Spam on my doorstep

We’ve lived in this house for 3.5 years and have YET to see a door-to-door salesman. Heck, we don’t even get kids here for Trick-Or-Treat – – we’re too far off the beaten path for the kids to hike all the way out here for a piece of candy. No salesmen, No kids. Never even a politician. We live too far out and our driveway is a mile long – I suppose they all figure we’re not worth the hassle of the hike.

Today, however, I was greeted at my doorstep by two salesmen claiming to be from AT&T. Is it not enough that I combat spam in my email, pop up windows in my browser, and spam comments and trackbacks on my blog – – I now need a spam blocker for my front door? Ugh.

Unfortuantely, for door-to-door salesmen like these guys, I’m not the least bit open to the idea of buying anything from anyone who knocks on my door and then proceeds to act like I’m required to give them all my attention, forgetting the fact that they just interrupted whatever it was I was doing. These two were a mismatched pair to start off with.

Each maybe 19.. maaaaaaayyyyybe 20 years old in age. One in a really bad fitting suit and sneakers – the other in jeans, a flannel shirt and hair grown down over his eyes. Both holding clipboards and flashing what looked to be homemade ID’s that identified them as salesmen for AT&T – though the AT&T logo was not on the badge.

I peer over their shoulder and see their car parked out at the curb (well on the shoulder of the road – out here we don’t have things called ‘curbs’) – their rustbucket of a car is sitting out there, were it not for all the rust – I think the car might have fallen into a million little tiny pieces. Thank god they didn’t part that heap in my driveway – I’ll have to give them points for that.

They proceeded to tell me how I can save $10-$15/month on my phone bill if I switch from my current carrier to AT&T – not only will I save, but the installation will be free and they will give me a $200 VISA check card as a gift for switching.

We have three phone lines that come into this house. We pay approximately $52.00 total. I’m good with that. We’ve had it for 3.5 years, since we moved here – and I’m really not interested in fixing what ain’t broke – all in the name of saving $10/month. Call me silly.

Of course, today is the ONLY day I could take advantage of this steal of a deal. See, these two salesmen have hundreds of prospects to visit (they even showed me a list of prospects – HUNDREDS of them!) – and if I didn’t agree to sign up today… right now! I’d lose out on the deal, because this was the only day they would be in my neighborhood.

All I needed to do was let them come into my home – – and use my phone. They needed to call their home office from my phone to find out if I qualified for their steal of a deal – – once they knew I qualified, then all I needed to do was sign their paperwork and I was on my way.

See, I don’t like door-to-door salesmen salespersons. I don’t like that they interrupt my day. I don’t like their pushy way of invading my space and taking up my time. I don’t like that they don’t seem to know how to take no for an answer.

He starts out by saying, “Didn’t you get the memo? We sent out a memo in the mail last week warning you that we’d be stopping buy today”

The memo. They sent me a memo?

I started out being nice. “It probably got tossed out with the rest of the junk mail. No thanks, I’m not interested in switching – have a nice day”

He actually grabbed the door as I was closing it.. “But, Ma’am – you dont understand – with the rising cost of gas an everything else in this country I would think you’d be interested in saving on your monthly phone bill.. how much do you spend a week in gas?”

“Not much” I reply

“Really,” he says, “You got a oil well in your backyard or summthin?” *snicker*

“No – I work from home. My husband works from home. We don’t commute to a job. We don’t use a whole lot of gas unless we travel.”

“Oh. Well everything else costs so much these days – you surely want to save a bit on your phone bill, don’t you?”

“Not really, no – but thanks anyways.”

…..

That’s me saying no… not once, but twice.

He then says “How about I wait right here while you go download your current phone bill off the internet – then I can review it for you and tell you how much you can save by switching to AT&T?”

Me (still trying to be polite.. but growing more irritated by the second) – “How about you just leave me with a brochure. I can discuss it with my husband later. If we’re interested, we’ll call your office.”

Him “See, that’s not the way it works. We need to use your phone first – call our office from your phone to see if you’re qualified, only THEN can we leave you with any documentation.”

ME – “You apparently don’t want my business that bad. If you can’t leave me with information and a phone number to call you back with – I’m going to guess that you’re full of shit and maybe I should call the police right about now, hey? How about that?”

Him – “I’m just trying to save you money. I’m looking out for you. I’m not your enemy”

Oh – well, you’re not my enemy.. you’re just looking out for me – well ok then!

NOT!

We share a few more moments of conversation with him refusing to leave me any information or an office number and me telling him no in several different ways – before I finally close the door in his face and watch him and his pal climb into their rustbucket and putt-putt their way down the street to the next fool who opens their door. AT&T seriously needs a new PR program.

Honestly, do people really actually sell stuff by acting like this? Were these guys REALLY from AT&T? Has the “No-Call-List” caused companies like AT&T to resort to door-to-door sales??

I so need to get one of those “My dog bites the head off all salespersons – you’ve been warned” sign for my front door.