Rampant Ignorance

[thepyrofish]

Ok, I work in a call centre doing telephone research (those surveys that everybody slams the phone down in my ear). The slamming of phones isn't what bothers me, I'm used to that. MY problem is ignorant people. some of you may know that the U.S. has recently instituted something called the Do Not Call List. I am incredibly sick of people who SCREAM at me about there name being on this list and how they are going to sue me and have me charged and all this nonsense, when if they would have bothered to even learn what they were registering themselves for, they would have realized that the U.S. congress intentionally and specifically exempted Market Research from this legislation because they recognized it as in important and necessary part of the United States Free Market Economy. I don't care if they are on the list, and I don't even care if they don't want to do the survey, I don't care if they want to yell and cuss and slam down their phones. I just wish they wouldn't spout off all superiorily (is that a word?) about shit that they don't even bother to learn about first. I want to ask any Americans on this board, why don't people care what they sign up for? And how come they feel the need to scream their ignorance forth unto me, a poor innocent high school boy from Canada? I realize that all Americans are not this ignorant, and I realize that not all Americans on the list are oblivious to this fact, but the ones who do understand don't bitch at me so I don't notice them.

(p.s.) I also realize that people hate me and my job and I agree, surveys are gay, but it's decent money so if you're gonna bash the thread, don't bash me for having the job, cuz believe me, I KNOW.

[deadlight]

Simple, Americans see "Don't Call" and assume all of their problems are solved. Just like if you put "Free" in your ad you'll get calls out the ass. Doesn't matter what it's for.

[Boss San]

Wow! For Free! Surplus tubs of mayonaise left over from operation Desert Storm!

[burnM]

I usually say, 'I'm not interested in answering a survey thank you, and please take me off of your lists' and expect the person on the other end to say, 'well, thank you for your time' or something along those lines.

That said, usually what happens is the person on the other end keeps going off about the survey only taking a minute, or that I desperately need the crap that they are selling, so I hang up. This isn't what pisses me off. What pisses me off is the fact that these calls happen at a rate of 6-8 per week, over and over. I'm going to buy myself an air horn in a can, and the next time someone tries to push thier product or survey or service on me, I'm not going to hang up. I'm going to blast that pour person's ear with it.
Sorry.........

Realize that this is your job, and that people are going to be cheezed when you call in the middle of a good romp with the missus just to ask about something that they could care less about.

I'm not flaming you.....just open your eyes to what your job entails, and that it's up to you to put up with it, or get another job.

[YogsVR4]

So you're the guy I called a useless cockwad the other day? Sorry - I should have said, fucking useless cockwad

[blindside.AMG]

Originally Posted by YogsVR4

So you're the guy I called a useless cockwad the other day? Sorry - I should have said, fucking useless cockwad

Good stuff!!!

[BP2K2Max]

i've been nice enought to answer some surveys and 9 out of 10 times they end with "as a sign of our gratitude we'll offer you a years subscription to some stupid magazine at some barely below newstand price". it's hard to distinguish what's legit and what's gonna end in a sales pitch.

[TexasF355F1]

If I know that it sounds like a legit reseach org. I'll take them. I even did that Nielson's thing and got a couple of bucks when I was like 17. Yea I didn't pay much attention to all the laws but I knew that marketing research would be allowed.

[JapPrecision]

It's fun to fuck with telemarketers, especially when they cannot pronounce your last name. If im bored or just drunk, I bullshit with them occasionally..but I make sure not to be a dick. My best bud telemarkets to pay rent..he makes OK money. But he's always telling me about some redneck fuck trying to be tough on the phone and he just laughs about it most of the time--sounds like an entertaining job..

[Three_Fingers]

Hmm... Now I see both sides of the story.
Most telemarketers I just say "Sorry, not interested and hang up in a regular manner.
The ones I hate, for instance are the calls I get from Halifax, Nova Scotia-where some guy says right off the bat-"Please hold for an important call"
So I wait until Joe Sales Pitch comes on and cut him off in mid-sentence and say "Please hold" and set the phone down on the dinner table and let him hear the sounds of my family having supper and talking and whatnot. They get the message eventually and that 'click' is MOST satisfying.

[Cl0ak]

I just make panting sounds or try to have phone sex with them until they hang up.

[eversio11]

if they can't pronounce my name correctly, then I speak in a heavy mexican accent. They are the ones that usually hang up.

[replicant_008]

In Rep's dark and shadowy past he was once a member of the management of the local arm of a multi-national market research company.

Now a couple things to emphasize:

- Good market research is not tele-marketing. Telemarketing under the guise of market research is the bane of quality market research. It's called 'sugging' in the industry and frankly I'd have strung up folk who did that crap.

- Telephone interviewing is one form of market research. It's fast and it's about the most cost-effective way to collect opinions over the general population with a statistically representative sample in a short space of time.

- Other forms of research include face-to-face interviewing - recruited by such means as door-to-door, mall intercepts, customer lists etc

- We also use barcode scan data-mining, the use of diaries and television audience measurement systems

- Media research included looking at print media and estimating the advertising spend

Now before you say blah-blah waste of time etc then a few things to think about...

- Polling is extensively used by political parties for policy development. If you don't like the way the country is run and opt out of surveys - then you are effectively opting out of your opportunity to have your opinion taken seriously. This also goes for Government consulative research eg want criminals given longer sentences.... hmmmm....

- Consumer Research is used extensively to test products and opinions. It's also used to test marketing ideas and provide feedback about changes to existing product and new product introductions particularly in FMCG and automotive research. Again opt out - no one listens.

- Some really important research that I've worked on include estimating the national recreational fishing catch to assist in the management of the resource, examining the way victims of serious crime are treated by the legal system and the support given to them and researching ways to communicate changes to the electoral system to various groups in the community.

Also I've worked on research looking at the experience of tourists in New Zealand which lead to some work on developing a standard rating system for budget accomodation (eg backpackers, hostels)

There have been some interesting pieces of research - including having friends doing sensory testing of different beers (ie taste tests), subjective qualitative research (we got them in to drink and talk about beer/cider/spirits), evaluating opinions about the provision of public service radio, looking at broadcasting standards with the community at large and identifying market niches.

A piece of work that I know well resulted in the introduction of a low price budget car tire to compete with retreads and second-hand tire trade ins. The product meant more jobs for the manufacturer, safer tires being available to the budget conscious motorist and less crappy tires being imported and then dumped in land fills.

[thepyrofish]

The company I work for does do 100% completely legit research, and it is the most entertaining job I have ever had. We actually did a survey on Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I had to ask people if they had ever lost control of their bowels and crap like that. I actually had some interesting conversations with a couple people, until my supervisor got pissed at me for wasting time.

oh, and trying to pronounce some names is a real bitch, because the call coems up, I start talking while the survey is loading, and so I get a 1-1.5 second warning on the name, and that is while I am talking, so I have to try to say it properly wihtout hesitating, or i get docked points on quality and that can lead to less pay

[JapPrecision]

So you got to talk to people about diarreah and shit.. that is pretty funny. I dont think I could do it cause I would end up cracking up..or asking them if they shit their pants 1 2 or 3 times a day. Diarreah cha cha cha.