Phone Psychics Didn’t See Pay Cuts Coming

Psychic telephone counselors working on a 900 line in Woodland Hills said Friday they are hung up about a salary reduction that cut their hourly wages almost in half.

And, despite their professed abilities to see into the future, they said they didn’t foresee the cutback.

Psychic Rosie Mitchell said the management at J.D.P. Enterprises abruptly cut the hourly wages of 30 counselors from $10 to $5.50. She added that hours of several of the employees were also reduced. “We’re just devastated by this,” said Mitchell, who was in private practice for about 20 years before joining the counseling line two months ago. “No reason was given to us by the management. A lot of people were expecting bonuses.”

She said the psychics are planning to band together and may walk off the job.

“The company may bring in less experienced people to take calls, but we’re professionals, and they’ll lose thousands of dollars,” she said. The staff is composed of experienced clairvoyants and Tarot card readers.

“There are a lot of intelligent people doing this,” she added.

Ray Mouton, executive vice president of Network Telemarketing Services, which operates the hot line, said the total compensation package for the counselors was increased, not reduced. He declined further comment.

The hot line, said Mitchell, charges customers $3.99 per minute for counseling. She said clients, who learn about the service from newspaper ads, call from all over the country.

“We’re very happy to be working for this company,” she said. “We really believe in what we’re doing. We reach out and help a lot of people.”

She said the psychics hope to meet with management next week to discuss the situation. But, as far as their jobs, Mitchell admitted that the psychics don’t really know what the future holds.