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darren_strangerInspired by the messages people have been posting lately declaring they will never buy anything or give any business to anyone as a result of spam, i was thinking about this and decided it's a pretty good approach to take to doorknocking, telemarketing and other intrusive advertising in general. This occurred to me the other night on my way up to the bottle shop, as i passed a couple of people going door to door selling something or other. It struck me as quite a neat way to avoid having to give up my precious and limited personal time to someone invading the privacy of my own home to try to sell me something.
Sure enough, by the time i got back home they had reached our door and were waiting for someone to answer. i cruised in the gate, asked what i could do for them and started to get the spiel about whether they could help us save on phone calls etc. That was when i informed them that probably they could, but it didn't matter as we had a strict policy of never buying anything based on telemarketing or door-to-door sales. "Why is that?" they asked, to which i simply told them (with a big friendly smile) it was because we find it intrusive, an invasion of privacy and, quite frankly, we resent it. There was nothing they could say to that but "fair enough", and they smiled bemusedly and left.
i was quite pleased with the way that went, especially when Elaine told me they'd been trying to get her to answer the door by pretending they were someone she knew ("don't you know who this is?") as if that were a fair way to get around anyone trying to impede their god-given right to have their sales spiel heard. If nothing else, it confirmed in my mind that i really have had enough and have no wish to buy anything anyone tries to sell to me that way.
So now, the policy stands, and i'm looking forward to its next application.
Sure enough, by the time i got back home they had reached our door and were waiting for someone to answer. i cruised in the gate, asked what i could do for them and started to get the spiel about whether they could help us save on phone calls etc. That was when i informed them that probably they could, but it didn't matter as we had a strict policy of never buying anything based on telemarketing or door-to-door sales. "Why is that?" they asked, to which i simply told them (with a big friendly smile) it was because we find it intrusive, an invasion of privacy and, quite frankly, we resent it. There was nothing they could say to that but "fair enough", and they smiled bemusedly and left.
i was quite pleased with the way that went, especially when Elaine told me they'd been trying to get her to answer the door by pretending they were someone she knew ("don't you know who this is?") as if that were a fair way to get around anyone trying to impede their god-given right to have their sales spiel heard. If nothing else, it confirmed in my mind that i really have had enough and have no wish to buy anything anyone tries to sell to me that way.
So now, the policy stands, and i'm looking forward to its next application.
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Havent listened to the Cosmic Psychos in YEARS!
Date: 2004-05-25 05:40 am (UTC)Re: Havent listened to the Cosmic Psychos in YEARS!
Date: 2004-05-25 05:43 am (UTC)The best bit was being so damned polite they couldn't get indignant like i'd been as rude to them as they deserved.
Passive aggression rocks.
Re: Havent listened to the Cosmic Psychos in YEARS!
Date: 2004-05-25 06:43 am (UTC)Usually I am aggressive aggressive - which serves its purpose at times - but much more energy wasted.
:)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-25 05:44 am (UTC)I *hate* it when people knock on our door - usually after dark.
It's bad enough with the phone calls.
:)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-25 05:49 am (UTC)I always *hope* the phone company ones will come to me - so I can let them waste time making their speil then say "actually I get my plan for $20 a month can you top that?" look at their horrified puzzled face then say "I'm staff at X telco sorry haha!Staff discount! harrr!".
But they never come to me :(
no subject
Date: 2004-05-25 06:18 am (UTC)If you could prove it.
We work next to an offive of AAPT/Optus footsales weenies, and while I feel sorry for them having to earn a living that way, they're all tossers par extreme (they frequently used to use our parking bays for their cars until we started getting narky.
Plus, at one stage they (or one guy) used to provide speed to their employees in some fashion or other.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-25 07:13 am (UTC)i think the "don't you know us?" was simple smart-arsedness, based on my impression of the pair and Elaine having asked who it was from behind the door (thinking it might have been me returning without my keys). The distinct impression i got was that they'd have thought they were quite justified doing that in response to someone being so rude as to not open their door to a stranger.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-26 12:54 am (UTC)BOOM BOOM!
... I'll get me coat.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-25 06:25 am (UTC)We just tell them to take us off their lists.
I find door to door sales/collectors/whatever to be much much more intrusive. The amount of jobs I have refused to do because it entailed door to dor sales.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-26 10:30 am (UTC)I wonder how.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-25 10:08 am (UTC)I hope they don't, mind you. Slamming the door in people's faces is much more fun than hanging up on them.