Post by Laurasia on Mar 30, 2012 13:28:03 GMT -5
Hi everyone.
I just had to make a post about this as it really upset me & I would hate to think of others' anxiety being unexpectedly triggered should they decide to call for "help".
A week or so ago I saw an infomercial all about how heaing & helpful this place & it's programs are for people suffering from stress, anxiety, panic attacks, &/or depression. The whole thing was geared around getting people to call about their free informative CD. I figured what the hell it couldn't hurt to what type of things they offer so I called.
I was immediately greeted by an older-sounding (aka "non-threatening") woman who, once I told her that I was calling about the free CD, immediately started to try setting up a rapport between the two of us. She asked me what the reason was for my inquiry & I told her that I have been diagnosed with panic disorder to which she immediately began to tell me about her own experience with having a panic attack. She then went into what was quite plainly a scripted spiel....even to the point of reading things that clearly did not pertain to the issues that I have experienced.
I was even thinking to myself "Lady, I realize that you're doing your job by reading through the script but if someone says that they don't have issues with a given problem it's okay to skip that part of the spiel." After "bonding with her" for about 5 - 10 minutes she finally said "Okay...well the informative CD is free. There is a shipping charge of $14.95 though. After that you'll be sent monthly (or weekly, I can't recall right now) installments of the program for $40 (some odd) dollars each. Would you like to put that on your debit or credit card?"
My jaw dropped in disbelief. And before I could think, as politely as possible, I said "Neither actually, it's supposed to be free." This made her stop & stammer for a moment (as she must have been looking down for the part of the spiel to read once she hit any resistance) & she came back with "Oh....well the CD is actually more of a diagnostic tool more than anything. And since you've already been diagnosed & clearly already have an idea of what is going on in your specific situation I can lower your shipping rate all the way down to....$9.95."
I was dumbfounded! I wanted to say "Well if I so clearly don't need your 'diagnostic tool' then why are you still trying to SELL it to me....& by the way, no it is still supposed to be free regardless!" I also wanted to tear into this woman about how ethically repulsive it was for their "stress & anxiety recovery center" to purposefully target people with anxiety issues, deliberately build up a false rapport with them when they call for help, & then suddenly try intimidating them into unexpectantly spending money (which is one of the most common cause of anxiety & panic by the way)! I can absolutely see nicer & meeker people feeling obligated into spending that money just because the operator was so nice, helpful, & solicitous....because they, being anxiety-riddled already, don't want to have a confrontation over it....if not just because they were intimidated by their worst anxiety trigger (money) being thrust at them so suddenly by someone who is supposed to be "helping them"!
Instead I realized that this woman may not even really want to be giving this spiel (it could just be a nasty requirement of her job) & told her instead said "No, I hadn't expected to have to charge anything for the information. Should I decide that I would like it at a later time I will call back then." I did however resolve to post about it on the forum so others would not be lured into such an unexpected situation.
I find their behavior in this regard absolutely repulsive! I've also found by looking online (which I should have done before calling I suppose) that others who have actually enrolled in the program (some apparently without realizing it with since they must not have listened to the spiel closely enough) & have been stuck paying for the whole thing to the tune of over $500 because they are unable to return the discs regardless of a supposed "30-day-money-back-guarantee"!
What a way to help people in managing their stress & anxiety, eh?!
Sincerely,
Laurasia
I just had to make a post about this as it really upset me & I would hate to think of others' anxiety being unexpectedly triggered should they decide to call for "help".
A week or so ago I saw an infomercial all about how heaing & helpful this place & it's programs are for people suffering from stress, anxiety, panic attacks, &/or depression. The whole thing was geared around getting people to call about their free informative CD. I figured what the hell it couldn't hurt to what type of things they offer so I called.
I was immediately greeted by an older-sounding (aka "non-threatening") woman who, once I told her that I was calling about the free CD, immediately started to try setting up a rapport between the two of us. She asked me what the reason was for my inquiry & I told her that I have been diagnosed with panic disorder to which she immediately began to tell me about her own experience with having a panic attack. She then went into what was quite plainly a scripted spiel....even to the point of reading things that clearly did not pertain to the issues that I have experienced.
I was even thinking to myself "Lady, I realize that you're doing your job by reading through the script but if someone says that they don't have issues with a given problem it's okay to skip that part of the spiel." After "bonding with her" for about 5 - 10 minutes she finally said "Okay...well the informative CD is free. There is a shipping charge of $14.95 though. After that you'll be sent monthly (or weekly, I can't recall right now) installments of the program for $40 (some odd) dollars each. Would you like to put that on your debit or credit card?"
My jaw dropped in disbelief. And before I could think, as politely as possible, I said "Neither actually, it's supposed to be free." This made her stop & stammer for a moment (as she must have been looking down for the part of the spiel to read once she hit any resistance) & she came back with "Oh....well the CD is actually more of a diagnostic tool more than anything. And since you've already been diagnosed & clearly already have an idea of what is going on in your specific situation I can lower your shipping rate all the way down to....$9.95."
I was dumbfounded! I wanted to say "Well if I so clearly don't need your 'diagnostic tool' then why are you still trying to SELL it to me....& by the way, no it is still supposed to be free regardless!" I also wanted to tear into this woman about how ethically repulsive it was for their "stress & anxiety recovery center" to purposefully target people with anxiety issues, deliberately build up a false rapport with them when they call for help, & then suddenly try intimidating them into unexpectantly spending money (which is one of the most common cause of anxiety & panic by the way)! I can absolutely see nicer & meeker people feeling obligated into spending that money just because the operator was so nice, helpful, & solicitous....because they, being anxiety-riddled already, don't want to have a confrontation over it....if not just because they were intimidated by their worst anxiety trigger (money) being thrust at them so suddenly by someone who is supposed to be "helping them"!
Instead I realized that this woman may not even really want to be giving this spiel (it could just be a nasty requirement of her job) & told her instead said "No, I hadn't expected to have to charge anything for the information. Should I decide that I would like it at a later time I will call back then." I did however resolve to post about it on the forum so others would not be lured into such an unexpected situation.
I find their behavior in this regard absolutely repulsive!
I've also found by looking online (which I should have done before calling I suppose) that others who have actually enrolled in the program (some apparently without realizing it with since they must not have listened to the spiel closely enough) & have been stuck paying for the whole thing to the tune of over $500 because they are unable to return the discs regardless of a supposed "30-day-money-back-guarantee"! What a way to help people in managing their stress & anxiety, eh?!
Sincerely,
Laurasia