Someone called me today and It registered as tpc but they said they were from touch and then went on to spill the beans not knowing I was once a customer...anyone heard about this?
Things I've done to put them off
1. Blow whistle down the phone.
2. Say I can't hear them, is anyone there hello, hello!
3. Burp & any other noises I can muster up, depending on if I had a Currie the night before
4. Act really really dum, "internet what do you mean"!
5. Ask them to hold then put the phone on my desk and leave until they hang up
As you can see I'm fed up with Touch :(
Seriously though- we've asked to be removed from call lists- they were calling us every day speaking to a different person in my department... Its just not funny anymore and their sales people are bad tempered and rude- probably because of the quality of leads they are getting... They could also work on some training for them, because they know surprisingly little about what they are selling.
ROFLAO! Come on do you really think that will work! I’m on first name terms with the canvassers, I gave up asking that a long time ago, I just try to think of different ways to get my own back now.
On a serious note- are they obliged to stop calling you if you ask them to? Maybe you could make their life harder by requesting that they send you all the info they are holding on you?
them: "Hello I'm blah from Touch PLC"
me: "No thankyou"
And there ended the call. The guy didn't seem that surprised.
That’s the sign of a good Touch employee LOL :)
If you are a Limited company or a PLC it's tough luck you just have to try the tigger treatment. You could always get yourself a revenue generating Premium Rate number and ask them to call you back on that number instead, then put them on hold for a few minutes every few minutes, go make a cup of tea etc.. and they might get the message.
The thing I noticed is they started off at a high price and without even having to say "no I'm not prepared to pay £X" they slashed the price.
I had to chuckle reading New Media Age this week there was a big two page spread on Lycos UK (Touch PLC are selling their new product). The message is content is no longer king, it's new model is called "communitainment". I can just see it now......
Hi my name is Jim and I am a communitainment optimisation specialist and I want to submit your site to 200,000 communitainment sites for £29.95
But apparently it's not another dotcom buzzword.
here's a couple of tricks i use for cold callers that seem to get my name crossed off call lists:
"eugh, yuk. sorry, you were boring me so i was picking my nose and ... you'll have to excuse me while i get a tissue to wipe that on ...." (if they're still on the line 5 minutes later when you return, ask them to start again)
"god, your voice is so sexy .... say that again .... go on ..." (leaves them very flustered. if they carry on talking, a "hmmmmmm" flusters them even more)
let them talk for a minute then just sing "La La La, I'm not listening, La La La" (repeat until you're bored then hang up)
But, as i used to work as a telecanvisser, i can tell you the prime way to p!ss them off is to seem interested.
There's a 50/50 chance that their boss will be listening in the call and if they dont close a sale from someone who initially sounds interested, then they are in trouble.
Plus if you have some free time you can keep them going for hours. Make a game out of it. Pretend to be different people and pass them from "deptartment" to "department"! ;)
You will hear them getting more and more frustrated as they can all but taste the sale (and commission) but cant close.
Run a competition to see who can get a telecanvisser to hang up on you in the shortest time! :)
Just a few thoughts..
JOAT
the blue circle cement idea - LOL i wish
Yes, I'm convinced! Sign me up, Scottie :)
dam can't find the telephone number, guess I'll just have to wait until they ring me up again tommorrow like they have done nearly every day LAST MONTH.
:P
DaveN
I'm amazed that even one of their employees would want to say that. I suspect that the poor fellow had a gun held to his head......and his wife and family are being held hostage!
Greg
greg that because we don't want to buy your advertising - I am guessing that you are greg from touch who i spoke to yesterday
Dave
I'm trying to share my experiences of companies here. I though that was what this is all about.
I don't see why i've hit a raw nerve?
Greg
I just goes to show how bright these guys aren't ;)
DaveN
Yes you have!
I was getting anywhere between 3-5 calls a day from different canvassers, but the phone calls have eased a bit now and so far I've had no calls this year.
I'm thinking about phoning them and complaining :)
Now how much do you want to bet the next call is?
