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"!![>:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/angry.png)
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"!
![>:(](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/angry.png)
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!
![>:(](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/angry.png)
What a way to help people in managing their stress & anxiety, eh?!
![>:(](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/angry.png)
Sincerely,
Laurasia