Are you NICE to Telemarketers/Customer Service People?
By MsJessi
@MsJessi (423)
United States
March 23, 2007 10:25am CST
I used to be. Then there came a time in my life where I got really stupid and became to addicted to internet shopping. I was 17 & 18 years old and started applying for Fingerhut credit, Newport News, and various other online store credit cards...an of course maxing them out them minute it was available to use. Foolishly thinking that I made enough money to keep up with them.
Then the calls started. For the next 3 years I was hassled like nobody's business! It got to a point where I was afraid to answer the phone. I mean, those bill collectors are Ruthless!
Now I don't get those calls anymore, but it's almost as if I'm still being haunted by my mistakes, because we got a new landline phone a couple weeks ago, and whoever had this phone before, must have owed a lot of companies money! Not to mention, they were spanish speaking, cause the bill collectors are all spanish speaking and so they don't understand me when I say "WRONG NUMBER" (However, I have finally looked it up on a translator, so I now know what to say when they call again) But I mean, this lady was calling my house at like 10 at night...I finally went off on her...and even tho it was in English, she must have understood cause she hasn't called back since!As far as the way I treat people that call my house that are not friends and family...I try to be nice. But at the first sign of any of them getting an attitude, I lose it. As if I've been saving it for that one customer service lady who has the nerve to be rude to me...and then all my frustrations from all the mean and bad calls I've gotten comes out onto them!
The worst, is Cellphone customer service, Sprint to be exact! I couldn't stand Sprint customer service people...they were always so mean to me and they would even pretend to be their own managers when I asked for one...cause I know one lady did that, because she had a heavy hispanic accent and didn't even bother trying to change it!
OH, and don't even let me get started on AOL people!
10 people like this
34 responses
@nowment (1757)
• United States
23 Mar 07
I try to be nice to telemarketers I understand they are doing their job, I state clearly that I am not interested in making any purchases, that I have no funds.
If they continue, with their speil then they are being rude and so I can do or say what I feel.
This has included giving the phone to my niece when she was only 2 years old, blaring loud music, when they will not take the hint or just hanging up on them.
The problem with just hanging up means they will keep calling back.
2 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
23 Mar 07
oh..i know all about those fingerhut people.. :(
i usually am nice,unless they cop an attitude with me.
i had one keep calling when my father was dying of cancer-they woke him up,and repeatedly told me they couldn't tell me what they wanted (as it was his bill).
i finally snapped one day and said "look,he's dying,and i'm executor-you'll have to talk to me sooner or later!"
14 dollars.they were waking up a dying man for 14 dollars.
and he had had an account for 30 years.
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
24 Mar 07
they did know-it was only when i told them he was teminal they told me.
that had to be the worst one ever that called.
citizen's bank,on the other hand,when i cancelled his cards? sent a letter of condolence when he passed.
now that,was class :)
@hidinginpublic (170)
• United States
23 Mar 07
Hmmm...well, I have several thoughts on this. I have spent my whole working life doing telemarketing and customer service. If someone was having a bad day I would get yelled at...not necessarily because it was my fault just it happened to be that it was my job. If I couldn't do exactly what the customer wanted to do I would get frustrations taken out on me. Customers are just as bad as customer service reps. BUT there is a difference between customer service and telemarketing and bill collecting. Bill collectors I understand have to be a little more hard on you. That is their job. It's still not right for them to be rude either.
Because I have been on both sides of the fence I also know to expect more from the people who call me. I am not afraid to ask for the supervisor and complain that these people are being rude. I ask for their corporate number and I will go as high as it takes to get them to do what they are supposed to do and to get polite customer service.
As for Sprint...yeah I NEVER had any luck there. Or with Verizon. Or now with Cricket. The best customer service I got with cell phones was TMobile.
1 person likes this
@gbaben (509)
• Russian Federation
23 Mar 07
Atimes am nice atime am rude it depend on what service i need from them.There was a time i need an urgient replacement of SIM card,i call my cell phone customer service,They told me i have to wait for the next 24hrs,i dont have a choice,i waited but to my surprice nothing was done.I have to call back,What do you expect?........a very rude conversation and before i drop i got my sim activated.That is what rudeness can do.
1 person likes this
@PunkyMcPunk (1477)
• Canada
24 Mar 07
Hey there! first off let me apologize to you for all of the rude encounters that you have had.
I am NOT a telemarketer however, I do work for a large communications corporation that does have an "outbound" section. Outbound = telemarketer.
If you do not want to receive these types of calls, you can choose to sign up to your Do Not Call registry (there is a federal one) there is also a state by state one. Then if you also would like you can tell the telemarketer to add you to that specific companies DNC (do not call) list.
That company will no longer be able to contact you.
If you are on these lists if any telemarketer does call you, please get their company name, phone number, the agents name and ID number and then you can have this company fined/charged.
This sounds harsh, I know, and you may be wondering why I am telling you all of this but I am a consumer too. It is just my job. I hate telemarketer calls, myself.
My company prides itself on NOT bothering customers all that much. We are supposed to be Customer Service not Customer Annoyers. :-) BTW I work for Qwest Communications. Online Chat Rep. (Had to plug that in there somewhere!).
1 person likes this
@djbtol (5493)
• United States
24 Mar 07
You have had a few bumps along the way. I do not appreciate telemarketers in the least. I try not to be totally rude, but I will be very short with them. If they knew anything about my type of person, they would know that they hve 0 chance of getting a sale. I'm not interested and I know that there are lies and deceipt in the best offers.
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
24 Mar 07
We don't get too many calls now that our number is on the National do not call registry, but the occassional one does still slip through. When that happens I usually just hang up....I don't think it's rude as they would just be wasting their time if they went through their whole routine...this way they can move on to the next call where they may have a chance of getting the sale.
@Wingedman (238)
• United States
23 Mar 07
Since I used to do telephone sales I am always polite. I usually don;t bu, but I at least respect teh sales person as a person and don't talk down to them. That always pissed me off when I was working. The best thing to do is get on the no call list and then you don't have to deal with folks calling you. But at the very least every one should be polite. Courtesy cost nothing.
@jjwatson28 (572)
• United States
23 Mar 07
I hate telmarketers. I pay the phone company to screen my calls. So if its them they cant get through. Theres also a thing you can sign up for so they dont call your number. I belive you phone company would know what im talking about. For those bill collecters. I too have a number that someone else had. Weve had the same number for about 7 yrs now and still get collection calls for this other person. I dont know how many times I tell them Im not this person but they still call. I think they still give out this number so they dont have to deal with it. Though about giving them a number in the phone book that has the same last name as the people there looking for. Drives me crazy. I really do get rude when they keep calling back . I tell them to look up the phone number because im listed in the phone book and Im not that other person. Of course why would they belive little o me. so agervating. Any way we even switched our phone temp. and still didnt work. So when they call im Not very nice. Sorry people you can only take so much . I would understand if they were calling for me.
1 person likes this
@kaperkitty (1097)
• Canada
23 Mar 07
I am nice to telemarketers and you know why? I used to be a telemarketer..do you know how hard a job that is the way people treat you like human garbage.i swear its like your sub human..i needed to pay my rent to eat i had no choice job options in our city were far and few between at that point/call centers came in offering good hourly wages benefits that are hard to get anywhere now..people had no choice..yes i know we read a script and yes i know we don't let get a word in edge wise but with someone standing over you waiting to ring a bell if you sell something you try hard real hard and no I'm not kidding about the bell.so after many years out of the industry i still take the time to listen then politely decline
Cheryl
@MsJessi (423)
• United States
23 Mar 07
Wow, I know how hard that must have been. I tried doing telemarketing for a little while and I'm just not cut out for it. I can't take the rejection and I can't take the fact that I already knew 99% of my calls were gonna be hang ups and people already annoyed with me before I even started speaking!
I really do try to be nice, and typically I don't get alot of telemarketers calling my house because I'm on the do not call list. But typically, I will listen and then say no thank you and then hang up, cause I don't wanna argue with them.
2 people like this
@zing_i (269)
• United States
23 Mar 07
I guess they are also people to some extend, and all that we can do is, just let them know right away if we are not happy about a particular thing and if we dont want them to trouble us. I am sure they will understand.
After they do it not because they love it, they do all this cause its their job and someone else makes them do it for money.
1 person likes this
@coolsk8ingirl (2)
• United States
24 Mar 07
I used to be nice to them...until I told them I wasn't interested and they STILL kept calling back. Now I'm just plain RUDE to them...oh well.
@anup12 (4177)
• India
24 Mar 07
No I don't becuase they call on odd times and it is very much irritating at times.
@Pochrich (30)
• Singapore
24 Mar 07
There was a time when i used to get calls from telemarketers asking me to do surveys.I don't really like their method of doing surveys so whatever they i ask,i just reply "No",Not Sure" or Don't know".Well...they got irritated and hung up.There were times when their superiors might call back to ask why i don't want to take part in their survey...i started lecturing at the person till they gave up.
@IRENEVALLEJO2001 (53)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
The bill collectors are trained to harass people to have successful collection. But it can really be frustrating and the language they use sometimes get downright ugly. Respect is not in their vocabulary. The feeling that they want you (as the call reciever) to develop is shame so that you will pay up. I do have my share of those calls - not even those collecting for bills. Some telemarketers call at improper hours of the day at home so I just tell them off. So many people have already complained about this but the system doesn't change.
@00ZiiK (3)
• New Zealand
24 Mar 07
How they begin is what does it for me. If they are nice and introduce both themselves and the company they work for, I am much more inclined to be nice. However, if they simply launch into their spiel without giving me a chance to say anything, I will simply put the phone down and walk away for five minutes.
