Slashdot Mirror
Outsourced Support, Now Outsourced Telemarketing?
Sir_Dill asks: "I was a little skeptical of the whole chicken-littlish sky is falling attitude about outsourcing to India, that is until it hit home. Over the last couple of days I have started to receive at least two calls a night from an unknown telemarketing company. First it was discovercard and tonight its a mortgage company called Parsec (whose webpage doesn't work in Firefox). Each time they ask for the person whose name is associated with my phone number in Google (an entirely different story altogether). When I inform them that they have the wrong number, they read the same script each time and each time I ask them to take me off their lists. Its getting old and I am feeling a little helpless in regards to this...and the worst part is...it is not an offer I can't refuse...it is one I can't understand. Has anyone else experienced this? How did you handle it and does the National Do Not Call list even apply?"
If you're a residential MCI customer, and wind up speaking to someone who's in the U.S., you are extremely fortunate. Only high spending residential customers are routed to U.S. representatives.
Don't answer the phone.
Next....
You should ask them to repeat the informtaion. Give them some hassling, ask them a bunch of questions... act like you are interested (if you have time and aren't already frustrated). Ask them if they know what fungus is on your feet. Keep them on the phone, then just hang up. You get a quick laugh... I don't have telemarketers calling (yet). I have had Vonage for 6 months and haven't really given out my number.
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud
Is this a big loophole?
I mean if companies are outsourcing anyway....
You set up shop anywhere other then the US, and then make your calls. Lots of telemarketing can be done without having to obey the National Do Not Call List.
That's scary!
What do you mean "..does the National Do Not Call list even apply?"
a spx for each and every call you've received from this place.
Of course it does. If the company they're calling for does business inside the U.S. then they're in violation of the DNC list, regardless of where the actual calls are coming from - the company placing the calls are an extension of the comapny they're representing.
Immediately file a complaint at https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.
AFAIK, you don't have to warn them or ask them to remove you from the list - its not your responsibility to tell them you're on the list. Its their responsibility to check the list against the numbers they're dialing. They fail to do so, then its their problem they get hit with the fines.
I've had to do this with at least three companies. I lodged complaints all of three times apiece. I've not got a single call from them again. IIRC, the fine is $500 each call.
Religion is for people afraid of going to hell.
http://www.parsecinteract.com/index.asp
When they ask for whoever it is they want, just say "I'm sorry that person passed away last week... "
Nobodies Prefect
Tidbits for Techs Technology Blog
You get real live people on the other end of the phone?
Wow - I've started getting (here in the UK) recorded messages, in an American accent, apparently from Florida. Swamps your tape if the answerphone picks up.
I'm on the UKs cold call opt-out list, but presumeably foreign companies aren't under any obligation by that.
I really don't know what can be done about these damnable tele-spammers. Any suggestions?
John
Call them up. ...
Send them email.
Send them postal mail because these days not many people exepect a letter in the mail.
or if necessary
Do at your own risk. I am not responisble for possible damages or hilarity that might ensue.
Google bomb 'em. See litigious bastards.
Google is showing a measly 172 hits of "PARSEC Interact" and it wouldn't take much effort to tie parsec interact to "annoying telemarketer" or "creepy telemarketing company". A couple people with their own domains & some perl script should be able make it work.
From their FAQ:
a spx
"6. How do you handle Do Not Call Legislation? PARSEC Interact has implemented a rigorous program that ensures full DNC compliance.
"As required by law, we ensure that all of our clients are properly registered for the states in which their programs are scheduled to run. This is required before the program can run. The process of registering is relatively painless, and we will walk you through every step.
"Once the list is procured, we scrub not only against the National DNC Registry, but also against state and local DNC lists that are pertinent to the campaign.
"All of our telemarketing agents are trained on how to handle customers who request to be put on the DNC Registry. They are also trained on which practices are acceptable, and which are not acceptable.
We take DNC compliance very seriously, and we are proud of the proactive steps we have taken to ensure compliance. For detailed information on how PARSEC handles DNC compliance, ask your PARSEC representative about our DNC Compliance Guidelines."
So, shouldn't you be able to make a claim against them?
https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.
It is their job it to try and keep you on the phone as long as possible, but you are wasting both their time and yours by following social norms and trying to wait long enough to jam a "no thanks, goodbye" in there.
Just hang up on them the moment you realize what is going on. You both will be better off.
-- http://thegirlorthecar.com funny dating game for guys
Being a young person I have no problems with things like this because I simply stick to a cellphone. People will tell me it causes cancer but then again what does these days?
I've heard of this being done before, it cost you the use of the line, but(especially if they are calling from India), then tell them "Yes, one moment while I get them", and set the phone down and ignore it. Periodically you might even get up and yell at the phone, "They're coming, they'll be right there", just to keep them waiting in anticipation.
We had an sbc line for quite a while. It seemed they could call us as telemarketers with 'offers from their partners' since we were sbc's customer. We switched to a digital phone from TW and have had exactly 1 telemarketer call, from the mortgage company that i just purchased a house through (and who sold the loan 3 weeks later, so no more calls from them) and have never been happier.
I've been getting calls from somewhere with a recording that says, "this is not a solicitation please call us at ..." Isn't this a form of telemarketing and if I'm on the DNC should I not be getting these calls?
In Republican America phones tap you.
I almost started work as a telemarketer - then ran from the building screaming!!!(well not screaming, but I did run...) /me needed work, money was short:
so I decided to see how bad it would be, they promised 1 week of paid training before we hit the phones - and had people on within 3 days.
I never made a sales call, but listened in on a huge number of them. Wow. It's not that the job is hard, it's that the people on the other end are harsh, and the only good telemarketers are actually quite evil, even in real life.
Most of them are just people who need a job, plenty from various places around the world, so they had a variaty of accents.
I never would have survived at that job, I just cannot be the type who knowingly targets people to get their money.
Anyway... I learned a few tricks, and realized how pathetic they run the place from that.(Dos app running in a locked/stripped down win98 - phone and app login was our SIN#(~SSN#) and over 50% of calls never reached a person - just answering systems)
On Arrakis: early worm gets the bird. Magister mundi sum!
fuck out sourcing.
I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
Ringgg!!! Ringgg!
[drop dinner fork and answer] Me: Hello?
Outsourced Telemarketer: Xddeedxx dffrt
Me: What?
Outsourced Telemarketer: Wuddub xuxvvux zazzxue!
Me: Oh?
Outsourced Telemarketer: Dferguh Zuul. Juju fvuv.
Me: Why, of course! I'll buy a hundred!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
From the National Do Not Call Registry FAQ
I guess it would make sense that people doing business in the US are still accountable to US laws and regulations. Get their name and number -- file a complaint. It will do us all a favor.
-Turkey
First Word: National
Not International. This outsourcing is just another way of getting around the rules. Just like CAN-SPAM act. You can't spam from within the US, but if you outsource to someone outside of US Law you can spam yourself blue in the face and nothing can stop short of WMDs
Obviously these laws aren't working anymore.
Even though the actual result is more likely to be pink and greasy, it was still worth a laugh. Thanks.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
PARSEC Interact, Inc.
2672 Bayshore Parkway # 703
Mountain View, CA 94043
Phone: 866-9-PARSEC(866-972-7732)
650-960-1884
Fax: 650-960-1881
Email: info@parsecinteract.com
Probably a mail drop
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
Looking at my spam box, it is clear that phishing is, however, a growth industry. What better for the out of work Newfie cod fisherman to make a new living catching unsuspecting Citibank customers?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Sue the companies whose services are being sold. After all, they are paying someone else to hassle you, and so they are ultimately responsible.
I haven't had a discover card for almost 9 years now, and I don't miss it one bit. Crappy customer service, accepted almost nowhere compared to Visa and BastardCard, and higher interest rates, too.
-paul
Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
Maybe I'm missing something but:
1) You were skeptical about the significance of the outsourcing issue until you decided that some telemarketing service is outsourced -- and that's the statistical evidence that won you over?
2) Nothing you mentioned suggests that the calling is outsourced anyway.
3) Even if it is, given that they weren't calling you before and now they are, the loss of a hypothetical telemarketing position isn't something that even Lou Dobbs would get too worked up over.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
My friend got a call one day (about 6 or 7 months ago) from the US Census Bureau, the guy calling was in INDIA. The Census Bureau is outsourcing their people!!
Also, if they ask if you are 'in charge of the phones', tell them "I don't have a phone." If they ask for the 'resident' or 'homeowner', tell them you live in a cardboard box [and that you don't have a phone], modify this as needed to suit what they ask.
Video Production Support
It's usually best to handle these things with fake racism. Tell them that you resent somebody in another nation having your phone number, and would they please stay on the line long enough for you to target their GPS co-ordinates with a bioweapon designed for their genome, to wipe out them and all their family.
They are usually so superstitious about first world technology, that they actually believe this and hang up.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Ringgg Ringgg!!
Hello?
Yes. Good evening, Sir. I'd like to tell you aboot our new credit card.
Aboot? I'll give you a boot: CLICK!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Typically from Asia: Thailand, India and so on.
Thanks to the efforts of our local telco mostly-monopoly, it's actually cheaper at the wholesale level to call from overseas, just like from here in Perth it's much cheaper to fly to Bali than Sydney. I once worked for a bloke who would make a call to a Sydney number from his mobile, then hang up. Sydney would recognise the calling number, and pass the information to a site in Japan, which would ring him back. He would then dial the number he really wanted and Japan would connect them. Two calls from Japan were much cheaper than a direct call mobile-to-mobile through a single tower which was more or less in line of sight. Economists have a lot to answer for.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
I saw this as "Outsource Telemarking" and thought, "Why would someone want someone else to ski for them?? Doesn't that take all the fun out of it?!?"
Maybe we all need to learn to speak the Indian languages. What do they speak? Would somebody please teach us some appropriate responses to Indian telemarketers in their native tounge?
I have generally found Indian help desk/tech support people to be polite, knowledgeble, and empathatic. But telemarketing is evil, and should be resisted with every opportunity!
Don't say "take me off your list", they'll just add you back again. Say "put me on your do-not-call list".
Telemarketer (T): I'd like to speak with the person who is responsible for buying telephone equipment.
Secretary (S): We don't use telephony in our company.
T: Well, how do make phonecalls?
S: We never make phonecalls - we're just a couple of girls who sit in the office all day.
T: Okay. How do other people call you?
S: That never happens.
T: I'm sorry to have disturbed you. Goodbye.
Basically, the tactic is to tell the telemarketer "We don't use that around here" - no matter what they are trying to push on you. If they try to sell you, say, toiletpaper, you say "We don't use that around here" - and wait for their answer.
My opinion? See above.
I've had great customer service with Discover, much better than the typical provider if you have a chargeback problem or anything else. They were also one of the first to introduce online payment and other innovations like one-use card numbers.
They might not be the best pick if you carry a balance, but if you pay off your bills they frequently offer as much as 5% back in cash or more in gift certificates. A pretty good deal really.
Or maybe they figure you're too crazy to sell anything to. ;p
Horse shit. Government regulators have a lot to answer for.
Whenever you see wacky pricing like this, it is never a function of pure free-market economics or corporate greed. It is ALWAYS a result of government mucking things up again with taxes, tariffs, onerous rent-seeking regulations, monopoly franchises, or other abuses of free enterprise.
Of course, economically illiterate leftists howl about how it's the fault of Big Business. Or "economists." But it's not. The ignorant leftists did it to themselves, through their love of government regulation.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
They wouldn't take me off the list so I contacted the state attorney general. He put a stop to that immediately. He sent them a letter asking why they were violating state and federal laws regarding telemarketing and they were like "oops! sorry!"
Almost ALL telemarketing calls have four things that indentify them immediately. 1. No name in the CALLER ID. 2. "Hi, how are you doing to today, Mr. Mrs [insert last name here]?" 3. You answer the phone, "Hello?" and either there is a pause much longer than normal, or you hear someone on the other end answering with "Hello?". 4. When they do come on, you hear that it's a call center. I am usually very polite. They ask to speak to me, and I very politely say, something like "just a sec", or "one moment". I then quietly set the phone down, fully intending to get back to them. It's just that by the time I do manage to pick up the phone again, they've already hung up. I just don't get it.