I have been on both sides of the fence of this debate. When I lived in Montreal two years ago I worked for a company called Gemma Communications and I worked downtown at 425 de Maisonneuve 4th floor (same building that you get your medical card from). I worked there because I could only speak English and not French and that was the only job I could get. We worked for credit card companies like HBC, HSBC, Capitol One, The Source blah blah. And I sold privacy protection plus to card holders. I also sold the At Home program as well. I did really bad, I barely ever made a sale, but still. Gemma Communications was actually a nice place to work and legal, compared to other telemarketing places I worked at (selling phone books for $450 that you never got. THATS a scam for sure).
So fastforward now to Aug 2009. I signed up for an HBC credit card about 5 months ago, and I knew that Gemma (mostly from toronto headquarters, but some call from montreal) was going to call about PPP or At Home or whatever, because I used to do that! And, of course, some lady did call and I signed up (you have to give a "clear yes") because I wanted to see my credit score for free (because I knew the program). And yes, I did get my credit score from TransUnion. PPP gives you a coupon code to put in when you check out at TransUnion. My credit score is 546 (Yikes!)
So, after I got my score I went onto PPP website (privacyplus.ca) and clicked the Cancellation buttons and whatnot. And it said it would send a confirmation email, which it didnt. I did it twice in one week, and nothing. And now I got the bill on my HBC credit card for $20.95. I live in Burnaby now, so taxes might be different for different people. So I finally had a chance today to call them (press zero to talk to a human) and talked to a Karen? I think #26452 and she said in 2-5 business days I will have the money put back on my HBC credit card. So that was today, so in 2-5 days Ill see, and report back on here to say if they do.
The funny FUNNY thing is that when I worked at Gemma, we told the 'customer' that they would receive an "information package". I never saw what this 'package' was. But after I signed up over the phone and I did get this "package" which was just a folded letter-type thing, taped on one side, like you would get from Sears, or a pizza place. Not a package at all. And it had this crappy tear out 'member ID' card with my membership number on it.
This is the bad part about all this. To log into thier website (privacyplus.ca) you need a membership number and a POSTAL CODE!! Uhhh..anyone can take my mail out of my mailbox and get this PROTECTION and find the postalcode on the front of the letter!!! You dont have a password, you have a postal code. my god. And then anyone who knows my postal code (on ALLLLL my mail) can have access to my 'secure credit card information". Because they want you to register all your cards with them, to 'protect them'. they must have LOTS of insurance.
Oh, I forgot to say, MemberWorks Canada (the guys who started all this PPP crap) is located on McGill Ave about 6 blocks from Gemma Communications. Its right by McGill University. And I worked with this Asian guy named peter that worked for MemberWorks for about 4 months. The difference between Gemma and MemeberWorks is that Gemma paid $10.25 per hour while MemeberWorks paid $14. And when you call them (if you ever get to talk to a human) you talk to a "Retension Officer". That is thier title (that is what Peter was). So thier whole job is to try to get you to NOT cancel your membership. Thats why they get paid more. So when you call thinking you will find a customer service rep, you are actually calling a Retension Officer. Go figure.
I hope this long winded post will be of some help to you all, and shed some light on the inner workings of PPP. Ill update when I find out if I get my $20.95 back or not. Oh, and my name is Chris
Oh, and to the guy who said they are all african, some are. Lots are from middle east. Lots asian. A guy I worked beside was named Muhammed (it was pretty popular, 4 guys had the same name). But seriously, I am caucasian canadian english speaking born in BC, grew up in Alberta, but telemarketing was my only way to pay the bills in Montreal. Same for them, I guess. I didnt want to do telemarketing, but thats all I could get.
But ya, dont put your creditcard ANYWHERE on the internet. I dont even trust paypal. Dont be stupid. |
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