I don't really get telemarketing calls anymore, but when I did I would just tell them that I was really interested and to hang on for a minute. I would then put the phone down and go about my business and then hang it up the next time I walked by it.
The problem is that myself, and I know I don't stand alone here, do not want to receive any telemarketing calls. None. I don't care if you're going to sell me a lifetime subscription to the Wall Street Journal for just $5. I don't want your call. Ever.
So the problem is that even when someone like you, and I'm sure you're a nice person and all, calls me up, it doesn't matter what you have to say. The fact of the matter is you're doing something I don't want. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to prevent this. I can tell you to put me on your do not call list, but then I have to do that with the next telemarketer, and the next, and the next. This is precisely why a nationwide do not call list would benefit millions of people.
Telemarketing, regardless of what you're selling or how you are selling it, is just plan invasive to an awful lot of people. You have to know this, because just about everyone in this thread has said something along those lines. You continue to be 'OK' with that, for some reason or another. I suppose we can argue that you do call people that enjoy your calls. *shrugs*
To me it is invasive. One telemarketing call is too many. Give me a national 'do not call' list, and I'll be just peachy.
yes there needs to be a national Do Not Call list.
But please don't blame this on the people on the other end!! They're not the ones at fault!
You see, I just had a job at U. RI taking surveys for the College of Business. lots of you weirdos were paranoid and asked to call me back at my dorm, etc. That is just as annoying.
Mac Voyer made a good point.
Also there is a different between a telemarketer and someone simply taking a survey. I took surveys about the economy and RIPTA busses.
Remember it's the company not the person on the phone you should be mad at. Don't lash out at the person on the phone, there's no point, just ask not to be called again, or to talk to their supervisor.
Hey, nobody forced you to work in telemarketing, if you go to that circle of hell reserved for tax collectors, meter maids and telemarketers, that's not our fault.
My favorite one is to answer the customary "How are you today?" with a negative. "Not good, terrible," or launch into some story about money trouble, health problems, whatever... It really unsettles the caller. If they still don't get the hint, I do the can I get your home number thing too. Fvck you, it's like complaining about being an annoying asshole just 'cause it's your job. NOBODY forced you to do that job. If you want to act like an annoying asshole you should do it for the joy of being an annoying asshole, like me, not for money.
I still haven't heard *why* the telezapper won't work. You say it will be cracked one day, but so far it hasn't been (not on a wide scale anyway). For the most part it works. And yet you still discourage people from getting one, and encourage them to answer your calls and those of tele-vultures from other companies (oop sorry, didn't mean to be uncivil). Just so we can politely tell you to put us on the no call list?? Wake up and smell the coffee!
We shouldn't HAVE to talk to you or delete your "empty" calls 5x a day from our answering machines, just to get you to stop calling. Nothing personal you see, we just want to enjoy our dinners and our family conversation without being constantly interrupted - or turning the phone ringers off and missing a potentially important call.
You must eat dinner with family members too sometimes, right? Do you like stopping conversation, getting up from the table, answering the phone, then forcing the caller to take "no" for an answer - and then - telling them to "put us on the no call list", when you know damn well half the time they won't do that. And no one is going to sue and win either, so don't give us that nonsense. Even if that were true, we shouldn't have to call our lawyers and go to trial just to force companies like yours to get a clue. Being honest enough to know it's unethical to call during these times (over and over again) is your responsibility, not ours.
Maybe people like yourself should get together and make a point of standing up to the policy makers at your repsective companies. Maybe YOu should be saying all this to your bosses on Monday. Maybe YOU should be defending US (since you apparently feel like one of us at times), at the next sales meeting. Or, do you not have the balls to do that?
The fact that you KNOW your company intentionally calls people during what brief family times they have (day in and day out), in order to interupt that time and make money - that you go along with that won't gain you much respect. There are lots of sales jobs out there, lots of em. Take a more respectable one and get off your crumbling soap box. You don't have a splinter to stand on.
Now if only it would stop the local PD from calling asking for money donations. I always tell them that is what taxes are for and kindly ask them to never call again.
I've got to agree with everyone here that finds telemarkerts irritating. I've done telemarketing before and will probably be doing again soon because I'm so bloody broke. Working as a telemarketer never has and never will make me symphathize with them. I would never criticize anybody for ragging on telemarketers, I yell at them everytime they call even when I've just gotten home from doing that exact same job. Working that kind of job does not in any way reflect what kind of person I am, it's a shitty job that people do for one reason-they need money. If you willingly do that job becuase you actually enjoy it you must be some sort of physcopath. The fact is, I prefer it when people yell and me and hang up. I have no respect at all for anybody that actually wastes their time talking to a telemarketer. Yell. Hang Up. Swear. I don't care, I'll still get a paycheck at the end of they day. And I do feel rotten for interupting people, it is a huge hassle to be harrased at home like that.
It's actually one of the jobs I want to do for the express purpose if pissing people off, another is working at a high-traffic retail during Christmas, mebbe even a toy store. I have long studied methods of making children and soccer moms break down in fits of teary frustration. Mebbe next Christmas holiday
What ticks me off about telemarketers is that I've been bullied into being rude. I started out taking them in stride, saying "no thanks" politely. But they got to be too much. So I've become irritated with them and I find myself getting rude. And I'm not a rude person. It's not cool to make me mad.
You know who will be hurting are the local telephone companies. Many people I talk to say that they don't have a landline phone because the only people who call them on that phone are telemarketers. Everyone else uses their cell number. I was in that boat and I've been extremely happy not having to deal with them. Screw telemarketers. I wouldn't wish that job on my worst enemy.
<strong>It's actually one of the jobs I want to do for the express purpose if pissing people off, another is working at a high-traffic retail during Christmas, mebbe even a toy store. I have long studied methods of making children and soccer moms break down in fits of teary frustration. Mebbe next Christmas holiday</strong><hr></blockquote>
Matsu, buddy, pal. Do you need a little "help"? I'm sure I can find the number of a very good "thought doctor" to help you with your temper. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
My grandparents blow a whistle really hard into the phone when a telemarketer calls. Mac Voyer: I hope you don't call their house! <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
<strong>Not to mention that telemarketers often prey upon the elderly, who can be cognitively compromised. That's just unethical behavior. I don't know how many times I've had families of possibly dementing (that's Alzheimer's and other similar disorders, not an insult) people talk about their parents spending inordinate amounts of money on things that telemarketers were hawking. You can't get respect when you do things like that.
Die telemarketers! Die! </strong><hr></blockquote>
****in eh, thats so true. It pisses me off so much when they come to my door and ask ME when MY parents are gonna be home. They have no bloody right as far as im concerernd.
Do you people realize that the salesperson on the other end of the line has no control over if you are called or not? No matter how rude, or cleaver, or disgusting, or loud you are, all they can do is place you on a do not call list at you request. Otherwise, you guarantee yourself a callback in the future, especially if it is a computer dialer. It is not as if they are making list that they can refer to and say "Oops! I'd better not call them back." Therefore, all the things that you do to try to punish the salesperson, do accomplish nothing but lowering yourself. It does not accomplish your goal. There are plenty of people who are happy to buy things over the phone. For the rest, I wish there was a national do not call list. As I said before, I don't want to talk to some psycho on the other end of the receiver either.
By the way, How about talking to your companies and telling them you will not work for them unless they shut down their telemarketing departments. How about going to your congressperson and telling them to pass the do not call law. How about doing something that would actually further you cause instead of picking up your phone and blowing your stack to THE WRONG PERSON!!!
The fact of the matter is I believe most of you who conduct yourselves in such a way already know that your antics and outbursts will do no good. You simply do it out of sheer sadistic pleasure. You think that an unsolicited phone call gives you the right to heap as much abuse as possible on another human being. So you gladly take the opportunity to unleash all your pinned up venom on a person who meant you no ill. You want to damage their hearing with loud noises. You want to tie them up so they can?t call someone else who might be interested in their product or service. You want to make them break down and cry. And for what? What is accomplished when you do all that? Nothing! Yet somehow, you feel better. What does that say about you?
Some of you speak as if you had some kind of moral superiority over telemarketers. The way you treat other human beings (who happen to be telemarketers), for some of you, is far, far worse a moral crime than the telemarketer?s call. You do not occupy the high ground. It would not surprise me if some of you were not just as abusive in other areas of your life. When you are shortchanged at the grocery store, do you take the opportunity to blow up at the cashier? Do you make snide remarks to someone who accidentally bumps into you at the mall? Do you take a fender bender that was not you fault and try to milk it for all it?s worth? Life is full of annoyances, most of which are not your fault and are totally unfair. So what? How you deal with those annoyances and the people who cause them goes a long ways toward defining your character.
I WILL be calling you, I or someone like me. That is simply the way of things right now. I will treat you with professionalism and courtesy. You must choose, (and it is your choice), how you will respond. How you respond will say a lot more about you than it will about the morality of my call. More food for thought.
One more thing. ?Die telemarketers. Die!? GET A GRIP!
Mac Voyer, you've picked an indefensible hill upon which to make a stand....none of us are going to cross the lines to defend your position. A lot of people who work the lines as telemarketers may be nice people, but a lot of them are not and we've adopted a "protect the homeland" stance on this subject. If you breach the defenses of someone's house uninvited they're going to get angry and offensive and they're FULLY JUSTIFIED to do so.
The state-by-state no-call list is like some sort of United Nations declaration....a lot of people are going to opt to act on their own to rid themselves of telemarketing invaders; the Telezapper is the current weapon of choice.
I'm not sure how well the state no call lists will work as many of the telemarketers harrasing you are based in Canada (sadly, Canada is the telemarketing capital of the world, we have very lax laws on this) I'm not sure if companies based in Canada will have to respect the no-call lists from another country.
Here in the UK we do have such a list, and it does work! They don't dare call, because if they call someone on the list then they get an instant fine of (I think) a few thousand pounds, not even going to trial.
We're not on the list - don't know why. Not that we get many calls anyway - I think this year we've had a whole one.
[quote]Some of you speak as if you had some kind of moral superiority over telemarketers.<hr></blockquote>
More like you have a moral inferiority complex [where this particular issue is concerned] . I haven't heard anyone say they're morally superior or anything like it. Because I can actually consider the context of the situation as I read, I am able to deduce their "righteous indignation" is exactly that. There's good reason for it, unlike most things Americans get indignant about.
[quote]The way you treat other human beings (who happen to be telemarketers), for some of you, is far, far worse a moral crime than the telemarketer?s call.<hr></blockquote>
Moral crime? Now who's being arrogant?? No one here is arguing that telemarketers ought to be locked up (though sarcastically I'm sure many would go along with that). We're saying you shouldn't be allowed to call us at all hours without permission. We're also saying it's not our responsibility to answer your stupid calls when we can just zap you. The onus shouldn't be on US to avoid the annoyance - it should be on you and more importantly, your pathetic employers.
[quote]You do not occupy the high ground.<hr></blockquote>
Oh clearly the telemarketing companies must occupy it then. Ask yourself what the root cause of the problem at hand is; ask yourself how much free time people have at home to be with their loved ones every week; ask yourself how many different ways their are to sell a product.
Put another way, who at your company (and others like it) is taking the "moral high ground" and arguing there has to be a better way to sell the product? No one, right? Have you ever spoken up, since you seem to feel you're occupying the "moral high ground"?
[quote]It would not surprise me if some of you were not just as abusive in other areas of your life. When you are shortchanged at the grocery store, do you take the opportunity to blow up at the cashier? Do you make snide remarks to someone who accidentally bumps into you at the mall? Do you take a fender bender that was not you fault and try to milk it for all it?s worth?<hr></blockquote>
Please! Where do you make the leap of logic that because a person gets angry with a telemarkter, that it's then likely they must be abusive to everyone they meet during the course of a typical day? Sure, there are people who curse at people like you, who also curse at gas station attendants, cashiers and everyone else they meet. That is true just based on statistical chance.
I wager most people (read: more than 50%) are *polite* to the rude gas station attendant, to the unattentive cashier and even the guy who bumps into them at the traffic light ... they go to the nth degree to be civil even when they are the one being inconvenienced. But then they get your call - and guess what - you're "the last straw" because you call at the end of the long day, when people least want to be bothered. Not for any good reason, but simply because you want their money and you know the phone is right next to the dinner table. Oh and because your boss said so, DESPITE the fact you seem to have some intelligence and a conscience to boot!
Talk about occupying "the low ground"!
And so the only difference between you and the other pains in people's asses is that you actually get what you deserved, whereas the others didn't. Life is so unfair, huh?
[quote]Life is full of annoyances [...] How you deal with those annoyances and the people who cause them goes a long ways toward defining your character.<hr></blockquote>
The only person here defending their character is you. There's obviously a fair amount of guilt or bad feelings you have about your professional, but you don't see that this is really all your argument boils down to. You are defending yourself [more than] your profession. The problem is, in this context, you are by defnition an extension of the problems your profession creates - and you can't own up to it.
The solution is not for us to adapt to your job, thus making your life more pleasant. Nor is it to try and defend an indefensible position (as noted earlier), but simply to find a better sales job and own up to the fact that your employer has not a leg to stand on in this debate.
Comments
So the problem is that even when someone like you, and I'm sure you're a nice person and all, calls me up, it doesn't matter what you have to say. The fact of the matter is you're doing something I don't want. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to prevent this. I can tell you to put me on your do not call list, but then I have to do that with the next telemarketer, and the next, and the next. This is precisely why a nationwide do not call list would benefit millions of people.
Telemarketing, regardless of what you're selling or how you are selling it, is just plan invasive to an awful lot of people. You have to know this, because just about everyone in this thread has said something along those lines. You continue to be 'OK' with that, for some reason or another. I suppose we can argue that you do call people that enjoy your calls. *shrugs*
To me it is invasive. One telemarketing call is too many. Give me a national 'do not call' list, and I'll be just peachy.
But please don't blame this on the people on the other end!! They're not the ones at fault!
You see, I just had a job at U. RI taking surveys for the College of Business. lots of you weirdos were paranoid and asked to call me back at my dorm, etc. That is just as annoying.
Mac Voyer made a good point.
Also there is a different between a telemarketer and someone simply taking a survey. I took surveys about the economy and RIPTA busses.
Remember it's the company not the person on the phone you should be mad at. Don't lash out at the person on the phone, there's no point, just ask not to be called again, or to talk to their supervisor.
I hope the Do Not Call list passes.
My favorite one is to answer the customary "How are you today?" with a negative. "Not good, terrible," or launch into some story about money trouble, health problems, whatever... It really unsettles the caller. If they still don't get the hint, I do the can I get your home number thing too. Fvck you, it's like complaining about being an annoying asshole just 'cause it's your job. NOBODY forced you to do that job. If you want to act like an annoying asshole you should do it for the joy of being an annoying asshole, like me, not for money.
We shouldn't HAVE to talk to you or delete your "empty" calls 5x a day from our answering machines, just to get you to stop calling. Nothing personal you see, we just want to enjoy our dinners and our family conversation without being constantly interrupted - or turning the phone ringers off and missing a potentially important call.
You must eat dinner with family members too sometimes, right? Do you like stopping conversation, getting up from the table, answering the phone, then forcing the caller to take "no" for an answer - and then - telling them to "put us on the no call list", when you know damn well half the time they won't do that. And no one is going to sue and win either, so don't give us that nonsense. Even if that were true, we shouldn't have to call our lawyers and go to trial just to force companies like yours to get a clue. Being honest enough to know it's unethical to call during these times (over and over again) is your responsibility, not ours.
Maybe people like yourself should get together and make a point of standing up to the policy makers at your repsective companies. Maybe YOu should be saying all this to your bosses on Monday. Maybe YOU should be defending US (since you apparently feel like one of us at times), at the next sales meeting. Or, do you not have the balls to do that?
The fact that you KNOW your company intentionally calls people during what brief family times they have (day in and day out), in order to interupt that time and make money - that you go along with that won't gain you much respect. There are lots of sales jobs out there, lots of em. Take a more respectable one and get off your crumbling soap box. You don't have a splinter to stand on.
[ 02-15-2003: Message edited by: Moogs ]</p>
A@ron
You know who will be hurting are the local telephone companies. Many people I talk to say that they don't have a landline phone because the only people who call them on that phone are telemarketers. Everyone else uses their cell number. I was in that boat and I've been extremely happy not having to deal with them. Screw telemarketers. I wouldn't wish that job on my worst enemy.
<strong>It's actually one of the jobs I want to do for the express purpose if pissing people off, another is working at a high-traffic retail during Christmas, mebbe even a toy store. I have long studied methods of making children and soccer moms break down in fits of teary frustration. Mebbe next Christmas holiday</strong><hr></blockquote>
Matsu, buddy, pal. Do you need a little "help"? I'm sure I can find the number of a very good "thought doctor" to help you with your temper.
<strong>Not to mention that telemarketers often prey upon the elderly, who can be cognitively compromised. That's just unethical behavior. I don't know how many times I've had families of possibly dementing (that's Alzheimer's and other similar disorders, not an insult) people talk about their parents spending inordinate amounts of money on things that telemarketers were hawking. You can't get respect when you do things like that.
Die telemarketers! Die!
****in eh, thats so true. It pisses me off so much when they come to my door and ask ME when MY parents are gonna be home. They have no bloody right as far as im concerernd.
[ 02-16-2003: Message edited by: Mac_Man ]</p>
By the way, How about talking to your companies and telling them you will not work for them unless they shut down their telemarketing departments. How about going to your congressperson and telling them to pass the do not call law. How about doing something that would actually further you cause instead of picking up your phone and blowing your stack to THE WRONG PERSON!!!
The fact of the matter is I believe most of you who conduct yourselves in such a way already know that your antics and outbursts will do no good. You simply do it out of sheer sadistic pleasure. You think that an unsolicited phone call gives you the right to heap as much abuse as possible on another human being. So you gladly take the opportunity to unleash all your pinned up venom on a person who meant you no ill. You want to damage their hearing with loud noises. You want to tie them up so they can?t call someone else who might be interested in their product or service. You want to make them break down and cry. And for what? What is accomplished when you do all that? Nothing! Yet somehow, you feel better. What does that say about you?
Some of you speak as if you had some kind of moral superiority over telemarketers. The way you treat other human beings (who happen to be telemarketers), for some of you, is far, far worse a moral crime than the telemarketer?s call. You do not occupy the high ground. It would not surprise me if some of you were not just as abusive in other areas of your life. When you are shortchanged at the grocery store, do you take the opportunity to blow up at the cashier? Do you make snide remarks to someone who accidentally bumps into you at the mall? Do you take a fender bender that was not you fault and try to milk it for all it?s worth? Life is full of annoyances, most of which are not your fault and are totally unfair. So what? How you deal with those annoyances and the people who cause them goes a long ways toward defining your character.
I WILL be calling you, I or someone like me. That is simply the way of things right now. I will treat you with professionalism and courtesy. You must choose, (and it is your choice), how you will respond. How you respond will say a lot more about you than it will about the morality of my call. More food for thought.
One more thing. ?Die telemarketers. Die!? GET A GRIP!
The state-by-state no-call list is like some sort of United Nations declaration....a lot of people are going to opt to act on their own to rid themselves of telemarketing invaders; the Telezapper is the current weapon of choice.
We're not on the list - don't know why. Not that we get many calls anyway - I think this year we've had a whole one.
Amorya
[quote]Some of you speak as if you had some kind of moral superiority over telemarketers.<hr></blockquote>
More like you have a moral inferiority complex [where this particular issue is concerned] . I haven't heard anyone say they're morally superior or anything like it. Because I can actually consider the context of the situation as I read, I am able to deduce their "righteous indignation" is exactly that. There's good reason for it, unlike most things Americans get indignant about.
[quote]The way you treat other human beings (who happen to be telemarketers), for some of you, is far, far worse a moral crime than the telemarketer?s call.<hr></blockquote>
Moral crime? Now who's being arrogant?? No one here is arguing that telemarketers ought to be locked up (though sarcastically I'm sure many would go along with that). We're saying you shouldn't be allowed to call us at all hours without permission. We're also saying it's not our responsibility to answer your stupid calls when we can just zap you. The onus shouldn't be on US to avoid the annoyance - it should be on you and more importantly, your pathetic employers.
[quote]You do not occupy the high ground.<hr></blockquote>
Oh clearly the telemarketing companies must occupy it then. Ask yourself what the root cause of the problem at hand is; ask yourself how much free time people have at home to be with their loved ones every week; ask yourself how many different ways their are to sell a product.
Put another way, who at your company (and others like it) is taking the "moral high ground" and arguing there has to be a better way to sell the product? No one, right? Have you ever spoken up, since you seem to feel you're occupying the "moral high ground"?
[quote]It would not surprise me if some of you were not just as abusive in other areas of your life. When you are shortchanged at the grocery store, do you take the opportunity to blow up at the cashier? Do you make snide remarks to someone who accidentally bumps into you at the mall? Do you take a fender bender that was not you fault and try to milk it for all it?s worth?<hr></blockquote>
Please! Where do you make the leap of logic that because a person gets angry with a telemarkter, that it's then likely they must be abusive to everyone they meet during the course of a typical day? Sure, there are people who curse at people like you, who also curse at gas station attendants, cashiers and everyone else they meet. That is true just based on statistical chance.
I wager most people (read: more than 50%) are *polite* to the rude gas station attendant, to the unattentive cashier and even the guy who bumps into them at the traffic light ... they go to the nth degree to be civil even when they are the one being inconvenienced. But then they get your call - and guess what - you're "the last straw" because you call at the end of the long day, when people least want to be bothered. Not for any good reason, but simply because you want their money and you know the phone is right next to the dinner table. Oh and because your boss said so, DESPITE the fact you seem to have some intelligence and a conscience to boot!
Talk about occupying "the low ground"!
And so the only difference between you and the other pains in people's asses is that you actually get what you deserved, whereas the others didn't. Life is so unfair, huh?
[quote]Life is full of annoyances [...] How you deal with those annoyances and the people who cause them goes a long ways toward defining your character.<hr></blockquote>
The only person here defending their character is you. There's obviously a fair amount of guilt or bad feelings you have about your professional, but you don't see that this is really all your argument boils down to. You are defending yourself [more than] your profession. The problem is, in this context, you are by defnition an extension of the problems your profession creates - and you can't own up to it.
The solution is not for us to adapt to your job, thus making your life more pleasant. Nor is it to try and defend an indefensible position (as noted earlier), but simply to find a better sales job and own up to the fact that your employer has not a leg to stand on in this debate.
[ 02-16-2003: Message edited by: Moogs ]</p>