Sowhat said:

You are making yourself bothered by letting it get to you!

Sowhat said:

The I'd suggest being very vigilant in NOT giving out your personal information. It's an impossible task, as you must have a credit standing, and with that, you must give out your info. You'd be shocked how many companies buy and sell your info.

gemini13 said:

I am extremely careful with my personal information and who I give it too. but you are right, it is pretty much impossible to keep it from everyone, but at the same time, I did not directly give my information to any telemarketer or telemareting company and I did not solicit for them to call me.

So let's say I get your credit card information without you giving it to me directly, does that give me the right to use it?





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[Edited 7/24/06 9:04am]

Stinky said:

No I don't just let it get to me, it annoys me when I have to interupt my dinner, or interupt helping my daughers with their homework or interupt a nap after a 12 hour day at work or I have to rush inside to answer the phone, etc....





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[Edited 7/24/06 9:05am]

Sowhat said:

I guess if it's in the fine print. A lot of people don't read that big mess of contract rules when they get their credit cards. I didn't really enjoy calling people, and I would always try not to call during dinner hours or later. A lot of people here would disagree because my written words can be quite direct and unfeeling, but my face to face people skills are superb. Networking face to face is better for all.

I propose to telemarketers when they call.

i've been getting some shit from ALLSTATE recently where some perky little recorded voice chirps, "Hi! It's Annie from Allstate! I can see here that you have car insurance with us, and I'd like to chat with you sometime about how you can save some extra money!"

I DON'T OWN A CAR. I NEVER HAVE.

Well I guess I hit a nerve with this one... Not intended...

SIDE NOTE: I received 20 telemarketer phone calls whilst gone over the last few days...

I used to be a telemarketer when i was 19...i could have stayed there but i was going mental!! And the pay wasn't that great. Learnt some handy shit about roofing i guess ...but whenever i sat there at the phone i felt like i wanted to run as fast i could!!

A positive from this job though is that I had the first worst customer i had ever dealt with EVER here!! And I managed the situation so damn well, that I still use it as an example in job interviews if i'm asked if there was ever a time i'd have an issue to overcome and how i dealt with it. It went like this...it was a very hot December evening and i'd called a woman- quite mature could have been between the ages of say 50 and 60- and before i could even say much to her... she didn't just raise her voice... she YELLED at me, 'I have HAD ENOUGH of YOU TELEMARKETERS! DO YOU KNOW how many phonecalls i have recieved this evening?!? NOW ITS A STINKING HOT NIGHT i've had enough!!' I, ofcourse, having never had to deal with this sort of person was in a great deal of shock. But knowing that i didn't want to make myself or the company look bad my response was a very calm 'Madame, you know what? On behalf of all those telemarketers who have called you today i would like to apologise.' And i kid you not, it was like magic, the woman was very sweet to me on the phone after that, i let her go...no reputations damaged... and somehow i'd managed to make her feel rather nice after all the supposed harrasment she'd had. Everyone was happy and everything was smoooooth and calm. What a charm ...but unless i was superduper in need of money and there was no other job i could get cause for some reason times are hard...i don't think i'd ever do telemarketing again. I do well at it, but it's nerve wrecking and by sitting in one spot for hours making cold calls...it's just a massive mental attack for anyone who prefers constant or regular stimulation.
[Edited 7/25/06 23:44pm]

Blimey! I'm not getting involved in this discussion.

I have mixed views on this as someone who works in an industry that does this (not myself personally) and as a member of the public. Personally, I'm more on the side of the customer. But I understand why businesses do this.

I had a weird call the other day. For the last few weeks, I've been getting a load of anonymous calls but - despite me ignoring them - they just weren't giving up. I was literally getting calls from:


~ one of my mates (who dials anonymously as he thinks this will make me more likely to answer my phone Yeah, right. I'll just ignore it even more. )

~ another friend calling me from work (I had to speak to her as we were trying to arrange a house move)

~ Save The Children (trying to get me to increase the direct debit I pay to them)

~ my workplace (all calls are anonymous)

~ some international number (which I had no idea what it related to)

In the end, I answered the international number and it was a phone company responding to an offer I'd seen. They took my details and I had a new phone sent. Great.

Several days later, some guy - again, anonymously - called and this was the conversation:



Caller: I'm calling from ____ and I'd like to take this opportunity to give you advice about your phone bill.

Me: (Wondering what the hell this was all about) Hmmmm, okay.

Caller: On average, how many texts do you send a month?

Me: No idea.

Caller: Would you say 100, 200? More?

Me: No idea.

Caller: Okay, would you say your bill is made up of mainly texts or phone calls?

Me: I've no idea.

Caller: How many minutes do you use on average per month?

Me: I couldn't say.

Caller: Okay, how much is your bill on average every month?

Me: It depends.

Caller: On average?

Me: About £60. Maybe more.

Caller: I understand your monthly contract is £30, is that right?

Me: Yes.

Caller: (getting exasperated) Well you're clearly going over your monthly contract. I advise you to get a new one.

Me: Thanks.

Caller: Goodbye.



Now that's what I call good advice!
[Edited 7/26/06 6:04am]