Not Getting With The Program

(I’m working in tech support for an insurance broker. We frequently get sales calls from vendors wanting to know what kind of software we use, so they can offer us their software to use, instead.)

Me: *answers phone* “Tech Support, this is [My Name].”

Vendor: “Hi, this is [Vendor] calling from [Company]. We have it written down here that you are still using [Program]; is that correct?”

(We’ve used several of the same programs for so long, some of the names have changed, including the companies that make the software, in some cases.)

Me: “That sounds familiar, but let me check; it’s not a program I normally get into unless there’s a problem with it.”

Vendor: “That’s fine.”

(I mute the phone so I can ask a coworker, and I search our system to see if we have any documentation for the program in question.)

Vendor: *thinking I can’t hear him, because he can’t hear me* “Come on, Mr. IT Guy. You need to reboot the whole system just to know what you’re using?”

(Stunned, and not sure how to proceed, I decided to keep him muted a little while longer just to waste his time, and then I hung up on him without another word. Not sure if he ever called back again.)