Then I just snapped, "Look, I don't want your fucking insurance and if you insist on the high pressure sales tactics I'll cut up the damn card right now."

The sales rep then responded, "Oh, we value you as a customer and blah, blah, blah." Yeah, right. I actually felt bad for swearing, though.

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However, while that person is waiting for you, hopeful that they might sell you something, they are wasting time they could spend calling other people. It might take them up to 5 minutes for them to hang up, meaning you probably took 10 calls away from that person.

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I don't like this solution, personally. You're just punishing someone who is getting paid $8 an hour, and will likely get reamed out by their supervisor for reaching less people in that time. We can say, good, that job is useless anyhow, but there are lots of places where a call centre is the only job in town for unskilled labour. Trust me, that person is miserable enough in their job without you adding to it.

It's much more effective to cut off the spiel politely by saying you aren't interested, and before hanging up, requesting that they take your phone number off their call list. They are legally bound not to call you after that, and you haven't ruined someone's day who was probably already having a crappy day just by having to be there. I haven't met a call centre worker yet who liked their job.

Edited to add:

Also, even if the person tries again after you say you're not interested, it's not because that person is a jerk. It's because that person is instructed by management to try the pitch three times, trying to overcome your objections twice. However, if you're firm the first time and say right away, "I'm not interested, and I'd like my phone number taken off your calling list" then they usually won't try again.

However, if they do, I still don't swear at them because I know that their conversations are randomly monitored, and they will lose their jobs if they don't follow the guidelines. I would prefer an ideal world where phone solicitation for profit is illegal, and where companies are more ethical and don't use high pressure tactics. But yelling or swearing at the phone help, or making them hold so they miss their targets isn't going to achieve that goal. That just hurts the lowest person on their totem pole, people, btw, that the companies consider totally expendable and treat badly anyhow.

[ June 13, 2002: Message edited by: Michelle ]

There's no point in being nasty to the people on the phone; they're just poor schmucks who can't get a better job.

I told the lady that I wasn't interested in supporting private for profit medicine, she replied that this is what most people tell her, but if I just heard her out...

I always say no to stuff like that, whether it's added features for my phone from Bell or "insurance" from a credit card company.

Besides, if you ask them in detail about their insurance scheme, it's usually so limited that it's not useful anyhow. For example, they have one scheme where they'll pay the monthly minimum on your credit card if you lose your job.

So I asked them, "what are the conditions that apply?" They said that you have to lose your job from no fault of your own. I asked what constitutes your "fault", and she told me, "Well, it's like EI - you can't quit and then collect." I said, "What if I get fired?" She said, "Um, let me check." She checked with her supervisor and then said, "No, you can't have been fired, because that implies that you were not doing your job properly, and therefore that's your fault." I said, "What if it's just a firing because I was incompetent or the job description changed? Or what if the firing was unjust, and the EI people agree and pay me EI, but my Record Of Employment still says "firing" on it? Would I qualify then? What if my job was only part time?"

She said she didn't know whether that would be the case. But I'll bet I know - no insurance company will pay out if there's even a slight loophole. Basically the only way you can collect is if you get laid off - and it can't be temporary or seasonal work either. What a rip off! Basically, the only way you can collect is if you get laid off because your company is going out of business.

I guess I was wasting her time, because I'm not employed right now, so the plan would be useless for me. But I always thought it would be a neat idea to get this stuff until I started thinking about all these questions, and I had time to ask, so I asked.

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Yeah, that's how they try to get you, Sarcasmobri. They know that everyone has a hundred things on their minds, and they don't warn you before you have to start paying...they're counting on you forgetting for at least one month.

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First of all, if we wanted call waiting, we would have it, but we both hate call waiting. The only service we really want is call answer. The salesperson told him "But what if there's an emergency?" Nice scare-mongering.

Now, normally we do what others here have offered as a solution, politely say we're not interested. But this person wouldn't give up. It is the first time I've ever seen my partner get so upset with a telemarketer that he raised his voice.

Then she said, "But if something goes wrong with the wiring, a service technician would have to come out, and they bill (however much) per hour!" I said I would take that chance. Then she said, in this tone of voice as if to say boy-are-you-ever-making-a-stupid-decision, "So you're just going to pay $200 if that happens and you need a few hours of service." If you could just hear the tone - it was the same tone your mother used to use when you didn't want to take your mittens to school - that condescending, "You're going to be sorry!" tone.

That was the one and only time that I ever got short with a telemarketer, and even then I was polite. I just said, "You've already told me everything there is to know about this service. I have told you several times now that I don't want it. I would appreciate it if we could get on with the rest of the business I'm calling about." And she still said, in that same tone of voice, "Well, okay..." as if to say, "suit yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you..."

Please, don't yell at us, don't do the "I'll be right back" trick, don't ask us for our number and ask if you can call us at home (that line doesn't work on me anyway, I just say "yes" and ask what time I should expect the call... that leaves them flustered) or try any other sort of "shoe on the other foot" trick, don't moralise and lecture to us about the improprierty of phoning people at home (believe me, if it was our choice we'd be doing something else) and please don't just hang up without saying anything.

All you have to say is "Sorry, but I'm really not interested" and that's it. End of call (at least if I'm calling you).

Oh, and the thing I hate the most is people who agree to do the survey and then quit half way through it. Doing that means that you've wasted both our time. I'd much rather people decline at the outset than agree to do the survey and then quit when we're half done.

[ June 16, 2002: Message edited by: Mycroft ]

"Do you prefer A or B?"

"I prefer Q."

"Uh, that's not one of the choices."

"But that's the one I prefer."

"Um, maybe it'd be better if I just stopped the interview now."

"But I'm having fun!"

A: Strongly agree.
B: Some what agree.
C: Not sure
D: Some what disagree
E: Strongly disagree

Answer:

Well in my time, which was some what befor eyou were born, we used to wear an onion tied to the belt. Which was the fashion at the time. I remember a young man about your age named Carl... or was that Ralph? No, I think it was Carl. He had red hair and was about as tall as me. I think he dated one of the Finster sisters if I'm not mistaken. Well anyway, he used to drive this old Schrimmer up to the lake in the summer. He used to wear an onion tied to his belt which was the fashion at the time. NO! His name was Ben, that's it! I'm tired now. I want to take my nap. David can't come out to play till he cleans up the garage. You will have to play ball at the sand lot without him till he is finished.

Hello... helllloooo... is anyone there? I'll take answer number C for $100 Alex. snore snore snore.

PRIVATE INSURANCE ON HEALTH CARE FROM THE BAY?!?!

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I'm not a telemarketer (thank god) but I do have a part time job doing market research on the phone (ie market surveys and the odd public opinion poll). Call centres are the new sweatshops and the people who work in them are just trying to make a living at anywhere between $8 and $10/hour.

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You should be talking union. Most of Canada's market research is conducted by multinational firms; the industry has seen a spate of mergers and acquisitions in the last 10 years, as new, global firms like Ipsos-Reid and Aegis Research (Market Facts) have sought an international presence. They're very profitable, but get away with paying rock-bottom wages.

The Steelworkers organised a Canadian Facts call centre in Toronto. Give their organising department a call.

The TWU has organised three market research call centres in Vancouver, as well.

But the sector is difficult to organise because of the high staff turnover, and the ability of firms to easily shift work from one call centre to another.

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....but sometimes market research calls can be even more disruptive than the sales calls. I've done several surveys which I was told would only take 10-15 minutes.....yet 1/2 hour into them, there's no end in sight, they're still asking me PRODUCT BY PRODUCT which kind of soup/lottery ticket/whatever I've heard of/tried/would try/might in an alternate universe try/liked/didn't like/etc/etc.

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Non-union interviewers generally receive bonuses for completing a higher-than-average number of surveys, so there is pressure on them to understate survey length.

That isn't a problem at unionised firms.

The best response to a market research call? Ask if the caller works in a unionised call centre, and tell them you will only take calls from unionised firms.

Polling and makret research firms, BTW, don't generally call from lists. They dial randomly generated numbers.

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Sometimes "market research" is just a much longer version of a sales call too.

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That's called sugging (selling under the guise of market research), and it's a real problem. The market research industry has tried to prevent telemarketers from using surveys as a selling tool, but it's hard to stop the practise.

Reputable market research firms never release personal info--your phone number, for example--to the company that is buying the research, and never use surveys as a selling tool.

Here's the tactic. They drop "free" issues at your doorstep for a couple of weeks then they sic their telemarketing folks on you trying to get you to sign up for home delivery. They call you just about every day of the week.

It doesn't matter how many times you say no you're not interested they keep calling back to the point of harassment.