Let the Pesky Telemarketer Down Easy

Kenneth Jursinski was gnashing his teeth waiting for the news he hoped would close a $50-million deal when his secretary said he had an urgent call.

He snatched up the phone.

“It was some guy trying to sell me stocks and bonds,” Jursinski grumbled. “I hung up and said, ‘Enough!’ ”

Four years and $250,000 later, Jursinski is selling a device he has designed to thwart telemarketers.

“I wanted something polite and fast,” he said. “I was raised to be polite and not to hang up on people.”

His invention: The Phone Butler.

When an unwanted salesman rings up, a press of the star button on the phone pad brings the butler to life.

The recording, in a gentle-but-firm voice with a British accent, says:

“Pardon me, this is the Phone Butler, and I have been directed to inform you that this household must respectfully decline your inquiry. Kindly place this number on your do-not-call list. Good day.”

And with that, the caller is disconnected.

Politely, of course.

Although this butler won’t draw the curtains or bring tea, it might do something more than get rid of unwanted callers.

In the $250-billion-a-year telemarketing industry, about 10% of all telemarketing firms are potentially fraudulent, the FBI says. Americans lose an estimated $40 billion a year to fraudulent telemarketers, and most victims are over 55.

“They become victims because simply hanging up is rude to them--it’s not polite,” said Leslie Richards, president of the Senior Benefit Assn., a Phoenix-based advocacy group for senior citizens. “Some of them just can’t say no.”

And theoretically, saying no is all it takes.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 says a demand not to be called must be obeyed for one year. It does not apply to nonprofit organizations or to cases in which the consumer has an established business relationship with the company the telemarketer represents.

The Senior Benefit Assn. even sells the Phone Butler, and a similar device that works on rotary phones called Easy Hangup, to its members. It offers a $10 discount on the $50 Phone Butlers and sells the Easy Hangups for the suggested retail price of $20.

The Phone Butler, sold through Morgan-Francis Inc., in Fort Myers, Fla., won’t work on rotary phones, but since it is activated by the phone pad, only one unit per household is necessary.

The Easy Hangup, made by the Phonex Corp. of Midvale, Utah, is activated by pushing a button attached to the phone jack and works only on the phone to which it is attached.

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Bob Van Winkle, 81, a retired electrical engineer in Columbus, Ohio, got his Phone Butler in April after a veterans organization called four times in three weeks seeking donations.

“I got a little bit disgusted,” he said. “These solicitors usually call right at dinner time, and by the time you get through reading their pedigree, your food gets cold.

“Now, I say, ‘Excuse me, just a second,’ and I press the button and that’s the end of it,” Van Winkle said. “It saves me from getting all agitated.”

Truth is, some in the telemarketing industry also like the device.

A recent article in Effective Telephone Techniques magazine said: “If you encounter the Phone Butler, don’t take the hang-up personally. . . . At least the Phone Butler ends the call quickly and [somewhat] pleasantly. You don’t have to deal with an irate prospect, and you can go on to your next call quickly.”

Margaret Leverence of the American Telemarketing Assn. said she could see the advantage of the device for people who just can’t say no or have difficulty telling phone marketers they are not interested in buying anything.

And Jursinski, a lawyer in Pensacola, Fla., said the Phone Butler appealed to at least one telemarketer.

“I had one call me back and say ‘What is that thing? I want one,’ ” he said. “I still smile every time I use it.”