like it. I knew of one place that used to offer respite care and thought if he could try that it would help him decide.
Last Saturday, I went to this place’s website and entered my information and asked if it offered respite care. You are forced to provide a telephone number when making inquiries like this. I prefer not to because I like email responses.
Within 10 minutes, I got a call not from this facility but from a “place,” shall we say, that purports to help find a residence for our elderly mothers. The facility I was interested in appeared to be tied in with this “place” for those who gave birth to us and routed inquiries to it. I didn’t answer the call.
After that first call, I received an additional six calls that afternoon from this “place” that didn’t learn good manners from its mom. I did what I always do with marketing calls: I answer, do not speak and hang up. The calls started again on Sunday. One of the calls came while I was in church. If I was angry about receiving the earlier calls, I was really upset about one coming in while I was at worship.
I received a total of 15 telemarketing calls from this “place” that was really getting on my nerves.
As far as I am concerned, this is harassment and should be treated as such. To me it is just as annoying as if someone stood on my back porch and kept ringing the doorbell.
I did not contact this pushy “place” for older parents. My mother died 40 years ago. She was placed in a cemetery in Florida and, as far as I know, is still there.
The aggressiveness of this company is remarkable. I wonder if their business is failing which is driving them to make call after call to try to pull elderly or infirm people into their beds.
I went back to the website where I had been originally. When I skipped around a bit, I found that the facility does indeed still offer respite care for the price per night of a fine motel in Petoskey in peak season. However, the facility includes housekeeping, three meals per day, some activities and other amenities.
I sent all this to my friend. He’s considering it but only if he can bring his cat with him.
On Monday I was able to talk with the marketing director of this facility. The woman was sympathetic. No, it is not affiliated with this purveyor of places for older people and never has been. She told me this “place” manages to respond to inquiries like the one I made — not only just the one she works for but other independent homes for retirees.
She told me she has contacted this “place” that might help find a new residence where a mom could tell their kids, “not in my home you won’t,” many times to ask them to stop this practice and gotten nowhere.
“Isn’t this illegal?” I asked?
“Unfortunately, no. It’s just unethical,” she replied.
It certainly seems so. I am furious about getting 15 calls from a company I did not invite to contact me.
I would not do business with this “place” of obnoxious business practices if it was the last outfit in the United States. Its method of doing business tells me I couldn’t trust it to care for a loved one. With the advent of the internet and email, a lot of advertising shows up. You can choose what you want to pursue. Or delete it. You can search for what you need.
Keep your ear plugs in if you don’t want to go deaf from listening to people trying to sell you something you neither want or need. Unless it’s me.
I have this big bridge in Brooklyn.…
— Susan Keezer lives in Adrian. Send your good news to her at lenaweesmiles@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Susan Keezer: So many telemarketing calls
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