To put the phone down on the man who asked me 'is your husband there'

[DuelingFanjo]

Stupid council have passed my number onto a firm who do loft insulation because I filled in a form about 2 years ago. I put my work number on there so now they call me in work every few months to try to find out the depth of the loft insulation

Him: How deep is the loft insulation?
Me: I have no idea
Him: has no one ever been in the loft?
Me: yes but no one has ever measured the depth of the loft insulation
Him: Do you have cavity wall insulation?
Me: No idea
Him: Is your husband there?
Me: No I am in work and anyway I doubt my husband would know the answers either...

Phone down.

Gaaahhhh

so when do they get round to mentioning contractual obligations and shared mortages, then?

If the owners like the quote they've been given, the rep will then start whipping out contracts.

The company I worked for relied on people doing things a bit at a time, so it was important to us that the customer was happy with the service every step of the way, as we relied on them to come back to us. If you put the hard sell on, you get a bad reputation which nobody can afford to have. The companies that put the hard sell on don't stay in business, because nobody comes back.

I must say I have experience only of that company, I don't know what the others were like. the manager of our company was very apt to say "nahhhhh leave it, they can't be that interested"

Actually we've had our windows done recently, and while I went off to entertain the children while they were talking about the details (DH does know more about that stuff than me) it was implied I'd need to be there for the signing stuff.

Colditz - yours sounds like a reputable company ? unfortunately there are plenty that are not. Most of them preying on my MIL.

I hate cold callers. When they ask if the home owner is there (I'm waiting for this one at home cause I'd love to say "No, I can give you a number though" and give them the HA number!) I ask if they're expecting a call and tell them I'm not putting anyone onto my parents who they're not expecting. They're TPS, ex-directory and ex-192 and have been for years. I've gotten into arguments with people. The best one was when I asked where they got their number from "Yellow Pages". What bugs me is it is always "John" with an Indian accent who swears he's from my area yet thinks the Yellow Pages is where my parents list their number... (I don't mind talking to foreigners, just like some honesty)

After my parents got married someone knocked on the door and asked if her parents were in and she said no, asked when they'd be back she said "don't know" so they said they'd come back "OK" after a few weeks they were a bit flustered and said did she have any idea when her parents would be there and then she told them that it was her house and she had no idea when they'd be there next. She answered their questions truthfully and if they'd asked questions that made less assumptions they wouldn't have wasted their time.

Oh I am so going to use that next time

for all single mothers out there I have told a cold caller who asked to speak to mr mumber that he ran off with somone else before we married and is called mr xxx and I could give them the number if they want. Most mutter apologies and hang up a few have asked and then regretted it when they realise he lives in a Spanish country

when I was 20 or so, a salesman knocked on my door, and asked me whether my mother or father were in.

DP kept the "Are you interested in cheaper internets" guy on the phone for almost an hour while he talked her through switching on her computer, before he gave up.

We still laugh about it now.

Gay, you've just reminded me of something my friend told me. Cold caller rings up, asks 'is your husband in'. She says, 'no, here's my wife'. The cold caller (hearing a female voice and presumably thinking the same person (?) has picked up), says, 'er ... I need to speak to your partner?'. Friend's wife says, 'yes, here she is'.

Apparently it continued for several goes, with friend and wife pissing themselves laughing, and the guy on the phone getting increasingly confused, then angry. They don't know if he ever figured it out! (He sounded to be from a country where lesbian partnerships are, er, less usual).