Selling me stuff I don't want

[Gordon Nore]

The other thread about having submit to searches of ones legal purchases in a store got some veins popping in my head.

I don't like it when people try to sell me stuff I didn't ask for.

It happens pretty much every time I visit the gas station or drug store in my neighbourhood -- every time.

They ask me, "Do you have our points card?"
I say, "No."
"Would you like to register for one?"
"No."

They they drop the bomb:

"May I ask, why not?"

My reply, invariably, is, "No, you may not." I don't wish to be rude or difficult. I recognize that much of our sales force is required to work from a script dictated to them by their masters, but, at the end of the day, if I have said, "No," that's the bloody end of it. The same goes for the litany of unsolicited phone sales calls I receive each evening.

The capper came just yesterday evening after I got home from work. Two chipper young salespeople from Rogers Cable came calling at my door, dressed in bright red golf shirts and sporting VIP-style ID tags on lanyards. Apparently, they came by earlier asking my wife, "When will your husband be home?"

I hate that crap. My wife is smarter than I am, and is quite capable of saying yes or no and has her own money and credit cards and can make purchases as she chooses. She hates that crap too, but she was so fed up with being treated like a dumb hausfrau, she left the two unsuspecting sales reps to my loving care.

"Sir," said the one, we want to talk to you about your cable, Internet and cellphone situation."
"Do I have a cable, Internet and cellphone situation?"
"I understand you have your cable and Internet with us, but not your cellphone."
"Incorrect," I replied, "My cable is with you. My phone and Internet are with Bell."
"Well, we'd like to tell you about some packages we have."

Bear in mind: All of this is taking place through the screen door. Stupidly, I thought keeping a door between us might communicate my disinterest.

"I'm not interested, thank you."
"...but it's only going to save you a lot of money."
"I'm still not interested, thank you."

Then he dropped the big one: "May I ask, why not?"

"To be truthful," I answered, "I do not appreciate being solicited at my door. Thank you, and have a nice day."

As I'm closing the door, the guy asks me if I'll at least look it up on the Internet.

I hate being so obtuse because I know that these door-to-door and telephone folks are trying to make a living. But I also resent the fact that corporations dispatch marketers like sheep to the slaughter, forcing them to be aggressive and sometimes rude, in order to reclaim a small reply in sales.

That's my rant.

 

[grydth]

Okay.......and.......did you then go check the Internet site?

 

[exile]

Don't feel bad, Gordon. You're considerably more polite than I am. My dialogue with people who call (we're on the national `do not call' registry but some halfwits overlook that little fact):

Them:`Hello, Sir, how are you this evening?'

Me: `What are you trying to sell me?'

This often ends the conversation right there. If it doesn't, things get more pointed still.

Me: `I'm on the national do-not-call registry. Next time you call I'm going to report you to them and you can explain why you're violating the federal law that now protects me from unwanted calls like this one.'

This is a gross intrusion against my right to sit and stare undisturbed at my wall if I want. Your answer, `No, you may not' is perfect. They have no right to any information about your thoughts or intentions, and if there's a violation of civility or politeness involved, it's on their part, for presuming a right to intrude on you that nothing gives them.

 

[Tez3]

We don't tend to get the door to door ones so much as the telephone ones which is puzzling as I'm ex directory! The call centres are nearly always in India and the callers obviously have to read from a checklist which makes it hard for them to answer back when I'm in a whimsical mood and start 'chatting' to them! I even had one hang up on me lol! I sometimes ask them to hold on for a minute while I turn the cooker off and then I leave the phone by the radio for ages, I come back every so often just to check and say I'll be back in a minute. if someone wants to speak to the 'bill payer' I tell them we don't pay bills we just move on to another supplier!

 

[exile]

We don't tend to get the door to door ones so much as the telephone ones which is puzzling as I'm ex directory! The call centres are nearly always in India and the callers obviously have to read from a checklist which makes it hard for them to answer back when I'm in a whimsical mood and start 'chatting' to them! I even had one hang up on me lol! I sometimes ask them to hold on for a minute while I turn the cooker off and then I leave the phone by the radio for ages, I come back every so often just to check and say I'll be back in a minute.

:rofl:

if someone wants to speak to the 'bill payer' I tell them we don't pay bills we just move on to another supplier!

:rofl: :rofl:

 

[Kacey]

The do not call registry, combined with an unlisted phone number, prevent me from getting many solicitation calls - and caller ID takes care of the rest.

The ones that really annoy me aren't the salespeople - the ones who really annoy me are the Mormons who come to the door periodically - some of them are okay, but some really won't take no for an answer. The last time they came, I said no; they repeated their pitch; I said no again, and added that I was Jewish; they repeated their pitch and asked if they could leave a copy of the Book of Mormon on my porch; I said no yet again, and then told them that if they persisted I would call their local branch and file a complaint... they finally left.

 

[Big Don]

When I was in the army I worked as a doorman at a strip bar nights. A well known door to door religion came knocking EARLY about once a month. These people would show up between 7 and 7:30 on Saturday mornings. One Saturday morning I was awakened at 7:15 by someone pounding on my door. Knowing the ex wife was gone, I grumbled as I got out of bed and pulled on some shorts. On the way to the door I grabbed my pistol, figuring a pissed off guy with a gun might keep them from coming back...
So, I walk to the door, snap the deadbolt open, grab the doorknob and yank open the door.
.
.

.

.
.
To see my First Sargeant standing there.
.
.
.
He was amused.
Top loved to fish and his wife didn't so, on the weekends he'd show up at the homes/barracks of his soldiers unannounced and take them fishing for the day. It was a lot of fun.
Jump forward to PT Monday morning
I show up, 10 minutes early and no one is talking.
No one is talking because Top is standing in front of the formation telling a story, yeah, about the time he went to take PFC Simpson fishing and had a gun pulled on him.
No, I never lived it down.

 

[exile]

The do not call registry, combined with an unlisted phone number, prevent me from getting many solicitation calls - and caller ID takes care of the rest.

The ones that really annoy me aren't the salespeople - the ones who really annoy me are the Mormons who come to the door periodically - some of them are okay, but some really won't take no for an answer. The last time they came, I said no; they repeated their pitch; I said no again, and added that I was Jewish; they repeated their pitch and asked if they could leave a copy of the Book of Mormon on my porch; I said no yet again, and then told them that if they persisted I would call their local branch and file a complaint... they finally left.

Some time back, I got proselytizers at my door and they started asking me if I had heard the Good News yet, and in a rare moment of inspiration I asked them, `Do I know you?' And when they said, no—they could hardly say anything else, eh?—I asked them something like, `So why do you think I would discuss my spiritual beliefs, or lack of beliefs, or anything else, with complete and total strangers??' At this point, I think, it became clear that any conversation we had was going to be about their lack of manners, and they beat a hasty retreat. And I've used that line every single time since, with gratifying results. These people expect to get professions of indifference or doctrinal challenge; but when you go for their jugular on grounds of rudeness, things get shakey for them and they figure it's time to cut their losses. At least, that's my guess...

Top is standing in front of the formation telling a story, yeah, about the time he went to take PFC Simpson fishing and had a gun pulled on him.

No, I never lived it down.

Now that is funny!! :lol:

 

[Tez3]

The do not call registry, combined with an unlisted phone number, prevent me from getting many solicitation calls - and caller ID takes care of the rest.

The ones that really annoy me aren't the salespeople - the ones who really annoy me are the Mormons who come to the door periodically - some of them are okay, but some really won't take no for an answer. The last time they came, I said no; they repeated their pitch; I said no again, and added that I was Jewish; they repeated their pitch and asked if they could leave a copy of the Book of Mormon on my porch; I said no yet again, and then told them that if they persisted I would call their local branch and file a complaint... they finally left.

I don't get a lot of unsolicted knocks on the door, for some reason my German Shepherd puts them off. We don't get Mormons anyway, sometimes get Jehovahs Witnesses and it does annoy me when they call me a gentile!!! I tell them my dogs Jewish too.

 

[Touch Of Death]

The other thread about having submit to searches of ones legal purchases in a store got some veins popping in my head.

I don't like it when people try to sell me stuff I didn't ask for.

It happens pretty much every time I visit the gas station or drug store in my neighbourhood -- every time.

They ask me, "Do you have our points card?"
I say, "No."
"Would you like to register for one?"
"No."

They they drop the bomb:

"May I ask, why not?"

My reply, invariably, is, "No, you may not." I don't wish to be rude or difficult. I recognize that much of our sales force is required to work from a script dictated to them by their masters, but, at the end of the day, if I have said, "No," that's the bloody end of it. The same goes for the litany of unsolicited phone sales calls I receive each evening.

The capper came just yesterday evening after I got home from work. Two chipper young salespeople from Rogers Cable came calling at my door, dressed in bright red golf shirts and sporting VIP-style ID tags on lanyards. Apparently, they came by earlier asking my wife, "When will your husband be home?"

I hate that crap. My wife is smarter than I am, and is quite capable of saying yes or no and has her own money and credit cards and can make purchases as she chooses. She hates that crap too, but she was so fed up with being treated like a dumb hausfrau, she left the two unsuspecting sales reps to my loving care.

"Sir," said the one, we want to talk to you about your cable, Internet and cellphone situation."
"Do I have a cable, Internet and cellphone situation?"
"I understand you have your cable and Internet with us, but not your cellphone."
"Incorrect," I replied, "My cable is with you. My phone and Internet are with Bell."
"Well, we'd like to tell you about some packages we have."

Bear in mind: All of this is taking place through the screen door. Stupidly, I thought keeping a door between us might communicate my disinterest.

"I'm not interested, thank you."
"...but it's only going to save you a lot of money."
"I'm still not interested, thank you."

Then he dropped the big one: "May I ask, why not?"

"To be truthful," I answered, "I do not appreciate being solicited at my door. Thank you, and have a nice day."

As I'm closing the door, the guy asks me if I'll at least look it up on the Internet.

I hate being so obtuse because I know that these door-to-door and telephone folks are trying to make a living. But I also resent the fact that corporations dispatch marketers like sheep to the slaughter, forcing them to be aggressive and sometimes rude, in order to reclaim a small reply in sales.

That's my rant.

And so are the hazards of living in a mercheant economy.
Sean

 

[Touch Of Death]

The do not call registry, combined with an unlisted phone number, prevent me from getting many solicitation calls - and caller ID takes care of the rest.

The ones that really annoy me aren't the salespeople - the ones who really annoy me are the Mormons who come to the door periodically - some of them are okay, but some really won't take no for an answer. The last time they came, I said no; they repeated their pitch; I said no again, and added that I was Jewish; they repeated their pitch and asked if they could leave a copy of the Book of Mormon on my porch; I said no yet again, and then told them that if they persisted I would call their local branch and file a complaint... they finally left.

Its part of their religeon not to take no for an answer. I enjoy talking to them myself; I'm waiting to be convinced.
Sean

 

[Carol]

I've been known to make up random sentences as responses to annoying questions. Nothing like having a salesperson thinking you're whacko to get them running from you."

"Space Aliens just don't like peanut butter"

"Why doesn't my auto mechanic sell spinach?"

"Did you know I can count to 1000 in twelve languages? Let me show you. OK. First one is English. One, two, three, four, five, six..."

"I'm under the Atlantic Ocean right now in a secret bubble!"

"Why aren't forests purple? Green is boring."

 

[grydth]

The same poor humor I display here serves my family well in these situations:

When my father was asked,"How are you?" by phone solicitors, he would reply that," I just learned from my doctor that I have AIDS.", and gently hang up. There were never any recalls.

When a certain Witnesses group came to my mother's door, she replied," Sorry, I can't help you, I didn't see the accident.", and calmly closed the door.

I let my 8 year old daughter handle all solicitation phone calls. She'll say, " My daddy's waaaaaaay too busy, but you can talk to me! I love horsies! Do you love horsies?..........."

Even if you're making a small cash purchase, stores today want all sorts of personal info. If they ask zip code or home phone, I make up a neat lie on the spot. If they ask, "Can I have your name?", I reply, "No, I need it."

If a crowded restaurant assures me (right!) that there will be just a 5 minute wait, I tell them my last name is 'Donner"......it can be some fun in a steak house to hear "the Donner Party" over the PA........

For donation pitches at the cash register, I answer that I already have....

 

[Gordon Nore]

If they ask, "Can I have your name?", I reply, "No, I need it."

That's a keeper.

 

[Gordon Nore]

Okay.......and.......did you then go check the Internet site?

Actually, I've heard a lot of people in my region complain about getting their high-speed from this cable company. I've never bothered with it. The HS Internet service I get through my phone company always seems to work. And my cellphone account is a two-year contract, which has worked out fine for me over the years. The cellphone companies are all a pain in the butt IMO, so why switch from a known pain to an unknown pain, unless I need to.

I think a lot of people just get brow-beaten into switching.

 

[Tez3]

I almost feel sorry for salesmen now....almost lol!

 

[grydth]

Actually, I've heard a lot of people in my region complain about getting their high-speed from this cable company. I've never bothered with it. The HS Internet service I get through my phone company always seems to work. And my cellphone account is a two-year contract, which has worked out fine for me over the years. The cellphone companies are all a pain in the butt IMO, so why switch from a known pain to an unknown pain, unless I need to.

I think a lot of people just get brow-beaten into switching.

You.... you've "never bothered with it"??

MAY I ASK, WHY NOT?

(sorry, couldn't resist:angel

 

[Gordon Nore]

You.... you've "never bothered with it"??

MAY I ASK, WHY NOT?

(sorry, couldn't resist:angel

RTFM

 

[Gordon Nore]

RTFM

I picked this smiley quickly. I thought it said ROFL. Then I looked at it. What does it mean?

 

[grydth]

I picked this smiley quickly. I thought it said ROFL. Then I looked at it. What does it mean?

It's probably a solicitation....