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Friday, July 28, 2000 Richard Webber Telemarketing NYT PO box 2047 S Hackensack NJ 07606-0647 The New York Times 229 West 43d Street New York, NY 10036-3959 Mr. Webber, July 27th, around 8:00, I received a call from a NYT telemarketer. I can usually tell it's someone from the NYT because it's always a guy who is overly casual (I once had a guy call that kept telling a story to his friend, even after I said "Hello?" I got to sit there for a good 3 or 4 seconds and listen to this goof recounting some story.) The telemarketer "boy" sounded like he was 15 with a really strong southern accent and launched into his great deal about getting the NYT Monday through Friday instead of just the weekend as we are doing now. I politely told him "no thanks", and he continued to try to sell me on this terrific deal. He was never very clear on the details, but it was something about being "basically free"! I told him, "really, no thanks. I really don't have the time during the week to read a daily paper." He kept at it. If I weren't so annoyed at that point, it would have been funny. I gotta start taping these guys. He suggested maybe I could give them to my neighbors or take it to work and give it to someone there. I have no idea what I said then, but something to the effect that, "no, really. Thanks." He paused and replied, "whatever". I said, "Excuse me?!" And then he mumbled something, and hung up. In addition to his amazing sales pitch, he had this attitude. If I were older (I am 30) I would call this kid, "snot-nosed". He was all cocky and whiney, like I was his mother and I wouldn't drive him to the pool or something. This kid was classic. (Do some of your department heads let their kids just hang out in the telemarketing department for fun? I mean, you guys are the NYT!, in my opinion THE newspaper in the USA. Who the hell is running your telemarketing department? Monkeys? I hope you aren't paying them much.) OK. So, that is my rant. I talked to a nice woman in the NYT accounts department who said she would flag our account for no telemarketing and send us confirmation of that. If you are outsourcing this "telemarketing" business, I would appreciate the name of the company and the address of whoever is running that show, so I can forward this letter to them. |