ID10T Part 3

It seems that I am living in a vacuum. Despite the reports to the contrary, it appears that no one is really interested in giving me a bid on my upcoming bathroom remodeling job.  

You've heard all about my run-in with the first wanna-be contractor.  Well, a few days after I got all my frustrations off my chest by opening blogging about my troubles, wanna-be contractor #2 called.  I wasn't sure this person would ever materialize because they weren't hounding us seconds after we returned from the home improvement show.  But they finally called and I spoke to a very pleasant woman on the phone.  

Given that I was getting ready to leave for a business trip, and the fact that they like to talk to both buying parties at the same time, we scheduled the appointment for this past weekend.  I have this 'thing' (ok, it is a compulsion) to make sure that things are neat and tidy when someone comes over.  Well, last week was a bear at work so I was too exhausted to clean when I finally got home every night from work.  My plan was to leave early - or earlier than normal - on Friday and clean up the house. I did leave around the time I had planned but was too wiped out to even think about cleaning on Friday night.  Since Sales Guy #2 was supposed to show up at 10 am on Saturday, I was forced to do the unthinkable - set my alarm on a weekend!  

I got up and scrambled to clean the house as much as possible before the expected arrival time.  I managed to get almost everything cleaned up, which was a challenge with Coal running around making a mess behind me.  He would steal the paper towels and shred them all over the carpet I just vacuumed or jump on a counter or window that I just cleaned.  Nevertheless, I finished up with about 15 minutes to spare and we waited patiently for the knock on the door.

And we waited.  And waited. And waited.  Eighty minutes after our scheduled appointment time, we decided the guy was never going to show.  I can't call them because I honestly can't recall the name of the company. I figure that if he didn't call to confirm the appointment or call to cancel then he doesn't really want or deserve my business.

I got a referral from a friend whose Mom had someone who does awesome work, so we will give them a try.  If all else fails, this may end up being a DIY project which I really don't want to do.  This one is way over my head!

ID10T Part 2

Blogging about the Idiot Salesman the other day made me feel so much better.  I wasn't the only one who thought he was a big jerk and acted like a 4 year old who was told he couldn't have his toys.  I was even prepared to commit my experience in writing to the owner to make sure that he was at least aware of the way we were treated.

Earlier tonight my phone rang, and I immediately recognized the number.  I hesitantly answered the phone and it was my buddy K - the king of scheduling/confirming/rescheduling appointments.  K started off my saying that his records showed that newbie sales guy had been out to see us.  Uhm, no - we never saw newbie guy, I calmly replied.  K started to panic, because he knew I wasn't very happy about the whole rescheduling thing.  I explained that we didn't see newbie guy, instead ID10T sales guy came out to visit.  

K tried this whole spiel about their records indicated we didn't buy because of price and the owner wanted to "get in our area" and that they were willing to work with us on the numbers.  Ha!  I don't think K was expecting what he got next from me. I explained that under 'normal' circumstances I would have been happy to get his call and talk to him about this.  However, given the fact that ID10T guy basically told me I was stupid and that I wouldn't call him again, I'm not really sure I was comfortable dealing with them as a company.  K stuttered and stammered trying to get his bearings.  "Are you sure it was ID10T that was at your house?  I've rarely heard this kind of thing about him."  Yes, I was positive who was there and it wasn't the newbie.  I explained a little more about my conversation with ID10T and again explained that if ID10T was the head of the division and the trainer, I didn't have a lot of confidence that in what the rest of the employees were like.

K was furiously jotting down notes so he could talk to the owner or someone in the morning.  He wants to call back in about a month to see if we are past the strike issue and maybe they could earn our business then.  They can call me until the cows come home, I doubt they can change my mind unless they come up with some incredible deal (i.e. they pay me for the pleasure of remodeling my bathroom and not spreading their name all over the internet)!

I suspect that sometime tomorrow afternoon, my phone is going to ring again and I will see that all too familiar number once again.  I kind of hope it is ID10T calling personally - I have a few things I would LOVE to share with him!!

An Open Letter to Salesmen

Dear Sales Guy,

I asked you into my home because I need something that you have to offer.  Or at the very least, something you have to offer intrigued me enough to find out more. It takes a special kind of person to do your job.  I can appreciate what you do but I have a few things to get off my chest.

First, if you set an appointment with me for a day and time that was your idea, you should have a really good reason for canceling on me.  Not one time, but twice (and almost 3 times).  Better yet, if you are the Sales "Manager/Trainer" who is sitting at my kitchen table, you should knows that this happened to me before you tell me how you purposely overbook appointments on the hope that somebody cancels or backs-out.

Secondly, I think it is a small world that you know someone that I work with.  I even find it slightly amusing that you figured out where I worked based on the description of what I do (although I work in a very specialized industry without much local competition, so it wasn't hard).  But I'm sorry, some of the stories you relayed to me were very personal and quite frankly, a little uncomfortable to hear. You have no idea what my working relationship is with "one of your 5 best buds". I might have a big mouth and my colleague may not want this type of information shared about their past. You obviously aren't very good at reading body language either. Not once did you pick up on my obvious discomfort - I really didn't want to know these types of things and thought it was inappropriate to share that kind of information with a stranger.  Oh, and your future relative that was recently "fired for no apparent reason"?  Not understanding why might be a big part of the overall problem of continuing employment- 'nuf said.

Finally, I appreciate the fact that it is more cost effective for you to close the sale on your first visit.  I can even appreciate that you are trying to make some money on the job or service that you are trying to sell me.  But don't insult the customer.  If you p!ss me off, I most assuredly won't buy from you.  I would like the time to think about what you are offering me.  Consider the fact that I walked in the door after you did tonight, I never had a chance to sit down and relax for a minute - or eat dinner.  I even showed you what I wanted done before I even took off my coat!  You talked almost non-stop for 3 solid hours without taking a breath and then asked me to make a decision in 3 minutes.  When I requested some more time, what did you do?  You basically told me I was an idiot, that I would never call you back and then you pouted and took your toys and went home.  Never mind the fact that I just told you that my husband may go on strike any day now. Never mind the fact that the economy really sucks right now and making any type of big investment is risky.  Never mind, I'm obviously stupid and have no idea what I am doing nor will I ever be a "professional" buyer - at least that is what I got out of your parting comments.

It's too bad, you seemed to have something that I need and for a price that I'm willing to pay.  I can even overlook the cancelled appointments and the inappropriate stories about an old friend, but when you insult my intelligence - you are D-O-N-E.

Sincerely,

Mr. and Mrs. Monkeygirl