Complaint Review: Infotel

SALES: Located in Montreal at two locations and in Toronto. Sales have a huge turnover, because your sale has to pass the VER.

The sales script calls say 'Would you like to be 'Re-listed' in the Directory of American Business?, 'Your Company always orders it'. It's the Yellow / White Pages, the National Directory; 'You were previously listed' etc, etc. This call is not taped.

DO-NOT-CALL-LIST: This does not exist and requests are ignored unless a BBB or AG letter has surfaced.

COOLING OFF PERIOD: Canadian law stipulates that there is a cooling off period after any such sale, during which, the consumer can cancel the transaction. At Infotel Publications any customer calling to cancel after the VER is told he/she is speaking to Customer Service (same telemarketer as the collector), a message is taken and included in the file. When the customer says I want to cancel the rebuttal is: I do not have the details of your file, I will forward your message to the agent in charge of your file. If the file is not assigned the customer is not called back.

VER: The follow-up taped call is made one day or more with, 'This is so and so calling from the shipping department of Infotel Publications. (Not shipping department, just another telemarketer) You had spoken to so and so regarding the Directory of American Business, I'm calling to confirm the details of the order and give the approximate shipping date. This call is quickly made rambling off the name, address, telephone number etc. to get to the crucial moment when the person is asked the correct spelling of their last name and'

Does your company require a purchase order for this or the directory and invoice sent to your attention. It also does indicate here your are authorized to make the purchase. This sets up the unauthorized person for the 'authorized purchase.' The tape calls are done on standard Radio Shack cassette recorders. All tapes are numbered. VER people are also credited on their ability to get the ok from the customer. Recently the words 'This call may be monitored for quality purposes' have been added according to a colleague of mine. If you fail too much you are not a good enough VER-ER.

FILES & COLLECTIONS: Files containing the invoice and call-up VER sheet with tape #s are kept until a customer call is received or kept sleeping until it is distributed to collectors after the file grows old enough. The collector then calls about the invoice which is now past due. Standard rebuttals are shown to the newbie but each collector is on trial for three months after which double digits (10+ files or payments) are required or you're out the door. Call dates & notes are written in the file folder. When Infotel moved from Decarie Blvd to Bucan Street in Montreal computers were added, however, the transition is still not complete so collectors use file folders.

INVOICES: The first invoice arrives after the Directory is shipped by UPS. Follow-up invoices with interest are sent as required helping out the collector. Collectors can 'Settle' the invoice with waived interest and shipping, a one year listing, or setup fees.
The company is called and re-called about the unpaid invoice until the Owner, President etc pays the invoice in full, one year or the setup fees. If this doesn?t happen the file is dead.

CC and PAP: Infotel started accepting Credit Cards and Pre Authorized Payments. These forms of payment are most important in the collection room which holds daily or weekly contests.

MASS FAXING: When working a file the collector always tries to get to speak to key people in the decision making process. All these people are faxed the invoice with a cover sheet with 'Past Due' and/or other comments written. Other faxes include a POD, a PAP, a PROOF, and 1 YEAR FREE LISTING. The fax machines run around the clock and I've seen many worn out machines thrown out.

COMPLAINTS: Complaints from customers claiming they did not order as in letters (called fan letters) are added to the file but don?t close the file. Not even lawyer?s letters stop the collector, the lawyer is even called.

DEAD FILES: Dead files are reworked for $50.00 - $89.95

PAID FILES: Paid files are setup for LOADS.

LOADS: A load is a Re-Invoice for the second year which was written on the original invoice (2-yr listing Ad) this is where you have to convince the owner that the original invoice was only for one year. The word Load (a telemarketing slur) is never used in the collection room it is more appropriately referred to as an 'Established Account.' Re-Invoicing or Loads are Illegal and can shut down a Telemarketing setup immediately if they are caught.

LISTINGS: Only two year listings are sold. The 'Established Account' is really for the newbie.

PROOFS & 1 YEAR FREE LISTING: When a customer has ran out of steam arguing his point that the person on the invoice was not authorized He/She sometimes checks the Directory (or online) and may find errors. The collector then gets a proof (a correction) and a 1 year free listing letter and faxes it over to the customer. This is the perfect setup for the Load because it usually turns into a full payment.

DIRECTORIES: Directories are shipped out 'with' or 'without' your Ad (returns are reused). Many returned directories are also reshipped back to the customer. Directories sold are unknown but if 10,000 were sold at $400.00 we can understand the power this pirate business can generate.

POD: Proof of delivery by UPS is also a tool used when the customer has not seen the directory.

BBB and AG: When a customer complains he/she will contact the BBB, the file is handled with care, if a threat of Attorney General is heard, the file is DEADED.

When I worked at the new location on Bucan, tapes were just on a number of desks. I have learned from a colleague that they are now in a room like the old place, however for a long time I took one here and there. I also took invoices and VER sheets in case I was ever harassed or had to Testify. (HELLO TED)

How they do it so good?

Steve
Champlain, New York
U.S.A.

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