end of telemarketer job & weird SPAM
Next friday will be the last day (for the time being) that I'll be working as a telemarketer. Not a day early... I never expected it, but telemarketing is an extremely tiresome job (on a mental level). Having to argue with people all day, day after day, and on top of that having to take the occasional tirade of cursing and swearing with a "Yes sir, of course sir, have a nice day"—it's not something everyone can do. Of course I only did it for the money, and I'm happy I'm off the job. On the other hand, I did learn a lot there, and it's more than just "how do I call someone who's not waiting for this call, and succeed in selling them something they don't want to have". Sales skills are important to everyone. Whether you want to sell a product, a good idea, whether you want to argue your point or want to defend yourself; sales skills help you do that.
Never would've thought I'd ever say that. Oh well.
Yesterday, by snail mail, I received something rather strange: a SPAM package advertising a collection of audio CD's. It came with the full mumbo-jumbo of bullshit: a "gold coupon" which is supposedly only given if you've "won" (in other words, everyone is a winner again), a "surprise gift" if you reply within 7 days, etc. Of course, this is in itself nothing special, since we all receive such snail mail SPAM; what is, is the extra thing that came with the package: the first CD from the collection. They actually gave out a free audio CD.
At first, I thought these guys were special. Then it occurred to me: this is a CD featuring classical music (all Mozart, to be exact). All copyrights on classical music have expired. They can make this kind of CD's at almost no charge. The fact that I received this advertisement confirmed two things to me:
- Mail order companies will go to great lengths to pursuade you to buy.
- Audio CD's as they are sold today are seriously overcharged
Anyway. Thanks, whoever you are, for the Mozart audio CD (as Mozart happens to be my favourite composer), but don't expect me to bite. I have better things to do with my money (even if the quality of the recordings isn't too bad).