OP here. First of all we are not telemarketers because we are not selling anything. Telemarketers are the ones who will not let you go and force you to buy things over the phone. Second of all, yeah I know those calls are annoying. We are all aware of that. Do you think we really like to do this?! I'm a full time college student and this is the only job that fits my schedule. Whenever a telemarketer or interviewer calls you, just say I'm NOT INTERESTED PLEASE TAKE MY NAME OFF YOUR LIST. and we won't call you again. It's simple. And please, no need to be rude.

I understand your frustration. But you cannot understand how horrid it is getting thousands of calls a year because people want to sell you things. I get 15 a week, and even when I tell them to take me off the list I still get calls. Even if someone is not selling anything, unless I ask to be called I do not wish to speak with someone. I do not get paid to listen, I do not get paid to waste my minutes on calls from other people. I have other things in my life to do and being called about things I do not want or need... well it is very annoying. I am also a college student. I get paid to take care of animals for people out of town, freelance work, and babysitters. I am in class a lot of the time, doing homework. Being called by someone I do not know can interrupt my work, wake up the children I am watching, and take up time I need to do other things. So while people should be polite, we are not paid to and it gets very annoying after the 15th person.

I exactly know what you mean. I've received those calls too. I once got a warning because I always ask the respondents if they were interested in conducting the interview. I give them the chance to say no because I'm telling you, I don't want to do it either lol.

It was really awkward when I worked in customer service & had to call someone back. Since its a 800 number they would answer the phone saying "I'm not interested please take me off your list." then they would hang up without giving me a chance to speak. I started to have to say "This isn't a sales call" before I even said hello...

I think it was strange for someone to burp on the phone, I have been short with people who keep calling back. I do listen to where they are from, but the moment they go into the 'this is company that has called a thousand times before..." I now just hang up on them.

I asked one of them to take me off their list today... they hung up in the middle of my sentence. -.- I always make sure to be polite and then I'm repaid with that... yeesh.

49- If we're talking strange once these people let their teenage daughters sing "Black & Yellow" by Wiz Khalifa at me until I hung up. I got a good laugh out of that.

My family actually has asked multiple times to be taken off of lists when people call. We still get calls. So I'm guilty of occasionally screwing with the guy who calls back afterwards. Sorry.

I've had someone sing their response to me which was of course a no I didn't even last the full 5days there

I had to do telemarketing for insurance so I could pay for college, too! I know your pain. I ended up quitting my job, because I couldn't stand to call people and bother them. I hate getting telemarketing calls myself, so the job bothered me too much. I now work at Target, and I love it there. I wish you luck, OP, I know how hard it is to do that job. For the rest of you, there is a number for the state you live in (if you live in the U.S.) that will put you on a National "Do Not Call" list. It'll take awhile for it to go into effect, but it makes it illegal for companies to call you for telemarketing, and I believe it also makes it illegal for surveys, too.

I worked at a call center and while I only took inbound calls we still had an automated system that would call members of the insurance company to see if they wanted to join the mail order pharmacy. I cannot tell you how many times I sent the request for the calls to stop just for them to continue. Don't always blame the person you talked to as they may have done all that they can to stop it. Also if you are getting 15 calls a week you need to register with the national do not call list. I did 5 years ago and still have not received an unwanted call

I have a friend who does the same job. Flexible hours and ability to telecommute. I've heard the abuse he takes and it is funny since the people are handing over the info and agreeing to be contacted for these surveys. Watch what you are agreeing to if you don't want the calls.

Lol Opinion Search eh?

I had to do telemarketing for a while in college. The pay was better than retail and the hours worked. I get that even survey calls are annoying, but at least it's a job, OP! It sucks that you're getting hate for it.

Op I totally understand where your coming from. Yeah, it's annoying to get a call from a telemarketer, but it takes less than 10 seconds to say that you're not interested. I can't count the number of times I've had people cuss me out. It's a job. It's what we're paid to do.

Every time I tell them to take my name off their list, they don't, and call me back the next day.

Sorry OP, but you called my house, without invitation or approval. Regardles of why you called, you have invaded my privacy. You were rude first so you will get rude in return. On the other hand, you are getting paid for it so, let them be rude, hang up, call the next number on the list, then go cash your paycheck.

Yeah finding a job to fit your uni schedule can be a pain in the arse.

If you cold call people, I'm my opinion you're a telemarketer. Do something with some pride for Christ's sake, sell drugs to kids or something

Screwing with them is more fun.

everyone has caller ID these days. why are you ppl still answering calls you don't want to take? I work at a bank and we are required by LAW to call ppl and tell them how to avoid overdraft fees. we are not helping ourselves by doing this, we are losing money. I tell them from the beginning it's a courtesy call and ask them if they want to talk and they're still rude. if someone's having dinner, I will not continue the call, I am the picture of professionalism and niceness, and they're still rude. so, tell me. what am I supposed to do?

Register with the do not call registry. BAM problem solved.

Your bank told you this was required by law. There is a sucker born every minute. Overdraft protection is one of the biggest rackets in banking. The banks make millions through that service.

I'd rather pick up the phone and belch into it, to be honest. Just because "I'm not selling anything" doesn't mean you're not a "telemarketer" in every way that matters.

Yes I take the time to say that it is a courtesy call or a short customer satisfaction call. I even ask them if they have the time to do the interview right now and if they don't we can call back another time if they want to. I hate when people say "we are not paid so we have to be rude" I mean what the hell is that logic? you are not paid to go to school, does that mean you have to be rude to your teachers and classmates? By the way, the callers that hang up in your face when you ask them to remove your name off the list aren't legit. It screams scam...

No, not all the ones that hang up on you are scams, they hang up on you in the middle of "take me off your list" that way they don't have to take you off their list. They are instructed to do that so they can call again, hoping that someone else answers. Too bad most of their numbers are now cell phones, dedicated to one person. This is why I just don't answer numbers I don't know.

If you think receiving those calls is annoying just think about how much more annoying it is for the caller. They probably get sworn, yelled, and belittled everyday. Plus, it's their JOB.

I, like many of the other people commenting do cold calls. We do sell insurance so yes, I am technically a telemarketer. But the thing is to the people saying "you get paid so you have to be nice, we don't so we can be rude." No. The fact is, the people who continuously call after you say "take me off your list" or "I'm not interested" is one thing. Actually, we get hung up on at least 300 times per day. I get hung up on after someone says "not interested" before I can even tell them to "have a nice day" so you getting hung up on a few times (which I dont agree with) it's still way less than we get the phone slammed in our ears. And we have records of how many times we call, and every day I get someone screaming at me saying we have called them a million times when it is the first time. Yeah, I get cussed at, yelled at, told I'm less of a person for what I do. And as far as interrupting your day, sorry, but the truth is, we don't know your schedules, we're just doing our jobs, trying to make a living like all the rest of you. Yes, cold calls are annoying. But what it boils down to is that we are still human beings. We have families, bills to pay, our own burdens and heartaches and our own favourite ice cream just like you. We're all just trying to make a paycheck in this crap economy just like you. And just because its not your idea of a "real job" doesn't mean we're less of a human being than any of you guys who don't have to deal with people yelling in our ears all day. Sorry for the novel.

I get it op. I work as a scheduler at a staffing company, basically I call people and give them work all day long. Sounds easy right? Wrong. You'd be surprised how rude people can be when all you're trying to do is give them what they asked for, work! Which is so hard to find these days too!

83, I know what you mean about quitting your job because you hated having to bother people. I work retail and I hate having to convince people they need a perfume or another pair of jeans. I don't get commission, to make it worse. I just hate being told to make people buy what they don't need. They do it enough by themselves.

I understand your job is no fun. But I don't know you, I didn't invite you to call, and I certainly don't want to pay for your call when it is placed to my cell phone. I see these calls as no different than someone entering my home uninvited. Don't expect me to be polite just because you are getting paid to violate my privacy.

Boo Hoo. Cold calling exists because it succeeds with the elderly, the disabled, and the uneducated. Essentially, you keep making calls until you find someone to take advantage of. Most people are not going to buy anything from a caller or business they do not know unless they don't know better. It is a parasitic business that does a great disservice to the community. You should be ashamed for what you do.

I would personally love to know how many people here, that are ripping on OP have actually honestly worked a telecommunications job of any kind. I personally worked for a national survey company. The fact of the matter here is you people do hundreds of things a year that you put your phone number into. The way these companies get your number is by BUYING them from the company that you gave your number to. Tire stores, dentist offices, magazine subscriptions, your local grocery store, even voting records are used. 90% of calls made are cold calls, if you answer, be polite, and decline if you so choose, if you don't want to get these calls, stop putting your number out there. plain and simple. Too many people overreact to these calls, it's not hard to say no nicely.

#112: please be educated. I WORK for said bank. the job I'm doing in NO WAY benefits the bank. I am assisting people in SAVING MONEY ON OVERDRAFT FEES. that means the bank LOSES MONEY. I'm calling ppl who have 200+ overdraft fees a year. so no scam, nothing, just the bank complying with Obama's new laws. Google CFPB. stop spouting crap you know nothing about.

I have the same job in my country. Because I struggle alot with mental issues, this is the only part time job I am capable working at while I go to school. An boy, do I get a lot of weird people on the phone... One guy said that if I came over to him and helped him scratch his hemeroids, then he would answer my questions.. A lot of people hates phonecalls from strangers about surveys or things they want to sell them, but that does not make it okay to act like an asshole over the phone.. We're still people, and people tend to have feelings. And on another note: just because you get removed from on list at one company does not mean that you won't get calls from other companies.

i have taken inbound calls before so i know how much it sucks. However as a person on the receiving end who works nights & HAS repeatedly asked to not be contacted.... I still get contacted and woken up. I would shut my phone off but my family lives 4 hrs away... I now automatically hit the hater button on everyone before 2pm.

I couldn't have said it better myseld

Here in Iowa we have so many jobs and no people. We literally import people from Bulgaria for the summer and then send them back come winter

Do not call list. Get on it if you're getting 15 telemarketing calls a week. I never get calls from telemarketers, just bill collectors. Haha

I can understand. I did the survey job for a week before I quit. I hated it so as soon as I got a new job offer, I accepted. I think I would have gotten fired anyway. You had to have five complete surveys a day and I couldn't get one.

awrhh love how you're putting your job down

I feel your pain. I was doing the exact same work for over a year. It is demeaning and a terrible job. I hope life has led you on a much better path :)

I was a telephone interviewer for about a year when I was in high school and I hated it, too. I was sworn at, threatened, hung up on. Then there was the occasional nice person that flirted with me yet still wasn't interested in answering my survey questions. The job was a pain in the butt but it was my first one ever and had flexible hours. Nowadays, I receive the calls myself once in a while - and I sometimes participate since I know how frustrating it is for the other person. However, I get angry, too, when they take advantage of my willingness to answer ONE survey and keep calling the following days with other surveys. I feel bad turning them down but I know when they say "it will take 15 minutes" it can easily turn into 45 minutes and I have better stuff to do than answer questions about sausages and trains.

Today, I keep hearing people talk about how rude others are. This is just another example of why the world sometimes sucks. However, I work in retail. I have about 300 customers come through my line a day. Everyone of them makes some joke I have heard a thousand times. I have to be polite, because I am getting paid to do this job. But, if I were not and a ton of people kept coming up to me, asking the same question I would not deal with it so politely. I think it is the same with telemarketers. Yes, it is the first time Op has spoken with this person. But there might have been a ton of other people bothering them.

but somebody's gotta do it. ( sorry I had to make the repo reference).

You are correct. I worked customer service for Starbucks for a year, and damn they complain about literally anything. And it always got taken out on me. I got so fed up with that job and having people chew my ass over a simple cup of coffee I eventually just quit.