The angry thread

austinbob · February 11, 2015, 07:08:26 PM

Door to door salesman this evening - SWMBO opened door to him (it). Selling cavity wall insulation. 'I'm going up and down your road today offering our services to survey the outside of your house with a view to installing cavity wall insulation with the help of a government grant'.

SWMBO knows we have no cash as I spend it all on N gauge stuff and she spends it on wool so says 'we're not interested'.

Salesman keeps going and forces survey form into her hand saying 'we'll be round tomorrow to measure up. SWMBO says 'You're wasting your time cos we don't have cavity walls, we don't have any cash and we're not interested'.

Salesman keeps pressure on and says 'We'll be able to confirm that for you tomorrow please fill out the survey request form'.

At this point I walk to front door and said - 'My wife says we're not interested. Which part of that sentence do you not understand'. Salesman said 'What did you say to me' in a very aggressive way and I said 'We are not interested go away'. and shut the door in his face.

How do these people get away with this. Me and SWMBO are getting on a bit but can still shoo these people off. What about all the older and frail people who could easily be intimidated by such Salesman (or they may even be con artists trying to get a quick look round your property for burglary opportunities).

I would never buy anything from a cold caller. If I want something I research what I want and suitable suppliers and get them round for a quote.

Most of these cold callers are just chancers and you can't help feeling that they might just chuck a brick through your window if you upset them!

I am so annoyed about this.

trkilliman · February 11, 2015, 07:23:11 PM

It's similar with telephone calls. Sick and tired of people asking me to take part in a survey, asking me what energy provider I have...even had a call from J.D.Williams clothes seller trying to get me to buy gas through them.

I am aware that some draw you into conversation and then try to get personal details from you...well they can all naff off. A friends husband lets them talk and when they ask him a question he bellows down the phone at the top of his voice **** off. Strangely the number of nuisance calls they get has fallen dramatically! lol

I am supposed to be "shielded" from nuisance calls, so it must be awful for those that are not!

austinbob · February 11, 2015, 07:28:21 PM

Quote from: trkilliman on February 11, 2015, 07:23:11 PM
It's similar with telephone calls. Sick and tired of people asking me to take part in a survey, asking me what energy provider I have...even had a call from J.D.Williams clothes seller trying to get me to buy gas through them.

I am aware that some draw you into conversation and then try to get personal details from you...well they can all naff off. A friends husband lets them talk and when they ask him a question he bellows down the phone at the top of his voice **** off. Strangely the number of nuisance calls they get has fallen dramatically! lol

I am supposed to be "shielded" from nuisance calls, so it must be awful for those that are not!

I'm supposed to be shielded from these calls but it doesn't work. The worst calls are the pre-recorded ones like when you hear 'Natwest, Barclays.. etc. (ppi calls) where you don't even have the satisfaction of telling them to **** off.

Surely the people that instigate these calls must have realised by now that everybody hangs up after the first couple of words. Anyway - how do these people get away with still doing this stuff??

Jon898 · February 11, 2015, 08:47:33 PM

Here's a fun way to get rid of a telemarketer, courtesy of comedian Tom Mabe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W75lsvrvTU0

The laughs in the background are from the radio show "The Bob and Tom Show", so it's not as "PC" as it could be.

austinbob · February 11, 2015, 08:56:49 PM

Quote from: Jon898 on February 11, 2015, 08:47:33 PM
Here's a fun way to get rid of a telemarketer, courtesy of comedian Tom Mabe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W75lsvrvTU0

The laughs in the background are from the radio show "The Bob and Tom Show", so it's not as "PC" as it could be.

Thank you Jon. You have made an angry man a happy man - that was just so cool!!

zwilnik · February 11, 2015, 09:05:39 PM

Quote from: austinbob on February 11, 2015, 07:28:21 PM

Surely the people that instigate these calls must have realised by now that everybody hangs up after the first couple of words. Anyway - how do these people get away with still doing this stuff??

Because BT make a ton of money from them (same as the Post Office makes its profit from junk mail and not stamped mail) and every now and again one of these calls catches someone who doesn't realise they're a scam and they make a profit on it.

Suspect it'll take something fairly radical (like re-nationalisation of BT and Post Office and a blank ban on cold calls/junkmail) to have any effect on them.

austinbob · February 11, 2015, 09:10:16 PM

Quote from: Zwilnik on February 11, 2015, 09:05:39 PM
Quote from: austinbob on February 11, 2015, 07:28:21 PM

Surely the people that instigate these calls must have realised by now that everybody hangs up after the first couple of words. Anyway - how do these people get away with still doing this stuff??

Because BT make a ton of money from them (same as the Post Office makes its profit from junk mail and not stamped mail) and every now and again one of these calls catches someone who doesn't realise they're a scam and they make a profit on it.

Suspect it'll take something fairly radical (like re-nationalisation of BT and Post Office and a blank ban on cold calls/junkmail) to have any effect on them.

Unfortunately you're probably right - how sad is that!

trkilliman · February 11, 2015, 09:34:47 PM

Bulk postings...commonly called junk Mail. I spent 18 years in Bristol's main sorting office (finally let out for good behaviour lol) At one stage during the 90s we were told that 40p in every £ in our pay came from bulk postings/junk mail.

MikeDunn · February 11, 2015, 10:34:42 PM

you can get a small device to connect on the phone line that you can then block the callers on. ours is built into the phone we have; it's great

mark100 · February 16, 2015, 04:59:31 PM

Well fourteen weeks off work due to a leg injury after a bike crash, then followed by 3 weeks of last years holiday entitlement to use up.

Guess What? Today was the last day of the leave, Back to work tomorrow,

Bealman · February 17, 2015, 05:30:14 AM

BYE BYE BAT TREE....

A huge tree (more like a big Aussie weed) in an awkward corner out the back of Chez Bealman which has been growing since we moved in (new in 1981), has recently started attracting fruit bats at night. The thing should have been removed years ago.... I didn't plant it, and I have a suspicion that it may have started life on the other side of the fence.... anyway.

Waking up to big liquid bat droppings every morning was the final straw, so today, in came.... THE LUMBERJACKS!!
[smg id=21711 type=preview align=center width=400]
[smg id=21712 type=preview align=center width=400]
[smg id=21713 type=preview align=center width=400]
So why is this in the angry thread? 'Cos Michael Palin and his mates cost me $1400, that's why. That's a lot of N gauge bikkies.

They did a great job, though, and it's certainly not easy work. At least we did not have to get permission and pay the council a fee (they won't let you touch Australian native trees). For the more botanical members, the tree was apparently Celtis occidentalis, or Common Hackberry.

Good riddance.

daveg · February 17, 2015, 08:30:17 AM

We have problems with the Ozzy Eucalyptus here in the UK.

They seem to be planted by folk who have no idea how big or how rapidly they grow.

Beautiful in the right place they can be a a real PITA and expensive to remove.

Dave G

Geoff · February 17, 2015, 08:39:04 AM

Bealman I am fuming you are destroying your lovely Fruit Bats, these little cretins are a pain in the ass so I can not see the problem you were having

, just think about all that muck they provided, free manure for your plants and free foot prints into your den where does it all end and did the Lumberjacks give you the chance to keep the timber to use for your barbie if not report them to "I want to keep my timber brigade 0111133344555, you should get no response from that number.

Why am I writing this diity well just looked at your picture and you have Blue Sky and here in the UK its bloody freezing, and horrible now run along and eat your Fruit Bat Pie there's a good chap.

Bealman · February 17, 2015, 09:48:32 AM

Crack up!

Oldun · February 17, 2015, 11:06:45 AM

Bealman. Just out of interest, did they do anything to the stump to stop possible re growth such as
new side shoots

If not, I have found that a couple of long copper nails hammered in definitely does the trick. Should
be available from any decent yacht/boat chandlers.

Had a large

ivy years ago, no matter what we tried the

kept reappearing. In
the end I was told of the copper nail trick, whacked one in, never saw it again

Roger