Tuesday, June 01, 2010

An Apology from Telemarketers... with a Bonus

I received the letter below a week or so after a phone call I vaguely remembered, where I politely hung up on a telemarketer, telling them I did not want to participate in their survey:


And yes, that is a real dollar bill they sent me. I was happy to get the dollar, and I guess it's a nice gesture, but what I really want is for them to stop calling me, which hasn't happened!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Madame X!
Actually, that tactic is used to make you feel obligated to fill out or complete their survey the next time they call. It is a method developed by Don Dillman meant to increase survey response rates. I have never seen it used by telemarketers though, only mail-based surveys. Wonder if it works? :)

Tiffany said...

Hahah! Too funny! They made a peace offering to you. Unfortunately my friend I think the telemarketer is here to stay!

Anonymous said...

I never even open junk mail. I guess I've thrown away tons of dollars!
-tasha

Anna said...

My dad always said to ask them for their name and home phone number so you can call them back when they are sitting down to eat with their family :)

Cindy Brick said...

There is a magic way to get them to stop calling you... use the words

"Please take my name and phone number off your list." Don't argue, just make that statement, say thank you and hang up.

If they call after that, they're doing something illegal!

Barb said...

Too funny, never seen anything like that before. While it's still very annoying. I don't know what the future holds for direct marketing but between all the wasted money and paper on direct mail and man/woman power on telemarketing... What a waste!

JC L. said...

That is a awsome story!! A little tid bit of advice: The best way to stop telemarketing calls is to register your phone number on the National Do Not Call List (https://www.donotcall.gov/). Once registered it is considered illegal for them to call you.

Hope this helps.
~J

Anonymous said...

Bronx Chica...hahaha that was nice for them to send cash and maybe they can send more since they keep calling you back.

Anonymous said...

This is NOT telemarketing, it's a survey. I work in the survey research industry and unfortunately our calls often get confused with telemarketers. And getting your name and phone number on the "Do not call" list does not disallow legitimate survey research firms from calling you.

C said...

The "do not call" list works great. I accidentally got on a list that was being sold or rented like crazy, resulting in sometimes two calls a day. The "do not call" thingy worked perfectly. I don't have a land line so I don't get survey calls, or maybe I'm just lucky.