Just got laid off...

[rockefeller center]

I hate riding the bus and the bus stop is a 1 minute walk from my frontdoor

That's tough.

[clifford_thornton]

All the best to the folks without "regular" employment at the moment. This is a chance for self evaluation. Is there something about your demeanor or attitude holding you back? Could be. Try for an honest self evaluation and go from there. I know my personality traits (even those I claim as positive) have inhibited my chances in some business opportunities. Check yourself out to see if you are the problem.

I understand being a round peg in a square hole. It's been one reason why, I think, I find it hard to find a good fit. I know it exists somewhere, but sure can be tough to find. If I was better with numbers, I'd be my own boss.

That said, though Austin and environs seem to be weathering the storm comparatively well, it is tough to find a good job in my field (libraries). Lot of recent grads like myself looking for a gig. I've expanded my search to nationwide and keeping my fingers crossed. Luckily my girlfriend will also move, and is just finishing her graduate work.

My hours will be fewer this summer (slow times for academics) but it'll be time well-spent looking for a new job.

[Shawn]

Is there something about your demeanor or attitude holding you back? Could be.

It's hard for your demeanor/personality/attitude to be a hindrance when you can't even get an interview.

[Jazzmoose]

Anyone using coupons to save some $$$ at grocery store?

I clip them and they never get used and expire

I must start using them

Hell, I've been using coupons for decades. Why throw away money? Of course, you have to be careful not to buy crap you normally wouldn't just because you have a coupon, but if it's something you buy anyway, why not?

[Dan Gould]

I've been a heavy coupon user right up until the time that I stopped buying newspapers completely and now the only times I use them is if something shows up in the mail, or there's a coupon dispenser on the shelf next to the item I was going to buy (if I bother to check the coupon).

[papsrus]

I've been a heavy coupon user right up until the time that I stopped buying newspapers completely and now the only times I use them is if something shows up in the mail, or there's a coupon dispenser on the shelf next to the item I was going to buy (if I bother to check the coupon).

Was recently kicking around the idea of offering printable coupons online. Would they be of interest? Do you think people would actually print and use them?

[Dan Gould]

One place I have gone for coupons was Boston Market's website. I've also noticed that the Clipper magazine that we get has a website with the same coupons available. I think that coupons have migrated online as newspapers lost circulation, I just don't go looking for them in general.

[Jazzmoose]

Was recently kicking around the idea of offering printable coupons online. Would they be of interest? Do you think people would actually print and use them?

It's already done, and yes, they do. Part of my bookkeeping job is sorting the store coupons (from our own flyer, which are just trashed) from the manufacturer's coupons, and I see quite a few printed from online coupons every day. Probably only 5% are printed, but it's a start.

Now, in all honesty, I'm like most people: I'd rather see them just lower prices and quit wasting my time with the coupons. But if that's the game, I'll play.

Edited April 28, 2009 by Jazzmoose

[papsrus]

More layoffs where I work today. They're basically coming every quarter. No advance warning other than the calendar. It's just kind of a given, at this point. I take it three months at a time now.

Lost one guy in our department. He apparently didn't take it too well. Great guy, great worker. Pretty depressing.

The initial shock must be nasty, and people say things in the immediate aftermath of "that meeting" that really give you pause. You know, they have a wife, kids and a life insurance policy. ... It crosses people's minds, I guess.

But hopefully, when the sun comes up in the morning, they begin to think of new directions. It's scary for anyone, I'm sure, but there are some particular challenges facing the 50-ish guy who has worked most of his adult life in one company. (Such as, nobody wants to hire that guy for anything). And we've got more than a few of those -- me included.

Paper or plastic?

[Soulstation1]

Ways I have made a few extra bucks / survive

Friend had foot surgery and needed rides to the doctor's office

Make homemade 100% soy wax candles and sell them at the bar and barbershop

Have some real loyal people that spend $30 every batch of candles

At the bar I help the bartender with the chairs at closing and they hook me up with a beer

Plus they will not accept any money from me for a tip

Edited May 3, 2009 by Soulstation1

[Soulstation1]

Oh yeah

One other thing I put $5K on the winner of the Kentucky Derby at 50-1

LOL

[Chuck Nessa]

Oh yeah

One other thing I put $5K on the winner of the Kentucky Derby at 50-1

LOL

My "friends" and I will be at your doorstep in the morning.

[Dan Gould]

Well, Dan still hasn't caught a break but hope springs eternal ... through my wife's partner I am going to be starting yet another telemarketing job. But I do believe the third one could be the charm.

No more Loan Mods. No more competing with a half dozen other companies to squeeze $1500 out of somebody that barely has a pot to piss in.

This is a business-to-business sales job, targeting the contracting industry. His company has a deal with about 40 insurance companies, including big ones like State Farm, wherein, when a claim comes in, rather than sending an adjuster out, they will send a "preferred contractor" out to put together an estimate. Apparently, 90% of the time, the first company out to the site gets the gig, so this is an opportunity for contractors to get in front of clients right out of the chute, and with the insurance company's blessing. No guarantee they get the job, the homeowner always has the option of choosing someone else, but if the odds are 90% in your favor, wouldn't you want to get those calls?

At the same time, its not a matter of signing up as many contractors as possible, they will be very picky and limit the number in any single area and category. From today's conference call, its a lay-down sale because its pretty much a no-brainer, and the cost is minimal, too:

$400 non-refundable application fee

Annual renewal fee of $0 to $500, depending on the number of jobs the company got in the previous year

4% of each job is paid to the company.

So, its a $400 sale pitched not to Mom and Pop outfits that are about to close up shop but to medium to large, established companies with substantial advertising budgets. And the commission is better than the current Loan Mod company was offering - they offer 20% on a $1500 deal, this commission starts at 31% on a $400 deal, and goes up to 44% when you reach ten deals. For the client, even one or two small jobs they wouldn't have gotten otherwise will cover their initial expense. The only thing that bothers me is that the company hasn't agreed to pay the salesman if they reject the application, even though they keep the fee. We're going to work on them to at least agree to a half-commission rate on those deals.

And, its all done from home on Magic Jack and email. One company says no, you move on to their next biggest competitor until you find the one that says yes. Boss thinks we can cover the U.S. in 12-18 months. Works for me.

[Dan Gould]

Well, the auto warranty job lasted a little less than three hours. Honestly, it was so sleazy I couldn't stomach it, shook the bosses hand and left. If any of you get a call from the "Warranty Service Center", hang up quick! And that goes double for my UK friends - these people are hiring Brits in south Florida because they are about to start selling in the UK! Beware!!!

It was relatively easy to walk out on these people because I had a good day on the Loan Mods. No deals yet, but the boss made a policy change that should make it easier to close people, and realizing that he will be available anytime to take over my call and get me a deal gives me every reason to believe that its only a matter of time before I start writing business, and plenty of it.

I periodically get a recorded call on my cell phone, of all things, telling me the factory warranty on my '93 Miata (which I bought used many moons ago) is about to expire. ... I often wonder if this is just a shotgun operation designed to troll among the elderly.

Not entirely sure if that's the point but it may be the result. In the brief time I was being "trained" you could tell that more elderly people will get a pre-recorded message and its almost as if they feel obligated to press 1 and wait for a live person. Most of the younger voices were the ones willing to wait on hold to say some variation of "screw you" (which I can't comprehend - I get a robo-call, I hang up FAST). But the guy who was training me explained that their motto is "Hang Up - Next" meaning, if they say anything other than the make and model of a vehicle, hang up and take the next call. The company pays no attention to Do Not Call, and they don't give anyone the opportunity to get their name removed because they are hanging up on anyone who doesn't give them the make and model of their car. Even people who responded to the question with "which vehicle?" got hung up on. I have to admit though the one time I laughed out loud was when the guy responded "don't hang up on me" just as the telemarketer was doing just that.

But the scummyness of the company came through in the first part of the pitch - "We are the administrators of all warranties for (fill in the make)." Plus calling themselves by the generic "Warranty Service Center" and telling people that's the name of the company is flat out lying. There's no real selling involved - the top performers simply put in enough hours to find enough "lay-downs" to get the sales. And worst of all, you're told that once you get an affirmative answer to the question "which down payment - $450, $550 or $650 - do you think would be most comfortable for you today?" you put them on hold and a supervisor takes over to explain to them what their monthly payments would be. The problem is, that ain't a true close question, and none of your sales are sold unless the supervisor gets through his spiel without losing them. And that's before they take payment information and hope their credit card can hold the charge. So I saw three deals get to the supervisor, and none of them closed.

I didn't mention it originally, but the company I worked so briefly for was Transcontinental Warranty. Today I swung by the NYT site and what do I find?

The FTC on Thursday filed suit against three companies, charging that they made as many as 1.8 million calls each day in violation of Do Not Call regulations, The New York Times reports. The FTC charged that the companies evidently dialed every number in a given area code.

The attorneys general of Texas, Kentucky and Indiana have also filed suit against car warranty telemarketers in their states.

The FTC accused the three companies of even making illegal calls to 911 emergency centers, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The FTC singled out Transcontinental Warranty, charging that the company's motto, which was posted on signs around the office, is: 'Hang Up. Next.' "

The commission said the motto "epitomizes the utter contempt that defendants and their clients have for consumers' privacy and the law."

According to the Times, a restraining order was filed and a receiver appointed to make sure that no money slips away or documents get destroyed.

Sometimes the bad guys don't get away with it.

[Soulstation1]

Dang

I made about 30 soy wax candles and everyone is freaking broke

So far I sold one

Scents I made the past few days

Apple Jack Peel

Black Rasp Vanilla

Banana Nut Bread

Fresh Fruit Slices

Green Bamboo

Japanese Cherry Blossom

Mango Papaya

Kudzu

Juicy Watermelon

Spanish Melon

Nag Champa

Fresh Cut Roses

Island Flower

Plus a few more

Edited May 16, 2009 by Soulstation1

[ejp626]

I didn't mention it originally, but the company I worked so briefly for was Transcontinental Warranty. Today I swung by the NYT site and what do I find?

...

According to the Times, a restraining order was filed and a receiver appointed to make sure that no money slips away or documents get destroyed.

Sometimes the bad guys don't get away with it.

I was actually thinking about your tales when I heard this, since it sounded pretty similar. The comments on the article are pretty amusing, since they point out that FTC had thousands of complaints, but it wasn't until Schumer got personally involved that they decided to act. Pretty lame.

But much lamer is that the scumbags are still making robocalls. I got a call on my cell phone tonight. I decided to press 1 -- and waste someone's time = money before hanging up. I was so close to asking how it felt to be working for a criminal enterprise, but I held off. Next time I will do it for sure.

[Dan Gould]

Well its probably not the same company but a similar one since the FTC actually had a restraining order served and a receiver appointed. I doubt the receiver approved turning on the dialers. The real problem is that there are so many other companies doing similar things.

But this one was especially bad - I found another article that mentioned that the reason they got away with it for a period of time was that the company providing the outbound dialing service used some sort of spoofing software so that caller ID would display a false number from the one that was actually dialing out (it was so bad that a single number used for that purpose was the subject of 11,000 FTC do-not-call violation complaints!), and the system dialed, sequentially, every number in a particular area code. Not only did it dial Schumer's cell phone, but it dialed 911 call centers, too.

Worst of all, the president of the company that provided this service actually told clients not to worry about do-not-call violations, because they won't know where the call came from. That's a clown who belongs in jail. I don't know if the law provides for criminal prosecution or only civil but this is an asshat who predicated his business on violating the law with presumed impunity. Those was the other two companies that were named in the announcement.

[ejp626]

Well its probably not the same company but a similar one since the FTC actually had a restraining order served and a receiver appointed. I doubt the receiver approved turning on the dialers. The real problem is that there are so many other companies doing similar things.

But this one was especially bad - I found another article that mentioned that the reason they got away with it for a period of time was that the company providing the outbound dialing service used some sort of spoofing software so that caller ID would display a false number from the one that was actually dialing out (it was so bad that a single number used for that purpose was the subject of 11,000 FTC do-not-call violation complaints!), and the system dialed, sequentially, every number in a particular area code. Not only did it dial Schumer's cell phone, but it dialed 911 call centers, too.

Worst of all, the president of the company that provided this service actually told clients not to worry about do-not-call violations, because they won't know where the call came from. That's a clown who belongs in jail. I don't know if the law provides for criminal prosecution or only civil but this is an asshat who predicated his business on violating the law with presumed impunity. Those was the other two companies that were named in the announcement.

Yeah, I think they will have to change the law and make this a jailable offense. It seems to me the only deterrent against such scumbags starting up a new service after another one is shut down.

[Dan Gould]

I read through the court filings last night, and one thing I realized is that calling a service contract "an extended warranty" is misleading and fraudulent. By law, a warranty can only be sold when the item is first bought. Anything after that is a service contract. But since they call themselves "Warranty Service Center" and as the charge claims, some telemarketers and managers act as if they are affiliated with whatever company made your vehicle, they figure they can call it an "extended warranty".

Considering that the receiver is supposed to secure the premises and run the business, I wonder if this was accomplished through a law enforcement raid. I bet it was, and I almost wish that I had been hired the day it happened, just to be sitting there, thinking "someone ought to shut this company down" and then have it happen right before my eyes.

[Soulstation1]

Up to 12 candles sold including 2 candles exchanged for a haircut

Sold 10 and people are straight up broke

Sold them at bar and barbershop

New business.approach let the people smell them / look at them and then tell them the price

I sell them for $8 each or 2 for $15 for 8 oz jars

Edited May 19, 2009 by Soulstation1

[ejp626]

This probably doesn't go here, except as a tangent on the general scuminess of companies and how they will do everything in their power to keep you on the hook. I get this message from a software vendor for some anti-virus software (SpyTools) I don't use anymore that I have an automatic renewal. I then have two days to try to turn this off. It takes almost an hour poking around on the site to find where you turn this off. So I turn it off, after about a dozen warnings, and having to write in the box that I will never use their software again. Etc. So I get an email confirmation of the change. Or rather what should be a confirmation. Instead, buried at the bottom, it says that I have two more steps to verify that I have moved over to manual renewal. WTF! Well, I really didn't see this first time around, and the deadline passed and the thing renewed on me. WTF!! I did call my credit card company right away to dispute the charge, but ultimately I think I am on the hook. Personally, I think it is a violation of fair business practices. I cancelled. They know I cancelled, and now they claim I need to confirm that I cancelled. It's not worth anymore of my time, though you can be damn sure I am extra-confirmed cancelled now.

There's some similar story with a magazine subscription where you call, and get chased around endless voice mailbox options trying to cancel, and you don't know how to cancel. I think these deceptive practices are every bit as bad as the credit card fraudulence, though it's hard to imagine Congress could write a law that would adequately deal with the issue.

Oh, BTW, there was an excellent article (probably in the NY Times) about the rise of a new telemarketing industry that is geared towards making the survivors pay off the deceased's credit card debt -- even when they aren't legally liable to do so (either the debt is supposed to be forgiven or it should be directed at the estate). I am going to write in 36 point font at the bottom of my will: don't agree to anything over the phone and let the lawyers hash it out.

Edited May 28, 2009 by ejp626

[Dan Gould]

Similarly, one of the best signs of infomercial scams is their willingness to process cancellations. Unfortunately most of them, like video professor or whatever that software training company is, upsell you without you knowing it or approving it, then make it impossible to cancel.

I saw that article in the Times, it was interesting in its own way. At least the collections agents don't hammer the person, they do it adept psychological techniques, including a lot of empathy for the survivors that they call. Of course its still scummy because they take advantage of people who are still grieving and get them to commit to something they have no legal responsibility for. I wonder how good the business is - I imagine these companies pay very little for the debt, so whatever they get out of the survivors is gravy.

[Soulstation1]

I was told to check M4M over on craigslist

I'd rather go hungry

Sold 16 candles so far

Edited May 28, 2009 by Soulstation1

[Drew Peacock]

This is the most depressing thread I've read on this site. My heart goes out for all of you. My impression of folks that post on this site is that your education level is well above the average citizen. My guess was that most all of you are employed. Boy am I wrong on that assumption.

I've been able to avoid the RIF at my company but I'm not sure how much longer it will last. I work for an IT company in finance. We were told earlier this year that most of our jobs will be moved to LCOs (Low Cost operations...i.e. India). I just had my annual review and scored near the top so I have to assume that I'm safe for another year. Beyond that I feel that I'm at significant risk.

I downsized my expenses back in Sept of last year when it became clear to me that no jobs were safe. No more eMusic, cell phone, electronic toys, etc. Funny thing is I haven't really missed them at all. (160 gigs of MP3 jazz helps).

I look at ads on Craigslist. I find maybe one or two per month that I would apply to if needed. That is so depressing. I did update my resume recently in the event I am RIF'd so I could hit the pavement running.

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, I am now down to 2/3 at my job (archivist) for the next several months and am therefore sending out my resume...