I administrate telemarketing programs for a B2B marketing firm, so the programs I oversee are a sight different than the DTC activity you’re describing, and as someone who deals with telemarketing representatives on a daily basis, I must admit that I find your comment “Too bad. If they can’t make a living any other way than by bothering people in their homes, then that’s their problem” appallingly insensitive and childish.

The easiest way to get yourself off of a list is to answer the call, be polite, and calmly let them know that you would like to be placed on their Do Not Call list. That some of these calls have been going on for “years” smacks of hyperbole on your part (I doubt this is the case that the SAME company has been calling you for years – more likely, it’s similar companies with similar offers), laziness (if someone called me for two DAYS in a row, you can bet I’d pick up the phone and let them know that they should stop), or simple, base stupidity (are you sure you quite understand how the phone works?). If you want it to stop, you need to pick up the phone and tell them so. Until then, you simply have no disposition next to your name on the list, and, for all the TM company knows, you could be interested, so it would be our job to continue to see if we can’t get ahold of you.

Telemarketing is a grind, and more often than not, it’s a job that nobody wants to be in for very long, because they have to bear some of the most vulgar, vitriolic, and disgusting things said to them, about their FAMILIES, and about their “choices in life” (I, for one, would like to see some of the “life choices” made by the people who say these things to my reps). Needless to say, it’s an emotionally wearying job, but like all jobs that are, in fact, emotionally difficult to handle, they’re often populated by people who don’t quite have the “skills” (a.k.a. expensive degrees from private universities) for something higher paying, but who still have the intelligence and interpersonal skills to be successful at telemarketing (which is one of the most well-remunerated, “low skill” jobs available). But to bring it to a point – very few children leave high school saying to themselves “man, I really, really want to be a telemarketer”.

I’m not saying that all TM companies are saints ( all you need is a bank of phones, a phone book, and facilities to enter the biz – so this does attract a certain amount of hucksters to the game), because there’s some really, really lousy shops out there. But if you’re looking for someone to blame for “annoying you”, blame the biggies: American Express, Citigroup, Drive Financial (and that’s just in the Fin sector). Because they all do DTC. And do you know why? Because it makes money, and because, like it or not, it works.

You’re a child for reacting this way, and wishing unemployment says so much more about your fetid character and sense of self than any words I could write. And do you know what I wish? That YOU were fired.

Grow Up.

–Paul