Quick request job related

[Secret Agent Woman]

Okay most of my work is telephone sales. No I'm not looking for opinions on my career choice.

We know lots of times you don't want to talk to us. That's cool, really. But please, don't ask your kids to lie for you. Instead of saying 'tell them I'm not home' or 'tell them I'm in the shower' when your kid answers the phone and tells you who is calling, say 'telll them I'm not interested/ or 'tell then I don't need anything' or whatever.

Except if you really are in the shower with no water running. We can hear both sides of these conversations. Think what impression its giving your kids, that its' okay to lie for convenience?

Um and if you answer the phone yourself and just hang up, cuold ya please first know where the receiver goes before ya try slamming it down? IT's more effective that way

 

[golfgal]

How about if you just stop calling people that don't want you to call in the first place??

 

[RitaE]

eh, I just tell my kids to hang-up. We can't slam our phones unfortunately. All we can do is press the end button really hard.

I bet your job is really difficult but to be honest - just as you aren't looking for my opinion in your career choice and well... I'm not looking for your opinion on how we handle nuisance phone calls or what impression my kids get from it.

Are you with Discover by any chance? If so, please stop calling me. PLEASE?

 

[MushyMushy]

I have a request for you: how about you lose my number?

I am unlisted for a reason. I don't have a home phone and only use a cell. I don't have unlimited minutes and I don't want to waste a single one on unwanted calls.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Okay most of my work is telephone sales. No I'm not looking for opinions on my career choice.

We know lots of times you don't want to talk to us. That's cool, really. But please, don't ask your kids to lie for you. Instead of saying 'tell them I'm not home' or 'tell them I'm in the shower' when your kid answers the phone and tells you who is calling, say 'telll them I'm not interested/ or 'tell then I don't need anything' or whatever.

Except if you really are in the shower with no water running. We can hear both sides of these conversations. Think what impression its giving your kids, that its' okay to lie for convenience?

Um and if you answer the phone yourself and just hang up, cuold ya please first know where the receiver goes before ya try slamming it down? IT's more effective that way

The reality of the situation is that you are an uninvited guest into my home and how we deal with you is none of your business.

My children's safety comes before your feelings.

If you cannot handle the fact people will lie to you in this type of job, it might not be the right career for you. It is the nature of the job.

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

Wow, what a heckuva first post.

If companies would be better about using the do not call list, this might not be a problem. Not that you are directly responsible, but it's true. I personally just say "not interested" and hang up, because most telemarketers just keep talking after you say anything.

Still get the feeling the troll is out on this one....

 

[kamik86]

The only ones I hate worse then calls trying to sell me stuff (which I don't get to often since I don't give my info out and am on the "do not call" list) are the collection calls. And before you say pay your bills.... I do but the person who had my phone number before I did obviously didn't. I hate those ones that go "This is a message for ___________ if this is not _________" and your only options are you are this person or your going to get this person so you have no way to get to a real person to tell them to stop calling and they won't stop anyway.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Jobs are scarce, sometimes we really don't get to pick what we want to do.
If she is calling about past due payments or something like that, the company who hired her has every reason to ask for the payment.
But if it's telemarketing, I usually ask them to please take my name of their list. And that usually words. I think it's sad that parents have their children do that. Gosh, if you don't want to talk to whoever, just don't answer. Don't put your children in a position to lie for you. That's sad.
And for the PP who said just stop calling people?? She would be out of a job by the end of the day, I'm guessing. I'm sure she doesn't want to have to call people and hear them cussing her out or slamming the phone. But it's her job. My first job was at a grocery store. I was 15. I did everything I could to provide good customer service..I wasn't perfect, but I tried. And people were SO mean. I wish everyone was required to work at least one year in a customer service position. I dont know....thats just what I always thought. And those mean people, could be mean. I couldn't talk back. I would have gotten in big trouble even if I did nothing to cause their anger. Sometimes it would be something as simple as being out of a type of garbage bag or something. And I got yelled at for it, even though I don't order garbage bags, cannot offer him anything other than a substitute brand, but that was not good enough. i guess I just have empathy for people who work with other people as part of their job.

 

[Tink888]

Okay most of my work is telephone sales. No I'm not looking for opinions on my career choice.

We know lots of times you don't want to talk to us. That's cool, really. But please, don't ask your kids to lie for you. Instead of saying 'tell them I'm not home' or 'tell them I'm in the shower' when your kid answers the phone and tells you who is calling, say 'telll them I'm not interested/ or 'tell then I don't need anything' or whatever.

Except if you really are in the shower with no water running. We can hear both sides of these conversations. Think what impression its giving your kids, that its' okay to lie for convenience?

Um and if you answer the phone yourself and just hang up, cuold ya please first know where the receiver goes before ya try slamming it down? IT's more effective that way

We just don't answer the phone if we don't recognize the number.

I have a request for telemarketers though.......when you call and I do answer and tell you that I'm not interested and don't need anything, please just say alright then, have a great day and hang up instead of ignoring my response and proceeding to go on about something else you think I might be interested in until I actually do need to be rude, lie and hang up on you.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

The only ones I hate worse then calls trying to sell me stuff (which I don't get to often since I don't give my info out and am on the "do not call" list) are the collection calls. And before you say pay your bills.... I do but the person who had my phone number before I did obviously didn't. I hate those ones that go "This is a message for ___________ if this is not _________" and your only options are you are this person or your going to get this person so you have no way to get to a real person to tell them to stop calling and they won't stop anyway.

You should be able to get a cease and desist letter written up and tell them they need to stop harassing you because you aren't that person!! You have rights, you know.

HI! I just found this post on another message board, hope it helps.

We had the same problem. It took 1 year for the calls to end. I got very sick of saying "NO, The Phams DO NOT LIVE HERE, THIS IS A NEW NUMBER". Legally any creditor has to stop calling you provide written notice. You can start asking for addresses and then send a slip to each creditor saying "This phone number is not correct..blah blah..". Also threaten to call your AG if they call again since they have the wrong number. Hope this is helpful.

 

[NancyK]

OP, hope you have your flame suit on. You can already see what people's thoughts are on this.

When I was a kid, there were door-to-door salesman. Telephone sales has replaced that. I am not a telemarketer nor do I ever buy things from telemarketers, but I don't think it hurts for people to politely say "No thanks I'm not interested" and then hang up.
And people with call display can just ignore the call in the first place.

Here in Canada, we have a "do not call" list and it has helped cut down our unwanted calls immensely.

 

[kamik86]

I have a request for telemarketers though.......when you call and I do answer and tell you that I'm not interested and don't need anything, please just say alright then, have a great day and hang up instead of ignoring my response and proceeding to go on about something else you think I might be interested in until I actually do need to be rude, lie and hang up on you.

Yesterday I had to call to activate my new credit card since my old one expired. They went on and on about some protection service and don't even ask if I want it but just say "Lets get you signed up" I tell them no and they start going on and on about why I "SHOULD" have it. I tell them no again (slightly more rude) and they STILL keep saying things like "Well if you have any questions about the program call _____" The only reason I didn't cuss them out and slam the phone is I needed to make sure the damn card was activated.

 

[kimblebee]

We just don't answer the phone if we don't recognize the number.

I have a request for telemarketers though.......when you call and I do answer and tell you that I'm not interested and don't need anything, please just say alright then, have a great day and hang up instead of ignoring my response and proceeding to go on about something else you think I might be interested in until I actually do need to be rude, lie and hang up on you.

I have done phone work before and at a lot of places you are required to get a NO answer so many times before you are allowed to say goodbye. In lots of cases they are not doing it to be a jerk, they are doing it because that's what the job requires. Phone calls do get monitored and action can be taken if you are not following the proper procedures. I am never (and I do mean never) rude to telemarketers. Been there, done that so I at least hear them out before saying no thank you. I also don't think we get as many telemarketing calls in Canada as you do in the States.

 

[WeCantWait]

My children do not answer the phone if it's a number we don't recognize.

Now I would like to know, why somebody who ignores the "do not call list", thinks I would ever buy their product or service. If the company can not follow something as simple as not calling people on the "do not call list" they sure wont be getting my business.

 

[kamik86]

I have done phone work before and at a lot of places you are required to get a NO answer so many times before you are allowed to say goodbye. In lots of cases they are not doing it to be a jerk, they are doing it because that's what the job requires. Phone calls do get monitored and action can be taken if you are not following the proper procedures. I am never (and I do mean never) rude to telemarketers. Been there, done that so I at least hear them out before saying no thank you. I also don't think we get as many telemarketing calls in Canada as you do in the States.

Most of the time I don't have TIME to hear them out... Even cutting the person off each time it took 10 min to get my card activated. If I listened to it all it would have taken a good 30 min out of my day.

Personally I don't have a ton of respect and empathy for these people becasue they choose to do a job where they get yelled at. Why becasue they CHOOSE to do this job. No one is forcing them. If they don't like it and their policies in place then they need to put effort into finding another job or gaining skills to get another job. And yes I do tell my husband the same thing about having to ask each customer if they want a credit card whenever he rings things up. My husband deals with it because he likes other parts of his job, the part where he gets to teach people about the products in his department which he likes and help them find what they need. He is so good at his job he has customers that have learned his schedule and bring friends in when he will be there to see him specficially... I wish he got comission.

 

[Ceila]

I have done phone work before and at a lot of places you are required to get a NO answer so many times before you are allowed to say goodbye. In lots of cases they are not doing it to be a jerk, they are doing it because that's what the job requires. Phone calls do get monitored and action can be taken if you are not following the proper procedures. I am never (and I do mean never) rude to telemarketers. Been there, done that so I at least hear them out before saying no thank you. I also don't think we get as many telemarketing calls in Canada as you do in the States.

Sorry, but I'm not going to "hear them out" just because they chose a job where they are intruding on my home life.

And while I won't slam the phone down on a typical telemarketer call, I most certainly will when the caller pretends to be someone I know ("Hey, Ceila, what's up?") to get me to stay on the phone before launching into their sales pitch. I hate those kinds of slimy tactics. And don't give me the "they'll get fired if they don't follow their script" stuff. I really don't care. If they don't like being treated the way they treat others, they shouldn't take the job.

Thank goodness for the no-call list, since it has cut down on these intrusions, but I wish it applied to all unsolicited sales, charity, and political calls.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I understand that most people doing this type of work are kinda forced into it. Seriously, who enjoys cold call work? For that reason, I try not to be rude.

That said, my time at home with my family is valuable to me. I won't waste 2 or 3 minutes (sometimes a lot more) for a sales pitch of something that I know in second one that I have no interest. So, if the sales person cannot just accept a "not interested", they need to understand that it is not rude to hang up on them - it is necessary. If I cannot wait the 3 minutes for the pitch and they cannot say thank you and end the call, there is no other option. Well, I guess that I could just leave the connection live, put the phone down, and walk away - but how does that differ from hanging up?

For those in this industry - you have my sympathy. Thankless work, to be sure...

 

[Tink888]

I have done phone work before and at a lot of places you are required to get a NO answer so many times before you are allowed to say goodbye. In lots of cases they are not doing it to be a jerk, they are doing it because that's what the job requires. Phone calls do get monitored and action can be taken if you are not following the proper procedures. I am never (and I do mean never) rude to telemarketers. Been there, done that so I at least hear them out before saying no thank you. I also don't think we get as many telemarketing calls in Canada as you do in the States.

Oh I agree with you that the individual on the other end of the line isn't personally trying to be a jerk. But it's a "jerky" business practice and both the company who institutes the policy and the person doing the job have to realize that there are going to be people who don't respond to that practice well. One of the hazards of the job.

I'm more than happy to start off nicely, but it's a natural response to become agitated when you feel your "no" isn't heard and both your time (and the time of the telemarketer) is being wasted.

I feel bad for telemarketers and wouldn't want the job but I didn't set up the policies, their employer did and lousy business practices are going to get lousy responses from consumers.

 

[RitaE]

I'm another where I'm at the point where I just don't care. I often work from home and my work often requires intense concentration. When I'm interrupted like that it can take me 5 to 10 minutes after the call to get back to where I was in the job. I have to keep a phone line active in case the kids' school calls about an emergency.

Those uninvited interruptions interfere with my ability to do my job and are far more rude than anything I've ever said to a telemarketer IMHO or a phone slam - especially after the Do No Call list and in the case of some companies where I've asked repeatedly not to be contacted again .... on the phone and in writing.. and no ... I'm not going to politely "hear them out" and playing nice only gets you a longer interruption.

 

[Acklander]

Oh I agree with you that the individual on the other end of the line isn't personally trying to be a jerk. But it's a "jerky" business practice and both the company who institutes the policy and the person doing the job have to realize that there are going to be people who don't respond to that practice well. One of the hazards of the job.

I'm more than happy to start off nicely, but it's a natural response to become agitated when you feel your "no" isn't heard and both your time (and the time of the telemarketer) is being wasted.

I feel bad for telemarketers and wouldn't want the job but I didn't set up the policies, their employer did and lousy business practices are going to get lousy responses from consumers.

If they got lousy responses from consumers there wouldn't be telemarketers so obviously someone is buying.
That being said, don't know why this is an issue for the OP or those on the receiving end? Yes, if you work as a telemarketer, lots of people are going to lie to you or have their kids lie to you, or be rude, or slam the phone down and so on, that's part of the job, just move on to the next phone number. You don't need to educate the public on how they should treat telemarketers.

And for those on the receiving end of the phone calls, I don't know why so many complain about the time it takes, and that they don't accept no for an answer and it's burning up their minutes and so on. When a sales pitch starts I just say "No thanks" and hang up the phone. From the moment I pick up the phone, to realizing it's a sales pitch, to saying no thanks takes all of 5 seconds out of my day. No biggie.