Topic: And the conversation went something like this:
Boon
unregistered
posted
"Hello?"
"Yes, who am I speaking with?"
Suspicious: "Well, that depends on who you called."
"Well, let me tell you, I'm (name withheld) from (company withheld) and we're a non-profit organization dedicated to helping..."
At that point I sort of tuned out, but I caught the words "veteran" and "medical" in there. I'd never heard of them, so I asked him to send me some information so I could make a decision.
He said he couldn't do that, because it would cost him money for postage and most people don't send a check after they mail them stuff.
I told him I didn't send money to companies I'd never heard of, especially if they refused to give me more information with which to make a decision.
He got mad. He said, "Well, let's see how much you know then. Where's the military center in Oklahoma?"
"Umm...Oklahoma City? Look, I'm not sending you money unless you send me more information."
"Well Lady, here's how it works..."
I interrupted. "No. This is how it works. I'm hanging up now, and I'm going online to find your company and send them an email about you. I'm not sending you money, I'm not giving you my name, and do not call me back."
I got rude. For that, I'm not proud. But he was trying to bully me into sending him money, and that I will not stand for.
I looked up the company, and I sent them an email:
Hello. I just got a phone call from a man who was soliciting money on your behalf...at least, he said he was with (company removed).
First of all, I do not promise to send money to ANYONE who calls to ask for it. Furthermore, I'd never heard of your company.
So I politely asked him to send me some information. He said he couldn't do that, since it would cost him money for postage and I probably wouldn't send money anyway if he did. When I told him that I was not going to send money or promise to send anything to an organization I'd never heard of, he wanted to play 20 questions with me, asking me if I knew where the "military center" or some such in Oklahoma was.
If he'd just referred me to your website, or asked me to look up and/or call you directly, I might have a better impression of your company. As it is, I will not be making a donation to your company now, nor anytime soon.
This funds solicitor of yours left a bad taste in my checkbook.
posted
Good job, Boon. I need to get on the state's "do not call" list. We usually get about 2 calls per day. A few weeks ago somebody called selling something, and when I told her to take me off her list, she said, "You don't have to be a b*tch" and hung up on me.
Well, I wasn't one at the time, but I quickly morphed into one. The stupid lady had obviously never heard of *69. I called her company and reported her.
posted
I hate it when those kinds of places call up and ask for someone who doesn't live there (and probably never has). When you tell them that there's no [insert random name] at that number, they always say something like, "Well, sir, maybe you can help me. . . ." Yeah, you can help me by hanging up and not bugging me again.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
This is one of the benefits of having dial-up (there aren't many, I'll take what I can). We use Callwave and stay connected all the time. Thus, our calls are automatically screened. Most telemarketers don't even bother to leave a message.
Posts: 1269 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, I'm kind of curious to the name of the company. I'd like to on my guard in case I get any suspicious calls.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ever notice that answer to "what are you supposed to do when..." is never "hunt them down and give them an atomic wedgie," no matter how much you might want it to be?
Edited to be a little less bloodthirsty.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Me, I'm different. I like getting calls from telemarketers. Sometimes I do business with them, sometimes I don't but I always have fun.
First, whenever I'm at home, I anwer the phone in an unusual, unexpectedly offbeat manner. Like singing "Good Mornin', Good Mornin'" from "Singin' in the Rain". Or talking like a pirate ("Avast, me hearties"). Or in rhyming couplets (a la Agnes DiPesto from "Moonlighting"). This serves to throw folk who don't know me off balance. Folk who do know me are used to this, already.
If they are calling to sell me cabinet refacing, vinyl siding, replacement window, debt consolidation, or chimney sweeping, I politely let them know that I just LOVE my cabinet faces, clapboard, windows, load of debt, or creosote build-up, and I wouldn't dream of parting with it. Then I wish them good luck in their endevour, and hang up.
If they are calling to solicit charity, I either pledge money on the spot, politely refuse, or request further information (either website or via mail). The I wish them good luck in their endevour, and hang up.
Whatever they are calling about, I am always sure to ask where they are calling from. It is usually very very far away. Then I ask what time it is there, what it's like working at 3 AM, how is the weather, and if they know anybody in New Jersey. Many telemarketers from far away countries have family or friends who have come to New Jersey, and I will ask them what town, and how they are doing. This is lots of fun.
My 14 year old son has seen me having so much fun with the telemarketers, that now he races me for the phone. He is developing his own little phone routine. I told him that it is OK as long as he is polite and respectful.
Pity the poor telemarketer, who labors in a dreadful job for a pittance in wages. I think that when they call my house, it is a bright spot in an otherwise dreary job.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:So what are you supposed to do when you're on the Do Not Call list and still get calls?
We usually say, "I'm sorry, we're on the do not call list." They generally hang up quickly and don't call back.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have had fun explaining my stance against the corporate media to people trying to sell me a newspaper. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I love when the newspaper calls! I pretend that I am a very important person, and am slightly impatient that the newspaper keeps calling me at home for follow-up interviews.
When they interrupt to explain that they are offering a free trial of the paper, I say (with all the superciliousness that I can muster), "Do you have any idea who I AM?" And I suggest that they read their own newspapers.
posted
Telemarketers are the lowest known vertebrate lifeform. It is perfectly legitimate to ask what kind of underwear they are wearing, breathe heavily, and make references to onanism. When I come to power, Siberia will be the least of their worries (it'll be kinda full with all the religious types and bad spellers, anyway). Crucifixion is the only possible punishment for these scum of the Earth.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I am disappointed to hear how rude some of you can be to people trying to earn a living. While I have never been a telemarketer, I used to work for the Gallup Organization, a well-respected polling agency. My job was to ask people their opinion and report when a company (for instance, a hospital) was not doing their job. Many people were polite and and some were even eager to participate, that is, if they listened through my short introduction to tell them why I was calling.
At the time I worked there, there was often a very brief pause that people would instantly recognize as an autodialer. That was the cue to be rude to me. They would yell at me, berate me, and call me names. If they would just take two seconds to listen to me, instead of assuming that I called just to ruin their dinner (or lunch or breakfast), I could help me them voice their opinions.
I wish that some of you just please consider the person on the other end of the line before you rip their head off for interrupting your day.
posted
What does it mean when the phone number calling you is 000-000-0000? We've been getting this call a lot recently, and they tell us that it's in regards to my husband's Visa, but they'll talk to me. They want to send us some gift package that includes a $25 gas card and other crap I can't remember. I told them we weren't interested and we'd like to be taken off their list and they hung up on me. Then they called again today and I said they'd called yesterday and he told me they had not and while I was in the middle of the $25 phone card bit, he hung up on me! Then I find out that my husband asked to be taken off their list twice last week.
Being on the no-call list wouldn't help. A, since my husband does business with Visa, they can call, right? And B, how could we find out who the hell is calling since all the numbers come up as 000-000-0000?
Grrr. I hate telemarketers. Next time, I'm just answering (after the required two hellos) with a great big, loud **** off!
(That's how you can be rude Valentine. They've called 50 times in the last 30 days. Generally, I don't answer the phone, but this number is really starting to bug me. And to know that they are still calling us after we've said no 4 times is ridiculous.)
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Valentine, just because you are trying to make a living does not give you the right to interrupt other people's privacy; telemarketing is basically spam, only worse, because it requires a lot more effort to delete. I think people are perfectly in their rights to be rude to callers who are not friends. When you choose to work in the service of evil, you must expect the occasional chewing-out.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Gosh, KoM, what an extreme reaction. It is so unlike you to be this provocative. I'm surprised at you. Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Unfortunately, many telemarketing companies don't have very advanced calling systems. It can honestly take 30 days for a request to not call anymore. One person for a company may be calling you on Monday and another person from that same company on Tuesday, neither one knowing the other called. Another possible explanation is that Caller A put in their computer the wrong information (on purpose or accident). Instead of putting "caller requests not to call again, " they put no answer, thus ensuring you yet another call. I can tell you one thing though (and I've seen it happen), if you are rude to the caller, there is about a 10-15% chance (give or take) that they will put you on tomorrow's call list out of spite.
Sure, plently of companies don't take no for an answer and make it their policy to call multiple times a day with no regard to the sanity of the caller.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
So, just say "Sorry, not interested" and hang up. Takes about 3 seconds. If you really can't be interrupted (say, you are in the middle of changing the baby's diaper), well, then, don't pick up the phone.
posted
I live in Omaha. We probably have more telemarketing business in our city than any other in the midwest. (Something about having an easily understandable accent.) Sometimes there is no other job. Right now I could more as a telemarketer selling magazines than I am currently as a Medical Assistant in a oncology office. I think you may be forgetting that people may have to take the job because there are no other options.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Valentine, is this supposed to be some kind of excuse? "We didn't hear you ask us not to bother you in definace of all common courtesy, so we're allowed to bother you some more"?
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't get rude until you get the telemarketters who keep calling after you've said "no" or hung up on them once. (Unless you count interrupting or hanging up as "rude" which I only do when they won't take a breath to let me say no thanks.)
I really hate the ones that call back every day or such after you've already established that you're not interested. That's when they've forfeited any right to be treated nicely. If I'm not in the middle of something else, I'll lecture them on salesmanship, and how they're much better served by moving on to their next contact than wasting so much time on an unreceptive contact.
Abuse comes with the job, and anyone who can't live with that shouldn't be doing cold-calling. There's a reason those call centers have such high turnover rates: it's a lousy job.
posted
I don't see where 'I had no choice but to work for Mordor' mnakes it any more morally acceptable. And Tante, it takes a lot more than 3 second to pick up the phone, recognise a telemarketer, hang up, and recover your train of thought.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
You relate those employed at Mordor with telemarketing? Sure, I suppose if you consider selling a magazine to be right up there with murder.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Omaha is always calling me to sell me steaks. I tell them "No thank you" and hang up.
Now for the full disclosure. When I was in college, I worked as a telemarketer. I liked that the hours were flexible around my class schedule, and that I could work in an air conditioned environment (this was in Atlanta, which can teach the rest of the country how to do hot and muggy). The work environment was unpleasant, and the actual work was discouraging. You get yelled and and scolded and lied to and have the phone slammed down on you. Some particularly nasty folk, who think they are being clever, will blow a very loud whistle or airhorn into the phone. We were wearing headsets, and that really hurt.
The pay ranged from tremendously low to no pay at all. We worked on commission, earning a few cents for each sale we made, or survey we completed. I thought I was doing well until I found out that my employer counted all the employees as "independent contractors", and thus made no payroll deductions. Once I realized what I owed for all these deductions, I found that I had been working all month for what I could have made for 5 hours of babysitting. So I quit. But I never lost sympathy for the plight of the folk in miserable jobs.
That was the best thing I got out of working there. That and the air conditioning.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I sleep on a weird schedule, and I have a baby who takes naps.
I am not happy when one or both of us is awakened by someone trying to sell me crap I don't want or need, especially when I told them yesterday, and two days before that, and two days before that, that I didn't want to hear from them again.
I think I am not overstepping the bounds of morality by telling them so.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
And Tante, it takes a lot more than 3 second to pick up the phone, recognise a telemarketer, hang up, and recover your train of thought.
My train is not so easily derailed as yours is. Perhaps that's what comes of having a one-track mind. Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Tante, my advice to you: buy the steaks. You will never regret that decision. While I no longer eat red meat, I do remember the taste of Omaha Steaks. *drool*. Best in the world.
As far as what you were saying about pay, like I said above, they pay telemarketers in Omaha very well ($10-13/hour)and you can work when you want to.
EDIT: For the record, Omaha Steaks is currently offering $13/hour to start ( I remember seeing an a about a month or so ago.)
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Valentine014: You relate those employed at Mordor with telemarketing? Sure, I suppose if you consider selling a magazine to be right up there with murder.
With fictional murder, yes. It was intended to be moderately humorous, as opposed to comparing people with camp guards, which I agree is a bit out of proportion.
Tante Shvester, do you have any sympathy for spammers? No? Then why for telemarketers? Just because they're more exposed to the victims doesn't make them any less evil; after all, their victims have to go to a bit more effort than just pushing a delete button. Fair is fair.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ah, Val, I've asked them if the steaks are kosher. Alas, they are not. So, I'll continue with my "No thank you"
Enjoy your meat of varying colors other than red.
My telemarketing experience was years ago. Hourly pay was around $2, maybe less. That was supposed to motivate us to sell more to earn our commissions. It motivated me to look for a livelihood elsewhere.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
KQ, it's not that you are telling them you don't want their product, it how you say it to them. I think it's wrong for companies to have their employees call a number 50 times in 30 days, I just think people should consider the fact that each time they call, chances are, it's a different person from that company. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. I'm just asking people to take a moment to remember that they are talking to a fellow human being.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
No. I'm paying good money every month to have caller id so I know who is calling. And these companies are using software to disguise their phone number and company name. They need to be stopped. I can't believe the phone companies are allowing this. Why should I pay for caller ID if they allow this to continue? And what good is the no-call list if these calls can't be tracked? Sorry, but if you choose to work for a company so unethical, it's your own fault.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I too can chime in about having served my time as a telemarketer. Lindsay and I have both done it. We were doing Business 2 Business but it still yielded same reactions from our contacts. I was trying to earn a living to pay bills, as was Lindsay. Telling people no thank you and hanging up is fine. Belittling them for doing their job is something else entirely.
posted
I don't care if ti the companies fault they called that many times, or an individuals fault, I refuse to have someone call me without even knowing me. I don't care who they are, how much they make (or don't), or what they are selling.
I live in an apartment, and I wouldn't allow just anyone in if they were at the door. I feel the same way about the phone...I pay for it to be there when I need it, not to recieve crap calls from people who are getting me off of a list that is 10 years old. I will tell them off if they continue past my refusal to hear them, and if they continue then I would break out the air horn (if I had one).
I owe they nothing. Not even common courtesy, as they have not given me any, calling me out of the blue.
I am usually polite at first, because that was how I was raised, but I think nothing about calling the AG office and reporting them either.
The DNC list is the best thing that has happened in years for the telecommunications business, from a consumers viewpoint. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
Boon
unregistered
posted
Unfortunately, the DNC list does not apply to non-profit companies. So we get calls all the time for various beggars, even though we're on the list.
I have sent money to some of these companies. I've even sent them money after a phone request...but not when I've never heard of the company, and not when they refuse to send me anything unless I first send them a check (or give them my cc numbers, but I NEVER do that!).
I don't think I was rude...until he got pushy. Why can't no just mean no?
That's my pet peeve: When I say no, I really do mean no. As in, no, I don't want to send you money; no, I don't want to hear more about the (whatever) I'll be helping, because I'm not sending you money; no, I don't want to hear about how (whatever) will suffer because I won't send money; no, I don't want to hear about the "free" gifts you'll send me when I donate money, and no, I'm not going to pledge anything.
I know it's their job to keep asking, but really, I have other things to do. You may be earning money to badger me, but you're costing me more than you'll make all day.
IP: Logged |
posted
Fortunately, we're back on the do not call list after moving and having about a month of telemarketer hell. My general strategy is that once I find out they are selling something, I very politely say, "I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. Goodbye." And then I hang up. Because I really am not interested - I do not buy things over the phone, and I do not give money to people over the phone. Period.
The thing that really gets me angry is when I hang up and then pick up the phone again a few seconds later, and they are still there, talking away. At that point they are tying up my phone, which needs to be available to me when I wish to use it. One time, I kept checking back, and it took something like three minutes for them to hang up so that I could use my phone.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
It's been non-profit companies that've been calling me (and my mother's collections people). We never answer our phone if it's an unknown number or blocked call. Or if the number originates from a state where we're pretty sure we don't know anyone. The other day, the number was from Arkansas. Curious, we went and listened to the message on the answering machine and it was something for the NH special olympics.
From Arkansas?
And dammit, now I want some Omaha Steak. Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Does anyone remember the episode of Boy Meets World where Cory is working as a telemarketer so that he and Topanga can eventually move somewhere nicer (I think that was why)? Would you be rude to Cory? Then why be rude to someone else who's only trying to make a living?
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I am disappointed to hear how rude some of you can be to people trying to earn a living. While I have never been a telemarketer, I used to work for the Gallup Organization, a well-respected polling agency. My job was to ask people their opinion and report when a company (for instance, a hospital) was not doing their job. Many people were polite and and some were even eager to participate, that is, if they listened through my short introduction to tell them why I was calling.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
