Confessions of Westpoint Telemarketer

From a telemarketing call centre on the Gold Coast, the writer spent nine months luring people into Westpoint investments. He details his experience and, separately, provides the script used for cold-calls.

PORTFOLIO POINT: Financial sales people often have little understanding of the products they sell. Telephone sales people are given a "script" to sell you products. Avoid investing in products from cold-callers.

For the nine months to June last year I worked for a third-party call centre on the Gold Coast. The firm's name is Up2It Pty Ltd and it was contracted to cold-call Melbourne and Perth. (Attached below is one of the scripts we used on the floor to get potential free appointments happening. It was used with gusto! )

At no time were any of us told of the complex nature and setup to be involved with Westpoint. Our job was to gain an appointment for a Westpoint "finance consultant". If the potentials ' as potential clients were tagged ' got "booked to go to the office" we were paid a commission on top of our wage. What happened from there was really none of our business.

Had I known that Westpoint had basically been on the nose since at least 2000, I would have had second thoughts about cold-calling for them. I am shocked and saddened to think some of these poor folk have now lost the lot as a result of my initial calls. But as is the nature of call centres here in this "Telemarketing Mecca" called the Gold Coast, you just sit there and get the results.

Now that Westpoint is all but kaput, I find myself asking whether this form of telemarketing should be allowed. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has told me Up2It have not broken the law, so it's a tough question. Up2It have switched from cold-calling for Westpoint to acting for a mob called Ferntree, also based in Perth.

In a recent article I read, it's highly likely some of the money guys from Westpoint have switched to Ferntree. [Editor's note: He's right ' the CEO of Westpoint, Norm Carey, is thought to be behind Ferntree, with his brother Frank Carey.]

How much do the managers of these call centres know of Westpoint's history, I wonder? Given that from my time at Up2It I found out that Westpoint gained 90%-plus of their trade off the phones, it's surely worth investigation.

It's all a mess and I hope the truth is found out. And I hope telemarketing these type of products is banned across the board soon.

THE WESTPOINT SCRIPT

It's ________ on behalf on Westpoint Melb/Perth. Our goal is to assist you in achieving your financial goals and to understand there is an entitlement available to you to help you become fully self-funded by retirement (not rely on a pension). Our service is free and it's great news to all working homeowners.

Are you or your partner in the workforce and either paying off or own your home?

Excellent! And were you aware of an existing entitlement which allows you to receive back what could be a significant amount of your tax dollars, on a weekly basis, for your retirement's sake?

We have our consultants in your area for another week or so who will explain this, and how powerfully
it can be applied to your situation.

'¦ continue for those interested.

Do you still pay off the home? Great. We have the most up-to-date mortgage elimination strategies in the marketplace, and when you see how these are applied, you will discover how to save thousands in interest, slash the time it takes to pay off your home by years, free up your cash flow to allow you to do the things you need and want to .

A HYPOTHETICAL

What could you do with an extra $50 a week if you could get that back in your pocket/purse?

How would that make you feel? (Holiday, dinner, new car, quality time.)

The benefits of what we can show you are enormous, and it'd be terrific to see everybody. But to fully benefit from this, you have to be working for a least another five years before retirement, [have] a minimum $40,000 combined income and at least $50,000 in your home equity.

That sound right in your case? (If yes) Fantastic.

OK. So you can find out about all this, we ask for just one hour at your place. A Westpoint consultant will come round, introduce the company, have a casual talk to you about your current situation and take you through your own personal assessment booklet. Very laid back, very plain English. This booklet, by the way is yours, free to keep with no obligation. In that hour, you can ask as many questions as you wish. It's not our own slide show. It's aimed to be very interactive so that you get the most out of it. You will not be sold anything and you can't buy anything. However, you will get a very clear picture of your options, especially in the areas of mortgage elimination, reducing your tax burden and using those tax dollars to invest, and consolidating your affairs.

So many families have taken advantage of this free service and you, like them, can take the information left with you to your accountant, etc, for further discussion or scrutiny. Remember: there is no obligation on your part to do business with Westpoint. We are confident what we present to you will help you save money now and create the additional income you will need by retirement.

You really have nothing to lose from spending an hour with us, but everything to gain from this .

We have re-scheduled a recent appointment for ____________ at ____ . I can put you in there right now.
(Offer alternative times.)
(Reveal free gift.)
(Confirmation of letter received call.)
(Courtesy call, with name of consultant if possible.)

(This is an edited version of an article submitted to us this week. Eureka Report made contact with both the author and Up2It for this article. Senior management at Up2It were not available for comment.)