Telemarketer Blows Whistle on Tape-Altering Scam

Recently, Florida-based telemarketing firm Epixtar is frequently accused of cramming an extra $30 onto phone charges of small businesses, yet has proof of legality by recording their calls. Until they laid off some people, one of whom has blown the whistle. The companies' cramming tactics become "legal" by altering those taped recordings to include a quick statement about the $30 charge. MSNBC has the article, including a short audio clip of a sample call.

Comments

Morality?

[dogbox]

What happened to people reporting this sort of stuff before they had a grudge against the company? Why do only former employees report this sort of thing?

Re:Morality?

[Henry V .009]

As a consequence, she left her weapon in the car when she came to work.

Yeah, that makes your company a lot safer. Instead of having the gun in the hands of a female -- trained at its use, at that -- it's out in the parking lot. The first person to break into that car and find it will present a million (actually far more) times the threat that woman did. And the gun won't be there -- again, in the hands of a woman trained in its use -- in case it is ever needed.

I don't know how you feel about the whole situation -- you probably aren't responsible for the decision -- but I think it stinks.

Re:Morality?

[tedDancin]

It's often better to voice your concerns internally, and work to improve the system from within.

It makes you wonder what the laid-off employees (especially the whistle-blower) did to try and restore morality internally before going to MSNBC. Would you complain to management if you knew they would never/weren't intereseted in resolving the issue? Or would you just take the final paycheck and go tell the world?

The media is a powerful tool for an employee with little or no power inside their company.

Re:Morality?

[echucker]

But when it's illegal (or deeply unethical) you have a moral duty to blow the whistle, even if it's going to suck for you. You aren't allowed to put ethics aside because they aren't convenient.

Personally, I think that's easier said than done in today's economy. I think a lot more people may find feeding one's family and paying the bills a little more important.

on a similar note via snail mail

[phantomlord]

This week, I received a solicitation which was deceptively in the form of a bill from Internet Corporation Listing Service (ICLS). For $37.50, they offered to list my domain in a whopping 14 search engines.

The solicitation most definitely looked like a bill (front page and back page). The bottom half of the page is a tear away bill stub and the solicitation notice on the top right hand corner is in a lighter font than the rest of the text (though it's harder to notice on the scan).

Fortunately, I'm in the habit of reading all of my bills when they come in, but some people aren't. They obviously got the information from the internet WHOIS database even though that database is explicitly protected by a clause saying you can't datamine from it.

The next morning, I filed a complaint with the United States Postal Inspectors because of the deceptiveness and the likelihood that others will be fooled by it. Here is the complaint I sent:

I received a solicitation from ICLS which deceptively looks like a bill. Located on it, is a tear-away payment stub with a customer number, due date and amount with no reference to the fact that it's actually a solicitation on the stub. On the upper right hand corner, it does state "THIS NOTICE IS A SOLICITATION AND RECEIPT OF PAYMENT WILL CONFIRM YOUR ANNUAL LISTING", however, it is a lighter font than the rest of the solicitation.

While I, fortunately, did not fall for the solicitation, I'm concerned that other people whom aren't as careful could easily be deceived as without close examination, it will appear as a bill.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the postal inspectors to see what they have to say.

How fast can you speak?

[grungebox]

So, I know Epixtar added their "lightning-quick" phone-bill-altering deal to the tapes after the fact. However, what I want to know is: Is there some sort of legal requirement for how slow/quickly such statements have to be said? I mean, car commercials/ads routinely have quickly-spoken disclaimers at the end of ads and such. If Epixtar had merely tacked on the "we can alter your bill" or whatever phrase, only spoken at a Micro Machines guy speed so it seemed like crackly phone noise, would that be legal?

Another low trick

[bgeiger]

This actually happened to my dad. Keep in mind my dad works nights, and typically sleeps all day.

Telemarketer: "Hi, my name is [somebody] and... excuse me, can you hear me?"
My dad (still groggy): "Yes."
Telemarketer: "I'm calling to offer you suchandsuch a service... [blah blah blah garbage]"
Dad: "I'm not interested. Goodbye. *click*"

Next month, he notices his long distance service has been changed to (I think) AT&T.

They used his "Yes" answer to an irrelevant question, and turned it into a "sale".

People like that should be thrown in jail.

what are the stipulations?

[CAIMLAS]

EXACTLY. Having been forced into telemarketing for a short period of time myself (due to financial reasons) I can attest that very few people that are able to continue telemarketing work full time have no souls. I didn't last 40 hours, and the only reason I lasted that long was because i had my fiancee providing emotional support, and I couldn't afford to quit.

In my mind, telemarketing is about as self-damaging as prostitution. I'd probably put it up there on the moral scale, too. Its time we see religoius groups going into telemarketing offices and trying to save their souls.

Actually, I think that a prostiute is lest morally detestable than a telemarketer - at least prostitutes can feasably enjoy their job, and it pays better.