TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Telemarketing?

Telemarketing?

Yesterday an unknown woman phoned my aunt's house and asked to have her
call a toll-free number about her order.

When my aunt called, the greeting was "Marlboro Company." The woman
asked my aunt her name, phone number, and date of birth. Then she
asked if she smoked or had ever smoked. Then, without ever mentioning
an address or what had been ordered, she said my aunt must have been
the wrong person.

If they'd thought my aunt had ordered something, wouldn't they have
refreshed her memory? What was the point of the call?

Choreboy

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Are you certain your aunt did not
misdial when calling back? What you described sounds like a technique
used by bill collectors/skip tracers trying to verify a phone number
with a given name/address. Telemarketers on the other hand usually
just make their pitch without taking a risk that the potential customer
will neglect to return the call. And, bill collectors/skip tracers
depend heavily on the ANI which an 800 number invariably produces for
them. I do not think the Marlboro people told your aunt she 'must have
been the wrong person'; but rather, that she had reached the wrong
person, i.e. misdialed on her call back. She probably misdialed and
got on a telemarketer's (for Marlboro) incoming line. PAT]

Post Followup Article	Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: johnazrael: "Dave Barry Books on Audiobook Format"
Go to Previous message: Lisa Minter: "Mobile Phone Virus Found in United States"
Next in thread: Choreboy: "Re: Telemarketing?"
May be reply: Choreboy: "Re: Telemarketing?"
May be reply: Dave Garland: "Re: Telemarketing?"
May be reply: Choreboy: "Re: Telemarketing?"
May be reply: BobGoudreau@Withheld: "Re: Telemarketing?"
May be reply: DevilsPGD: "Re: Telemarketing?"
May be reply: Wesrock@aol.com: "Re: Telemarketing?"
May be reply: Choreboy: "Re: Telemarketing?"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page