I've just been told I'm a "very rude man"!

[misterfish]

I'm not one to make a fuss and just want to live a quiet contented life in retirement.

Just before 9 this morning a white van with 'tarmacing' signs on drove down the drive and stopped. Almost instantly the door bell rang and counting to ten I then answered the door. "Good morning" he greets me and I politely reply "Good morning. I'm not interested thanks".

At that point he then goes on to say that he isn't here to to drum up trade, but that he is making a return social call! In my best sceptical voice I tell him I've never seen him before,(he's a huge bloke built like a brick s*** house) but no, he insists that he and his father have been coming here for years! When i point out that we've only been here a few years, don't know him and are not interested. He then changes tack and says he's done work for the local farmer - a Mr Bentall. Now I happen to know that the local farmer is my brother-in-law and we actually live in the farmhouse. We've never heard of Mr Bentall.

So he changes tack again to say he's working at the local social club and asks if I know it - when I tell him I do he then says that it's one a few miles along the coast at Emsworth.

After emphasising that I'm not interested and want him to leave I'm then told I'm a very rude man. A final I'm not interested from me and again being told I'm very rude, I shut the door!

This type of behaviour really riles me but I can see how some people would be browbeaten into having work done.

The thing is that my drive could do with some work, but I want to choose a local company with a decent reputation where I'll get a decent job done.

Right - got that off my chest!

Misterfish

 

[9fingers]

I just don't understand how any householder would agree to having a job done on the spur of the moment. Surely any such job if it needs doing will require consideration, planning, multiple quotations etc.
We get cold calls from DG installers and it is plain to see that all of our windows are DG already.

I sometimes have a bit of fun with these types by throwing them off their script.
them: Good Evening, I'm sorry to trouble you.
me: No you are not sorry- you deliberately walked onto my property and rang the bell. I class that as a pre-meditated act of disturbance!

usually works!

Well in all my dealings with you Jeff, you have been a very very nice man so I reckon he is wrong!

Bob

 

[Harbo]

In my previous existence, building roads and especially in Urban areas, we often had these people going around at night saying they were from the Contractor and that they had a lot of blacktop left over and could do a very cheap job?
Despite the Contractor carrying out a letter drop warning the householders, several fell for it and had the cheap job done. The irony is that when it failed after a few weeks, they came to the Contractor seeking compensation!

Rod

 

[RogerS]

I don't know what your local Community Support Officers are like but round our way, especially as we have quite an elderly population, they take quite an interest in these cowboys.

 

[Richard T]

You're lucky he stopped after you shut the door Mr. F. I had one a few months ago shouting and yelling obscenities for several minutes at the other side of the door after I had been perfectly polite and reasonable.

I'm considering fitting a trap door in the porch with a shark tank below.

 

[mickthetree]

Had two guys in suits come round insisting they could save me money on my telecoms, they would just need to come in and make a quick test call on my phone line!! When I said I wasn't interested they said, in a very insulting tone "so you are not interested in saving money?"

Kept badgering to come inside and use my phone, until I made it very clear they were no longer welcome on my property.

There are lots of elderly people down our road so I called the 101 non emergency number. They were very good and sent a panda car out.

Turns out they were genuinely from a telecoms company, but had not applied for a licence to canvas our street. They were sent on their way with a stern warning.

Didn't know about the 101 number till my neighbours told me about it. Very handy.

 

[bugbear]

Didn't know about the 101 number till my neighbours told me about it. Very handy.

There's something like 4 or 5 numbers like that.

Just what we need. Doubt and confusion about which number to call. Why not just have '999' and a decent priority system at the handling end?

Look like 101 is an attempt to make things a little better.

Than this:

http://website.lineone.net/~familykeens/policeno.htm

BugBear

 

[misterfish]

It's useful to know about the 101 - i'll be ready next time.

The amusing thing is I've now got a variant of the "Life of Brian" in my head ... 'He's not the messiah, he's a very rude man'

Now, must plan trapdoor, large marine underground tank and a supply of sharks. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Misterfish

 

[JMcK]

Just what we need. Doubt and confusion about which number to call. Why not just have '999' and a decent priority system at the handling end?

Because you get numpties ringing on the 999 system asking where they can get a taxi etc.. Whatever your priority system they are still blocking the line for emergency calls. It can take valuable time to assess a call's priority.

 

[loz]

bring your 12 gauge to the door next time

 

[Sawyer]

Door-knocking religious proselytisers can be scarecly less persistent sometimes, I've found. There can be fun to be had, though! :twisted:

And only about 4 months to Halloween, so not too soon to get in some early practice at responding to the vexatious demands of local youths.

 

[mickthetree]

FYI I'm not entirely sure if 101 is available in all counties. I know there were some trial areas. May have been rolled out nationally, but worth checking before you need it in anger ;-)

 

[Jonzjob]

Some years back a mate of mine in Gloucester had an evening cold call about conservatories. He had nowt to do and she sounded very nice. After 20 or so mins he had decided all the bits and bobs, how many sockets, etc. She said that the next step was to send one of their guys round and she needed his address.

When he gave his address as Flat C, so on, she asked, in a startled tone, if he lived in a ground floor flat. In fact he was in a very nice 1st floor flat. She said 'golly gosh' a few times. Something like that, called his mother a sport and insinuated that he looked after a bar and slammed the phone down. He said that up to then she had been very friendly an didn't understand the change :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Made me chuckle. We get lads of cold calls here and as soon as you ask if they can speak English they go away. We also get blokes ringing the gate bell asking to do various things. I just send then away. There's a 'beware of the dog' sign and they don't argue.

 

[Harbo]

We had the 101 where I live but there was talk of stopping it because of cost savings?

Rod

 

[SammyQ]

Mr F? Empathy mon ami. In this part of the world, it is 'The Travelling Community' that try on this aggressive scam. I'm not being racist or anti-TTC, it's just a hard fact. They may, or may not be representative of Travellers in general, but I found that they were intent on gaining access to my property, reasons unknown.... While the 'hard sell' was done by an obnoxious 12-year-old, at the door, his (presumed) genetic donor tried to take advantage of my distraction and look in our front windows!

Pity really, 'cos Simeon and Timothy had just returned from fencing training, all pumped up and adrenaline-filled and, as Seamus bent his head and cupped his hand over his eyes to see in the window to case the joint, Sim and Tim on the inside likewise cupped theirs and bent their heads too, so that their eyes met his......then my two twenty-year-olds came out to me and the three of us (we're all over six feet) gently, silently, advanced into their personal spaces until their gypsy feet were off the premises. We have fragile pensioners living in the street and I'm afraid my clan were called upon for moral support again before my painter-decorator neighbour arrived poste haste with his entire workforce, having been summoned by his wife, who was being barricaded inside her house by the twelve-year-old....No blood was shed, nor did we resort to 'verbal', but in contrast, we too were excoriated by the retreating unscrupulous crew. It shows I suppose how thin our veneer of society, order and lawfullness really is in the face of uncaring and immoral individuals. :shock:

Sam

 

[Dibs-h]

Our drive is way past it's use by date and we do get a lot of folk stopping and offering to do it. If I'm not home Wifey just tells them to pop back in the evening or weekend - i.e. when I'm home.

I'll not doubt be working on the house somewhere and when the doorbell goes - I'll open the door in my workwear, usually wearing a Marshalls logo'd polo shirt (used to work for them a few yrs ago & all the staff, including office staff, wore them. Now wear them for doing stuff round the house) at which point their gob drops and they say something like "Sorry mate! Didn't realise you work for Marshalls!" and then do one.

Still quite amusing when it happens!

Dibs

 

[kmcleod]

We were getting lots of these 'people' trying to sell 'green' energy, windmills, solar etc etc, so after the third or fourth guy I decided to take a new tack.

Salesman - hi I'm here to talk about blah
Me - oh great, more business, and your name and company name is - me standing looking expectant and armed with paper and pencil
Salesman - sorry, business, what do you mean ?
Me - well it was in the letter I sent to your companies, dont tell me they didnt tell you ?
Salesman - no looking very confused,,,em,,,sorry no they didnt
Me - well you see, I notified your company that if you decided to knock on my door, it was acceptance of a proposal to engage me as a consultant, and that the flat rate would be £1000 per hour, or part of, so thanks, that's another grand in the bank.
Salesman - em, no, that cant be right, we, I, I mean,,(obvious panic setting in)
Me - thats OK, you can take you time, you have an hour, though I would finish by then, you see the rate for te seconf hour is £5000
Salesman - oh, oh,,,right, em sorry to bother you, must be a mistake,,,bye,,,,

after the third time of doing this the word must have gone round and we dont get bothered any more !!

if we do, then I will send the letter to their head office, along with an invoice,,,,,,

 

[wobblycogs]

The inlaws were recently pressured into buying solar panels for their house. It makes me so cross these scum prey on those that are less able to put up a fair fight. What I find amazing is they discussed it with me before finally signing up. I took them through a realistic costing and return plan to show them that it was a poor investment. The salesman obviously showed them the best possible figures as they are convinced they'll make a huge return. To be fair to the company the jobs been well done but it wasn't right for the customer and is the result of high pressure selling which is just wrong in my book.

 

[woodbloke]

Since we put a 'No Cold Callers' sign in the front window (supplied by the Neighbourhood Watch lady) we've had no-one hammering on the door...seems to work round our way - Rob

 

[jpt]

Just tell them you only rent the house they soon loose interest.

john