I got an e-mail from one of those "scammers" yesterday. He wanted to order 30 sheets of foam from me. I played along. I replied with a price of over $4000. I told him that price included delivery to HIS location. He responded saying that his wife had just gone into labor, so he wouldn't be able to take delivery from me. Instead, he would send a courier to my shop for pick-up (of course, he wanted me to pay the courrier, and add it to his bill).
I e-mailed back, telling him that I'd just had a penile augmentation procedure go horribly awry, so I wouldn't be there when his courier arrived. Instead, I would have a handler there to meet his courier. I told him that my handler insists on being payed $500 cash up front, so have his courier pay my handler, and I would subtract it from his invoice.
I haven't heard back from him, guess I lost a sale. :(
Gene recently linked a youtube video about a guy who really messed with a telemarketer's head. Maybe if we all took the time to get creative with these guys, they'd get discouraged, and get an honest job (but, as long as there's a fool born every minute, probably not).
Quote from: sofadoc on November 12, 2010, 02:49:35 pm
I e-mailed back, telling him that I'd just had a penile augmentation procedure go horribly awry
I knew we had something in common. My surgery went OK though. :)
I have had a few days where I wanted to lay a few games with one of these scammers.
One of these days they are going to catch me in a mood and I am going to twist a few of their brain cells. :)
Chris
Quote from: sofadoc on November 12, 2010, 02:49:35 pm
I got an e-mail from one of those "scammers" yesterday. He wanted to order 30 sheets of foam from me. I played along. I replied with a price of over $4000. I told him that price included delivery to HIS location. He responded saying that his wife had just gone into labor, so he wouldn't be able to take delivery from me. Instead, he would send a courier to my shop for pick-up (of course, he wanted me to pay the courrier, and add it to his bill).
I e-mailed back, telling him that I'd just had a penile augmentation procedure go horribly awry, so I wouldn't be there when his courier arrived. Instead, I would have a handler there to meet his courier. I told him that my handler insists on being payed $500 cash up front, so have his courier pay my handler, and I would subtract it from his invoice.
I haven't heard back from him, guess I lost a sale. :(
Gene recently linked a youtube video about a guy who really messed with a telemarketer's head. Maybe if we all took the time to get creative with these guys, they'd get discouraged, and get an honest job (but, as long as there's a fool born every minute, probably not).
Excellent 8)
I did this just last week end - messed with the scammer not the implant surgery - my husband was out of town at a car show with friends - I kept forwarding my responses to them and I had them in stitches. I love it!
A technique that phone solicitors use is that they call you, you answer the phone and say "hello", and they say nothing. You then say "hello" again, and they know that you are paying more attention to the phone now that you had to say "hello" a second time, than when you first answered the phone. They will then tell you why they are calling (sales pitch).
I think this is rude and manipulative. I would not want a job where I was required to be rude and manipulative.
Occasional, when I am tired or really busy, I will say "Hello". No answer. I say "hello" again. The caller than says "Hello, is this Mr. Smith?" I now know that it is a telephone solicitor. I then say "hello" a third time. The caller says "hello". I say louder "hello". The caller starts to say something and I say even louder "hello". Then "HELLO!!!", "HELLO!!!", "HELLO!!!". I then say "There's no one on the phone.", as if I am saying that to someone in the house. And I hang up the phone.
Street hawkers do a similar thing. They mumble something as you walk by. You stop and say, "I didn't here you. What did you say." They now have your attention and they give you their sales pitch. I was in Gatlinburg, Tn with a friend and she stopped and said this to a street hawker. I took her arm and pulled her away from the guy and we kept walking. She started to protest and said that she didn't hear what he said. I said that's his job. He didn't want you to hear what he said.
I have no interest in spending even 30 seconds with anyone who begins a conversation with deception, tricks, or lying.
gene
The phone people also have their phones dialing several numbers at once, the first one to answer is the one they talk to, the others get disconnected. That is more annoying than saying "hello" twice. By the time I've stopped work and gotten to the phone it's dead. if they call back later in the day, I don't play with them. I just start cursing at them until they hang up on me.
Normally, I will be polite and sweet and interested until I can get near an air tool or a car horn. Then when they are silent waiting for my response, i give it to them.
I'm with you, Gene! Whenever I answer the phone and there is silence on the other end I hang up promptly because I know it's robo call and nothing but a time waster for me. B-bye!
I've always like the one where the homicide detective is asking the telemarketer questions about a murder:
Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYDpjWCPeU8
A few years ago my friends brother was selling a lap top on craigs list. Some Nigerian scammer said he would send dhl to pick it up. This video shows what he got for his worthless check. Too funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14rhNUWlHpo
I hate those off the sell sites. I just put up my three pontiac Fieros for sale on Craigslist and immediately got a response asking if they were still for sale. The next message went into the whole thing about the shipper will be picking it up, blah blah. Total spam scam.
Then the next message I got was someone saying "Hey, why do you have my car listed on your ad." It's a link to an infected site.
I love messing with those guys. If I have time I let them go through the whole sale and they say. So are ready to sign up? And I say well, send me the forms and I will look it over. Then they say they can't and I say well my wife usually makes the decisions. Then they say its risk free, and I say well, I've had a few drinks tonight and I really feel nervous,,by that time they are ready to shoot themselves, it's fun.
Speaking of scams check this out. We've got an upholsterer here that pulls the perfect one. They will give someone an estimate, charge full retail for the fabric and under bid the labor enough to make it look like a really good deal.
They get full deposit for the fabric and order it. But they never pick up the furniture. A few months later the customer calls them back and wants to know whats going on. They always have an excuse like their upholsterers sick or family emergency or something and then say to just come and pick up your fabric.
They haven't done anything illegal just a little dishonest. That's when the customer calls us. Their always surprised when we give them a real quote on the labor. This has happened 8 or 9 times in the 10 years I've been in this area. I don't see how they stay in business.
The last time it happened I went to a lady's house to give an estimate on a sofa and loveseat. She told me she already had another estimate from these people. Not only was their labor quote way low but the fabric quote was 10 yards short. I didn't say anything bad about the other business but just showed her my quote. She was a little surprised but said she thought there was something fishy with them. She's using me.
Quote from: kodydog on November 25, 2010, 10:44:25 pm
Speaking of scams check this out. We've got an upholsterer here that pulls the perfect one.
They get full deposit for the fabric and order it. But they never pick up the furniture.
We had a couple of guys like that in my town 20 years ago. It created such a public dis-trust of upholsterers here, that we had to take jobs in without a deposit.
Dishonest people like this amaze me.
How do they wake up and look at themselves in the mirror ?
I will go without business or lose money on a deal before I will bend my ethical standards
and allow my morals to drift down to the lowers levels of whale sh**.
I truly believe that their judgment day is coming and when it does, they will get everything they have coming to them.
Chris
Remember the pen salesmen, (I still have one call with his bad jokes.) Their sales pitch used to be that they mistakenly printed x number of pens with your name on them and can make you a great deal. My dad had one on the phone and agreed to purchase the pens. My dad said "ship them out right away!" Of course the salesman was happy and just needed my dads name and address. He told him to just look at the pen and hung up. We never got our pens. Imagine that. :D
Quote from: ncydmn on November 26, 2010, 08:43:10 pm
Remember the pen salesmen, (I still have one call with his bad jokes.)
Do they REALLY think that a corny joke will "warm us up", and put us in the mood to buy their crummy pens?
But the ones I hate the most are all of the "Internet Yellow Page" places that call, saying that they only want to "verify your free listing". The want you to state your name, address, and position with the company. When I tell them that I don't want their "free listing", they call back later and say that since I have cancelled my service, a final bill of $400 is now due.
I had a guy walked in one day asking for a can of spray glue. I told him $4. He said "but the guy down the street only want $3". I said "will why don't you buy it from him". He said "because he doesn't have any". I said "I could sell it for $3 too if I didn't have any".
Quote from: kodydog on November 25, 2010, 10:44:25 pm
Speaking of scams check this out. We've got an upholsterer here that pulls the perfect one. They will give someone an estimate, charge full retail for the fabric and under bid the labor enough to make it look like a really good deal.
They get full deposit for the fabric and order it. But they never pick up the furniture. A few months later the customer calls them back and wants to know whats going on. They always have an excuse like their upholsterers sick or family emergency or something and then say to just come and pick up your fabric.
They haven't done anything illegal just a little dishonest. That's when the customer calls us. Their always surprised when we give them a real quote on the labor. This has happened 8 or 9 times in the 10 years I've been in this area. I don't see how they stay in business.
The last time it happened I went to a lady's house to give an estimate on a sofa and loveseat. She told me she already had another estimate from these people. Not only was their labor quote way low but the fabric quote was 10 yards short. I didn't say anything bad about the other business but just showed her my quote. She was a little surprised but said she thought there was something fishy with them. She's using me.Quote
Isn't it the truth about extremely low pricing. Don't most people feel like if they don't pay enough they are going to get a bad job? And for that matter, they usually do. My Dad has a neighbor that saved 6K on his bulkhead job by going with company A, company B had a much better reputation but was higher in price. Wouldn't you know a year later that was problem in a corner that blew out. Company B be was called to come fix it after company A said it wasn't there fault...etc. It cost him another $10K to fix...
I don't take jobs to break even or lose money, sometimes you have to let people get stung before they come to you.
Quote from: kodydog on November 27, 2010, 05:38:40 am
I had a guy walked in one day asking for a can of spray glue. I told him $4. He said "but the guy down the street only want $3". I said "will why don't you buy it from him". He said "because he doesn't have any". I said "I could sell it for $3 too if I didn't have any".
The usual response is that when I don't have them in stock, they are only $2.
A fabric salesman told me that joke years ago. I like your punch line better.