On 28-2-2009 6:08, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:30:16 -0800, Chambers wrote:

>> I actually sympathize with the telemarketers.  It's a tough job that
>> everyone hates, but there are a lot of good people who really aren't
>> trying to rip you off.  The least you could do is be courteous with
>> them.
> 
> I generally don't answer the phone when the call is from a number I don't 
> recognize.  I wish they'd get a clue after the 3rd or 4th call not being 
> answered, but they generally don't.  Many places use automated dialers 
> and often they're dialing many numbers at a time and the only person who 
> gets a live person on the other end (from the calling organisation) is 
> the first of a dozen or so who answer the phone.
> 
> The whole idea of telemarketing is just a waste IMHO.  I don't buy things 
> on the phone, most people I know don't buy things on the phone, 
> especially from cold calls.  I have a need, I research a product, and I 
> get the one that fits my need.  I generally think advertising in and of 
> itself is largely a waste when it's targeted at me because I don't 
> respond to it and generally am not influenced by it.

It's real life SPAM. You may not buy anything, nor anyone you know, but 
there are always some people that do. Either because they actually need 
or want something, or because they were caught off guard. The math is 
easy. If a telemarketeer costs 10 per hour, he/she can make 100 calls 
per hour and one in a thousand suckers buy, if the product earns more 
than 100 you are still making a profit. Simple rule: Never buy from 
telemarketers even if it is something you need. If you do you are paying 
to disturb another couple of hundred innocent people.
About sympathising with telemarketers, I may be in two minds. On the one 
hand there is the real life person for who this unskilled labour is 
possibly the only way to earn some money and they don't deserve the 
blame for what their boss is doing. OTOH they get paid to annoy people 
and they know it. It is an unethical job at best and when the methods 
employed are illegal there is not much difference between this and being 
paid for being the lookout during a burglary. You may not be the one who 
commits the crime, but you are the one that makes it possible.

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