Optus/Transact - Canberra people

[vonne]

This is pretty much for the Canberra crowd..

We've just had a phone call in on our second line from someone saying they were from Optus (eventually anyway) and wanting to know if the line was a Transact line.

The woman refused to tell padrin where she was calling from and insisted on speaking to the owner of the line. I then took the call over. The

Comments

[saluqi]

Yuk. We have not had rude Optus, but we did have rude News Limited a few weeks ago.

We have a silent number, so the first thing faxon asked was where they got the number. The guy refused to say, and started in on his spiel about the paper.

faxon interrupted again, and said "this is a silent number, how did you get it?". The telemarketer then said "we've got everyone's number in Canberra, mate" and hung up the phone.

Next day we rang The Australian and they seemed singularly uninterested in the unprofessionalism of the people spruiking their paper. Wonder if it's the same telemarketing company?

[wolfkit]

Optus are generally pretty good from my experience.

Did the caller have an accent? A lot of phone company telemarketers are from OS. My house mate has more experience with them and a lot less patience than you. If anyone calling for anything refuses to identify themselves - just hang-up!

And numbers are no longer dead giveaways - not with being able to 'port your number when you change companies these days.

[paradigmshifty]

I used to get telemarketing calls on my work extension at IBM. You could see it coming too - two desks down would ring, then next to me, then me, then the other side of me...

A lot of these companies just pick a prefix and wardial every combination of numbers from XXXX 0000 to XXXX 9999.

[razorgirl_au]

This is seriously dodgy and you should report them to the ACCC.

I have worked in MANY call centres and a caller MUST identify them selves, their company and the purpose of their call.

Pressing for this sort of information is an invasion of privacy and is quite frankly non of their business.

That said, you should also complain to Optus about it, and let them know that you have contacted the ACCC about it. They may not know that this is happening, but if they do, telling them that you've contacted the ACCC may scare them into action.

Let the attack dogs deal with them. This is totally unacceptable.

: /

: )

Telemarketing

[curufea]

I haven't had this particular type of call.

However - I have recently changed tactics with telemarketers, due to boredom.

I used to put the phone to one side and let them talk to thin air until the realised there was no one listening. I'd come back after about ten minutes or so, see if they were still there, and hang up.

Now - I actually answer enthusiastically to everything EXCEPT giving details about payments and ordering. At that point, I politely say "I would have been interested in your product, if you had chosen a more ethically acceptable form of marketting besides the rudely intrusive method of telemarketting. I don't buy anything over the phone, no matter what it is, ever."

Then I either hang up, or leave them to talk to the air.