When will IBM practice what they preach?

[David Abramowitz]

IBM started an effort about three years ago to keep track of AS/400 customers. To IBM's credit, they finally admitted that they had no idea whatsoever as to their what their customer base actually was. For years prior to this IBM would never divulge marketing info even with business partners. IBM customers complained that MS was making incursions, and even replacing entire systems by bypassing I.T. and going straight to the CEO. This was being done without even a competitive whimper from IBM. Eventually IBM figured out (too little, too late as far as I'm concerned) that they better figure out who their customers are, and what they are doing. This would explain the "Are you still using. . . . ." call. As long as a call like that is only occasional, it remains tolerable. Other types of tele-marketing can really turn on sarcastic nasty buttons in short fashion. Dave

[Guest.Visitor]

David said: "Eventually IBM figured out (too little, too late as far as I'm concerned) that they better figure out who their customers are, and what they are doing. This would explain the "Are you still using. . . . ." call." While I agree it would explain the "Are you still using.." call. It would only explain it ONCE. I get a "Are you still using..." call at least once, sometimes more, per quarter. It appears that they're either updating many databases from many divisions or their programmer forgot to put in the UPDAT op code. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

[David Abramowitz]

Cut 'em some slack Chuck. You know that IBM can't afford to train their own people, so they are outsourcing this type of operation. The operators are not trained to use the ENTER key, and just "X" out of each session. I know of a handful of incidents where the above scenario actually occurred on a regular basis. Dave

[Guest.Visitor]

I've noticed an increase in 'IBM' calling me for information to 'update their databases'. First, I ask if they are an IBM employee and if the say yes, I tell them IBM should already have the required information as we are being billed for maintainence on our equipment/services. If they state they are working on behalf of IBM, I simply state it is our policy not to devulge information to any third parties. Either way, the conversations are brief! I have my morgage through Chase Manhattan. Now what really bugs be....I get at least one call a week (normally during dinner time) from Chase Manhattan requesting I consider changing from my current morgage lender to Chase Manhattan. Go figure...

[David Abramowitz]

Have you put yourself on the "No-call list"? I have found the NY State list to be very effective. I have also subscribed to the national list, but I don't know how effective that has been. Dave

[R.Daugherty]

The national Do Not Call list is very effective, Dave. The calls stopped as soon as it went into effect. I agree with how Kim handles it. Either way, the call would be quite brief. rd

[Guest.Visitor]

David...no, I haven't. I know I'm out of the norm. but I don't really mind the cold calls. These people need jobs (obviously!) so I'll be one of the token few they can contact. I don't receive that many and I've actually benefited from a few of them. I believe I've changed phone services four times in the past twelve months. The ones that really irritate me are the companies of which I'm already a customer of and they are trying to get me as a new customer.

[Guest.Visitor]

Kim, Again, today, at 7:15 am I received a call from IBM asking if we still had any plans to upgrade our model 720. There were two problems with that call. 1) Clearly they didn't know it was 7:15. All they had to do was look at our customer file to see we are in the Pacific time zone. 2) We haven't had a model 720 for almost 2 years. I've had my mortgage with Countrywide for 10 years. They've never called me once! chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. "Kim Kuras" wrote in message news:6b1713f8.3@WebX.WawyahGHajS... > I've noticed an increase in 'IBM' calling me for information to 'update their databases'. First, I ask if they are an IBM employee and if the say yes, I tell them IBM should already have the required information as we are being billed for maintainence on our equipment/services. If they state they are working on behalf of IBM, I simply state it is our policy not to devulge information to any third parties. Either way, the conversations are brief! > > I have my morgage through Chase Manhattan. Now what really bugs be....I get at least one call a week (normally during dinner time) from Chase Manhattan requesting I consider changing from my current morgage lender to Chase Manhattan. > > Go figure...

[Guest.Visitor]

IBM, it seems, has a mess of computer systems internally. I, literally, get at least 2-3 calls per week from someone within IBM. Most of the calls are like this: "Hi, I'm Jane Smith from IBM and we're updating our internal information. Are you still using an iSeries model 820?" Or they're calling trying to find out what software we are using. Or they're calling to try to see if we're interested in a pSeries or xSeries machine. Or, they're pushing data mining. For a while I answered all of their questions hoping that their database would be updated and they wouldn't call back. But, lately, the number of calls has been increasing! It's possible they are purchasing lists from which they make these calls. But if they do, it's very clear that they do no type of scrubbing these lists against their database(s) to see if they're going to annoy existing customers. Geez, we've been a customer for 20 years, you'd think that somewhere within IBM they'd know this! IBM has been pushing consolidation down our throats for years yet it seems they have no plans for their own internal consolidation. As Microsoft says, they need to eat their own dog food. Are you also getting tired of IBM's continual telemarketing? The whole problem has been giving me a sour taste in my mouth. They're almost as annoying as CitiBank at dinner time! chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

[Guest.Visitor]

Chuck...you poor kid. Having to answer these calls at 0715! What a nice start to your day. So...what did you tell them? Regarding the morgage calls. I think I may contact my Chase broker and ask that he do whatever he needs to get these calls to stop. I hate to make threats but there are alot of companies out there that would take my business without pestering me at home so often. I can't imagine this going on for the next fifteen years!