I used to BE a telemarketer until I was recommended by my doctor to quit because I kept losing my voice due to the appalling conditions (windows open in the middle of winter, closed in the middle of summer, no air con... and that's just for starters!).

toadfrog, that wouldn't happen because it is against the law to make sales calls outside the hours of 9 am to 9 pm.

The simplest thing to do is just be polite. Trouble is, on most occasions, I could count the number of people who WEREN'T rude to me on one hand and still have four fingers and a thumb free! Sometimes I would have to have a break because I would be in tears after the amount of verbal abuse.

At the call centre I worked in, I was one of the oldest there, despite the fact I was only 21 when I left. Most of the people were about 16 or 17, and this was their first job. We didn't get a say in who we called because the calls were made via a computer database, and evry so often we would get someone with the wrong name. We also ended up accidentally calling business numbers (I rang a radio station in Crewe by accident!! Made the DJ laugh because he was playing "Hanging on the Telephone" by Blondie at the time...) or mobiles.

Telemarketers are human too, so even if you're having the worst day ever, I can assure you that they are more than likely having an even worse one, bearing in mind that on an average 3 hour shift, they could have to speak to 200 people (at least. I counted on one of my shift and I had spoken to 235 people...) If anyone in the UK wants the TPS number, PM me. I can still remember it off by heart because I think I probably gave it about 10,000 times in my 18 months.

I'll shut up now because everyone is going to hate me.