My listing in the phone book used to be wrong. I used to be in there as Daniel Bowden. So I got them to change it, to put my correct surname. Big mistake.
You see, nobody who knows me ever looks me up in the phone book. Why would they? They already know me. But telemarketers do. And it used to be a big advantage to pick up the phone and know instantly it was a call I didn’t want to take, when people who say "Hello… Is that Mr Bowden?"
So, how to avoid telemarketers now? Well, I joined the Australian Direct Marketing Association "do not call" list, which has helped quite a bit. But it’s obvious that a lot of the companies ringing around are not ADMA members. And speaking to one of them, they admitted simply getting my number out of the phone book.
Stupidly, it costs money every month to have a silent line. So I’m going to see if I can get the White Pages to go back to listing my name with the name listed incorrectly. And with the money saved from not having a silent line, I think I might perhaps get Caller ID. Or I suppose I could just get the silent line. Hmmmm.
