Bobg wrote:
I just don't understand why there's such empathy for people who choose to do work that deserves no respect whatsoever.
Bob, I'm getting the distinct feeling that you don't understand empathy or sympathy in any form.
I got one of these today: They leave a message and then expect you to call them back!!! Hilarious!
getting rid of spam
The current issue of Consumer Reports has a great article re span, it's history, and helpful info re rated programs to help reduce it.
BumbleBeeBoogie
truth
It seems the Spammers have a new ploy. When I check my messages I often get what appearrs to be the "tail end" of their message, just a phone number to contact, without any reference to the company or their product. It's not really the tail end of the message, as if the whole message did not get through for some technical reason. I'll bet they are hoping to arouse your curiosity so that you'll call them.
I never, under any circumstances, open an obvious spam message. I delete them before reading the rest of my mail.
Oopsie!
An estimated 2 million people will lose their jobs when the do-not call list goes in effect
Note the following:
Quote:The American Teleservices Association has filed a lawsuit asking to have the national list thrown out. It claims the measure will devastate the $100 billion-a-year call-center industry, which has grown by roughly 10 percent a year for the past decade.
If the new regulations whittle away the telemarketing business, many people losing their jobs will have few other work options, said Tim Searcy, the ATA's executive director. Nearly a third of the people employed by the industry are on welfare-to-work and 5 percent are disabled, according to the ATA.
Oh, and
Quote:"People will still buy things over the phone. Over the past 12 months, 66 million of them bought over the phone. There's still a core constituency of people interested in making purchases that way."
While a significant downturn in the industry would no doubt be felt in San Antonio, many of the city's largest call-center employers — Citigroup, USAA and QVC Network, for example — take only inbound calls and would therefore be unaffected by the new list.
This doesn't mean I'll take my name off the list - hell, no! - but it does give one pause. And, it also shows that incoming calls are a better way for these companies to make money, anyway.
No calls in the UK?
Does anyone know if a List is currently in operation in the UK, or if one is planned?
Probably not, as the economy needs to find some jobs for the folks who used to mine our coal, build our ships and produce our steel.
Maybe they could be relocated to the US and hassle you lot? Maybe the quaint accents would increase sales?
Only joking!
Graham !!
Fortunately, the problem of telemarketers is not so acute in the UK as it is in the US, and to whatever extent they exist, they are far docile than their US counterparts.
Afterall, who really wants to sell anything in this country ?? customer is the king ?? BAH !!
Hello Englanders, I am calling to inform you of a great deal called the EEC, this will only take a few minutes, are you interested? <click>
Don't want to sound like a hard nose, but when horses were replaced by automobiles, the buggy whip makers had to learn another trade. And so it goes!
I actually wish that someone had rang us (or at least my parents, as I'm only 26) up and asked if we would be interested in the EEC, rather than letting The Suits decide!
I'm with Phoenix and some others here. I worked nights for many years and when you sleep during the day and the phone is ringing off the hook, you don't sleep. People have told me to shut the phone off, but my son was in school and I needed to leave it on in case the school called. That's not the only reason why I hate those calls either. Like Phoenix, my time is important to me and when I have to constantly stop whatever I'm doing (I'm always doing something) to talk to someone I don't know who only wants my money, I get ticked off. That no call thing started here in Canada recently and I signed right up. I'm not rude when I get these calls, but I do make sure that I tell them to take me off their list. One thing that sets me off though is when they continue to talk when you tell them you're not interested. Now that's just plain rude and I'll just tell them never to call here again and hang up. I always thought there should be a law against people calling or coming to your home to ask for money. We get lots of charity calls here and they really like to try and make you feel guilty which drives me up the wall. One called last week and asked me if I could give $100 or $200 to some charity or other and I explained to the person that I was a single parent who had nothing to spare and right after the guy actually had the nerve to ask
me if I could give $20. Now, that's just a slap in my face. I do manage to save a little money every year to give to the charities of my choice and I don't need anyone trying to make me feel guilty simply because I can't save the world. I signed on to that no call list a few months ago and I think it takes effect in Oct. I can't wait!!!!
Oh I forgot !!! Can I change my opinion now ?
Recently when my wallet was stolen I got a call on a Sat morning at 0900 (and considering the fact that I had come home at 0400 after partying hard) from some guy trying to sell me insurance for lost cards.
I could have strangled him !!
Wish there was a register here.
Wilso wrote:Wish there was a register here.
Maybe they do and you just don't know about it.
That's entirely possible. I seem to know less every day.
Hello, I haven't been here in a while.....but to respond to Merry Andrew's comment that I know nothing of either empathy or sympathy. I totally understand why, from reading my comments, you might come to that conclusion. However, (1) I do feel empathy and sympathy for people, but I don't do it indiscriminately and (2) I just see the telemarketing industry as providing a "service" that no one really wants. I think the (almost) mass hysteria with which people pursued getting on the national list is proof of that. Heck, even the quotes I've read from Telemarketing Industry reps always list the loss of jobs as the #1 reason not to create the do not call list. That's the best thing these people can use to justify their existence. No one is scrambling en masse to create a "do not sell microwave ovens" list. Microwave ovens (and it could be any consumer product you choose) serve a purpose; they make life convenient. Telemarketers don't. Telemarketers are saying, "don't shackle our industry because a lot of people collect paychecks in this industry". That sounds an awful lot like welfare to me. And there's already too much of that going on too (in my opinion). But that's another topic.
Merry Andrew, I'd also like to apologize for jumping on you so harshly a while back. But when I read that there was a chatroom for people who "hated" telemarketers, I took that at face value. I came in expecting 100% like minded people, which was unrealistic on my part. But I don't take back anything I've said about telemarketers.....and I again encourage anyone reading this to be as rude as possible to telemarketers when they call your home. There are plenty of jobs available other than telemarketing. And honestly (although I realize this is brutal honesty) if telemarketing is absolutely the only thing that you are capable of doing, I don't know that you are really much more than a leach on society. Why should the rest of us politely tolerate your telemarketing efforts merely so you can have a job?? I just don't see it.
No one is lobbying to ensure that my job remains in existence for the sole purpose of giving me a paycheck. My efforts ensure that. And if my industry sees downsizing or some revelatory change that renders me obsolete, I have every confidence that I can go out and get another job in some other industry based on my skills and work history. Like it or not, that IS the foundation on which this country was built. Handouts were not part of that equation -- and keeping people (even millions of them) employed just to keep them employed really does translate into a handout.
Anyway.....I've rambled long enough. My soapbox is caving in cos I've been standing on it so long. :wink:
