Telemarketers calls

[Marlitharn]

There are some very bitter people here. Speaking as a former telemarketer (minimum wage, seven hours a night on the phone, which meant it wasn’t full-time, so no benefits), I might warn you that telemarketers are people too. And not only did we have your phone number, in many cases we had your address. And there’s a woman in Ohio who is still trying to figure out why a $900 stereo system from Fingerhut was delivered to her house. ( I was 18 years old, working 2 jobs, and stressed out. I admit it wasn’t the nicest thing in the world to do. But she started it! Nyaah Nyaah!) My other favorite thing to do was leave freaky messages on answering machines. The problem with most telemarketers is their bosses are a bunch of shirts who’ve never had to make the phone calls. These shirts have instituted a three “no” policy. If the marketer lets the call go without getting three "no"s, and a shirt happens to be listening in, then the marketer gets chewed out. It’s a thankless job - and a crappy one - but it does generate enough sales to keep it going. And as long as there are telemarketing jobs available, there will be people to fill those positions. I might also add that a number of the people I worked with were disabled and telemarketing was really the only kind of work they could do. I guess what I’m saying is, yeah, they’re annoying (but if answering your own phone bothers you that much, turn the ringer off and let the answering machine get it), and yeah, they’re pushy, but they’re just trying to make a buck. All you have to do is say “No thank you, please remove me from your list” and hang up. Just bear in mind that the next time you order anything out of a catalog, or fill out a mail-in survey, your name goes right back on. Just one of the menaces of living in the good ol’ USA.

---

Never ever watch “Night of the Lepus” unless you’re really, really, REALLY drunk

[Flymaster]

Originally posted by Marlitharn:
**And not only did we have your phone number, in many cases we had your address. And there’s a woman in Ohio who is still trying to figure out why a $900 stereo system from Fingerhut was delivered to her house. ( I was 18 years old, working 2 jobs, and stressed out. I admit it wasn’t the nicest thing in the world to do. But she started it! Nyaah Nyaah!)
**

People like you sicken me. Simple as that. You are the LOWEST form of life in the “business” world today (if you can call telemarketing a business). To you, Ma’am, I give a giant Flymaster FUCK YOU!!!.

You should be ashamed of yourself. Not just for this little “prank” (which is actually mail fraud, I believe) but also for defending the indefensable position of telemarketing. You, your employer, and all other telemarketers are nothing more than common theifs, and rude ones at that.

Truth does not change because it is, or is not, beleived by a majority of the people.
-Giordano Bruno

[Fenris]

Originally posted by Marlitharn:
Originally posted by Marlitharn:
** (but if answering your own phone bothers you that much, turn the ringer off and let the answering machine get it
**

You seem to be under the misapprehension that MY phone is a public commodity. I pay for my phone so my friends and family can call, not so call-monkeys can harrass me. I should not have to buy extra equipment (caller ID, etc) to stop people like you were from harrassing me, nor should I have to “let the answering machine get it” and inconvienience myself and my friends/loved ones to avoid the drivel of call-monkeys who feel that they have some special right to disturb what I’m doing. As I’m on all the “no call” lists from the DMA and the phone company, I feel no mercy for the bastards who try to make their living by being an annoyance. They’ve been given more than fair warning.

And if the wages and hours are so bad, then the more miserable I make the lives of phone-harrassers, the more likely they’ll quit and get better jobs like flipping burgers, where they can live productive lives and do something useful for a change.

BTW, for everyone else, an airhorn or a LOUD police whistle can help return some of the unpleasantness that a call-monkey inflicted on you.

Fenris

[andros]

Joe Blank, amen, amen, amen. You are a voice of sanity.

But fenris still whinges:

You seem to be under the misapprehension that MY phone is a public commodity. I pay for my phone so my friends and family can call

Bullshit. Get an unlisted number. Or a pager. Or a cell phone. But you knew when you got a phone line hooked up to your home that your number would be made public. You remember that big thick book with all the little print you’re using to prop your feet up? No, not the dictionary, the (gasp!) phone book. It has your name in it. And your number. So people can call you. Yes, even total strangers.

Whether it should be that way is irrelevant. It is that way. Cope.

-andros-

[andros]

Not to single you out, Fenris. The same goes for Flymaster and Riboflavin too.
And Marlitharn, to steal a phrase from Satan, can lick my bag.

[Fenris]

Originally posted by andros:
**Joe Blank, amen, amen, amen. You are a voice of sanity.

But fenris still whinges:

You seem to be under the misapprehension that MY phone is a public commodity. I pay for my phone so my friends and family can call

Bullshit. Get an unlisted number. Or a pager. Or a cell phone. But you knew when you got a phone line hooked up to your home that your number would be made public. You remember that big thick book with all the little print you’re using to prop your feet up? No, not the dictionary, the (gasp!) phone book. It has your name in it. And your number. So people can call you. Yes, even total strangers.

Whether it should be that way is irrelevant. It is that way. Cope.

-andros-**

I stated in my first post (you know, (gasp) *posts[/]! The things you’re supposed to read before sending out messages!) that I have an unlisted number. And I said that I’m on the Direct Marketing Association “Do Not Call” list. And the Phone Company’s. And sent out Junkbuster’s form, etc. I think I’ve gone above and beyond what I should have to do to simply guarantee myself some privacy. Unlisting my number and doing the other stuff has cut down my spam-calls from 1-2 per day to 1-2 per week. Which is still too many.

And I know that people can call me, even total strangers. But total strangers who dial a wrong number get a civil response, even in the middle of the night, if they’re civil, since accidents happen. The remaining Call-Spammers who don’t use the DMA’s no-call list, etc get an earful of police whistle because, frankly, what else can I do? By answering the phone I’ve gotten on the short list of valid numbers, I might as well inflict some discomfort back.

Besides…I’m talking issues of right and wrong. Whether it is that way or not (I concede that it is) is irrelevant as to whether it should be.

Fenris

[andros]

Oh, I read your posts, hon. That’s why I mentioned two other names in my followup. And I specifically did not limit myself to mentioning an unlisted number. Try again.

I’m not sure why you have your knickers in a twist. After going to such trouble, you’re still receiving a 1-2 telemarketers’ calls a week? I’m not unlisted and I get fewer than that. Something’s really wrong there. FTM, I have not received a single non-accident wrong number on my cell phone in the two years I’ve had it. Why? Because I only give the number to people I want to have it. This isn’t difficult, is it?

True, I’m sure eventually I’ll get a call on my cell from some computer randomly dialing, but that gets back to Joe Blank’s post. I am not a slave to my phone. Unless I’m expecting a call, I don’t feel the inane desire to dash madly for the ringing slavedriver. I actually turn my cell off when I’m in meetings. Admittedly, I do keep my answering machine at home turned up high enough to hear from almost anywhere in my (small) house, so I can find out who’s calling. If it’s important, I can deal with it. But jesus, why let a telephone govern my life? And why let a telephone become a moral issue? Turn it off.

-andros-

[Riboflavin]

JoeBlank,

We have caller ID, we check it, and if you are unidentified, or if we just don’t want to talk at the time, we don’t answer.

Well, Joe, some of us have friends that are in area codes other than our own, and so their numbers will always show up as unidentified.

Friends will leave a voicemail, especially if it is important.

I know this may be hard for a telemarketer or one of their defenders to comprehend, but some of us enjoy talking to our friends. Playing several levels of phone tag directly interferes with out ability to do so.

[quote]
If someone knocks on your door you don’t feel obligated to invite them in, do you?

I’ll answer the door, since normally someone only knocks on my door if they’re one of my friends, or if they’re a neighbor who has some reason to contact me. If it is a salesman, I will tell him to learn to read English (my apartments are a solicitation-free zone), and call the police to report what is probably somone casing apartments to rob.

That ringing is a knock, and by answering you are letting to person on the line into your home. Excercise your right not to answer.

I’d rather talk to my friends than make telemarketers happy.

Marlitharn

There are some very bitter people here. Speaking as a former telemarketer (minimum wage, seven hours a night on the phone, which meant it wasn’t full-time, so no benefits), I might warn you that telemarketers are people too.

And they’re slimy people who deserve to either become entertainment or to have misery inflicted upon them for annoying other people.

And not only did we have your phone number, in many cases we had your address.

You might want to check the statutes on what someone is allowed to do once you have entered their property for a given state before you make threats like that.

And there’s a woman in Ohio who is still trying to figure out why a $900 stereo system from Fingerhut was delivered to her house. ( I was 18 years old, working 2 jobs, and stressed out. I admit it wasn’t the nicest thing in the world to do. But she started it! Nyaah Nyaah!)

That actually does seem pretty nice, giving her a $900 gift like that. You do realize that, since she never ordered the stereo, the company can’t get any money out of her and can be sued if they attempt to list it as a bad debt with a credit reporting group, right?

I might also add that a number of the people I worked with were disabled and telemarketing was really the only kind of work they could do.

An asshole in a wheelchair is still an asshole. And they must have a pretty unusual disability if telemarketing is the only work they can do, since I know a few severely disabled people who don’t work as telemarketers.

[QUOTE[ I guess what I’m saying is, yeah, they’re annoying (but if answering your own phone bothers you that much, turn the ringer off and let the answering machine get it),[/QUOTE]

Further evidence that, as I said, telemarketers deliberately interfere with your operation of the phone that you pay for.

and yeah, they’re pushy, but they’re just trying to make a buck. All you have to do is say “No thank you, please remove me from your list” and hang up.

All they have to do is not call me in the first place. If they CHOOSE to call me, I will choose to respond however I want.

---

Kevin Allegood,

“At least one could get something through Trotsky’s skull.”

• Joseph Michael Bay

[Riboflavin]

andros,

I really should have looked to see if any more defenders of telemarketing scum had crawled out of the woodwork before my last post. Let’s see:

Bullshit. Get an unlisted number. Or a pager. Or a cell phone. But you knew when you got a phone line hooked up to your home that your number would be made public.

So what? The fact that my phone number is public doesn’t mean that I have to be polite to the scum that abuse it.

You remember that big thick book with all the little print you’re using to prop your feet up? No, not the dictionary, the (gasp!) phone book. It has your name in it. And your number. So people can call you. Yes, even total strangers.

And if total strangers do something asinine like call me to sell me something, I will treat them in the appropriate manner (either amusing myself at their expense or making their day a bit worse).

Whether it should be that way is irrelevant. It is that way. Cope.

You knew when you were calling my number with a solicitation that I would not be polite. Whether it should be that way is irrelevant. It is that way. Cope.

It’s kind of hypocritical for the defenders of telemarketing scum to tell people to ‘cope’, when they’re the ones posting plaintive pleas that people not respond to their rudeness with rudeness.

After going to such trouble, you’re still receiving a 1-2 telemarketers’ calls a week? I’m not unlisted and I get fewer than that. Something’s really wrong there.

And Andros shows off its idiocy. In major metropolitan areas, telemarketing scum use wardialers to go through all of the numbers in an exchange, making the listing of a number irrelevant. Of course, something is really wrong there, and that something is telemarketing scum and their pathetic defenders like Andros.

FTM, I have not received a single non-accident wrong number on my cell phone in the two years I’ve had it. Why? Because I only give the number to people I want to have it. This isn’t difficult, is it?

If some telemarketing scum doesn’t want to recieve rudeness from me, they can avoid calling me in the first place. This isn’t difficult, is it?

I am not a slave to my phone. Unless I’m expecting a call, I don’t feel the inane desire to dash madly for the ringing slavedriver.

Perhaps you don’t have many friends. I personally enjoy talking with my friends, so I will usually answer the phone, since most of the time a call is one of them. If I discover that it is some walking argument for birth control that is abusing my courtesey to try and ‘make a buck’, then I see no reason to be polite to them.

But jesus, why let a telephone govern my life? And why let a telephone become a moral issue? Turn it off.

It’s the defenders of telemaketing scum that seem to want to make it a moral issue, whining on about how they’re ‘just trying to make a buck’ or how some of the scum are handicapped. And why let someone being rude to telemarketing scum become a moral issue? Just don’t call.

---

Kevin Allegood,

“At least one could get something through Trotsky’s skull.”

• Joseph Michael Bay

[Marlitharn]

Flymaster and Andros: Awww. I didn’t know you cared.

People seem to have missed my original point, which was that TELEMARKETING WORKS ENOUGH OF THE TIME SO THAT COMPANIES CONTINUE TO DO IT. The people making the calls have no idea if they’re going to get a polite “no”, a rude “no”, a police whistle (which incidently never happened to me), or a “hell yes, sign me up!” They’re not singling you out just to ruin your life. Granted, I wasn’t making “cold calls”…I worked for a company that offered magazine re-subscriptions to people that had already subscribed once. So perhaps my clientele was a bit more polite than seems represented here. And I’m not defending my childish bit of mail fraud…I admitted it was a stupid thing to do. But at no time was I holding a gun to someone’s head and growling “Subscribe to Teddy Bear Review or else!” (Incidentally, Flymaster, I believe the word is “thieves”, not “theifs”.) Our average goal was $70 in sales an hour, and it was quite easy to make. It still amazes me when I think of the number of people who gave me their credit card numbers over the phone (and no, I never took advantage of this). Telemarketing is a two-way street; obviously everyone here agrees that telemarketers should be sent back to the bowels of hell from whence they came, but someone out there must find them to be a convenient way to buy things, or they would have faded away long ago.
Last telemarketing call I received: 2 months ago.
Text of call:
“Hello, we’re calling to see if you’d like to subscribe to (newspaper) Sunday edition?”
“No thank you.”
“Okay, thanks for your time.”
Duration of call: 15 seconds. And thanks to the wonders of Zen meditation, I was able to immediately get right back into what I was doing before the phone rang.

---

Never ever watch “Night of the Lepus” unless you’re really, really, REALLY drunk

[Flymaster]

Originally posted by Marlitharn:
**Flymaster and Andros: Awww. I didn’t know you cared.

TELEMARKETING WORKS ENOUGH OF THE TIME SO THAT COMPANIES CONTINUE TO DO IT.
**

ORGANIZED CRIME WORKS ENOUGH OF THE TIME SO THAT PEOPLE CONTINUE TO DO IT

Does this make it right? No.
Does this make me approve of it? No.
Does this give the mob the right to attack me? No.

Oh, and thanks for correcting my spelling, you stupid fuck. Did I spell that correctly?

---

Truth does not change because it is, or is not, beleived by a majority of the people.
-Giordano Bruno

[Marlitharn]

Very good, Flymaster! I’m glad you found your dictionary! (Check your sig, by the way…it’s “believed”, not “beleived.”) Now then. Surely you’re not comparing telemarketing to organized crime? Telemarketers don’t use semi-automatic weapons. And the pay scale in organized crime is way higher.

---

Never ever watch “Night of the Lepus” unless you’re really, really, REALLY drunk

[andros]

You’re right, Marlitharn. It does work sometimes. My issue was merely with your “childish act of mail fraud,” as you put it, and the obvious glee you exhibited when relating yuor story.

Riboflavin, please take a deep breath and show me where I defended telemarketing. Or telemarketers. Can’t do it, can you? Know why? Because I never defended them.

Gee, does that knee jerk much? :rolleyes:

My whole point is that it’s silly to feel the obligation to immediately leap to the telephone the moment it rings. It’s silly to get upset over people calling you. It’s silly to become rabid over a marketing technique that has been used for longer than you’ve been alive, and won’t change.

Geez, do you call people who send you junkmail names too? And do you kiss your mother with that bile-filled mouth?

-andros-

[annalamerino]

One trouble is multiple callers from the same list.

Telemarketing scams the CALLERS as well as the rest of us.
A “job” posting gets 4-5 people to sign up. They get a computer printout of people to call. They all get the same printout.

So, we get 4-5 calls. (L.A.Times subscription offers are the ones this week here)

But, since the possible money to be made has just been cut by 4 or 5, the callers soon quit. They work on commission, BUT only if they are still on board when the check clears. They can’t afford to hang on that long, so the CALLERS get paid nothing and the company gets 4-5 tries for each number.

If this part was illegal, the rest would go away too.

[Flymaster]

Originally posted by Marlitharn:
**Surely you’re not comparing telemarketing to organized crime? Telemarketers don’t use semi-automatic weapons. And the pay scale in organized crime is way higher.
**

What the fuck does that have to do with anything? What’s important is that both practices affect me, both steal my money, and both really piss me off. And yet you defend one, and not the other?

Oh, and I fixed the sig…thanks a lot. I’m surprised that I never noticed that, since I’ve been using it for almost a year now on various message boards. Oh well.

Oh yeah, fuck you.

---

Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.
-Giordano Bruno

[Lynn_Bodoni]

My whole point is that it’s silly to feel the obligation to immediately leap to the telephone the moment it rings. It’s silly to get upset over people calling you. It’s silly to become rabid over a marketing technique that has been used for longer than you’ve been alive, and won’t change.

Gee, I guess you don’t have anyone close to you with a medical condition. Or maybe you don’t have any friends that you are willing to talk to…

And I guess that you don’t have to sleep during the day.

My husband works rotating shifts. That means that Tuesday and Wednesday, he works swing, Thursday and Friday, he works days, and Saturday he pulls a mid shift. This means that if a telemarketer calls, it’s likely to disturb his sleep, EVEN IF WE LET THE MACHINE PICK IT UP! We don’t mind our family and friends disturbing us. But we don’t want to hear from telemarketers.

I, personally, hope that telemarketing will become illegal. Until that day, I will continue to make life miserable for any telemarketers who call me. I don’t care about their circumstances, since they don’t care about mine. I’ve been a telemarketer, and I think that it might possibly be the scummiest work in the world (that’s legal, that is).

Lynn

[andros]

Lots of heat, not much light.

You’re right of course, Lynn, that I don’t regularly get emergency calls. If I had a family member with a medical condition I’d be more inclined to leap to the phone immediately. And I did work nights for a long time, but I just turned off the phone (well, I set the machine to pick up on the first ring). Again, though, I wasn’t worrying about emergencies. (Then again, I reckon most people don’t.)

As for friends calling, if I don’t race to the phone the instant it starts screaming, they won’t stop being my friends.

Don’t get the idea that I never answer the phone. I’m just not willing to get out of the bath for it, or track in mud from the garden, or have to race the answering machine.

Further, I guess I’m in the minority for not thinking of telephones as a private commodity. AFAICT, I’m paying for the use of the phone company’s lines, switching protocols, etc.–that is, the technology. Not for privacy. In the days of live operators and party lines the phone wasn’t a private thing, why should it be now?

When I think of all the other means of communicating we have available today, cell phones, pagers, email, the Web, I wonder why I should have to miss X-Files for someoen who doesn’t have my cell number.

But then, I’m not opposed to email spam, either. Go fig.

-andros-

[Marlitharn]

Flymaster: Stop offering, hon, I’m married.

To clarify my original point, I too am frequently annoyed by telemarketers. But I’m not going to go barking mad over their occasional calls. Life’s too short. They’re simply an inconvenience one has to put up with in this imperfect world, along with teenage fast-food employees who don’t know how to make change, or Teletubbies. Or the customer I had today who asked me for directions to somewhere, then turned around and asked a (male) truck driver the same question. And then looked at me with an expression of surprise and said, “You’re right!” And again, I’ve already admitted the prank I pulled on that unwitting (and witless) woman in Ohio was childish and stupid. Who hasn’t done something that thoughtless at 18? Ah, the good ol’ days. When one could be a moron in blissful ignorance…

---

Never ever watch “Night of the Lepus” unless you’re really, really, REALLY drunk