True. My point was more along the lines of telemarketers not *all* being jackasses. If you specifically go out of your way to harass the person calling you, no matter that it's "just in retaliation", then you're just as much of a jackass as the guy that called you - if the guy that called you even is a jackass at all. Most of them will be, for sure - but you can't make that judgement without any information other than that you've received a call.
"and ask them to put you on the do-not-call list." -- funny how we left that little part of the sentence out. I'm sure it was an honest mistake. It's the law for them to stop calling you if you ask this - and if they don't stop, then congratulations on your part; you get to sue them, and will probably profit a decent amount off it.
I worked as a telemarketer during one summer, and it was a useful experience. Please take note that not all telemarketers are terrible people who make all of their commission off of legal loopholes where they convince Grandma or Grandpa to buy into some scam. Almost all of my sales were made by saving people money - people who were paying $90 a month or something could often be brought down to $40/mo. or less. This is mostly because some other company had previously ripped them off with one of their telemarketers.
On a side note, I did only work as a telemarketer for a summer, and any longer than that would have probably had me fired. I never made the quota for sales (and therefore never made any commission, either). That said, many of the telemarketers really are trying to bend you over backwards... those that aren't are the ones that won't be there very long.;-) In fact, as I learned more about the product I was selling, and more about what we were telling them was true and what wasn't, I made progressively less sales.
Besides the fact that many telemarketers really are assholes, not all of them are especially terrible people. The job has a high turnover rate and pays more than your local burger joint for a reason - it's pretty high-stress. These people are stuck on the phones all day long. You can't carry on a conversation, because the pauses in between calls are short, and you have no idea when the next call will come in. You wait for a beep in your ear, and at the sound of the beep you start throwing your pitch. The reason it all sounds like bullshit is that they have to follow a sales script - sometimes verbatim. It's not their choice or their fault that the sale call sounds like crap. It's not your typical office job, which has a lot less stress involved, even if it's high-paying. Telemarketers typically don't last long, and doing telemarketing for a prolonged period of time can turn you into a pretty sour person. If you get a telemarketing call, why don't you just listen to what they have to say? You might actually save money. I did it for plenty of people. If it turns out that you can't save any money on your current bills, and if you really don't want to get a call from them again (which you probably would), then simply politely tell them that the product isn't what you're looking for, and ask them to put you on the do-not-call list. It will stop the calls from that company, and make the person's day a lot better. Just be sensible about these things, and the better will come of it.
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True. My point was more along the lines of telemarketers not *all* being jackasses. If you specifically go out of your way to harass the person calling you, no matter that it's "just in retaliation", then you're just as much of a jackass as the guy that called you - if the guy that called you even is a jackass at all. Most of them will be, for sure - but you can't make that judgement without any information other than that you've received a call.
"and ask them to put you on the do-not-call list." -- funny how we left that little part of the sentence out. I'm sure it was an honest mistake. It's the law for them to stop calling you if you ask this - and if they don't stop, then congratulations on your part; you get to sue them, and will probably profit a decent amount off it.
I worked as a telemarketer during one summer, and it was a useful experience. Please take note that not all telemarketers are terrible people who make all of their commission off of legal loopholes where they convince Grandma or Grandpa to buy into some scam. Almost all of my sales were made by saving people money - people who were paying $90 a month or something could often be brought down to $40/mo. or less. This is mostly because some other company had previously ripped them off with one of their telemarketers. On a side note, I did only work as a telemarketer for a summer, and any longer than that would have probably had me fired. I never made the quota for sales (and therefore never made any commission, either). That said, many of the telemarketers really are trying to bend you over backwards... those that aren't are the ones that won't be there very long. ;-) In fact, as I learned more about the product I was selling, and more about what we were telling them was true and what wasn't, I made progressively less sales.
Besides the fact that many telemarketers really are assholes, not all of them are especially terrible people. The job has a high turnover rate and pays more than your local burger joint for a reason - it's pretty high-stress. These people are stuck on the phones all day long. You can't carry on a conversation, because the pauses in between calls are short, and you have no idea when the next call will come in. You wait for a beep in your ear, and at the sound of the beep you start throwing your pitch. The reason it all sounds like bullshit is that they have to follow a sales script - sometimes verbatim. It's not their choice or their fault that the sale call sounds like crap. It's not your typical office job, which has a lot less stress involved, even if it's high-paying. Telemarketers typically don't last long, and doing telemarketing for a prolonged period of time can turn you into a pretty sour person. If you get a telemarketing call, why don't you just listen to what they have to say? You might actually save money. I did it for plenty of people. If it turns out that you can't save any money on your current bills, and if you really don't want to get a call from them again (which you probably would), then simply politely tell them that the product isn't what you're looking for, and ask them to put you on the do-not-call list. It will stop the calls from that company, and make the person's day a lot better. Just be sensible about these things, and the better will come of it.