May 20, 2008
Just got one of about three a day, this one at 8:30, followed up by another from 888-378-8588 800 Services. This is pretty standard stuff now and we just turn off the ringer.
Here's my theory: Allstate is an insurance company. Insurance companies hire lots and lots of people with the promise of making lots of money. In order to sell insurance you have to talk to people. Soon after exhausting the patience of friends, family, and church lists, they turn to phone lists. Since insurance sales has about 98% turnover in five years, you can imagine the amount of resentful kids taking this all personally.
Probably what is happening is some offices are requiring their newbies to make 'X' amount of calls a day. They are bored and also know that the only person who might talk to them are women. Many of the calls I get ask for my wife by name. They know that women won't get pissed off like us guys will.
This has happened to me in the past: I cussed some guy for calling me constantly. For the next few weeks he called incessantly, hanging up.
Another personal experience: I did work for one of the biggest insurance companies around. It's named after a state and a city and a duke. Two words...
They had a very elaborate computer controlled telephone system that prevented newbies from calling numbers that had been registered. And you were required to register any number that rejected you twice that was on that list.
I am certain that no other company does this. It's too expensive.
Second tip off: Dearborn is the name of a publishing company that specializes in INSURANCE SALES. They are now Kaplan, but you can see that someone may have gotten the bright idea to do this using a familiar trade name.
Bottom line, it is probably a bunch of kids running mandatory phone banks, using old phone lists (easily obtainable) who just don't care.