312-540-3000

Received three calls in as many business days. A nervous-sounding young woman claimed her name was "Megan Smith" and later "Megan Riley." Initially said she was with the "CLO Group." Refused to provide contact info claiming she was traveling or in meetings all day. The number has been linked to Marcus Evans, the Hospital Group of America and THG, International Publishing. Provided 312.540.3000, extension 6765 as her phone number.

Megan Riley tried me too saying she was with the Private Wealth Group, which was clearly a lie.  It was URGENT and she was in meetings all afternoon.  I copied her number from caller ID.  Megan, if you are reading this, believe you me that you are DEEP SIXED.  DO NOT CALL AGAIN.

I got a call from "Kisha" looking to speak with our company CEO about a "client referral."  She was very unwilling to give me any background or any information about why she was calling, why she needed to speak with our CEO or why our CEO would care to speak with her.  It was very odd and I told her that there was no way that our CEO would call anyone back without knowing who they are or why they would call.  I looked up the phone number and it goes to Marcus Evans out of the Chicago area.  If that was an attempt at a sales call it was one of the weakest tries I've ever heard.

I looked up Marcus Evans on the web, found General Manager contact info.  This person's name is Theron Burraway and his e-mail address is theronb@marcusevansch.com.  If anyone gets a call from this company you should immediately be aware of their tactics and ask them to stop calling your organization.

NOTE:  Marcus Evans trains and allows their telemarketers to be as rude as humanly possible to receptionists, admins, and other such gatekeepers.  They are encouraged to use fake names, false company information, and a variety of other fabrications just to get a CEO on the phone.  If you're rude to them, they will call back 5 times a day just to harass you.  The only way to get on their 'DO NOT CALL' list is to threaten reporting them to the authorities.  It sounds stupid, but it's such a shady and illegitimate company that they will do everything possible to keep the authorities at bay.  Hope this helps.

I received this phone call too. They are very rude and hostile. They told me they needed the name of our CEO in order to update his records for his boss.

I refused to give information and they were terribly rude. He told me he could just Google it. Then I encouraged him to do so or to send a general inquiry email.

He slammed the phone down.

Thank you for this forum.

These people will not take no for an answer. Very pushy 312-540-3000 x 6578

Rude and refuses to reveal the nature of his call, hangs up.  We asked him not to call our firm again unless he identifies the purpose of his call.  He is relentless.  Gave name of Joe Boulle but not the company name.  We found the company name on the internet.

THG / Marcus Evans

The sales people at this company have got to be the worst ever. I have been fielding their calls for 5 years and have had to deal with threats, double talk, cursing, hang-ups, and insults. Each time  I call their main office asking to be taken off of their call list.

I was informed that each sales person does their own research and that's why over time, I get repeated calls.

Today, 04/28/10, I just spoke with Ben Sheppard at 312.894.6324; he is the sales manager for THG. He told me that the only way to get the calls to stop is for my President or CEO to make the request. I said, "so for the past 5 years I've been lied to by your staff about the 'no-not-call list'?" He wouldn't answer me. He told me that since I'm only an admin, I should respect their rules. I told him that there is no way my boss will call him back and HE should respect my boss' rules about not wanting them call ever again. I asked for the name of his superior and he gave me the name of his CEO, John Strombeg at the main number in Chicago.

I can pretty much guess how the conversation will go if I get to actually speak with the guy, but here goes...

OK, just spoke with John Stromberg, CEO of THG. He was surpisingly nice. I told him exactly what I wrote above and he said that HE could put me on their Do-Not-Call List. Apparently the list is published weekly by their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Team. The head of CRM is Peter Laspas (sp?).

I also told him that secretaries and admins are the gate keepers and they would do well to remember that; to treat us with respect. Even though my company doesn't entertain with sporting events or take cold calls from stock brokers, when a person calls and is honest about why they're calling, I will happily take down their info, ask for an e-mail or fax that I can attach to it and at least give them a fighting chance (I'll even call them back and tell them what my boss said, instead of just letting it drop.)

So, we'll see what happens. Like I said before, I've been fielding their calls for 5 years with no relief.

JUST GOT ANOTHER CALL from the guy who called 2 days ago!

Unbelievable. This company never quits. I gave him all of the information I relayed in my previous two posts. And he denied NOTHING!

He DID deny that he was rude to me on the phone! What a jerk.

Received a call from Savina. She wanted to speak to a patent person at my company (guess they're trawling for lawyers now). She is setting up a "patent protection and enforcement meeting".  When I asked her which companies she was working with she threw out Oracle, Cisco and Motorola.  Number 312-540-3000 x 6525

WOW! I just got yelled at. Our President kept getting calls so her assistant had me talk to 'Megan" - at first she was RUDE - until she found out my title. Then she went on to tell me how she has clients who she would like to partner with us - used phoney company etc. I got on this website and found the number as she refused to give me hers and found her - IT WAS MARCUS EVANS!!  I left her a message telling her that we were not intereste and not to call again. She called me back and YELLED at me. Be warned this company is mean and will not give up.

Peter Laspas is refusing to cease contact for my company as well. He makes outrageous claims about how we are partnered and attend their events, which we don't.

Can anyone recommend a US do-not-call list for businesses? Is there sucha  thing?

Seems this number is using a new name for their business.  They are showing up as an "outside" call on the caller ID.  It is usually either Stephanie or Megan and when I tell them my boss is unavailable and ask for their contact info for a return call, they say they are running to a meeting and don't have time to give me that info.  VERY RUDE!!!  I've taken to asking for their name and phone number before telling them my boss is unavailable, which is how I now know their name, company name and the phone number:  Stephanie or Megan / US Pensions & Investments Group / 312-540-3000 extension 6476.  They call at least once a day and never tire of being rude.  I don't think they took Lizzie's advice to treat the admin with a little respect. . . obviously, any messages they leave go in the "round" file!  Keep being rude Stephanie and Megan!  I hope you get paid by commission only!  I'm sure that gets you a cheeseburger now and then!

This person called "Albert Maamkuh from the Food Safety Compliant Risk Forum from Chicago". After taking their information, "Albert" continued to call hoping to get a different person on the phone, but only got me and my manager, lol. These people are a joke. They try to act as if they know your CEO or VP of Marketing to sell you on joining one of their shows and acts as he was in a conference room to sound important. If your caller ID show this number, DO NOT answer it, run for your lives.  1-312-540-3000 ext. 6531

They have called here as well. While this "Albert Alam" is not rude, he has a thick accent and I couldn't understand what he was saying. I asked him to slow down and repeat the information. He said the same thing over and over again, same speed! I thought it was a solicitation call, but wanted to forward it along, as they used the names of some clients of our company, and I didn't want to be rude to a client, so I forwarded his message on to a Partner here. After investigating further, I realized he wasn't calling form PhamaAllignment, but from Markus Evans. I don't know how many more times he will call, but he has me on his radar! FML! 312.540.3000 ext 6531

Within every company there are bad eggs.  Do not make it seem like we are a triible company.  We are well respected around the world.

Lizzie-  We've been partnering with the company for over five years now because we continually have gotten business by partnering with them.  Of course with any company their are bound to be a few bad eggs, but those within the company I deal with have been great.  My company is very small and they have bent over backwards trying to help us get the most out of everything we do with them.  I get the feeling you probably still have no idea why they call.  I feel as if your frustration comes from fielding their calls for five years with no success, and in that case you probably need to find a new job.

I received another sales call from marcus evans today.  The person called and said they were securing the last 5 seats for an upcoming medical conference.  Little did this person know that my company was a sponsorship partner with marcus evans for three years.

Her pitch was good, better than the calls I used to get.  She was not rude at all but quite pleasant, definitely experienced.  I told her we didn't have any budget and she was quick to end the conversation.

I will say Marcus Evans trade shows are very well put together.  They are probably the best ones out there, but they're sales people can be very annoying at times!