There is a big difference between a telemarketeer and someone punching you in the face.
I’m not saying you have to be nice to Telemarketers, but in the same breath you dont have to go out of the way to be nasty.
There is a difference in degree, true, but both are quite rude. The difference in intensity does not excuse either.
Once again, I’m always amazed at the people who seem to have a lot of time to torment telemarketers, who are a nuisance because they waste time.
I just love people who intentionally interfere with other people’s means of employment! I love how ignorance and a sense of so-called righteous indignation can blindside them into believing it’s okay to pull a stunt that could perhaps prevent food from being put on the table for an infant! That’s funny! Cause we all know, there’s nothing more hilarious than a child going without food! HAR HAR HAR! Oooh, even better, someone not being able to make rent! HEEE!!!
Wow.
Some of you people sound like serious assholes.
I agree that telemarketers are annoying. However, a brisk
“thanks but I’m not interested, please have me removed from your call list. Have a nice night!” and then my hanging up first has always served me just fine.
I think that telemarketing should be illegal. it’s an obnoxious invasion of privacy. However, being deliberately rude and cruel to a person who is most likely down on their luck, or they wouldn’t be stuck in this job anyway, is just childish.
God forbid you ever be in a position where you have to annoy people to feed yourself.
Actually, on second thought, I’ll tell you exactly why I’m pissed (as if you care.)
I work at a newspaper. Every evening around 4 or 5, the telemarketers wander in, and a good majority of them are retired folks who cannot do much anymore, but who can’t make it on social security or what-have-you, and are still able to sit in a chair and hook themselves up to a dialer each night to supplement their meager income.
Take Miss Marie, for instance. She was truly the sweetest human being I have ever met. She had osteoporosis, made her way into this place on a cane 6 days a week. Spent most of her money on her husband’s funeral, worked here so she could afford to buy her grandkids things. She sold a legitimate product, or at least she thought she did. She was very involved in her church, had a permanent smile on her face, and brought in barbecue and fried green tomatoes for the staff.
I went to her funeral about 4 years ago, and she was still hobbling in to her evening job right until she was hospitalized for a failing heart. That’s right. She never asked for a handout from anyone. She continued to try to sell a newspaper and make her own way until her heart literally gave out, and the thought that she ever had to dial up one of you cold-hearted bastards makes me sick to my stomach.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Actually for purposes of this line of thinking, they are similar.Both situations operate under the “opt out” assumption of interaction.
I DON’T think that every telemarketer should get “one free call” before having to place my name on a do not call list. I don’t think every spammer should get to send me one porno spam before putting me on a do not spam list…and I don’t think someone should get a free punch before being put on a do not punch list.
That’s why in the U.S., the FCC is considering rules changes for telemarketers (and why the DMA is screaming in response).
I think the point some of us are trying to make is that rather than punish one person for an entire line of business that you hate…why not do something to change the situation.
You think this girl owns, runs and makes decisions for the broadband telemarketing scheme? Or maybe, like my sister, she needs to work her way through school and this is the only flexible job she could get at the time.
How about letting her off the hook just this once and perhaps go do something constructive like working on anti-telemarketing legislation, getting a telezapper or working to get your name off all lists for good.
I don’t like telemarketers either, but I kind of make it a point in my life to not give individuals a hard time when I don’t know the whole story. Being mean for the sake of being mean isn’t my hobby.
J
I have experienced many rude telemarketers, very few nice ones. One day I got 4 calls. Finally I laughed and told the 4th one to forget it. He called back and yelled at me 3 times! In my own home. As I said, I don’t get too many calls these days from telemarketers. But I kind of feel sorry for the one that gets me on a bad evening. Perhaps I will ask them if they are a poor old lady before I leave the phone off the hook for an hour. If they say yes, I will hang up, I promise.
Of course, telemarketers are not as bad as the environmental activists that come door to door and act incredulous when I tell them there will never be a good time for me to listen to their little talk.
And this story is supposed to justify the telemarketng industry?
I can match your Senior Citizen sob story…
and here
and here
I like this guy’s approach 
I used to subscribe to my local newspaper…but only on the weekends. They continued to call (4 times at least) inquiring about subscribing during the week. TWICE I told them to put me on their Do Not Call list. They still called. I finally went down to the newspaper…spoke with the manager …and threatened a lawsuit for damages (under exisiting law at the time). Only THEN did they stop. Oh yeah…I really have a lot of sympathy for this industry. :rolleyes:
Sometimes it’s hard to be nice if you’re stuck doing a truly sucky job where people are rude to you all the time.
Not that this excuses rude telemarketers, but I don’t think there’s any excuse for the callees to be rude to nice ones.
TM - Could I speak to Ms. Fur? (They always, always, always say my name wrong)
Me - This is Ms. FIRE.
TM - Ms. Fur, I’d like to tell you about this great cause…
Me - Y’know, this isn’t really a good time for me. Could I get your home number so I can get back to you later?
TM - Well, no, I can’t do that.
Me - Why not? You don’t like being bothered at home?
TM - (air)
Me - Now you know how I feel. <click>
I hate, hate, hate charity calls. More than I hate telemarketing calls because at least those are kind of legitimate. Charity calls beg me for money for nothing. I donate to charity. BUT I PICK THOSE CHARITIES MYSELF!!! Jesus, can I just have one meal without a damn charity call?!
Sorry, I’m done now…
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by beagledave *
**
And this story is supposed to justify the telemarketng industry?
:rolleyes:
Actually, no, it is not, and if you read the beginning of my post, I stated that QUITE clearly.
I am against telemarketing. I think it should be illegal. It is an invasion of privacy.
Got it?
Do I need to repeat it again?
Good.
I’ll proceed…
The story was “supposed” to justify the right of those of us who don’t feel the need to be assholes to people who don’t necessarily deserve it, or maybe even those who might, to let the rest of you know that your little stunts don’t rate any “coolness” points.
Being a jerk to an individual telemarketer is not going to get you anywhere.
If you still don’t understand, go back and read jarbaby’s post.
Although the original story is funny, I agree that it’s a pretty unethical thing to do. It’s vaguely akin to not tipping your restaurant server because the music is too loud: you’re punishing a peon for a management problem.
As for the telemarketer not offering you a garlic chicken recipe: I think you’re imagining a friendlier, footlooser workplace than she was probably working in. There’s a good chance that she had a set script that she was forbidden from leaving behind, and that if a supervisor had caught her discussing chicken recipes with someone, she coulda gotten in trouble. What’s whimsy to you might have been a reprimand or worse to her.
I’m always polite to telemarketers up to the “in-house suppress list” request. If they continue after that point, I say, “Um, you’re required by federal law not to sell to me after I make that request.” I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’ve never had a marketer continue their spiel after that line.
If you really feel like spending time getting revenge on the company, why not ask for the supervisor’s number? Then you can call the supervisor and ask for chicken recipes – or better yet, solicit money from the supervisor for your favorite charity.
Daniel
I just want TwistofFate to know that I don’t go out of my way to be mean to these people, either. At most, when I get one of stupid calls at the end of a long day I blow them off briskly and hang up. I do not endorse being mean to people who are “only trying to make a living.” I understand it – I was there once. I might yet be there again some day.
I just hate getting these damn stupid calls. My wife, who is temporarily an at-home mom, says she gets two or three of these a day. That would drive me up the wall.
Also, I too work for a newspaper, but we’re lucky enough not to call around begging for folks to sign up. Other local papers do, though, and call my house. That was amusing the first time it happened, but after constant calls for almost two years it’s getting really annoying.
Oh fer chrissakes.
Puhlease.
Damages??
How were you “damaged?”
C’mon. If you really were trying to squeeze money out of the system because someone called you after you told them twice not to, I really think you need a hobby, preferably one that involves giving back to the community, to help you find some “big picture” perspective.
Litigious, maybe-I-can-get-rich-quick, I-am-such-a-victim how-dare-they, let-me-try-to-take-contol-over-some-portion-of-my-pathetic-sourpuss-existence types should get MUCH less sympathy than
annoying industries, IMO.
I dont believe anyone in this thread is a bad person.
I don’t agree with telemarketing, but as long as it is legal, I follow the policy of “Its nice to be nice”.
I know how sucky a job it is, but that does not excuse them to be rude.
Now, lets all exchange a reciepe and leave it at that.
I’m not a cook of any description, but I love to butter the bread before I make cheese on toast. Also, shaking a little tobasco on the cheese while its melting gives it a nice zing.
Gorgon-
You post also echos my feelings. I hate getting those stupid damn calls too.
They annoy that crap out of me.
Would I try to be the big bad bully and take it out on the person who called? Only if they were rude. Even then, I would say my peace, demand that they not call again, and leave it at that.
However, I would not be mean just for the sake of it, or because I “can.”
TwistofFate-
You’re probably right…
I like to make “Chicken Rockerfeller”, in which I sautee chicken with a little butter, parm, lots of fresh spinach,and sometimes some bacon pieces. It’s the only way to get my SO to eat spinach, or anything green, for that matter!
I start out polite, usually with a bad accent, and ask who they want to talk to. I ask until they give me a specific name. That name is almost always my cat’s name, the name the phone is listed under. Then I explain that the cat can’t use the phone because he has no thumbs. On the off chance that they actually ask for me, I always tell them I’m not interested (and I haven’t been so far), and then they tell me the “but it’s so wonderful” line. By this time, I’m already in the bathroom, and as soon as I hear them start talking about how wonderful the product is, I hold the phone even with the bowl rim, and flush. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I say “No Means NO!” and sometimes I stay silent until the final “glub glub” and then laugh an evil laugh as I hang up.
I have also been known to tell long-distance service telemarketers that I have no phone, and that I’m just talking to the voices in my head. That usually gets an interesting response, let me tell you.
I’m never nasty to the individual on the phone unless they are rude, but I’m going to do my best to make it as unprofitable as possible for their boss, by wasting their time and money. They can hang up on me any time they want.
my grandma was a telemarketer for a large portion of her life, and my sister was also a telemarketer. They are both very nice people and that’s a large reason why they were hired. They tell me that even if they do talk to a jerk, it doesn’t hurt their feelings or bother them because they talk to hundreds of people, you may be preventing them from calling another 20 people by wasting their time, but is it really worth it? All you have to do is pick up your phone say no take me off your call list then hang up…
I believe there’s someway to collect 500-1500 dollars from a repeat telemarketer once you have asked to be place on their no call list. I’m not completely sure on what all you need to prove you deserve the money, but slap a search into google.com you’ll find more. 