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Should Cold-Calling Be Considered A Crime? Maybe So.

Is it right to look down on companies that employ young people to phone people randomly to raise funds for charities?

                                                            Picture from Channel 4

Last summer, I was in a frantic state, desperately needing a job, I was willing to pretty much anything to make money as long as my dignity remained intact. I ended up getting a job at a telephone fundraising company, due to my experience previously being a door-to-door fundraiser as well as a street one (both jobs I only done to make ends meet). To be honest, when I bagged myself the telephone fundraising job, I really felt that this would be my stepping stone to greater things. No, really I did. I could see myself sitting on the office and happily chatting away to people and at the same ting doing an awesome job on behalf of big and small charities all over the world.

However, what I thought the job would entail and what it actually was, lay in stark contrast. It turned out that everyone int the office was pretty much a robot, repeating words from a script (that apparently charity organisation had collated), occasionally ad-libbing and basically manipulating contacts to pay up, even if they could not afford to. The fact that we had to make sure we make 3 asks (asking people for money up to 3 times) even if they couldn't afford to do so and made it quite clear, kind of disturbed me. I soon learned that some of the other telephone fundraisers used strategical ploys to get the elderly and vulnerable to give up their pension money. And another thing, if you ask anyone that knows me, they will tell you whole-heartedly how much I enjoy talking and conversing on the phone, but this job really drained me, with a minimal short break of up to 15 minutes throughout the whole shift and constant calling.

I guess the only quirk to the job included the free biscuits that came with the ugly mugs used for tea in the break room. Doing long shifts, where you're constantly talking, needless to say, makes you hungry and depressed. It was no wonder, people would see me scoffing more than one chocolate bourbon at any given time. 

To make matters worse, I would look around the call-centre and see half a dozen middle-aged people getting up from their chairs and dancing due to the satisfaction from conning someone into donating a gift. Seeing this, my competition drive rose to sky high levels, I wanted to feel and experience the ecstasy they did and feel official at the same time too. But oh no. I tried, but a lot of people seemed pissed off that we were calling them at odd hours of the day and demanding money when they were just about getting by. 

Last year, being in desperate need, I applied for another call centre job, which was actually the leading competitor of the one I had previously worked in. Long story short, I didn't get the job, but I guess I didn't really want it anyways and that showed. Its a blessing in disguise anyways, I wouldn't recommend a decent human being to work in such a contempt environment!

However, I understand that the job economy is getting worse day by day and people are struggling to find a fulfilling well-paid job. Websites like Gumtree very often post listings for call centre jobs, who for the most part, do actually employ students and they target them too (they know most of us are broke). 

The Government have announced this week that it will now be easier for regulators to track down cold-calling companies, and lets hope so. Even I'm starting to get frustrated with PPI calls and loan companies harassing my parents. I hope in due time, these cold-calling companies shut down and other companies are willing to employ hard-working and bubbly young people for other purposes.

Read about Channel 4's investigation into millions of Britons being bombarded with PPI calls :http://www.channel4.com/news/ppi-citizens-advice-unwanted-telephone-calls-messages

Also, the most recent scam by terrorists who engage in cold-calling to raise funds for I.S. Read more :  http://news.sky.com/video/1438854/cold-calling-to-raise-i-s-funds

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