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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To dob in this woman from letting agent to her boss?!

139 replies

Undertone · 15/03/2011 14:47

Right. Have recently been in touch with property maintenance liaison woman at my letting agency re: faulty heating. I generally communicate with her via text, for convenience - we've been going back and forth about arranging times, etc.

Today, following an exchange, she texts and asks if she can email me a link on a personal matter and then call me in her lunch hour to discuss. I was fairly intrigued - and a bit 'oo er'. In the end it was to promoting a health juice drink 'network marketing' thing.

A bit of Googling and it predictably transpires that basically it's pyramid selling, this drink has virtually no discernible health benefits, etc. She then calls me and pushes the hard sell for 10 bloody minutes, interspersed with my feeble protestations that 'it's not for me, thanks' and 'actually it sounds like the health benefits are unproven'. She even hinted that it was anti-carcinogenic - even though the company has been taken to court for falsely claiming this.

I eventually got rid of her. But now, actually, I'm a bit pissed off because she's basically stolen my personal information from the letting agency's contact data in order to pursue personal gain. She could be ringing absolutely everyone on their books!

Should I tell her boss, the owner of the letting agency? I have his email address. He may want to know that one of his employees is using company data to push a pyramid scheme - it could affect my future decision to rent from them again.

Arguments against:

It's only a sales call, it's not the end of the world.
She knows where I live.
When she texted me to ask if she could email me a link, she did say it was for a 'personal matter' - so I did give her permission to do this, even though I didn't know what it was about.
Even though this drink thing is obviously a scam, it's hardly illegal or overly tawdry.
What if she gets fired?!

Would I be being unreasonable to email her boss and say that he may want to have a word with her?

OP posts:

LaWeasel · 15/03/2011 16:20

As someone else has pointed out, this woman has easy access to OPs bank details, so while I might be forgiving of someone getting carried away in some circumstances - this is not one of them.

chelstonmum · 15/03/2011 16:24

If she does not send a satisfactory reply by the close of business I would email the company owner and request a meeting (many employes deal with the boss's emails in an admin capacity) that way you know s/he is dealing with the issue and not her emailing you back!

BalloonSlayer · 15/03/2011 16:28

I still wish I had complained about the Bank Sister on the maternity ward when I had DS2.

I had those grey shadows on my cheeks you get when pregnant. I always get them when pregnant but I am not all that bothered - I've seen worse ones than I get on other people. She told me they were really REALLY bad and that usually she worked for a Harley Street practice that sold a product that got rid of them.

I said I wasn't really too concerned about them, and frankly they were the last thing I cared about with a new baby but she stressed that they were quite severe, and pressed her business card on to me.

Then she didn't get the blanket I had asked for for DS2 and I had to put a towel on him as I couldn't get out of bed.

I thought it was outrageous but, as I have said above I had a lot of other more important things to worry about and really couldn't be bothered to complain.

Just thought I'd share that story...

Original poster

Undertone · 15/03/2011 16:33

Well BalloonSlayer - it's preying on my mind, too: whether now I'm going to get bad service from her because I didn't sign up to this crackpot juice scheme.

OP posts:

IslaValargeone · 15/03/2011 16:40

What Lucyinthepie said.

Original poster

Undertone · 15/03/2011 17:05

OK - she has texted back that she has shared the details with two other people she has a personal relationship outside of work.

I think that's enough of a fright for her. Surely that will clap a stopper over any more activity?

OP posts:

LaWeasel · 15/03/2011 17:09

I'm not convinced.

You didn't have a personal relationship! You just communicated your business details via txt instead of email/phone/letter.

I don't believe her.

Original poster

Undertone · 15/03/2011 17:13

What does everyone think?

OP posts:

chelstonmum · 15/03/2011 17:20

You did not have a personal relationship and she is wrong. You need to be sure this has stopped, what she is doing can't go on. You are wise enough to say no and question her moral and ethical conduct......what if someone else is not?

expatinscotland · 15/03/2011 17:30

I'd tell her boss because I wouldn't want her to have access to my personal details anymore.

Anyone with more than two brain cells should realise it's not on to do this to clients in your principal place of work.

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 15/03/2011 17:34

I think I would ring her and say that you are unhappy about the way she got you to accept this link - she didn't exactly dupe you into saying you'd accept it, but neither was she honest about what she was sending you.

I would then tell her that I was very unhappy at the hard-sell tactics that she had used, and the unfounded claims that she appeared to be making for this drink, and would tell her that it is inappropriate in the extreme for her to use information and contacts gained through her job with the letting agency to further this pyramid scheme.

Finally I would say that there is definitely a data protection issue if she is using contact details from the letting agency to try to push this health drink, and that if I found out she had contacted any other clients of the letting agency, I would be telling her boss.

At each stage I would give her a chance to show that she realised how out of order her behaviour had been - if I got the sense that she understood, then I would stop, otherwise I'd go on to the next stage, if you see what I mean.

springbokdoc · 15/03/2011 17:52

Oh I would just tell her boss. For one thing I would be concerned about how she would manage our working relationship now that I hadn't joined the scheme. I would also be concerned about her access to vulnerable people's details.

I think it's probably better that it's a small company. If she is otherwise fab in her job and is really sorry about what happened, her boss will give her a warning and just keep an eye on her. If it was a huge company I would be more worried about her getting fired as she would just be another faceless employee to her boss.

mmsmum · 15/03/2011 18:16

I don't know it's hard. But your texts were not formal, you gave three kisses at the end! I would only ever do that to someone very close to me, not in my wildest dreams would I send kisses to a business contact.

Clytaemnestra · 15/03/2011 18:21

mmsmum - I think the xxx were to denote a name which had been removed. So if you put names in, it would be (for example)

Hi Sharon, this is Tracey Smith from number 17 Main Road. Just to let you know that the electrician is coming today at 3pm and will need to collect keys from you. Many thanks, Tracey."

Lucyinthepie · 15/03/2011 19:11

What DavidTennantsGirl said.
I would just ask all the people saying tell her boss, would you really be happy for her to lose her job over this? Really?

I think this is now a decision for you Op. I wouldn't leave it here, but I'd deal with her, not her boss, unless anything further gave me cause for concern.
Just because she contacted you for a network marketing scheme (NOT a pyramid scheme), I don't think that is any reason to suppose she's going to start abusing your bank details.

QuintessentialShadows · 15/03/2011 19:20

I just dont get why you are protecting her interests over your own personal details.

Do you not actually understand the ramifications?

Lucyinthepie · 15/03/2011 19:39

Network marketers build A List. They put all the names and phone numbers on them that they can think of and then push themselves to contact them. I know, it ain't pretty. I doubt very much if she's been digging around in information such as bank details, more likely she looked at her contacts on her mobile phone.
I would be speaking to her and be quite honest about the fact that many you have "spoken" to are of the opinion that you should inform her boss and she should be sacked. Then form your own judgement.

bullet234 · 15/03/2011 20:06

Lucyinthepier, how can you tell that it's network marketing and not a pyramid scheme? I've looked up the company and the general consensus does seem to state that it's a pyramid scheme. And this quote from one of their sites also suggests it:

"To become a distributor you must find a current MonaVie distributor to allow you the benefits of future financial freedom. The MonaVie compensation plan is revolutionary and works on two legs. You only need distributors under your "left" leg and "right" leg in your "MonaVie family tree" to reap the benefits of what a true selling pyramid can do for you. Keep in mind, you profit from what your "lower" leg does."
www.ajobineed.com/selling-pyramid.html.

bullet234 · 15/03/2011 20:06

Lucyinthepie, obviously.

Original poster

Undertone · 15/03/2011 20:14

I'm a wuss, so not sure about calling her up. I could send her an email going through a few of the points on here. If it was a mistake, then she won't do it again. If it was 'on purpose' then maybe it will shock her a bit that someone's willing to call her on it?

The problem is there's no way of knowing how many people she's contacting.

OP posts:

QuintessentialShadows · 15/03/2011 20:22

It really is not your place to question her. Let the authorities do that, or her boss.

Lucyinthepie · 15/03/2011 20:28

I looked at the website and it states that it is a network marketing scheme. In any case, I do know someone involved, the juice is fine, but pricey! Pyramid schemes were made illegal in I think it was the late 70's, and you won't find any in the UK. The difference is that in a pyramid scheme each level of the pyramid adds a mark-up to the products that their "downline" purchases to sell. So at the bottom of the pyramid you get a poor sod with a garage full of stuff that they have paid an inflated price for and therefore can't sell at all.
In network marketing the cost price has to be the same to all distributors by law. Then they all retail at the same price. They earn additional bonuses based on the turnover of their group/network, not by marking up the price of product to their downline. The structure of the network that people build looks pyramid shaped in that it grows down from the top and expands outwards as well (that's the plan anyway), but the cost price of the product is what defines a pyramid or networking scheme.

Lucyinthepie · 15/03/2011 20:32

p.s. I think the best networking scheme, if you can stand all the excitement and hype that goes with it, is the Utility Warehouse. My friend is a distributor and very good at it, we get our gas, electric and home phone calls through them and the prices are very competetive. He has a straightforward bonus scheme, he gets bonus on what his direct customers use, and another based on the turnover of his group. He works very hard at it but makes about £1200 - £1500 a month. I'll just re-state that - he works VERY hard at it. He's out nearly every night, runs daytime training sessions, it's really a part-time employment for him. He has to keep his business at a certain level to continue to qualify for his bonuses.
In a good networking scheme money can be made by anyone, but you have to be prepared to treat it very seriously and put in a lot of work.

eaglewings · 15/03/2011 20:47

This lady may be trying really hard to keep the roof over her kids head and food in the fridge, or she may be gathering money to fund a fantastic life style. Have to say I would think it was the first as it can't be much fun trying to sell a drink no one really wants or needs.

To take her job at the letting agency out from underneath her without giving her more chance to understand how inappropriate it was for her to call you may not be fair.

Having your phone no and calling you is different from having you bank account no and using those details inappropriately, so I think the comment about that may have been OTT

SugarPasteFrog · 15/03/2011 20:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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