I was annoyed at this bloke from electric company X (nice shirt, badge ID around his neck etc) refusal to take no (or even NO) for an answer.
I answered the door and his first words were "you pay electricity by direct debit - right". This arrogant exclamation was accompanied by having his clip-board at the ready and pen poised to record my answer. I asked - just who the hell are you and what do you want?
More nonsense answers ensued and as I'm with e-on and not X, (no claims for their greatness from me), I tried to get out of him what his connection with them was and why he thought I had to answers his questions. More BS replies, so I basically said I don't wish to carry on this conversation - just go away.
Anyway, afterwards, once of his sentences came back to me. He said something like "e-on are subject to regulators - and we are not". I could be misquoting this (given the circumstances) but it was something close to it. Anyone know what this might be in reality?
Thanks ps Any favorite (legal- successful) ways to get rid of these pests in < 30 seconds appreciated :-)
After determining that they are a pest, I always found the best way was to simply say "I'm not interested, Goodbye" and shut the door on them there and then - even if they are still in full flow talking. If they knock on the door again just shout "F off" without opening the door. They soon get the idea and go away.
You're too polite. Usual approach which takes under 20 seconds is to just say 'Sorry, not interested' and close the door on them.
Always good to listen as you close the door too.
The double glazing salesman who suspected I single handedly pursued an active sex life got the shock of his life when I ran down the path, vaulted the garden wall and landed right in front of him and asked him to repeat his observation to my face.
I used to have a notice at the entrance to my property that said "No sales reps, hawkers or bible bashers, Thank You"
I now have a notice that reads" There is no right of access to sales reps, hawkers or bible bashers and anyone from the TVLA had better be harder than me. Thank you"
The Betterware woman used to keep shoving catalogues through my letter box after the first notice went up and then kept posting letters asking for her catalogues back. I phoned her and said she could book an appointment to collect the catalogues but I would charge her £30 to meet her. She no longer posts catalogues at my house.
I get very few unwanted visitors selling anything. The ones that have knocked on my door (N Power and the Jehovah's Witnesses) were told to f*ck off and not bother coming back. They went and never returned.
Exactly. That is what hard-sell door to door salesmen rely on. Same as telephone sales people. While the punter is listening they continue the sales pitch. They are trained to continue with the sales pitch irrespective; and to only stop when the punter has either hung up the phone or closed the door on them. The absolute worse thing to do is allow them into your home as it makes it much more difficult to stop the sales pitch. I've heard of people buying *whatever* just to get the person out of their house!
Just because a salesperson asks a *loaded* question does not mean you have to give them a reply: "Have you considered buying from us instead of xyz? Did you know that we are cheaper and give better service ? Why don't you want to save money by switching to us? Have you got money to burn?"
A polite person tries to end the conversation in a conventional way with an exchange of "Goodbye" or equivalent. The only time a salesman will utter that word is AFTER a sale; otherwise they will keep talking at you.
The OP needs to be more firm and decisive in his response. As soon as he decided he doesn't want to continue the conversation he should terminate it and close the door. It isn't rocket science. It also feels good in a strange sort of way as they are left still rambling on with the sales pitch as the door closes in their face. :-)
Lol we have a large German Shepherd he is VERY good at getting rid of people who don't understand NO! Last time it was two elderly Jehovah's Witnesses, just said I wasn't interested and didn't think I could hold the dog back much longer....... never seen an old biddy run so fast.
Seen numerous people walk up, read it then walk away!
***STOP*** - BEFORE You Press The Bell-Push... We DO NOT want to be disturbed by anyone selling goods or services (including utilities), doing surveys, collecting for charity or wishing to discuss religion (Yes, Jehovah's Witnesses are included). Unless you are known to us personally, are delivering something, or there is a genuine emergency, please turn around, walk away and leave us alone! This INCLUDES collectors of catalogues like Betterware. Feel free to pop one through the door, we may put it out for you to collect if we remember, but please don?t count on it (or call for it if it is not on the doorstep) If by chance you do take it upon yourself to annoy us, we reserve the right to reward your action with a bucket of water (Which may have been sitting around for several months), thrown at you. Pressing the bell-push confirms your acceptance of the above conditions. CCTV and audio recording is in operation on these premises, so please smile, you may end up on the internet
Had a cold call on the phone the other day (on the TPS registered number as well). This one however was from someone attempting to book appointments for a solar heating sales rep. So I thought I might as well have some fun with her. She launched off with a "have you noticed how gas prices are going up", to which I countered that I had just changed suppliers and saved £600/year. She glossed over that, and followed on with "have you go a wife there" (presumable hoping to book a time with both of us). She was a bit taken aback when I thanked her for the offer, but pointed out that I hardly knew her! She asked if I knew anything about solar heating, so I said I had looked into it, and then said to be honest if I were going to do anything with it, I would do it myself anyway. She countered with "It not actually that simple", I said "oh come on, its hardly rocket science", and got another "It not actually that simple", so gave a her a quick run down on differential temperature controllers, pointed out the number was on TPS and so please don't ring again, said goodbye and hung up.
Aw, don't be so mean JW's can be quite fun if you have an hour or two for a chat.
This colder caller thing must be town/urban thing, we don't get them. At least not the carpet cleaning/d.glazing/switch your energy provider type. We do get the very occasional mobile fruit & veg van, probably someone starting up or really desperate to expand their area, normally only see them once. I guess they quickly realise that with at least 5 mins between houses/farms it means you don't get any return for your mileage or effort.
I think we have only had 3 sets of JW's in 10 years, have you ever seen depressed looking JW's we have.
Our most common callers are lost tourists or delivery drivers trying to find some farm and the SatNav putting them in the middle of a field up to a mile from where they want to be. B-)
"Funnily enough, I work for (name the local supplier) on the regulatory side - can you give me your details please, as i'm submitting a report on 'erroneous transfers' to OFGEM next week..."
There are signs up locally stating that 'this is a cold calling control zone'. Your post prompted me to look it up.
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it seems to have been around since July 07 and I had no idea what it was all about - obviously well publicised.
I still have no real idea what its about & I might well live in one - can't find any details of what area it covers, apart from 'Strood' (where I live). No communication from the council that I or SWMBO can recall.
Seems like various authorities have them; Leicester, Norfolk, Hampshire, Surrey all come up on Google.
The most entertaining one we had was a pair of old biddies from one of the local churches going house to house having a chat etc. They were making their rounds in mid afternoon and hence many people were out. However SWMBO was in, and saw then ambling up to the front door.
Now its a bit of a running joke in our family that inspite of being actually a week younger than she, I have been mistaken for her father on a number of occasions - this is partly down to our 14" difference in height, but mostly due to her youthful appearance. Now to complete this picture its also worth bearing mind that at the time, she was in her early 30's and about 8 months pregnant with sprog #1. SWMBO opened the door to them. They quickly looked her up and down and made an assessment of the situation - although they did not actually scream "oh no, its one of those pregnant teenagers we have read all about", the expression on their faces conveyed the thought process. The opening gambit from biddy
1 did not go down well either; there was brief pause followed by "Oh hello dear, is your mother in?". She said "No", and was just about to point out that her mother lived about 15 miles away, and that *she* was in fact the lady of the house, when they quickly said sorry for disturbing her, scurried off. Ten mins later one returned to drop a note through the letterbox with a little intro to the church and a scribbled note saying "we met your daughter, sorry we missed you when we called"!
I'm bemused by those who call at the door, or accost me when out, and claim, without any information about my existing power supply arrangements, that they can save me large amounts. It is simply fiction.I have found that all sites show negative savings against my Scottish Power tariff, so I'll stick for the moment.
A guy from N Power waltzed up and immediately claimed that, if he could check the numbers on the meters, and they matched his sheet, then he could save me money. Suffice to say his pitch was lengthily deconstructed, and a complaint was lodged.
A year or two ago somebody called round:
Hello, are you well? No, that's why I'm not at work. I'm just calling...fascias...in the area...quotation. No thanks, I never deal with companies that cold call. But I'm not selling anything. Fine, I'm not buying. Would you like a leaflet. No thanks. But if you had not been in, I'd have put one through the door. And I have a large recycling bin. Are you sure? You can put it straight in the bin yourself if you like (indicates blue wheelie bin) That would be foolish. Exit.
I recently had an interchange of letters with the Post Office about their inability to implement my opt-out of unaddressed mail, due, I surmised, to a fundamental flaw in their methodology. Quite simply, if it isn't the regular guy, then there is nothing to flag my opt-out. The simplest way to do it, if they really wanted it to work, would be stickers on the letterbox. (Must be holiday relief at the moment - I need to catch him to return yesterday's delivery)
Each letter they sent had a different signatory and was crudely-assembled and contradictory boilerplate, which did not address anything I said in any detail. They included a paragraph inviting me to respond if I was not satisfied. When I did so they simply said that the matter had been resolved to their satisfaction, and that was the end of it.
Despite TPS, there are still calls. I had one from an Asian call centre the other day.
We'd like to send you a free phone. Oh yes? Yes, it won't cost you anything. Really? Completely free! So you want to send me a phone, I can keep it as long as I like, make as many calls as I like, and it won't cost me anything? Click. bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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