# Are you rude to telemarketers?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-rude-to-telemarketers/661146>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 16, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-rude-to-telemarketers/661146 "2013-06-16T23:00:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-rude-to-telemarketers/661146/81 "2013-06-20T02:00:44Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> You mean like cold calling them at home? Nah, I’d never do something so rude.

🙂

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-rude-to-telemarketers/661146/82 "2013-06-20T02:28:38Z")

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Well, rude in that I just hang up as if there was no one there. Why should I waste my time yelling at some idiot whose just doing their shitty job?

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**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-rude-to-telemarketers/661146/83 "2013-06-20T12:21:00Z")

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> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> I’m always very polite but I get off the phone immediately. The reason is that anyone doing that kind of work is one step from the edge and deserves mercy. I did phone survey work for a very short time in my 20’s for $2.00 per hour- that tells you how long ago it was- because I was dead broke and couldn’t get any more work as a psychology department test subject. You don’t do phone calling unless you’re desperate. I can’t be rude to someone who may have a bottle of pills in the other hand.

I did some telemarketing work in college, and I wouldn’t say I was suicidally desperate or anything. I just needed to pay for my tuition and $140-a-pop textbooks so I could get my degree, and a $14/hr office job was a lot more appealing than a $8/hr job working in a restaurant. That said, it’s not like any of us really enjoyed the work. It was all about numbers: how many calls, how long, how many sales. High pressure and lots of rejection. I only managed to do it for 8 months or so before I burned out and decided a lower-paying retail job may be healthier for me.

I do try to avoid massive rudeness. But when the calls become harassment, several times a day, after I’ve told them to please stop calling? I get pissed.

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-rude-to-telemarketers/661146/84 "2013-06-20T16:01:16Z")

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> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Well, rude in that I just hang up as if there was no one there. Why should I waste my time yelling at some idiot whose just doing their shitty job?

“Idiot” doing their “shitty” job?

_\<speechless\>_

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