Telemarketers are among the most annoying people on the face of the planet. There are a few exceptions, but generally telemarketers irk me by calling my house every morning and evening with offers neither my wife nor I want.
They are the main reason I spend too much money on a phone package that includes caller ID, calling name display and an unlisted phone number. So it should come as little surprise that 10 consecutive days of calls from a technology provider that didn’t get the “stop calling me” message set me off.
This particular ISP provider hoped to acquire my business after my DSL provider suddenly went belly up and left me with less than a month to replace its service. During each call, I politely informed the telemarketer that I had already chosen a different provider and that I wanted them to take me off their prospect list.
So who exactly are these clueless wonders?
Without directly naming names, the company’s Web site touts it as the ISP solution for an impatient world. It further has earned a national reputation for outstanding customer service.
According to J.D. Power and Associates, this ISP ranks highest in customer satisfaction among dial-up ISPs and is tied in the ranking for highest customer satisfaction among high-speed ISPs.
Unfortunately, despite its boast of superior customer service and its ability to link Internet users across the Earth, it took a full 10 days for a handful of the company’s telemarketing reps to get the message and take me off the phone list.
It’s a sad commentary on what anyone who understands database management already knows. If you’re working with a dirty database that isn’t kept up-to-date, you run the risk of alienating prospects or clients who are forced to tell you the same information time after time.
Worse, you could end up painted the fool in the column of some irate editor who happens to be on the other end of the phone and doesn’t like telemarketers to begin with.
