As I am currently selling my Accord, and it is advertised in Autotrader I have been expecting the usual calls from canvassers who have "clients waiting to buy a car just like mine". A few years ago I would have got wound up by these calls but now I just play along :o)
In the last 10 minutes I have just had a new twist on them though - mobile goes, check number, it's a London number so I'm already fairly confident it is from a canvasser. Sure enough a young girl on the other end asks if my Honda is for sale, then checks it is the same spec as mentioned in the ad. he then goes through all the speel about confirming reg etc for HPI check as their buyers are pre-approved and credit checked etc. etc. etc.
I let her continue on sounding very interested ;o) Then she gets to the new bit (to me anyway), there is an £89 fee for registration of the warranty they supply to their buyers, so in effect they are no longer charging you an advert fee but a fee for a warranty!!!!
I then said that sounded like a superb deal and how would they like to pay me the £89, I could accept paypal, bank transfer, cheque or cash - this seem to be lost on her and it took her about 2 minutes of trying to explain to me that it was me who was meant to pay them before the penny finally dropped that I was winding her up ;o) Then she just hung up on me ;o)
I have to admit it was quite an amusing way of spending 7 minutes, and at least 7minutes spent with me meant 7 minutes less she could spend with someone who is gullible enough to believe there carp. But the warranty angle seems a new twist on an old theme!!!
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 05/02/2008 at 18:15
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Well its a new tactic i suppose, but it annoys me that they only seem to use work experience kids with these sort of sales, mind you beats the hell out of getting a proper job.
Up to a point i can put up with the tele sales, the ones who SWMBO deals with in very short order are the ones who call about the car, but they can get one newer, top of the range, half the mileage and 25% cheaper than the one i'm selling, and in a better colour too.
So why are they talkng to me?
I like the idea of wasting their time for a while though, may have to give that a go when the bloke using my banks name calls next to sell me something i can't do without.
By the way TU, are you turning into Victor Meldrew, didn't he do similar to one of his victims.
Edited by gordonbennet on 05/02/2008 at 21:57
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My tried an trusted tactic is to go with the flow, and offer them a credit card number and name from one of those interminable credit card offers one gets from companies as diverse as Sky and British Airways, for some reason this number doesn't process.
If I don't want to talk to them I make some excuse like "the kettle's boiling, can you hang on ?" and then "forget" to go back....
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By the way TU are you turning into Victor Meldrew didn't he do similar to one of his victims.
I think you must have been talking to SWMBO!!!!!!
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Fantastic. Everybody must listen to it. : )
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Good ole Jeremy Beadle would have been so proud!
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