A tech service call at night! I can’t believe it

The cold calls have mostly stopped. Despite the occasional call, I’m largely relieved. I no longer have to convince telesales people that I don’t have the money to invest in the market, nor do I have to tell them about my lack of interest in real estate. The stray call generally offers a cash advance against credit cards, which I politely decline.

The calm was broken by a call at 9.25pm last week: the caller insisted on replacing my set-top box. When I reminded him of the late hour, he said, “We work till 11 O’clock, sir”.

I wasn’t amused by his nonchalance, but I calmly told him that I was about to go to bed and had no interest in inviting him into my home. “It will only take 30 minutes. Yours is a V2 version, and we are offering a V6,” he reeled off.

By now, I was angry. Why would he insist on coming into my home at this late hour when I’m not comfortable with the idea? I sternly told him that I didn’t want him to come over and asked him to come during the day.

The technician who never arrived

That worked. A few days later, he called me at noon. When I told him my address, the set-top man said he was in the neighbourhood and would come in five minutes.

Five minutes turned into two hours. I hadn’t stepped out for fear of missing the set-top box man. Finally, my patience wore out, and I returned the call. Guess what? The call went unanswered.

I still don’t have the new set-top box. The calls at night have stopped. So I’m not complaining.

I’m baffled by the move to provide tech services at night. I understand that most of these services are outsourced, and the technicians work until midnight. Having tech support late into the night is commendable since many people work from home and log into office stations on the other side of the globe.

In some houses, both husband and wife may be at work, and it isn’t feasible to make house calls during the day. For such residents, the tech service at night works.

But in most homes, somebody will be at home: spouse, mother or grown-up children. So it is prudent to make hardware upgrades during the day. Technical teams should focus on daytime calls unless the residents cannot make time during the day.

Strangers in my house?

I hate telephone calls at night. That’s the time I unwind after returning from the office. I don’t usually have guests at night unless it’s the weekend. Why would I want strangers in my house, even if they are technicians, when I’m retiring to bed.

Just like the move to abolish cold calls from telemarketers, there should be a law to prevent calls that intrude on people's privacy, especially at night.