The everyday blog of Richard Bartle.
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4:39pm on Wednesday, 30th August, 2017:
Anecdote
I received a cold call this morning from someone about energy efficiency. We're (willingly) on some kind of energy-efficiency information list, so get calls when government-subsidised house improvements become available.
This one was about roof insulation. They spray some kind of foam onto the underside of the roof between the rafters, which solidifies and keeps in the heat. It lasts 25 years, after which someone has to drill it off so it can be replaced, but until that happens you have a nice, cosy house. Apparently, it's fireproof.
Anyway, it sounded as if it might be good, as it has an insulation rating of A as opposed to our current D. The company wanted to send a chap round this afternoon just to do a quick inspection and then run the numbers to see if it would be worthwhile installing. I agreed.
A couple of minutes after this call, another person from the company contacted me. He checked off what he knew about where I lived, and asked if I was the sole homeowner. I said I wasn't: my wife and I own it together. He wanted to know if she'd be there. I said she wouldn't be. He wanted to rearrange the inspection for when she would be. I said that wasn't going to happen. He said that if they send their chap round twice they have to pay his wages twice, so they really want us both there. This was in direct contradiction to what the first caller had said, which was that their chap was in the area anyway and it was no problem to drop in and do a quick check.
I said we weren't going to be both there. I said I was expecting that someone would come along, look in the attic, assess how much they figured they could charge us, then they'd give me the details and I'd then discuss it with my wife. He said they really needed both of us to be there so they could sort it on the day. I said that on principle my wife and I never agree to have people selling us things at the same time, so we have an objective and a subjective point of view. I said that if he wanted to cancel the visit for this afternoon, that would be fine. He concurred that it wasn't worth coming.
I knew from the off that there'd be some sales pressure involved, but normally this kind of caller still sends the sales representative anyway.
Maybe they didn't fancy coming out in the rain.
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Copyright © 2017 Richard Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk).