Short one tonight. I just spent a grueling two hours with a bathroom upgrades salesman.
One of the lessons I’ll have to learn as a homeowner is never to say yes when a salesperson comes around and says, “Hey, we’ll just send a guy around to give you a quick estimate; tell you about our sale prices. No pressure.”
It ends up as 120 minutes of close interaction (with visual aids) in which a poor working stiff brings out all his hyperbole and powers of persuasion, talking in the “when” mode while I’m keeping to the “if” mode.
In the end I told him I never make such decisions on the same day, as a matter of policy. He then called his boss and asked him if they could offer me the job at parts plus labor only, just because they want to list an address where they’ve done a job in this area on an advertising card. I still said no, and the estimate price jumped back up a couple thousand.
I think it would have been great to do, and I’m convinced the product is well worth the cost. But I don’t have the money, and I ended feeling guilty I’d wasted his time.
He went off disappointed.
But I guess he’d be more disappointed if I ordered the work and couldn’t pay for it.
I’ve been there too, twice.
I hate that guilt.
We are trying to help my dad replace carpet that his insurance will pay for as he bled all over it in a medical emergency.
My fantasy thoughts kick in and I dream of a spray can called ‘home repair’ that takes care of it all.
Don’t feel guilty about his “wasted time.” He knew & took his own risks.
I wonder how long the conversation would have lasted if you’d announced the “not on the same day” policy 119 minutes earlier?
I wonder how long the conversation would have lasted if you’d announced the “not on the same day” policy 119 minutes earlier?
He wouldn’t have believed you and went on with the whole spiel anyway. I worked in home improvement sales in another life. It didn’t take too long before I learned to qualify the prospect before getting too far into my spiel. It’s not your fault for wasting his time. He is investing in his education as a salesman.
As I think it over, I grow more and more certain that what I saw with that salesman was in fact an elaborate, one-man theatrical production.