The lighter side of life with Kate Mason: Cold callers are really starting to make my blood boil

Our records show you have been involved in an accident is the last thing you want to hear when answering a call from an unknown number.

But millions of us are inundated with these irritating cold calls on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.

Having worked in a call centre I do have a shred of sympathy for those tasked with meeting daily call targets whilst being screamed at down the phone by some irate stranger.

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Even to this day I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat after nightmares about whiteboards filled with missed targets and the weekly Hunger Games style battle to become star caller of the week.

As such I normally try and keep my tone to mildly irritated rather than hopping mad when dealing with such unwanted calls.

That was until a recent spate of PPI, spurious accident claims and ‘you’ve been awarded three billion pounds we just need your bank details’ kind of calls in the last week alone.

The only saving grace when fielding such calls is at least the person at the other end of the phone is usually well mannered while you’re telling them to do one.

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But this week I encountered a cold caller who was so rude and aggressive that it literally made my blood boil.

It started innocently enough: “Hello madam is that Kate Mason I’m speaking to.”

And then came the drivel “Our records indicate you’ve been involved in a car accident.”

Through gritted teeth I muttered politely as I could muster “Can you remove me from your records I’ve never been involved in a car accident in my life.”

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It was at this point that the call took an unexpected turn when the man insisted I must be mistaken and I HAD been involved in a car accident.

Was I suffering from amnesia? Had I somehow erased all knowledge of this horror crash from my memory as some kind of coping strategy?

I put this explanation to the imbecile at the other end of the phone only to be told “our records can’t be wrong you HAVE had an accident” before putting the phone down on me.

I was absolutely stunned it’s one thing being bombarded with such unwanted calls but being abused by the person on the other end is an all time low.

My faculties may still be in tact for now but a few more weeks of these nuisance calls and I may just start to lose my marbles as well as my temper!