The Evil Known as Telemarketers.

[anriana]

Although if the one who calls me cant speak english they get told not to call back until they have learned english. ( We dont need no press 1 for english!)

Was that deliberate?

[blas87]

Ya know, if this were 10, even 5 years ago, I'd feel the way Z and rahmota do about telemarketers.....

But as time has gone on, the DNC list was born....and caller ID is now available to any Joe Blow....I don't see the reason to be so hostile and hateful.

This has sort of turned the wrong way and now we're just mud slinging. It makes me sad

[kibbles]

So, when you were a kid, how many times did the kid sitting behind you have to poke you in the arm after you politely told him to stop and told the teacher before you turned around and yelled at him?

See, they generally only got to poke me twice. The first time, I asked them politely to stop and told the teacher. If they did it again, I took whatever they were poking me with and broke it.

Sorry dear, but I don't care for bullies. And frankly, that's what the type of telemarketers I am rude to are in essence, bullies.

If you want to be poked until you are black and blue and keep being nice about it, that's entirely your problem.

Frankly, you deserve respect until you undertake actions disrespectful to others. Telemarketers undertake actions disrespectful to others, and some of them are downright snotty about it. Your entire argument is a double standard, because if telemarketers had respect for other human beings, they *gasp* wouldn't be telemarketers.



Exactly. I can go through the rigmarole of getting my name off the list and get three or four more calls. Or, I can yell at the supervisor and get my name off the list immediately. Gee....which am I going to pick after they've already disregarded my first 'I'm not interested, please don't call me again'?

Your argument IMO doesn't hold any water since you are condemning someone for simply taking a job, and not their actions on the job. If a telemarketer is rude or refuses to put you on DNC, then they don't deserve respect.

A telemarketer who stops their spiel as soon as you mentions DNC deserves respect, and it is scary (and as Blas said) sad that people think they do not.

[smileyeagle1021]

Eh oh well. I was just listing jobs I find less morally reprehensible than telemarketers. I mean assassins just have a job to do too. I could respect an assassin or a prostitute more than a telemarketer. The assassin or prostitute at least provide a useful service to humanity.

Oh well at least telemarketers rank above children services workers. Those scum dont even rate as people.

oh the gloves are off now, I had a friend growing up who's life was saved by a children service worker so don't you fucking dare say those people are useless! And assassins provide a vital service... maybe an assassin would be more useful against Saddam than the US military... those are the exception not the rule. On that note, I guess you wouldn't mind if a hit person were to kill you to prevent you from testifying... at least they wouldn't be calling you at your home... so even then the argument holds no water, and sorry even if it did after your comment about CPS I doubt I could bring myself to agree with you. The only thing that I won't argue on is prostitution, both parties are willing participants so if someone wants to pay money to put his dick somewhere it shouldn't be all the more power to him.

Oh and back to the original topic, for those who say that there are always other jobs... how I wish I have always lived in such a wealthy area... there was a 3 month period while at Utah State where if I wanted a job that worked with my school schedule my choices were Western WATS which did the follow-up to service calls (you know the "thank you for having you (insert whatever service we were calling for that day) done at the (insert location we were calling for), we were just calling to make sure that everything was done to satisfaction and if there was any further work that needed to be done") and most of the work was warranty stuff so it wasn't as if we were really selling anything other than what the person had already paid for... the other choice was Discovery Network which did political polling. To the person who suggested, oh you could always get a job like cleaning toilettes... nope couldn't do that unless I was willing to work full time... which sorry couldn't do while going to school full time... oh yeah, couldn't even get a minimum wage job at McDonalds or a movie theatre until after I got a food handlers permit, the test was held the same time as one of my classes so I quite literally had nothing else I could do for a 3 month period. So please before judging the people who are in the profession, remember, these call centers are in economically depressed areas (granted Logan isn't economically depressed, but it is nowhere near large enough to support jobs for all the college students without resorting to places like telemarketers).
Oh and to the people who say that telemarketers INTEND to disturb your dinner, how fucking naive do you have to be to think you matter that much... when I worked outbound calling I didn't even know the number I was calling, and even if I did I wouldn't know the area codes enough to know what time zone I was calling... that said, I have dinner normally between 9pm and 11pm depending on whether I'm working that day or not, my grandma was the exact opposite, she ate dinner close to 4 in the afternoon... come to think of it, I don't know that many people who eat dinner at the same time, so a call you receive during dinner time is just a coincidence.

[Boozy]

We've already had several threads devolve into arguments about CPS, so if we could keep this one on topic, I'd appreciate it.

[Zyanya]

Zyanya, maybe I misunderstood you, but before these last few posts, I didn't see anywhere where you stated that you first politely informed the person that you are not interested.

Then you should have read my posts, as that's what I have been saying from the beginning. In fact, from my very first post -

I have no problem responding to rudeness with rudeness. I am generally civil the first time a company calls (for the record, this includes that fucktard collection agent who can't get it through his head that he has the wrong person) and ask not to be called again. If I am called again, gloves come off.

Well, I guess you need to work on your politicians.

Okay. Can I borrow a million dollars then to pay one off? Cause I have to be able to outbid the telemarketing companies, that's how the US works.

Get an online petition going - they're free last I looked.

And completely useless and invalid.

Print up a petition and go around your local neighbourhood - an afternoon would surely glean you plenty of signatures.

Why, if I get every single person in my hometown, that's *gasp* two hundred names.

See, you are under the delusion I haven't already signed petitions and contacted congressmen about this issue. Now you have been educated.

Reality check - outbound phone centres work on an auto-dialler, as far as I am aware. If you talk to one telesales person and tell them not to call again, and the company calls again, it's very unlikely that the person you scream abuse at is going to be the same one who called first time. Even if it's not an auto-dialler, they'll be given a number by a computer to call next.

Reality check - Most companies the telemarketer can remove me from the autodialer immediately. Some companies don't. It takes yelling to get them to. I can't tell which company from which unless they call back. Would you rather I yell at everyone on the first call?

How long until your overreaction contributes to your first heart attack?

How long until your refusal to deal with reality contributes to a stroke?

Let me put it bluntly - you're abusing people who do not have any control over the situation.

Let me put it bluntly, what part of I talk to a supervisor do you not understand? Are you even actually reading my posts? I doubt it, actually, as you continually miss large segments of what I say.

[Zyanya]

Ya know, if this were 10, even 5 years ago, I'd feel the way Z and rahmota do about telemarketers.....

But as time has gone on, the DNC list was born....and caller ID is now available to any Joe Blow....I don't see the reason to be so hostile and hateful.

My home line is also has a business line. Because of that, the DNC does not apply. Quite a few of the companies I do business with show up on my caller ID as 800 numbers or 'unknown', the same as telemarketers do.

I used to be polite to all telemarketers. Then I discovered it took getting angry and rude before some of them would remove me from the list. A polite 'please don't call again' just didn't work. I lost count of the times I'd say 'please don't call again', and hear back 'well, if I could just speak with your boss', sorry, but I am the boss, take your gender assumptions and shove it. Or how many times I'd have to hang up on someone still talking because they just would not shut up even after I talked over them with 'please don't call again'.

So what solution should I take?

Ignore all unknown/1-800 callers and lose a lot of legit business calls?
Get rid of my business line and lose all the legit business calls?
Wait ten years for the politicians to get around to reading an online petition cause it's not like hundreds of them haven't already been sent and ignored because online petitions aren't considered valid?

No, I think I'll stick with the solution that has actually been proven to work. Ask to speak to a supervisor, then be as rude as necessary to get my phone number off their list.

[rahmota]

I had a friend growing up who's life was saved by a children service worker so don't you fucking dare say those people are useless!

I never said they where useless I said they where evil and do more harm than good. your friend was an exception to the rule. BUt as Boozy has requested it not devolve down into another discussion of the evils of CPS then lets stay on the topic of the evils of rude annoying should be illegal telemarketers.

how I wish I have always lived in such a wealthy area..

Well theres always welfare or starting your own odd jobs or something else more morally appropriate than being a paid pest and tresspasser. Too bad too many families dont care enough about each other anymore to help take care of each other.

But as time has gone on, the DNC list was born....and caller ID is now available to any Joe Blow....I don't see the reason to be so hostile and hateful.

And again why should we as the homeowner have to watch our caller id (If a person has it, I dont have it on my landline as its not available on the local only calling plan I dont have LD on the landline and caller ID is only available if you have the bigger plans.) or go out of our way to avoid being hassled by these people? And the DNC is a JOKE! Companies find ways around through or over that as there is no real punishment for companies who disobey the DNC list.

A telemarketer who stops their spiel as soon as you mentions DNC deserves respect, and it is scary (and as Blas said) sad that people think they do not.

I have never ever had a telemarketer stop talking when i say DNC in a polite voice or tone. They either continue talking like I said nothing, say that it doesnt apply to them or otherwise ignore the DNC comment until I yell at them. As for asking for a supervisor I have had mixed results with that. Some of the jerks say no I cant talk to a supervisor and then get back to their sales speil, some ignore it all together, and some say they dont have a supervisor (ie lying through their teeth as usual). I have only had a few who transferred me up to a supervisor and then I had to yell at them and threaten to file charges with my state attorney general and otherwise give them a good fonging to get them to agree to take me off their list. One reason I am rude or otherwise try and see how much time of the telemarketer I can waste to get them in trouble if I have the time to do so.

Was that deliberate?

Yes it was. I was making a joke. Although I do believe that the only legal language in America for all business and governmental dealing should be english. If you cant speak english then you should not be able to do business or get government services until you learn to speak english. I mean if you go to the ER and you cannot tell the doctor what is wrong with you and you die sucks to be you maybe you should have learned english like the way immigrants used to be proud to do. Need to get stuff from the store speak english to the clerk or get out.

[kibbles]

Well then rahmota, those telemarketers deserved the hostility. As soon as someone requests the DNC or says something even close to the DNC (i.e. don't call her again), the spiel is supposed to stop right away. If they don't, then they are being rude and intruding.

But, all telemarketers don't do that and those that don't, are the ones who deserve respect.

[DesignFox]

Then you should have read my posts <snip>

I have been following your posts. I apologize. The first one sort of got lost in some of your hostility...although that simply could be my mental interpretation of your words. I should have gone back to page 1... whoops. Anyway, you "sound" all hyped up to my mental ears...I was just trying to support you a little.

I can understand being angry when you've repeatedly told a company to stop calling you, and they have ignored you.

To add to this discussion of business lines...I work for a small business as a sales person. We get telemarketers all the time. It is difficult to try to sort them from legit business calls sometimes. So, we just have to be polite. It gets extremely irritating some days because it seems like the telemarketers have their days where they call back to back to back...

Still, I don't curse at them. That would be incredibly unprofessional on the sales floor.

I do hang up on them. Or tell them we aren't interested and THEN hang up on them. *shrug*

[Zyanya]

Well then rahmota, those telemarketers deserved the hostility. As soon as someone requests the DNC or says something even close to the DNC (i.e. don't call her again), the spiel is supposed to stop right away. If they don't, then they are being rude and intruding.

The problem is, some people in this thread don't get that part. They are assuming that as soon as a telemarketer calls, we break out the foul language and drive to the telemarketer's house to kill his puppies.

And it doesn't seem to matter how often we've said 'no, that isn't what we are talking about'.

I am rude to the people who ignore me when I ask not to be called again. While I find all telemarketing inherently rude, I am only rude to those who ignore me when I ask not to be called again or who attempt to talk over me when I am asking not to be called again. And if possible, I direct my ire to a supervisor NOT to the peon who dialed the phone.

I really don't see how many more ways I can say that.

I also don't see how many more ways I can say the silly little 'solutions' offered here DO NOT WORK. I've signed petitions. I've written to my congressman. I've reported companies (when I had the company name and number to report) for violating the DNC.

AND THEY KEEP CALLING.

I'm sorry that my solution (the only solution that actually works) raises your blood pressure. That is your problem, not mine. Don't like it? Don't work for a company that ignores the DNC and doesn't let you remove people from the calling list after they've been asked, and you'll never have to worry about me saying 'Let me talk to your supervisor, NOW' in a sharp tone of voice. And if you do, then let me talk to your supervisor, and you won't have to hear me say 'Look, fucktard, do not call her again, remove my number, you are being reported for violating the DNC'.

Still, I don't curse at them. That would be incredibly unprofessional on the sales floor.

I'm at home. I really don't worry about being unprofessional in front of the cat, she's upset that I had to stop petting her to answer the phone. If she had her way, she'd pee on the telemarketer's shoes.

[ditchdj]

The way I see it is simple:

I look at this the same way some people look at their own websites that they operate. MY phone that I PAY FOR falls under MY rules. If I dont want you on MY phone that I PAY FOR and you dont like it then tuff shit! I don't care if you're trying to make a living. You don't give a shit about me (except to squeeze some money out of me), so why should I give a shit about you? I do NOT want MY PHONE that I PAY FOR clogged with telemarketers bugging me all day. PERIOD! You wanna have a say in it then YOU pay for MY phone service. IF you just wanna try to weasel your way around the Do Not Call List and find a loophole to legally get on MY phone and bug me against my will that I'm PAYING FOR then I'll just disconnect the goddamn thing for good. No wait, I just did that! Now you can't torment me on my phone anymore. Issue. Settled. Next....

[protege]

Ditchdj, that's pretty much how I see it too. One difference though--if they're polite, hey no problem. No problem at all--I tell them I'm not interested, they go away. If they're rude, sorry, diplomacy is over, and I'm going to go medieval on their ass. I'm paying for phone service, so I'll be damned if some pissant is going to bust my balls when I say I'm not interested. I will get rude, I will ask for a supervisor, I will hang up, etc.

In fact, I got to do none of those things today. I got the usual copier toner scam. I knew it was a scam, even before the caller asked for the model number. As soon as he said "I'd like to send some cartridges out..." My Scam-Fu is strong, and I called him on it--he hung up after I said we handle that in-house

For those fools, it's difficult to get them not to call--they hang up as soon as they hear "what company are you with."

[smileyeagle1021]

In fact, I got to do none of those things today. I got the usual copier toner scam. I knew it was a scam, even before the caller asked for the model number. As soon as he said "I'd like to send some cartridges out..." My Scam-Fu is strong, and I called him on it--he hung up after I said we handle that in-house
"

that's one I've never heard of that one before... I've only gotten the "HSBC is running a special where their members can get certain magazines at a discount" I actually was kinda interested at first, because I do use HSBC and I was coming up on the time to renew my subscription to Time so it could be a good deal, so I listened to his sales spiel, but the brakes slammed on as soon as he asked for my card number... umm no, if you are part of HSBC then shouldn't you already have that information... if not, nope not doing business with you.

[Rapscallion]

Okay. Can I borrow a million dollars then to pay one off? Cause I have to be able to outbid the telemarketing companies, that's how the US works.

Money counts for nothing if you don't get the votes. Hilary Clinton's campaign is roughly ten million dollars in debt, last I heard.

And completely useless and invalid.

Useless? Invalid? Get a petition with a few thousand signatures to a politician that states that they will not be receiving votes from those people unless the politician does what they say on a certain issue, and you'll see results.

Why, if I get every single person in my hometown, that's *gasp* two hundred names.

I'd call that a start.

See, you are under the delusion I haven't already signed petitions and contacted congressmen about this issue. Now you have been educated.

Signed them, fine, but organised and cajoled people? You just want to sit around and piss and moan.

You seem to be under the delusion that I'm psychic and know what you've done.

Reality check - Most companies the telemarketer can remove me from the autodialer immediately. Some companies don't. It takes yelling to get them to. I can't tell which company from which unless they call back. Would you rather I yell at everyone on the first call?

Most companies - which exact ones use software that allows them to do that? I certainly don't know, and I suspect you don't. How many tales on CS have had the SC tell the cashier that their system should be able to do something or other when the system blatantly can't? Rather a number.

From your language in here, you give the impression that you do shout on the first call. Just a hint - putting things in larger font and red letters (the equivalent of shouting on the Internet) doesn't make it any more valid.

How long until your refusal to deal with reality contributes to a stroke?

First of all, if I have a stroke then it will be from unhealthy eating habits, not from stress. I don't get out of shape over a number of phone calls. Secondly, it's your reality, not mine. My reality is quite peachy, actually. Sucks to be you, by the sounds of it. Ever thought of moving to a country where the politicians are worried by the people and the people don't need to be armed to get that result? I have a spare room.

Let me put it bluntly, what part of I talk to a supervisor do you not understand? Are you even actually reading my posts? I doubt it, actually, as you continually miss large segments of what I say.

Supervisors can do jack shit in most cases. They can remove you in some, but they are constrained by company policy that they do not set. The owners of the business have a layer of managers between them and the supervisors, so whatever policies they set (such as don't take people off the database or you're fired) don't affect them. Supervisors generally have as much control over the situation as the front line workers, perhaps a fraction more. They're just as easily replaced.

If your laws are inadequate, that's your problem. I'm sitting pretty.

What I have noticed, though, is that you seem to think that the other debators in this thread are psychic and that yelling and screaming at frontline employees is going to effect change. You also want validation of your actions from everyone around you. You'll not have mine.

Archetypal SC behaviour.

Rapscallion