Telecom Door to Door knockers

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#646902 27-Jun-2012 11:19

I had a Telecom sales person one evening many years ago knock on my door just after CDMA launch. First he asked if I have a mobile phone (YES) is it on Vodafone (YES) next Prepay or On accoont (On account) and he advised me if I switch from my current mobile provider he can save me money. Then he asked what my average invoice was per month, Then he left

Kyanar

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#646918 27-Jun-2012 11:56

johnr: I had a Telecom sales person one evening many years ago knock on my door just after CDMA launch. First he asked if I have a mobile phone (YES) is it on Vodafone (YES) next Prepay or On accoont (On account) and he advised me if I switch from my current mobile provider he can save me money. Then he asked what my average invoice was per month, Then he left

Is your average invoice 0 by chance?

Skee

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#646928 27-Jun-2012 12:13

johnr: I had a Telecom sales person one evening many years ago knock on my door just after CDMA launch. First he asked if I have a mobile phone (YES) is it on Vodafone (YES) next Prepay or On accoont (On account) and he advised me if I switch from my current mobile provider he can save me money. Then he asked what my average invoice was per month, Then he left

Gold. (Yes that made me laugh enough to make a post over it)

kingjj

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#647067 27-Jun-2012 15:57

Had two ladies from an Insurance broker knock on our door yesterday afternoon. Being a bit on the unwell and dis-shelved side I be-grudgingly answered the door. The first words out of the lead knockers mouth (after name and showing me her ID) was "now we're not here to sell you anything". This line was repeated every second gasp of breath. They asked me to complete a quick survey which I did (usual: age, what sort of insurance products we have, house hold income) before excitedly telling me that I "qualified" for a follow up call from a consultant to discuss my options for saving money on insurance. When questioned they re-torted that they were not selling me anything, they were just doing a survey to see who qualified for 'assistance'. Admire the way of thinking but not interested and told them as such.

In another case many years ago while moving into a new student flat (within half an hour of arriving) a TelestraClear sales person was on our doorstep trying to sell us cable. I reckon he must have been stalking the area looking for fresh meat moving in.

We moved into our current house (in lower-median soci-economic area) around 6 months ago, before that we lived in a rental in one of Chch's more affluent areas (Fendalton). In 5 years at our rental we only ever got JW's door knockers who get the hint after the third time and never returned. Yet in 6 months in our own house we've received at least half a dozen knockers. Any thought they may target the lower soci areas as the concept of saving money for signing their life away may appeal more to the less fortunate?

mercutio

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#647610 28-Jun-2012 13:46

sbiddle:
plambrechtsen: If they are a Telecom employed door knocker they will have Telecom Photo ID on the front of it will be a Card ID, and on the back of it will be an 0800 number 10 30 60 where you can verify that the card is valid.

The deal they are talking about is you can get Caller ID, Call Waiting & Voice Mail for $10 per month. It's called Smartpack

$10 for that? You can get a VoIP line with local number, caller id, call waiting, voicemail with email notification, call forward, do not disturb, 3 way calling, last number redial for only $1.50 more!

And anoother advantage of that is you can also get it in areas that don't have "smart services".

mercutio

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#647611 28-Jun-2012 13:51

I had a really rude telecom door-to-door knocker a year ago. I was just coming home from work and he wouldn't leave me alone until I told him I wasn't paying anything.

I think in general whenever someone asks how much you're paying you either have to say something really low or that you're not paying anything.

He was trying to sell me tivo I think? I said I don't watch TV but that just seemed to encourage him to try a different angle. And this was all as I was being accosted walking from my car to house.

I think it's best in general to just avoid these people - they always try and make you act quickly/impulsively for mediocre products, with contracts.

I'm not even quite sure what a tivo is - but I seem to remember it's some kind of thing in the US for downloading tv shows or something.?

NonprayingMantis

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#647620 28-Jun-2012 14:01

johnr: I had a Telecom sales person one evening many years ago knock on my door just after CDMA launch. First he asked if I have a mobile phone (YES) is it on Vodafone (YES) next Prepay or On accoont (On account) and he advised me if I switch from my current mobile provider he can save me money. Then he asked what my average invoice was per month, Then he left

I have found that is the best way to get rid of door knockers. Simply tell them you work for the competition. (even when you don’t)

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

BlueShift

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#647624 28-Jun-2012 14:11

NonprayingMantis:I have found that is the best way to get rid of door knockers. Simply tell them you work for the competition. (even when you don’t)

That works well even on the religious types - "no sorry, I work for the opposition - I'm already a committed satanist"

kiwipearls

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#649590 2-Jul-2012 14:46

Thanks for your replies guys.

Glad I am not the only one that is wary of door knockers. And I combated the JW's by putting a sign on my door saying "No Preaching" many years ago. I am amazed they respected that and they don't knock on my door anymore.

Might put one up saying "no Door to Door salespeople".

"In the real world as in dreams, nothing is quite what it seems" - The Book of Counted Sorrows

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UncleArk

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#649702 2-Jul-2012 18:26

I was somewhat taken aback a couple of months ago after telling a telecom door knocker "no thank you I am happy with my current situation" in a polite and friendly manner for them to become quite rude saying things like (not a direct quote but from my memory) "you are a fool not to look at what I have to offer" and other such comments relating to how much I could be saving...

In the end I had to basically shut the door in their face.

Real shame as the end result left me with a bad taste in my mouth about Telecom as a company in general due to the way that this (I can only assume they were genuine) person represented them.

I've never had power companies knock on my door but I get reasonably regular phone calls (maybe every 3 to 4 months - so maybe 3 to 4 times per year) from power companies and they are always very polite and quite happy to be told that I am happy with my current power provider etc...

freitasm

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#649706 2-Jul-2012 18:33

I got a phone call from a power company last week, and while the lady was polite (probably working from home, as her name showed up on my phone, which makes me think she's using VFX VoIP), she did try to spread some FUD when I answered her question about which company we use now (Powershop).

She tried to make me think Powershop is too hard, that I have to buy online to save, etc (not true). I told her again we were happy and wouldn't want to move. She didn't insist.

mercutio

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#649713 2-Jul-2012 18:38

freitasm: I got a phone call from a power company last week, and while the lady was polite (probably working from home, as her name showed up on my phone, which makes me think she's using VFX VoIP), she

fwiw i've found that landlines can come up with names too.

phone calls in general seem to be a bit friendlier than door to door people.

freitasm

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#649717 2-Jul-2012 18:39

I'm talking landlines. I use VFX and if the calling party is also using VFX then the name shows up instead of the phone number.

mjb

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#649720 2-Jul-2012 18:51

kiwipearls: Thanks for your replies guys.

Glad I am not the only one that is wary of door knockers. ?And I?combated?the JW's by putting a sign on my door saying "No Preaching" many years ago. ?I am amazed they respected that and they don't knock on my door anymore.

Might put one up saying "no Door to Door salespeople".

You want a Hawkers Notice.

contentsofsignaturemaysettleduringshipping

mercutio

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#649734 2-Jul-2012 19:20

freitasm: I'm talking landlines. I use VFX and if the calling party is also using VFX then the name shows up instead of the phone number.

I use vfx too, and i know that names can come up from landlines when receiving .. ok .. i just checked... that call came in on 2talk not vfx... 2talk was showing land line names ...

I suppose it's confusing having more than one number that go to the same destination..

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