(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

thesilentsenshi
2007-01-20 01:53 am UTC (link)

I'm polite to them until they don't take NO NOT INTERESTED for an answer and keep going on with their spiel(which is illegal in my state). Also, I'm bitchy to every telemarketer calling about consolidating my loans. I have told them repeatedly I'm not interested and I haven't even graduated yet. They still call. I have a right to be bitchy. (I'm pretty sure it's the same people, and if it's not, then too bad for them) There's only so many times a person can be polite when asked about something they've repeatedly refused. :p

Also, why is "no, not interested", not in some of these people's dictionary? I'm dead serious. 9 times out of 10 they keep going(which I could report them for and get them in trouble if it wasn't a complete waste of time and effort). Then I will hang up. It's not rude. It's my right. I heard what they said, could tell I didn't want it, and said no. They keep going, yeah, I'll be rude.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

tez
2007-01-20 02:00 am UTC (link)

For the latter -- I have to wonder if some companies look at 'time spent on each call' as a measure of an employee's performance. Like -- the more calls you make is good, but if they're all ten-second hangups they're going to look twice at keeping you in your job or something.

I've never worked telemarketing, I don't know if that's true or not, but it kind of makes sense to me.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

thesilentsenshi
2007-01-20 02:06 am UTC (link)

Interesting point. It doesn't make me less inclined to hang up. I have enough on my plate I don't have time to waste on people who keep selling me something I've already said I don't want.

We also get magazines sent to our house that we never ordered and are never going to buy. Why do they keep sending them? ^^; I swear some of these places don't follow ordinary logic. >_>;

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tez 2007-01-20 02:10 am UTC (link)
	Oh, it doesn't make me less irritated either but it does explain why they might be motivated to try and ignore your 'not interested'. (Reply to this)(Parent)

faemageforsaken
2007-01-20 02:31 am UTC (link)

From my experience (over 10 years ago), it doesn't make any difference. If it's a quick hangup, that just means they have time to get more calls in and up their chances of getting someone who *will* buy or whatever. It all depends on the place, I'm sure, but hanging up quickly was always a bonus to me in the few telemarketing jobs I had. It meant it was one less call where I was being abused for doing a job beneath my dignity in the first place. Oh, the things we do when we're young, stupid, and desperate for money....

(Reply to this)(Parent)

grand_sealink
2007-01-20 05:37 am UTC (link)

I have heard from some friends that used to work call centers that they had to talk for a certain amount of time/attempt to sell a certain number of times.

So when telemarketers call, I say directly, "I'm not interested in what you're selling. But talk to me until you get paid." Works pretty well.

What *I* hate are those GODDAMN RECORDED TELEMARKETERS. I don't even get the opportunity to screw with them.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2007-01-20 04:24 pm UTC (link)
	I hate the ones that go, "Please hold for an important call from so-and-so." WHAT. (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Anonymous)
2007-01-20 06:33 pm UTC (link)

I get telemarketers that call repeatedly- three or four times a day, every day. (I know it's them because it's the only time my Caller ID says Unavailable) When I finally break down and answer the phone, half the time there's no one there. That is what frustrates the hell out of me- I mean, if I called someone that often and then hung up when they answered, I would probably get charged with harassment.

...sorry, I'll clean that up.

prairiedawn

(Reply to this)(Parent)

pointandlaugh
2007-01-20 04:20 pm UTC (link)

When I worked there it wasn't quite that high tech - you just had supervisors listening to your calls. And if they heard you give in without rebutting arguments often you were in for a yelling.

(And before anyone thinks getting fired from that job wouldn't be terribly horrible, they would also tell the unemployment office after firing you certain things that would stop you getting any benefits. Having beenn out of it for 7 years I'm pretty sure they were acting illegally towards employees, but we were all 16/17 and terrified of them)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tez 2007-01-20 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	Same result then -- if you don't make a serious effort to sell them you get yelled at. (Oh lord, I can imagine -- having tangled with the state L&I department over an unemployment claim, I've learned that all they have to do is say you were fired with cause and zippo, nada, no benefits for you.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

v_digitalwytch
2007-01-22 07:43 pm UTC (link)

At the call centres I worked at, time spent was looked at but depending the department, each looked at it in a different way. Granted we weren't telemarketers, but Sales it didn't matter how long one was on the call as long as a sale was made, the bigger the better. Tech, it was get them off the phone within 10 min or explain why the call went so long. Not sure what billing had, but cancellations had to have at least 2 rebuttals to try and get the person to change thier mind on cancelling.

I was in Tech, and quickly learned to dread the type relay calls since it always seemed like the relay operator was a complete ditz when it came to typing. We were told in training to just speak to the operator as if we were speaking to the customer and every operator I'd get would keep telling me to speak slower or repeat myself no matter how slow I'd go.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

miss_eponine
2007-01-20 03:09 am UTC (link)

I always let them get through their first spiel, then I tell them I'm not interested but thanks and hang up before they can start in on a second one.

When I was a senior in high school I worked (for about a month) for a company that did phone surveys, and until recently I was always very polite to people who called to do those. Then, they kept calling about radio stations, and the only radio I listen to in the car is public radio so I couldn't answer the questions. The chick on the other end of the line kept pushing and pushing for me to name my favorite three stations, and I kept telling her that I only listened to one station. I finally just told her to not call me for any more surveys. But we canceled our home phone, so it doesn't really matter anymore.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	thesilentsenshi 2007-01-20 03:22 am UTC (link)
	Same here. I got a phone survey once and said I'd do it but couldn't answer any of the questions. The girl on the other end was nice about it and laughed it off. Since then I just say no to surveys, because chances are I have nothing I can add to them. (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Anonymous)
2007-01-20 04:05 am UTC (link)

It really ISN'T in people's dictionaries, a lot of the time. Or at least not in their bosses' dictionaries, which are the ones that matter. Most companies actively won't allow telemarketers take anything less than some variation on the magic words "Please remove me from your calling list" as a reason to stop calling.

When I was stuck telemarketing, sometimes when my bosses weren't around I would take pity on the people who didn't grasp that fact and reply to frustrated "No, I'm not interested" responses by prompting them to tell me if they wanted to be removed from the calling list. Against the spirit if not the letter of the rules, but I think it's probably safe to assume that I wasn't costing the company much business. How many people who refuse the first three or four times will spontaneously change their mind on call number five?

(Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -