# Ask The Former Phone Psychic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 9, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646 "2005-03-09T06:58:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/21 "2005-03-09T19:59:51Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > If they had paid you, how long would you have stayed? Until a real job came along. > [@](#): > > Does any call stick out a really intersting? The one where the woman called and asked if she was pregnant. She spent ten minutes on the phone with me($39.99) instead of going to the drug store for a pregnancy test ($7). When I found out she was three _months_ late, I was pretty shocked, and glad I’d said ‘yes’. > [@](#): > > Did you work in a phone center or did they forward the calls to your place? They forwarded the calls to my house. I also volunteered on a rape crisis hotline at the time, and had those calls forwarded to my house. Let’s just say caller ID was paramount when answering the phone. > [@](#): > > Did you meet any of the other psychics and did they think they had abilities? Nope, never met another Miss Cleo psychic. But I have met actual tarot card readers, mediums and such IRL. Some very definitely believe they have abilities, and seem to be tuning into _something_- whether it’s paranormal or excellent people reading abilities I cannot say. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/22 "2005-03-09T20:02:05Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Should I call first, or will you know when I’m coming 😉 I’d imagine the heavy breathing would give it away… 😉 > [@](#): > > Seriously, hope to see you at the next local dopefest. Speaking of which, we should have one of those. Maybe I’ll go start that sort of thread… ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/23 "2005-03-09T20:10:04Z")
How did you get the job? I’m picturing an ad saying, “Can you pretend to be psychic? Make easy money talking to gullible people!” ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/24 "2005-03-09T20:11:11Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > If you were so psychic, how come you didn’t know they were gonna stiff ya? You will note I never claimed psychic abilities. Yeah, I kinda guessed they would, but I thought it might be fun and at least something to do while looking for a real job. ---
**Author:** ![sweetfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@sweetfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweetfreak)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/25 "2005-03-09T20:15:34Z")
Did you know I was going to post here? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/26 "2005-03-09T20:42:51Z")
If you had the ability to know when you or someone else was going to die, would you use it? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/27 "2005-03-09T20:59:08Z")
So you got stiffed, huh? There goes my desire to make a mocking request for a lottery number. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/28 "2005-03-09T21:57:30Z")
> [@glee](#): > > It’s certainly a fascinating glimpse into another world (so to speak). > Would you be able to testify if there was a court case for fraud? Fraud in terms of not getting paid? Yes. Fraud in terms of being a fake psychic? Probably not. The [company that I worked for](http://www.guidinglightnetwork.com/) still exists, and is still hiring. They make you sign a document stating you have psychic powers, under the penalty of perjury. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/29 "2005-03-09T22:01:46Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > How did you get the job? I’m picturing an ad saying, “Can you pretend to be psychic? Make easy money talking to gullible people!” It was on Monster, believe it or not. This was in early 2000, btw. But the company is still hiring- [http://www.guidinglightnetwork.com/](http://www.guidinglightnetwork.com/) ! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/30 "2005-03-09T22:42:42Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > I didn’t make a blooming cents. The bastards stiffed me. You mean you didn’t see that coming? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/31 "2005-03-09T23:56:22Z")
Did you have to do the fake Jamacan accent? ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/32 "2005-03-10T00:01:29Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > Did you have to do the fake Jamacan accent? No, mon, I did not. Thankfully. And I never once was asked where Miss Cleo was. Although we got “motivational messages” from her on the log-in phone line once a week. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/33 "2005-03-10T00:11:28Z")
You know what I’m going to ask.So just tell me the answer and I’ll go 😃 Heh anyone can do this psychic stuff…you see,there’s a Doper here who has a friend or relative with the initial D who was very close to them and they feel a sense of loss…she wants you to know that she’s safe now and to take care of the children for her.Perhaps you’re feeling a bit upset because you had an argument before she passed over…a difference of opinion…something involving money?.She says it’s all been dealt with and not to worry.She knows you’re missing her,but she sees a new relationship developing that will benefit you and the family.It will bring you joy and happiness so it’s worth sticking with it… that’s spookily good how someone could actually believe all that… ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/34 "2005-03-10T00:17:47Z")
I see you were unemployed. Did you get referred to your Miss Cleo gig through the Labor Department or some other public agency? I ask because I recall a newspaper article some years ago that mentioned that either the Unemployment Dept, the Labor Dept or Dept. of Social Services in some state or another was referring clients to interview as phone psychics. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/35 "2005-03-10T02:13:52Z")
Did you receive any training? Any regular reading materials? Any suggestions at all of how to respond to various types of calls? What was the interview process like? Very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/36 "2005-03-10T04:25:22Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > Maybe we should have a support group for our shame. **SLK raises his hand** Hello, My name is SLK, and I’ve been a telephone Psychic. _HI! SLK_ I wasn’t very good at it, I had too much sympathy for the 4 bucks a minute these PT Barnum quote proofers were paying out, and would try to give them as much as they needed and keep the calls short. I also had a sort of stage fright about reading for strangers. I was using Tarot cards, and a little I-Ching. I got one check for about 15 bucks, and stopped logging on. The hourly rate looks great, but that’s only for time on the phone. If you’re not getting the calls, you’re not making anything. I didn’t have to sign anything. I did a sort of interview for the job by reading for one of the employees of the service. I almost went to go do it again, out of a phone center, but I got a creepy ‘only for the money’ vibe off of the owners. This was a ‘take anyone off the street and make em a psychic’ operation. yech. I’m not about to get on a lofty equine and carp about ‘prostituting one’s sacred gifts’ but there’s something about it that was … unclean. Not right action. ---
**Author:** ![Flipstrip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Flipstrip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipstrip)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/37 "2005-03-10T05:30:46Z")
I was a phone psychic for about two weeks. I worked out of a call center for a few hours a day reading Tarot (I had one of those “Starter Tarot” decks that had the meanings printed right on the card). I didn’t get stiffed, but not because the guy running the place didn’t do his level best to do it. I needed the money too badly not to badger him and it took the better part of a month to get it. I got the job by answering an ad in the paper for phone actors. I’d never done anything like that before, and because I needed a job, I decided to give it a whirl. My training consisted of me listening to a couple of calls and then I was thrown onto a line to see how I did. I did OK at first, but between the guilt and my growing distaste for the business, it went downhill from there. My last call? Some gal called me up and asked me where her cell phone was. I suggested calling her cell phone number. If it was close by, she’d hear it, if she’d lost it and someone found it, they’d answer (Hopefully). That’s when I got thrown out. Short practical answers have no place at a psychic hotline apparently. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/38 "2005-03-10T05:44:40Z")
> [@Bill H.](#): > > Did you receive any training? Any regular reading materials? Any suggestions at all of how to respond to various types of calls? What was the interview process like? > Very interesting. None of the above. Just a packet in the mail with instructions on how to dial into the network and an ID number to use. Interview process? Hah! I never once spoke to _anyone_- all email and mail. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/39 "2005-03-10T06:01:09Z")
> [@](#): > > You will note I never claimed psychic abilities. > [@](#): > > The company that I worked for still exists, and is still hiring. They make you sign a document stating you have psychic powers, under the penalty of perjury. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646/40 "2005-03-10T07:05:52Z")
“we hire anyone and we don’t train them” sounds like a recipe for business failure. Was your performance evaluated in any way? length of average call, satisfaction of client (by followup survey or such)? Was there a mechanism for return clients to request speaking to you? I suspect I know the answers to these. Sounds like a very poorly run business. I’m not a believer in this stuff, but if people want it, and want to pay for it, I don’t see a problem with delivering it to them. Doesn’t seem like they spent much effort at all towards making happy customers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-former-phone-psychic/293646.md?page=3)