I don't know if you have ever gotten a call from Rachel, but many of us have. Even many of us who have registered our phone numbers on the Do Not Call list. But, she is one persistent telephoner, this "Rachel from Cardholder Services." Not answering, hanging up, etc., doesn't take much effort, but inquiring minds wonder, what is in it for Rachel? What does SHE get out of her constant phone calls? Always assuring us that nothing is wrong, but that she would be happy to help lower our credit card rates.
Well, inquiring minds must wander to the Internet and, when they do, they will find fellow wonderers galore! A Google phrase search for "rachel from cardholder services" brings up over 19,000 hits, while a search for "rachel at cardholder services" yields another 8,000 plus, although just searching for cardholder services complaints will bring you millions! [Note "rachel with cardholder services" is a meager 1,000 hits; "rachel of" is less than 2,000; and ] But, whether Rachel is FROM or AT Cardholder Services, her Internet followers are often full of anger, trying to learn how to get rid of her. Many people claim to know her telephone number (those not in the dark ages without caller ID), only to find out that she has many of them.
So, can we learn anything from a random sampling of these hits?
The LA Times tries to be helpful with a serious article on "How to stop telemarketing calls from 'Rachel'". I am not sure that belittling her by setting her name off in single quotes is all the helpful!
On Facebook, she probably has no friends, but that doesn't stop others from yelling at her: see, for example, "Shut Down Rachel from Cardholder Services".
Others take personal action, with Brent Jones writing Rachel an open letter, asking her not call him anymore. But we don't know that she reads, only that she calls!
Frank Michels has risen about the fray and tried to seek a real personal relationship. However, in his account of "My Date with Rachel from Cardholder Services" there is humor, no true love.
More important, what does Rachel really want?
According to Randall Hoth with the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau: “We know it’s just a random, robotic call, to try to establish that this phone number is a real, active phone number.” Hoth says those numbers can be compiled into lists that can then in turn be sold to telemarketers. If that is true, then not answering may not help one at all, since getting to an answering machine would serve the same value.
Another article has an FTC official stating:
Well, inquiring minds must wander to the Internet and, when they do, they will find fellow wonderers galore! A Google phrase search for "rachel from cardholder services" brings up over 19,000 hits, while a search for "rachel at cardholder services" yields another 8,000 plus, although just searching for cardholder services complaints will bring you millions! [Note "rachel with cardholder services" is a meager 1,000 hits; "rachel of" is less than 2,000; and ] But, whether Rachel is FROM or AT Cardholder Services, her Internet followers are often full of anger, trying to learn how to get rid of her. Many people claim to know her telephone number (those not in the dark ages without caller ID), only to find out that she has many of them.
So, can we learn anything from a random sampling of these hits?
The LA Times tries to be helpful with a serious article on "How to stop telemarketing calls from 'Rachel'". I am not sure that belittling her by setting her name off in single quotes is all the helpful!
On Facebook, she probably has no friends, but that doesn't stop others from yelling at her: see, for example, "Shut Down Rachel from Cardholder Services".
Others take personal action, with Brent Jones writing Rachel an open letter, asking her not call him anymore. But we don't know that she reads, only that she calls!
Frank Michels has risen about the fray and tried to seek a real personal relationship. However, in his account of "My Date with Rachel from Cardholder Services" there is humor, no true love.
More important, what does Rachel really want?
According to Randall Hoth with the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau: “We know it’s just a random, robotic call, to try to establish that this phone number is a real, active phone number.” Hoth says those numbers can be compiled into lists that can then in turn be sold to telemarketers. If that is true, then not answering may not help one at all, since getting to an answering machine would serve the same value.
Another article has an FTC official stating:
James Davis of the FTC's midwest region said the "Rachel message" is actually an audio file that has been popular with illegal telemarketers for some time. He adds that the credit card interest rate reduction "service" sold by the telemarketers can cost hundreds of dollars and is often ineffective — or something the consumer can do for himself for free by contacting a credit card company directly. "But, I will conclude with the following screed from YouTube!
The Rachel message has been used by a lot of different dialers and a lot of different boiler rooms," Davis said. "It's very effective in getting people to press 1 and get transferred to the boiler room. One of the misperceptions about this kind of conduct is that there is some monolithic entity out there named 'Card Services' or 'Cardholder Services' that's responsible for all the calls when in fact it's multiple different people or entities engaged in different conduct in different places."
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