How a Cold Caller Outplayed a Rude Prospect (and Made Reddit Lose Its Mind)
If you think cold calling is a thankless job, you’re not alone. For many, the mere mention of "sales call" triggers the same fight-or-flight response as hearing “extended car warranty.” But what happens when the person on the other end of the line is not just uninterested, but masterfully, smugly rude? This is the story of one Sales Development Representative (SDR) who decided to fight back—not with anger, but with a dose of weaponized politeness that left his adversary speechless... and the internet divided.
The Cold Call That Launched a Thousand Comments
Our tale begins with u/Rantamplan, a then-fledgling SDR. For the uninitiated—and as the comments made crystal clear, nearly everyone is uninitiated—an SDR is a Sales Development Representative. These are the folks tasked with cold calling companies (not individuals, as our storyteller quickly clarifies) in hopes of starting the sales process.
On this particular day, Rantamplan dialed up a prospect who, instead of the usual abrupt hang-up or explosive rant, delivered his rudeness like a well-practiced maître d’ who’s just informed you there’s no table for you—ever. No shouting, no swearing, just a polite, patronizing lecture draped in condescension.
Rantamplan played along. Ten minutes of “pearls of wisdom” later, the prospect went in for the kill: a confident “goodbye.” But our SDR hero had a trick up his sleeve. With a (possibly exaggerated) trembling voice, he replied, “Thanks a lot for your words, you have been the kindest person I spoke to so far.” Cue confused silence. When pressed, Rantamplan doubled down: “Yeah, thanks a lot, you dedicated 10 minutes to speak to me and never yelled like other people usually do.”
Caught off guard, the once-impervious prospect could only manage: “And what you said you do?”
Reddit Reacts: Petty or Petty Hero?
This seemingly minor act of “revenge” (if you can call it that) set off a firestorm of opinions in the r/PettyRevenge community. Some cheered, others booed, and a few just wanted to know what “SDR” actually means.
One top commenter, u/vanGenne, summed up many people’s feelings: “Your job is probably my nightmare.” To which Rantamplan replied [OP]: not only is it survivable, but with the right mentorship, those cold-calling skills can open doors far beyond sales. In fact, Rantamplan now teaches others how to leverage SDR techniques to find new jobs in any field—turning a much-maligned job into a superpower.
Of course, not everyone was so charitable. “Cold callers are the living equivalent of junk mail,” declared u/everything2go, channeling the frustration of anyone who’s ever fielded an unsolicited pitch. u/Murph1908, a small business owner, didn’t hold back: “We can't ignore calls we don't recognize… you’re the 8th call today, 50th call this week, and 400th call this month.” The avalanche of calls, they argued, is what drives business people to the brink.
But some, like u/Disastrous-Media9505, a former telemarketer, offered a different take: “Kindness throws them off so much easier than being rude and usually I can use that kindness to get my foot in too another call.” Maybe, just maybe, the world would be a better place if everyone dialed up the empathy—even for cold callers.
SDR: Acronyms, Annoyance, and a Lot of Confusion
If there was one universal truth in the comment section, it was this: nobody knows what SDR stands for. “Does SDR stand for Signal Defined Radio or am I missing something?” mused u/odebus. “Standard Definition Resolution was the best I could do,” joked u/SilverStar9192. The confusion even threatened to derail the whole story, as u/winter_laurel admitted: “Also no clue what ‘SDR’ is. I stopped reading at that point and came to the comments to see if anyone else knew. Haven’t seen an answer, don’t feel like googling that shit, on to the next story.”
Eventually, the crowd-sourced wisdom prevailed: SDR = Sales Development Representative, the person at the very start of the sales pipeline, cold-calling to uncover potential leads. As u/Freshouttapatience hilariously explained: “They are the ones who call asking for your boss’s boss’s boss at your desk while mispronouncing their name. Sometimes they pretend to know the important person. This is most fun when the person has died. Now you will thank me in a polite voice.”
The Fine Art of Polite Vengeance
So, was Rantamplan’s move truly “petty revenge,” or just a clever application of the “kill them with kindness” school of conflict? Opinions were split. “There’s something about controlling a conversation with someone who thinks they are controlling it that feels petty and spiteful; even, and maybe especially, if you are coming off as sincere,” observed u/Arcangel4774. Others doubted the impact altogether: “I promise you that guy didn't give a shit about you at all. You are a cold caller sir. You are the asshole,” wrote u/Fast-Mud-5841.
But let’s face it: whether the prospect truly “died inside” or just wanted to get off the call, there’s a certain satisfaction in flipping the script. Sometimes, as u/uCannoTUnseEThiS put it, “the best revenge is making them realize how terrible they've been without actually telling them.”
Conclusion: Revenge, Sales, and the Human Element
Whatever your stance—team cold caller, team “please never call again,” or team “I just came for the comments”—this story reveals something universal: we all crave a little dignity, even in the most transactional moments. Maybe the true pettiness wasn’t in the call, but in our collective refusal to see the human on the other end of the line.
So, next time you pick up an unexpected call, remember: you might just be starring in someone else’s petty revenge story. Or, at the very least, giving a Redditor fresh material.
What’s your best (or worst) cold call experience? Would you have handled it differently? Drop your thoughts below—just don’t sell us anything.
Original Reddit Post: I made a rude person die inside.