I get this call a lot so this time I decided to listen and see what was actually going on. I had the time so I figured, why not. I'm a linguist and an English as a Second Language teacher so, if nothing else, I was interested in hearing the way they spoke and trying to see if I could guess where they were.
I first spoke to a young man with a quite thick accent. I couldn't ID his accent but his grammar was excellent.
I got the same story as those above have said. They were having some sort of grand opening party and if I attended the whole party I could talk away with two free tickets to SouthWest Airlines. Of course I knew this to be nonsense but I said 'uh huh' to all his questions to see how it would play out. He quickly passed me on to his manager. I'm not sure why. I had not agreed to anything other than to hear him out.
The manager spoke more clearly, but had a VERY usual accent that I had never heard before. I was told again about a grand opening party that I could attend to get free SouthWest tickets. When the speaker finally took a breath I interrupted and explained that I am an English teacher and that I was impressed with how well she was speaking and I wanted to know where she had learned English. Her listening skills weren't very good, however, and she told me, 'We are located right here in Richardson, TX'. Of course I did recognize the TX number, I'm from Dallas myself. I repeated my question, explaining that I was interested to know where her accent was from because I am an English teacher and I hear accents all the time but I hadn't heard one like hers but that I thought her accent was very good and beautiful.
Her whole tone of voice changed. "Ma'am! You are a teacher? I am in the Philippines. Have you been here? Do you think I speak well? Really?"
I told her I am an expert with students all over the world and, though I have not been to the Philippines, I was very impressed with her accent. I could tell she had worked very hard on her English. She thanked me with real joy in her voice.
Then she told me the party is tomorrow at 10am or 1pm. I told her I am going to the beach this weekend. She asked me about my weekdays. I told her I will be teaching, sorry, and that I am going to be traveling for a month on vacation. Then I thanked her for her time and the offer of the party and hung up.
I can't imagine what it must be like to have to call strangers and get shouted out all day so that you can feed your family. I wish her well and hope her excellent English skills get her a better job someday.
You're very kind - or very naive - to have wished a Filipino scammer well. She could be on the phone to your parents right now, taking them for a few hundred or thousand dollars.
I understand your interest in accents and foreign languages; I share those interests, but I'm opposed to criminal activity, especially when it targets unsuspecting elders or immigrants.
Got a call from this number. Lady with a thick accent said she was calling from Southwest Airlines and that they were promoting a trip for couples. She asked if I had significant other and then laughed when I said I didnt. Told me she would call me next week with a singles promotion. I told her not to bother and hung up.
Just as the others have said, a woman with a heavy accent calls me, maybe once a month... and always tries to tell me about a promotional special trip or something I qualify for. I've never understood what company she is calling from or what exactly she's trying to "sell" me... but I kid you not, it's always the exact same woman - very distinct voice and accent. Drives me crazy because every single time she has called me, I have politely asked her to take me off their call list and stop contacting me, and as SOON as I ask her that, she always hangs up. Sometimes she would argue with me a little first and say “you haven’t even heard what I’m trying to offer.” Since the exact same woman has called me several times, I've gotten to the point where it angers me to receive her calls. I started thinking maybe someone is pranking me, until I just looked up her number and saw that others have had the exact same experience. When I call her number back, my phone says the number doesn't exist/can't be reached. Today, I finally made a point to block her number on my phone, so hopefully it works and I never have to deal with her again. I have no idea what type of scam they're trying to pull (I’m very curious), but it's most definitely a scam.
They called on 6/21. Told me I was a "special guest" at Delta Airlines and wanted to invite me to a promotional event. I told her I was not interested, and she said "How can you not be interested when I wasn't done talking." I told her "I am just simply not interested, and don't want any information." She hung up on me in the middle of me trying to ask to be taken off their list.