I was convinced that telemarketing jobs was eliminated back in 2005 but I see that is not the case.
I got one this morning on my cell phone, from Florida (at least it pretended to be). A man asked me if I remembered that I signed up for some travel plan (he asked me “You remember, right?” multiple times). I said, quite calmly, no I don’t remember because I never did. Sadly he hung up before I could even begin to learn what in blazes he was talking about or who he was with.
Most telemarketer calls, I answer and say “hello” and there is just silence. Either these companies need better software or better employees. I’m developing a theory that many telemarketers are paid by the call, and if they get you on the phone for 3 seconds that counts even if they don’t say a word.
That’s THEIR tough luck.
This is the result of “predictive dialing.” The telemarketers need real people to talk to consumers and push their products, but real people cost money and computers are cheap. So you separate cold-calling into a dialing part done by computer and and a talking part done by people. The telemarketr has a computer dial, let’s say, a hundred phone numbers at a time with the expectation that thirty people answer. Those thirty callers are routed to thirty telemarketing representatives in the call center who try to push the product. But if 31 people answer, there is a pause until one of the call center reps finishes his last call and is transferred to caller 31.
If you hang up before the representative comes on the phone, the telemarketer just puts your number back in the list to be called again later.
Generally, call center reps in the U.S. are paid a commission based on sales. Or sometimes a minimum wage only if their commissions don’t exceed the minimum wage. If their commissions don’t exceed minimum wage, they get one minimum wage paycheck and are fired.
I just got a recorded call from “Bridget at Card Services”. It was only one number off from my cell number. :dubious:
Did Rachel quit?
Ref Rachel & Bridget vs. your caller ID, see this related thread Is there a call blocker app (iOS) that can block a series of numbers ? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board & my post #4.
PhoneTray Pro supports wildcard blocking.