Telemarketers ...please read

[Southerncat]

I recently started a new job with a local company as a Telemarketer. On my first day all I did was watch everyone else . On my second day I was put on a dialer. I was in disbelive how rude people are on the other end of the phone lines.until i made a few calls. The elderly people i over look because i know how they can be when they are not on the phone. I also over look people who are sick. The people i work with do like i do , if they are either elderly,sick ,have a screaming child ect. We nicely say that we will call back at a better time and say thank you for your time. As for the other people you have got to realize some things.
1....WE ARE JUST DOING OUR JOB!
2....LIFE IS TOO SHORT ...DONT BE MEAN
3....IF WHEN WE ANNOUNCE WHO WE ARE AND YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN OUR COMPANY THEN JUST SAY NO THANKS AND HANG UP
4...OR JUST HANG UP
5....(HINT)IF YOU HATE THESE KIND OF CALLS GET A PRIVATE NUMBER OR
6...USE THESE EXACT WORDS"TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST" JUST SAYING DONT CALL WONT GET YOU TAKEN OFF
7...THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO CAUSE TO CUSS AT US....CALL THE COMPANY ITS SELF
8......REMEMBER YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO IS ON THE OTHER END....JUST BE CAUSE YOU GET A CALL ON SUNDAY ...DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PREACH AT US.
9......DON'T CALL US NAMES LIKE "STUPID,BITCH" ECT. WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING TO SUPPORT OUR FAMILIES
10....REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE TALKING WITH A REAL PERSON
11....IF YOU ARE A PREACHER OR A MINISTER WIFE, THERE IS NO CALL TO ACT THE MOST OF YOU DO ON THE PHONE. SOME OF THE RUDEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER SPOKEN WITH

I know some of you are thinking "well why don't you get a real job" well sometimes people are physicaly not able to do. And to me this type of job is better than going on disability. Sorry this is so long but its so sad to think people are so rude and mean to one another

 

[Uffern]

I can sympathize with you. When someone asks what the hell are you doing calling tham at ten a.m. on Saturday you shoot back "I'm at work!"

And don't forget, if you piss off a telemarketer, your odds of getting more telemarketing calls increases drastically.

 

[jenn_jeffery]

I understand that telemarketers are just doing the job they were hired for. That's all fine and good. At least you're not on welfare.

What DOES bother me about the calls is when they argue with me. "No thank you, I'm not interested, please take me off this list." "But we have this great deal....." "NO, take me off this list." "This will just take one minute of your time, blah blah" "I said no, what are you deaf? I want off this list!" "OK, but that could take up to 90 days for you to be removed."

That kind of stuff drives me nuts! Please, if you're going to make the calls, then LISTEN when someone says no. Don't argue with me, and don't get rude. Yes, I did have one guy say "But it's only .13 cents a day, for a years subscription" I had at that point said I wanted to look at the magazine sample they were sending me. He decided for me that I didn't want the magazine, and I did like it, but I refuse to help support someone that rude.

 

[MR_Jungle_Mist]

Well, I'm not rude and don't wish anyone to be rude either but, generally, this is how telemarketing calls go here:

*ring*ring*

"Hell-"

"Hi, Mr. Mansell? This is *** calling, my name is Cynthia I'd like to tell you about the special we are having at the moment for an entire years worth of subscription to *** and if you sign up today I'd be glad to take an additional 10% off that price."

"I'm so-"

"And as an added bonus, for this week only we'd like to offer a promotionalwhichincludestwofreeweeksofourdailysuperspecialwiththefirstmonthfreeifyoupurchaseatwoyearsubscriptionifyouswitchoverfrom****tousintheduringthisphonecallatwhichtimeIamentitledtoofferyouanadditional$5offthefirst6months. May I interest you in a subscription?"

"Actually, we already subscribe to ****."

"May I ask why?"

"Well......they are a good publication, I like what they offer and don't like *** as much."

"What if I told you I could take 10% off the price for you today?"

"No thanks."

"And if you get it for two years I'd gladly offer an additional $25 off."

"No thanks."

"May I ask why?"

"I'm not interested."

"May I ask why?"

"I already have a newspaper."

"May I ask why not ours?"

"Because I don't want it."

"May I ask why?"

"I don't like the ppl who work for ***."

"May I ask why?"

"Because of ppl like you."

"May I ask why?"

"I'm sorry, I have to tend to my elderly mother who is in bed right now and is close to death's door."

"May I ask why?"

"What?!"

"May I ask why?"

*Click!!!*

__________________

What I'd LIKE would be:

*ring*ring*

"Hello?"

"Hello, My name is Cynthia, from ***. I'm wondering if there's any way in h*ll I could get you to buy a subscription from me today?"

"No."

"Okay, well, thank you very much, and I hope you have a nice day."

"You as well! Goodbye now!"

*click*


It just never goes that way!

 

[Uffern]

Why haven't I seen any threads about the employees at Radio Shack yet? A lot of telemarketeers get commision, and not like car salesmen. I'm talking about getting a few cents over minimum wage if they make some sales. It's not a glorious job, it's a job you take when you have to have a job. If you had to make sales to feed your children, how would you feel at the end of the day if every person you spoke to all day told you that you were a low life piece of crap and other things like that. It's a job. As was said, simply say, "Please remove me from your list." Also, if you get someone who is as pushy as the example in the above post, simply say the magic phrase, and hang up. Believe me, for someone who needs to make sales to make any kind of money, they prefer to be through with the calls that are fruitless as fast as possible. They don't mind being interrupted to be told take me off you list. They do, however, mind being insulted as though they are trying to annoy people.

 

[Clay Davenport]

I have tried to sympahize with the plight of the poor abused telemarketer, but I just can't manage it. The fact is for every one that is a descent non-intrusive person, there's 100 who are pushy, relentless, and completely unapologetically annoying people whom I loathe with every shred of my existance.
The behavior of the majority has resulted in the few receiving the same treatment.
If someone wants to call me, at my home, when I am otherwise relaxing from my job of manual labor, for no purpose other than to attempt to sell me something, then they have initiated the confrontation, and in my opinion are deserving of whatever effects are generated by their actions.
If they choose to call at 10pm then they should consider themselves extremely fortunate they are not door to door salesmen.

There is absolutely zero chance I will ever buy anything from a telemarketer. I refuse to support anyone who makes a living infringing on the lives and happiness of others. That leaves three possibilities of how the call will progress.
If I'm not busy and in a particularly good mood, I'll string them along with questions. I've managed to keep some on the phone for as long as a half hour before telling them I wasn't interested. I have found this to be terribly annoying to them, which amuses me greatly. One woman was nearly salivating thinking I was about to fix up my home with some brand new aluminum siding. She had devoted over a half hour to extolling the wondrous benefits of aluminum and answering my endless supply of questions ranging from the level of UV resistance to the thicnkess of the siding itself. She was quite miffed when I finally said I didn't want any after all.
I may just hang up if I don't want to be bothered.
If however I am in a bad mood already then they are just as likely as not to be on the receiving end of an onslaught of verbal abuse the likes of which most would be hard pressed to compare. It's amazing how they too have the option of hanging up but the vast majority do not. It's also amazing how a telemarketer posses the ability to turn someone like myself, a normally intelligent speaking and reasonable individual into a borderline homocidal maniac by nothing more than introducing themselves.
The mere realization that it is a telemarketing call pushes my blood pressure up 10 points and I feel their becoming the target of anger they generated merely evens the score.
I have however made an effort to rely on the first or second option lately, my lovely wife is having a positive influence on me as to how I relate to people I otherwise can't stand. Granted my private telephone number results in few such calls, but it's probably been over a year since I really let loose on a telemarketer.

 

[Stardust]

Ok, I have to add my .02 cents worth here.
I worked for a telemarketing place, no, I was not a caller, I worked in IT (worked on the computers). (I couldnt do the call thing). Most places that I know of do not get a commission but get a hourly wage, usually from 6.50 to 8.50 with the lower end getting bonuses.
Even if your phone number is unlisted, it doesn't matter, they get your names from the data bases of banks and credit cards, stores, you name it.
Yes, you can say you want your name taken off and IT will do that, but guess what? Unless you call your banks credits cards ect. it will just be put back on again.
No it is not the telemarketers fault, and you are just doing your job, I know this but there has to come a point where a persons private info is not so easily handed out. Unfortunately, it starts with the telemarketer. Unfortunately, as in all jobs that have pecking orders you are the last one on the totem pole and need to realize this and take it all in stride.

 

[E2MacPets]

telemarketers in my area get 8-12 plus commission/bonus usually.

radio shack is purely commission based...

Now i'm desperate for a job to get myself into better living arrangements... if these were the only options available, which would I choose?

RadioShack on the basis that I could still help customers who would feel grateful for that help since they came to me.

Of course, i'm sure management wouldn't keep me around with that mindset...

 

[WebSlave]

Personally, I resent the intrusion on my time. Most of the time, when the phone rings, I am busy doing something else, that I have to stop doing in order to answer the phone. This may mean quickly putting a snake back into it's container and securing it, then dashing across the room to grab the phone before the answering machine picks it up. No, I am NOT happy to find a telemarketer on the other end. I really don't care that it is the way you are making your living. The way you are making a living is infringing on MY time and keeping me from doing MY work.

Fortunately, in this case, my last name is difficult to pronounce. I find that anyone whom asks for Mr. Zoogowoski is probably really not someone I have met or talked to before. In many instances, I will tell them that he is in the other room and I will have to get him. And I leave the phone off of the hook. Sometimes I go back 15 or 20 seconds later and ask the telemarketer if they can hold on for a few more minutes. And I will occasionally call out "Mr. Zoogowoski!! Don't forget this phone call!!"

On the other hand, If I happen to be sitting in my den, I have one of those hand sized air horns that are used on boats.... Hey, remember YOU called ME. A friend of mine will often strike up a conversation with female telemarketers, asking them what color underwear they are wearing today....

You are fair game, as far as I am concerned. If you got a job doing a study on breeding and releasing mosquitoes in my back yard, infected with West Nile Virus, I doubt I would be any less appreciative of your work.

Quite frankly, of all the ways a company tries to sell their merchandise, THIS way is probably the most abrasive and intrusive of them all. YOU have taken a job guaranteed to bother most of the people on this planet that have a telephone.

And by the way, I do have a private number for my residence phone. But it doesn't help. Some telemarketers use auto sequencing dialers to reach EVERYONE on an exchange. That's why you have that momentary pause as the connection is switched over to a live operator when you say "hello".

IMHO, of course.

 

[JasonBrennan]

The way I look at it is this. If I want a product, I will go buy it. If I want a magazine subscription, I will pull one of those cards out of the magazine and fill it out. If I am at home, it means that I am not interested in buying anything right now!!!!!!!!

I personally can't stand telemarketers. I don't care if they are "just doing their job". Same with door to door salesmen and Jehovas Witnesses (well, just the ones that come knocking on my door). All of the groups are just annoying, to say the least. When people are at home, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!

Ok, there was my $.02, now where is my change?

 

[Seamus Haley]

I personally see it as really being a case where the individuals who choose to work as Telemarketers made the decision about their employment themselves and they frankly deserve whatever treatment they get, while it may tend to attract a certain crowd who might have milited options... Limited does not mean "Telemarketer or nothing" they could always try... learning a useful skill that doesn't annoy people.

I'm with Rich on the name issue too, it seems nobody outside of Boston and maybe Chigaco (Both cities have larger than average Irish populations) can seem to get my name right, which just compounds the annoyance.

I also sleep odd hours and keep an irregular schedule, the last thing I want is to finally get to sleep in the early afternoon only to be woken up by some nit-wit who wants to call me "Seemoose" and tries to talk to me about refinancing my mortgage (I rent).

At least spam emails are quiet about it and you can ignore them before they become really intrusive.

In discussing the real lower life forms, the sort of basic, one step above single cellular sludge festering in a stagnant pool species, the bottom rung is, of course, Jesse Underhill, right above him are the french, then lawyers then telemarketers are just below malicious intestinal parasites.

You don't want people to be mean and hurtful and say unpleasant things so your feewings don't get bwuised?

Find another line of work.

 

[meretseger]

I know how to pronounce your name now, Seamus, 'cause it was on the Simpsons (apparently groundskeeper Willy has a brother). I can handle telemarketers very easily- it goes like this. 'Can I talk to Mr. or Mrs. Brenner?' 'Sorry, there's no Brenners here'. Click. Works out for both of us.

Erin Benner

 

[Seamus Haley]

I know how to pronounce your name now, Seamus, 'cause it was on the Simpsons

Ah yes... Groundskeeper Seamus, Willie's mortal enemy, the drunken irish poet...

"You speak like a poet, but you punch like one too!"

 

[JungleHabitats]

im with rich on this one

The most annoying call is either from the telemarketer or my Ex. usally with the telemarketer being the most annoyingYou tell us not not be mean , harsh , and or rude .? but yet you are the one that calls us from California , and were in North carolina so you work 2nd and call from there at say uhmmmm9-10- pm or later ( cause you work 2nd shift) we cringe when we pick up the phone to here the dreaded pause ............
Hi my name is ( blah blah )
sorry not interested take me off the list ......
....we dont have a list
So then where did you get my number from on the west coast if im half asleep on the east ?
......were selling ..
im sorry take me off the list PLEASE and dont call back

so you know how this goes ......


so let me ask the telemarketers this .. why is it then when we ask you for your name & number so that we can call you back because we busy right now and later might be a better time to talk to you about your product you flat out refuse or tell us its private info !!!!! what about that PRIVATE # you just dialed up
........? i am truely sorry i have more feeling for the plight of the african wildabeast then the heartstrings& life and times of a telemarketers problems
the following is the list of things i hate the most

• telemarketers
• police benevilient funds ( sp ) sorry not gonna check it
• blue lights in the rear view mirror

besides this should have been put in the BS forum or just for laughs .... cause sounding off will surely not get the intended sympathy you are looking for .. sorry if this was brash or harsh but i was awakened this morning by guess what .... ? thats right a freaking telemarketer not the sun shine in the window which on a sunday morning is how i like to wake up !! lol

 

[Uffern]

Let's keep in mind that the telemarketers didn't make up telemarketing, and sometimes, it is telemarketing or nothing. From the general response, you all simply dislike a group of people based on what they do for a living. How is that any different than disliking military personnel or police officers simply because of their job? I can understand being annoyed by the call, but deciding to be an ass and start insulting someone is immature at best. For those of you who like to screw around for a half hour, let's look at what you are actually doing. Instead of the minute or two it would take for you to pick up the phone, recognize what kind of call it was and have yourself removed from the list, you go and waste a half hour of not only their time, but yours too, and then act so annoyed about it afterward. Keep in mind that while you are wasting everyone's time, you may actually be taking food out of their children's mouth, but they are just telemarketer children. Saying that telemarketers deserve whatever they get is like saying that military infantry and special ops deserve whatever happens to them in Iraq because they chose that profession. Sound right to you? It should, unless you are a hypocrite, that is.
On second thought, I guess it isn't telemarketing or nothing, one could always starve, or go on welfare and let everyone else pay for them.

 

[dwedeking]

Being a workaholic...

Since I work most of the time I'm awake the chances are good I am in the middle of something when a telemarketer has called. They rattled my cage not the other way around. It's open season at that point.

After biting my tongue all day answering phone calls (" My chameleon is green, what does this mean?"), dealing with vendors who don't understand that my customers want their things yesterday at 1/2 the cost of the other guy, and other opportunities where I have to be careful of my attitude I doubt I hold much back when it's a telemarketer on the other line.

Just about every job has a portion that is underdesirable. You either deal with it or find a new job (why I don't work construction anymore, the sheer boredom of watching dirt being hauled in circles made suicidial thoughts run rampant).

 

[Seamus Haley]

From the general response, you all simply dislike a group of people based on what they do for a living. How is that any different than disliking military personnel or police officers simply because of their job?

Military Personnel do not invade MY HOME and intrude upon my life...

The Police do not wake me up while sleeping to mispronounce my name and offer me things that I have not only no desire for... but no need for. Like aluminum siding when I live in an apartment building.

There is a police association that does call occasionally, looking for donations, they also only call about once a year around here when you ask them not to. They also apologize for intruding when you're not interested, something I have never had any other telemarketer do. Ever.

and sometimes, it is telemarketing or nothing.

It sounds bad to say it like this but... Bull*cough*! "it is telemarketing or nothing." The economy is not so bad that there aren't alternative forms of emplyment and forcing people to become telemarketers or starve. That's just a ridiculous construct detailing a non-existant situation.

 

[Uffern]

Perhaps in the middle of a big city you can always find a garbage can to clean out, but when you live in an area with no mass transit system and you only have your feet to move you around, the situation is anything but nonexistant. Perhaps you just haven't had the experience of being in a similar situation or have known no one in a similar situation, so you didn't think of that.

 

[JasonBrennan]

You got to be kidding me!!!

I think most people take those telemarketing jobs because they have no marketable skills (which is a fixable situation), and they see a "help wanted" classified ad that makes it appear that they will make very good money "just talking on the phone". We have all seen these ads, I am sure.

The example of the military and the police does not even begin to compare to telemarketers. A more reasonable comparison would be a door to door salesman. I am sure that if I came knocking on your door (especially at the hours that the telemarketers seem to always call), and offered to sell you a wheel barrel full of rat turds, you would be pretty annoyed at me. Never mind that someone is paying me to to this, and this is how I make my living. By you being rude to me about my rat turds, you are taking food out of my childrens mouths. See?? It is a matter of perspective. In my opinion, both the telemarketer and the door to door rat turd salesman are both invading my home, trying to sell me something that I don't want or need (and if I did want or need it, I could go out and buy it with out the help of a phone call to make me realize I needed it!). The military, on the other hand, never comes to my house, they never call me asking me to buy cammo book markers (or what ever), and they are performing an essential function!

 

[Stardust]

While some telemarketers do have families to feed, they also know what the job entails. They know that people are not going to like them calling, except some lonely ones that want someone to talk to. They are getting paid whether people talk to them or not. If you would talk to a lot of telemarketers, they hate being called just as much!
They get a hourly pay! Someone hangs up and the computer just generates another number.
It is not like the person applying for the job is going to be saying, "gee I know everyone will talk to me".
What I was trying to say at the beginning of this is that these companies KNOW all your private business! As I said I worked in IT, I was the back person who made sure everything was working, the computers running, the time change for different parts of the US was in effect. (They are not allowed to call before a certain amount of time or after a certain amount of time)
I KNOW that when I go to remove someone, I can get all the info they have, ALL of it. Anything you gave to a bank (who generally funds these companies and gives your info) Or credit card companies. When you buy a house, you have to now ask the realtor if they, the bank, or anyone else associated with the closing can give you private info out!
How do you think the telemarketer can verify your addy ect? Maybe because it is right there in front of them.
Not all telemarketers are family people.
I will get back on topic, if someone chooses that job, they know what they are in for. So don't complain when you get it.