Friday, April 15, 2011

Sales People

A while ago I put my name in a raffle to try and win a free washer/dryer. I didn't, but the people did call me and asked to send a representative over to show us a water softening system and they would give us a $20.00 restaurant gift card just for listening. I said yes, the guy came over, spent 1-2 hours with us and we told him we weren't interested.

Morgan asked me never to do that again. And I didn't plan too. In fact I have told myself that if I ever have someone trying to sell me something like that to tell them straight off that I WILL NOT buy something today. Morgan and I have an understanding that we always sleep on big decisions.

Well earlier this week a guy stopped by to sell me a vacuum system. I tried to tell him we don't have much carpet, but before I knew it I was showing him my living room - to prove my point - and then he went and got a girl to show me the vacuum since he knew I'd be more comfortable that way.

As it happened I didn't get the chance to say to them, I WILL NOT buy this vacuum today, but figured I'd let them clean my carpet and they would just have to deal with it. If they don't give me a chance to say anything to them then they have to deal with the results of their pushiness.

So she vacuumed our carpets and even shampooed the whole living room - I was surprised at how much of a difference there wasn't. With the white carpet I thought it would be a lot worse. It looks nicer, but not freakishly so.

They whole ordeal ended up lasting about 2 hours. I put away my groceries, washed dishes and made dinner while the girl was here. I don't have time just to sit and watch her vacuum, I had a Lamaze class to go to that night.

Anyway, the manager comes back and tries to sell it to me, I tell him I don't really need it - Morgan is only waiting for me to name the day and he'll pull the carpet up - and most importantly I cannot afford 2000 on a vacuum.

They tried their best to sell us the vacuum, going lower and lower in price. Some of my favorite lines were that
"Everyone deserves this good vacuum."

"You have the money, you just don't want to pay it." - Sorry dude, I don't have the money and I'm not going to finance one through you or through my credit card.

"She's worked so hard and she's trying to earn a trip." - To that I responded, As much a I like her, I'm not going to buy a vacuum just so she can go on a trip. He was like of course, not, that's not what I was saying. And I thought, then why did you say it?

Anyway, I liked the vacuum I just don't have the money for it. I do feel unsettled about the whole experience though. I hate how they were trying to guilt us into this. And I know I did let them into my home, I could have been more forthright and less accommodating.

I know this will probably happen again at some point so I have modified my opening sentence.

I will not purchase what you are offering me today. If you cannot offer me the same promotional price a week from today then I will not purchase this item. If this is a problem, or doesn't work for you, I understand and you can be on your way. I will not change my mind. Do you understand that?

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

It helps that when people come to my door they ask to talk to my mom. I can honestly answer that she is not home. :) Or I keep lying and tell them I'm renting the house. Cause I'm a sucker at sales pitches. It's frustrating, for sure. Way to stay strong. :)

David said...

You are WAY more accommodating than I am. I can't believe you let them in for so long! I loved it when we were renting and I just said no to everything cuz it wasn't my house and I didn't care how amazing their product was - I wasn't going to purchase it for a house that I didn't own and didn't care much about. One spent forever showing me how one cleaner could get mold off my sidewalk, siding of my house, clean the grout on my floor and I could even drink it and nothing would happen. I said thanks but no. She was not happy - she said she couldn't believe I would let my children walk on that sidewalk and then walk into my house with those shoes and bring all the mold into my home. Seriously - she thought that line was going to work on me? My kids walk on a lot of sidewalks - am I supposed to go and scrub them all down with this amazing cleaner? Yeah, not gonna happen.