Diva
04-25-02, 07:50AM
(NEWS (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31176-2002Apr22.html)) -- Louisville comedian Tom Mabe went undercover at a telemarketing convention in the nation's capitol Monday to turn the tables on an industry he loves to hate.
He was on the phone calling telemarketers in their hotel rooms before dawn Monday.
Asked if he felt bad about waking the telemarketers and owners of call centers who attended the American Teleservices Association conference, Mabe said no way. "What they do is so intrusive," he said. "I think it's trespassing."
Mabe, who moonlights as a stand-up comic, decided to get even by recording his conversations with telemarketers and playing pranks on them.
He told a telemarketer trying to sell him an alarm system that he was robbing the place but suggested the man call back later.
Mabe told a caller trying to sell him a burial plot that the man had perfect timing, because he was considering killing himself. The telemarketer asked him for credit card information, Mabe said.
Mabe put together a CD of his recorded calls and said he sold more than 50,000 copies. A few years later, the now-defunct label, Virgin Nashville, released two other Mabe recordings.
"I decided if they're not going to allow me to make a living, I'll make a living off them," he said.
He called the conference attendees in the middle of the night offering to sell them a sleep aid and pretending he was calling on behalf of the "Telemarketers with Insomnia Foundation." None of the people who picked up the phone were amused, with most hanging up and calling him a jerk.
Under federal law, companies conducting business by telephone are not supposed to call a consumer who has requested to receive no more calls from that seller. But the federal government is considering a proposal that would let consumers call one toll-free number to stop most telemarketing calls.
I can't stand being called at home by these guys. If I want something, I'll go out and get it. AT&T is the worst. When I say no thank you, they just hang up. So rude! Most companies that bother you at home have a huge campaign going with television, radio and magazines. So the idea that I already haven't heard their shpeel is ludicrous. I think that it's a waste of money. I have never bought anything that was offered to me over the phone.
He was on the phone calling telemarketers in their hotel rooms before dawn Monday.
Asked if he felt bad about waking the telemarketers and owners of call centers who attended the American Teleservices Association conference, Mabe said no way. "What they do is so intrusive," he said. "I think it's trespassing."
Mabe, who moonlights as a stand-up comic, decided to get even by recording his conversations with telemarketers and playing pranks on them.
He told a telemarketer trying to sell him an alarm system that he was robbing the place but suggested the man call back later.
Mabe told a caller trying to sell him a burial plot that the man had perfect timing, because he was considering killing himself. The telemarketer asked him for credit card information, Mabe said.
Mabe put together a CD of his recorded calls and said he sold more than 50,000 copies. A few years later, the now-defunct label, Virgin Nashville, released two other Mabe recordings.
"I decided if they're not going to allow me to make a living, I'll make a living off them," he said.
He called the conference attendees in the middle of the night offering to sell them a sleep aid and pretending he was calling on behalf of the "Telemarketers with Insomnia Foundation." None of the people who picked up the phone were amused, with most hanging up and calling him a jerk.
Under federal law, companies conducting business by telephone are not supposed to call a consumer who has requested to receive no more calls from that seller. But the federal government is considering a proposal that would let consumers call one toll-free number to stop most telemarketing calls.
I can't stand being called at home by these guys. If I want something, I'll go out and get it. AT&T is the worst. When I say no thank you, they just hang up. So rude! Most companies that bother you at home have a huge campaign going with television, radio and magazines. So the idea that I already haven't heard their shpeel is ludicrous. I think that it's a waste of money. I have never bought anything that was offered to me over the phone.