Media Watch

Telephone : Friends or Phonies?

C. EUGENE EMERY, JR.

he half-hour commercial on real name not be used), of Broomfield, discount everything the previous 'psy- television stations throughout Colorado, says she's seen a different chic friend' had told him, he wasn't Tdie country tells the story of a side of the Friends Network, buying it at all. [It wasn't] until I told man named "Giacomo," who became a run by Inphomation Inc. of Baltimore, him I had read in the cards that the regular customer of the Psychic Friends Maryland. For about six months, previous psychic had made a terrible Network after "Shekhinah," one of its beginning in November 1991, when mistake in computing his astrological seers, supposedly helped him find a the network was calling itself chart because of a power failure that missing address book. "Professional Psychic Counselors," had damaged her equipment with a After two months of additional Cook was one of its counselors. power surge, [only] then was he willing phone advice from Shekhinah, she She said she is no psychic. She was to take my advice, the advice of his per- advised him to avoid an important recommended for the job by her sonal counselor, his mother, and the business meeting. "I see darkness and teacher in a counseling class, who said prison chaplain" to read and abide by destruction," die commercial quotes Cook would be free to do traditional the restraining order. Giacomo's psychic friend as saying. counseling on the network. There was the January 8, 1992, call "Whatever you do, don't go to this But she quickly discovered that her from someone who identified herself as meeting." callers didn't want basic, commonsense Tonia in Winston-Salem, North So instead of attending the meeting, advice. They wanted Carolina. Tonia wanted to know Giacomo went to visit his parents and insights. whether her husband was going to beat friends in New Jersey. It was on the day When women called to ask if they her. Cook tried to convince her to call (February 26, 1993) terrorists detonated were pregnant, Cook tried to get them the emergency number 911. She also a bomb in die World Trade Center in to contact their local chapter of gave Tonia the names of churches that New York City. In die commercial, Planned Parenthood for a pregnancy might provide counseling. The Giacomo says the business meeting he test. Most rejected her advice. They woman's reaction: "I called for a read- was supposed to attend was held in die "weren't about to do something so ing. I want my reading!" So, Cook says, New York Vista Hotel in the World cheap and commonsense unless I told she concocted a tarot reading to back Trade Center. diem I read in the cards that die cards up her recommendation. "That call," he says, "saved my life." said they should go to die doctor and "Only when Tonia was thoroughly Giacomo's testimonial is followed by get their health checked out," she said. convinced the advice came from the die assurances of Grammy-award- According to Cook, one of her cards and not just some ordinary indi- winning singer Dionne Warwick that callers, who refused to accept his vidual did she seem inclined to access when you call the Psychic Friends divorce, violated a restraining order on the free resources already available to Network "You can be sure you're talk- the advice of a psychic on the hot line. her in her own community," Cook ing to one of the best psychics on earth. He was arrested. He said he was calling explained. . . . Our psychics have the answers." from jail. Why was Tonia's husband so angry? "Joan Cook" (who asked that her Cook said: "When I told him to Cook says he had discovered that Tonia

14 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1995 had racked up a $5,000 phone bill But Cook said a good chunk of well have spent over $24 by the time talking to "psychic" counselors. callers' phone time wasn't even spent the formalities associated with the free Dionne Warwick and the other pro- on talking to such seers. newspaper were dispensed with," said moters of die Psychic Friends Network When customers called die hot line, Cook. tell potential customers that, to benefit she said, they first had to listen to a (The three-minute introduction from die hot line, "all it takes is a tele- three-minute introduction. Then the Cook talks about is no longer there. phone and an open mind." hot line would begin playing recorded When I called Psychic Friends They neglect to mention money— profiles of various psychics so cus- Network on May 14, 1995, I got lots of money. tomers could choose one. People who through to die next available psychic in At four dollars a minute, an hour knew the code number for their a little less than a minute. But while with a Psychic Friends Network psy- favorite psychic could skip that part. some hot lines wait two minutes or so chic, astrologer, tarot-card reader, If the phone line of the psychic die to begin charges, charges on the dream interpreter, past-life reader, customer wanted to talk to was busy, or Psychic Friends Network kicked in ghost buster, or animal psychic will if the psychic was off duty, the cus- after a rapid-fire 17-second introduc- cost a whopping $240. tomer was stuck with the cost of listen- tion.) ing to the introduction. The psychics are paid well, but Gene Emery is the science writer for the Callers were then asked to sign up receive only a fraction of what the ser- Providence Journal-Bulletin, 75 Foun- for a free newspaper, which also ate up vice gets. Cook said that when she was tain St., Providence, RI 02902. phone time. "So die average caller may on die network the pay was as much as

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1995 15 $18 an hour. Psychic Shari Ford, quot- ing to a contract sent to one prospec- up the per-minute charges. "To be ed in an April 16, 1995, article in the tive psychic from the parent company, accurate, you need to do a little work Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said she Psychic Readers Network Inc. (PRN) tuning in." He compared a psychic earned $24 an hour at the same net- of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. who does a quick reading to a doctor work. Under the system in use last May, if who tries to diagnose a medical prob- But the seers, who work from vari- the psychic hears five or six fast beeps lem from across the room. ous cities, and from their own homes, at the start of the call, he or she uses a The advisers are also told to "give had to buy their own phone line and script for the ASA Network. One long, positive and complete readings with use it exclusively for the hot line. They low-pitched buzz means the psychic lots of interesting detailed informa- used an 800-number (toll free) and a must use the telemarketing script for tion." password to signal a central computer the Philip Michael Thomas Nerwork. Warnings about impending crises or that they were ready to take calls. Both scripts, for people who have accounts of doom and gloom arc dis- Cook said many times the network dialed an 800-number (toll free) to couraged, said Stoltz. "Let's face it, it was so busy she had trouble finding a inquire about the service, require the could be wrong. We don't want to tell spare moment to call Inphomation psychic to entice each caller by saying: them they're going to die or they Inc. to give the code to go off duty. The "We have good news and important should get a divorce. It's not our place instant she hung up the phone, it information you need to know that to give people that kind of dire advice would ring again with the voice of a may be critical to your future." when there's always a margin of error." new caller seeking advice. Only after the callers give their According to documents sent to Her stint on the service ended name, address, and home phone num- prospective psychics, about five to nine abruptly, Cook says, after she got a call ber are they given a 900-number to call minutes into the reading, the psychics from Inphomation complaining that at $3.99 a minute. Beginning psychics are supposed to ask callers if they've she was telling people where to get free make 25 cents a minute, get no bene- signed up for the Philip Michael Thomas Network Psychic Membership Club. If not, they're supposed to "One self-proclaimed psychic I know who launch into yet another sales pitch, this auditioned for the network said she was time at the customer's expense. The guidelines also tell the readers, told by a company representative that "You can go to a maximum 30 to 38 psychic abilities didn't really matter." minutes, and before being cut off, you will hear a warning beep about two advice, she complained about the con- fits, can be fired for almost any reason, minutes before." tent of some of the network's advertise- and must make a toll call to Florida Stoltz said such cutoffs are designed ments, and gave a newspaper interview every day to relay the information to prevent a phone bill from getting so for an expose about the hot line. they've collected from their clients. high the customer won't want to pay it. Robert Hoffmann, Inphomation's (Peter Stoltz, a manager at PRN, The system blocks people from calling senior vice president for business said the hot line's psychics get roughly the service too many times or for too affairs, said consumers are well aware 10 cents of every dollar the company many minutes in a single day. There is of the price of the call, and most callers charges; the phone company gets 25 also a limit on the number of minutes who telephone the network and its sta- cents; 30 cents goes to advertising and a month that can be charged to a single ble of about 1,500 psychics do it for promotion; and 30 cents is lost when number. the entertainment value. He declined customers refuse to pay.) Despite the scripted sales pitches to give a breakdown of how much of As for the readings themselves, the and the rule about giving positive read- the $240 an hour is profit. psychics are instructed to first get the ings, the psychics are required to sign Although there arc psychics from client's name, birth date, and address, contracts affirming that PRN "is not the network in my area, he declined to then instruct the client to write down providing (the psychic) with any pre- make any available for an in-person and think about any questions he or pared text, script or statements to be interview. she may have. "Do not ask for their used." The contract also makes the Psychics who work for another psy- specific questions or for the reason they psychic agree to absolve PRN of all chic network that includes the Philip called until after you give them a com- responsibility for any information plete general reading!" according to Michael Thomas Network and the given in the reading. PRN's guidelines for psychic advisers. ASA Network, also must pay for their As for the abilities of network psy- "This is necessary for accuracy and to own phone line. chics, they apparently only have to tune into their and energy," the Readers on this network spend part affirm that they have such talents. One guidelines continue. of their time as psychics and pan doing self-proclaimed psychic I know who telemarketing for the company, accord- Stoltz said the intent is not to rack auditioned for the network said she was

16 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1995 told by a company representative that in court. Inphomation also agreed to eyes. It was precisely the type of thing psychic abilities didn't really matter. clearly and conspicuously disclose its Marie had just accused a phone psychic PRN's Stoltz said the audition usu- refund policy, which says that if repeat of doing to her. "See what I mean, ally consists of giving an impromptu customers discover that the psychic Charles?" Marie quiety told Perez. reading for a staff member over the they want is unavailable, they will get a Perez said he understood, but phone. They aren't asked to do some- complimentary or a added, "We are in no position to say thing more concrete, like picking a lot- credit for the full cost of the call, if they [Williams] is not legitimate." tery number, because "nobody can pick complain. Wrong. There are plenty of tests a a number that will hit. If they could, Hoffman, however, said there "was talk show can conduct to indicate what would they be doing working for no settlement" and that the attorney whether a psychic has real powers. A us for 40 cents a minute?" general's office was "very satisfied with random audience member receiving a Hoffman of Inphomation said the the way we were conducting business." psychic reading is not one of them. psychics on die Psychic Friends Network The media have done occasional Because of their popularity and are carefully selected and extensively exposes of the psychic hot lines. About profitability, the psychic hot lines are screened by other psychics. Only one in three years ago, for example, the ABC- likely to be with us for a long time. five applications are accepted. TV program "Prime T i m e Live" Despite the stories about rip-offs "A person who is skeptical might arranged to have a college student with and bogus psychics, believers will turn around and say [the person giving no psychic ability hired by one of the always rationalize that their psychic can a successful reading] just had good services. really see the future. intuition. They're a good judge of peo- But many other programs focus And all it takes is a good, dramatic ple. They are very wise in the way only in a cursory manner on the thou- hit to hook a customer for a long time. things usually work in the world. sands of dollars people spend on tele- (Giacomo may believe that his psychic There's nothing supernatural about it," phone psychics. As SKEPTICAL INQUIR- friend saved his life, but a hotel said Stoltz. "The argument about ER readers are aware, many attempts to spokeswoman said nobody in the whether it comes from a honed, scientifically prove the existence of hotel he was planning to visit was human skill or from a supernatural or such psychic powers have failed. Yet killed, none of the guests was seriously spiritual place is an argument that will the media seldom make any effort to injured, and the significant damage be going on for eternity." determine if any of die psychics on was confined to the unoccupied However they do it, Stoltz said, the these hot lines have any real psychic Liberty ballroom and the B-l level, people who work on the hot line must talent. which houses accounting, housekeep- try to do their divinations by some On the August 17, 1994, Bertice ing, and human services.) supernatural means, be it , Berry television program on "Psychic PRN manager Peter Stoltz recalls, tarot cards, or raw psychic power. Swindlers," panelists told plenty of hor- "We did actually try to start a psychol- "We're not a counseling line." ror stories. But, at the beginning of the ogy line for people who maybe didn't Last January, the Tennessee syndicated talk show, Berry promised believe in psychics." In creating the Attorney General's Division of Con- her audience that "we're going to talk to Professional Advisers Network two sumer Affairs negotiated an agreement some people later on who will tell you years ago he said, "We hired a hundred with Inphomation Inc. The attorney how, if you're going to go to a psychic, psychologists, psychotherapists and general alleged that: to find a proper one." As far as the host- psychiatrists on the same work-at- • Calls were lengthened by a record- ess was concerned, psychics with real home-on-thc-phone basis. We ran ads. ing detailing the "credentials" of each powers are out there. The phones did not ring. Not at all," he "psychic." Viewers of the May 4, 1995, said. "If people want something a little • Calls contained long pauses, repeti- "Charles Perez Show" saw the usual more magical and a little more spiritual, tive information, and information that collection of people addicted to the fine. Obviously they must be getting seemed to have been dragged out. lines, but Perez also featured "Marie," something out of it." • People who called to speak to a who tearfully complained that when a Cook, a counselor now retired from particular "psychic" who was unavail- psychic wrongly told her that her Inphomation's hot line, said that able were charged for their time on the fiance' was cheating on her, her rela- although "the sort of these 900-number. tionship was "almost ruined." people are promoting is dangerous • People were abruptly disconnect- When Perez got hot-line psychic beyond belief, I will have to admit one ed during their reading. Julie Williams of PRN to demonstrate thing: I got paid better at that job than As part of the settlement, Inpho- her powers by giving a reading to a at any other job I ever had before or mation agreed to reimburse or credit young woman in the audience, since. Isn't it too bad that people pay the accounts of all Tennessee con- Williams said the woman's boyfriend legitimate counselors so poorly, but sumers who complained within 90 wasn't really right for her. Williams's will shovel millions of dollars into days after the settlement was approved reading brought tears to the woman's hands of quacks like that." D

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