I don't know how you feel about this, fellow Crivvies (though most people I mention it to tend to agree with me), so have a read and then feel free to weigh in with your opinion. Whenever I'm out shopping and see any of those temporary promotional stands with their attendant staff in my local shopping centre, I tend to hug the nearest wall or shop window, stare fixedly ahead (or into the window) and try and sneak by without getting pestered by some prowling sales agent trying to interest me in whatever he or she is flogging. My view is that if I were interested in what they were punting, I'd approach them to ask for some info about it, but the second they try and give me the 'hard-sell', it puts me right off.
It's the same with door-to-door salesmen - or hawkers if you prefer. Going around chapping doors to get someone to buy something is a sign of desperation in my view. If your business is successful, then people will come to you, not the other way around. To me, there's no more surefire sign that business is bad than when salesmen (or women) chap your door and try to flog you whatever goods or services they're offering. And if business is bad (pre-Covid), then there's a reason for that - they're probably not very good at what they do.
But shopping centre hawkers are the worst. They hail you from a distance even when your demeanour and attitude should be enough of a hint that you don't want to know. They jump out in front of you, waving their arms, and try to impede your progress. They interrupt you when you're in the middle of a conversation, either in person with someone or on your mobile, invading your personal space with no regard for your privacy. Sure, you can just ignore them (and I do), but I don't like being placed in the position of being rude to someone, and then there's the surly muttering and barely whispered insults when you fail to acknowledge their existence. Or there's the facetious and loud "Have a nice day", which you know really translates as "Hope you get hit by a bus!"
"Ach, they're only trying to make a living, give 'em a break!" you say. No, they're also making a nuisance of themselves in the process. The staff of WHS or BOOTS (or any other shop you care to name) don't stand in the doorway trying to entice you inside to buy anything, so why should these sales agents be allowed to prowl beyond the confines of their stands in a predatory fashion, targeting anyone within (or beyond) earshot? Here's a scoop - they're not!
I'm advised that there are conditions under which these promotional units are supposed to operate. Firstly, the staff are not permitted to stray too far from their base, and they're not supposed to raise their voices or jump in front of you to attract your attention. Ideally, they're meant to remain in close proximity to their units and enquire in a normal voice of those who pass nearby whether they can interest them in their product or service. What they shouldn't be doing is straying yards from their stands to intrude on shoppers on the far side of the mall.
The fact that they do suggests that they're either ignoring the conditions of their company's contract, or that shopping centre management are deliberately turning a blind eye, however much it results in your personal inconvenience as a shopper in having to run the gauntlet of pushy salesmen - sometimes every few yards. Don't know about you, but I prefer to go shopping without having to participate in an obstacle course in the process.
Anyone got any thoughts on the matter?
23 comments:
Totally agree.
The last few I have had the misfortune to encounter, both times recently when my attention was elsewhere otherwise I would have taken evasive action, come up to you and begin chatting as if they know you. "How's your day been?", or "you look like a smart person", or some such. I just answer "no thanks" and try to step around them quickly.
If I know they are up ahead I wait until they have somebody else bailed up and dash by while they are busy hassling them.
But, yeah, we should not have to engage in any of this - just leave us alone. Feel like having a T-shirt printed with "Not Interested" printed across the front in big letters and just point to it.
And to add insult to injury, PC, they never remember you, so if you have to pass them again coming back from where you went to the first time, they pester you a second time. Total nightmare. Well past time shopping centres ensured that these nuisances abided by the conditions of their contracts - else what's the point of having conditions?
I don't know about you guys but quite regularly now I even get accosted by the girl at the check-out asking me before I pay up wether I would like to make a small donation to some charity the store is sponsoring. You get it on the outside and you now get it on the inside.
I've been asked in Iceland (the store, not the country) whether I'd like to buy an item (among several) on display at the till for them to donate to an old folk' home (I think), but I always say no 'cos I hate being put on the spot. If I donate to a charity or good cause, I prefer to do it by PayPal or Visa card when I'm under no pressure to do so. But like you say, LH, there's no escaping people getting in your face for something or other.
Totally agree - I also hug the nearest wall when I see the Chuggers (Charity Muggers) who promise "it'll only take a minute, you want to help children in the undeveloped world, don't you?".
Yup, whether it's for starving children, double glazing, or power suppliers, MW, it's a total pain in the bahookie. If I want something, I'll look for where I can get it, I don't need them bothering me when I'm not looking for whatever they're punting.
I have no issue at all with giving to charity but the professional collectors who are rarely if ever part of the actual charity itself, are like vultures. On one occasion I was prepared to give £10 to a cause but the collector didn't want that he wanted me to set up a standing order of £5 to £10 a month ,so I said "..sorry but no however I wil give you a one off contribution" but he refused it. Apart from the fact I'm not prepared to give a total stranger my bank details in the main street but how much money do they lose by refusing cash donations to help needy people. I just ignore the salesmen in shops , they are only trying to earn (in most cases) minimum wage so I try not to be rude to them (but I agree the can stretch you patience at times).The annoying thing re shops is when you are looking for some help to purchase an item and no one is ever available but when your just looking they are on you like a scabby rash!
For another example of that kind of stupidity, McS, see my post called Charity Begins... Where, Exactly...?
I'm not talking about salesmen in actual shops - it's the ones in the promotional stands in shopping centres who are in your face every day. They're not supposed to harass people, but they do. I'm utterly fed up with it. Doesn't matter how many times you say no or ignore them, the very next day there they are again - right in your face, trying to sell you something you've already said 'not interested' to countless times. I wonder if a swift kick in the goolies would work?
Just noticed you commented on it at the time, McS, but you've probably forgotten it as it was 8 years ago. Refresh your memory.
Oh, and I meant to say, those charity collectors you're talking about probably aren't allowed to take cash from the public in case they (the collectors, not the public) nick it. And those collectors are paid a really good hourly rate by the way - that's where a goodly slice of your donation goes to.
It's a Scottish Power stand I'm specifically thinking of at the moment, McS. They got in my face when I was trying to sneak past on the far side of the mall, so I reminded them that, going by the terms of their contract, they weren't allowed to do that. They scoffed contemptuously and said that they were allowed to roam 7 metres in any direction. I complained to the shopping centre, who said they'd do something about it as 7 metres was nonsense, but I'm been hassled another two times since then. And I see them approaching other shoppers outside of their immediate range all the time too. To be fair, some don't seem to mind, but they're probably just being polite. The point is, they shouldn't be doing what they're doing the way that they do it. Bah, humbug!
8 years ago jeez didn't know i had been on here that long. Ah well it's official I've said everything I need to say and now I'm repeating myself think it's time to pack it in.
I repeat myself all the time in my posts, McS, so it's hardly a crime. Every post is someone's first, and given people's memories, there's no harm in reminding folk of what you think on any given subject. I've left comments on the posts of others and am always surprised to see them when or if I revisit. Imagine - I even forget my own comments, never mind my own posts. You keep commenting away, the place would be a poorer site without you. And that goes for the other regulars too.
And guess what, McS - you even commented again when I reposted it two years later. You didn't say exactly the same thing though, you expanded on it, which made it more interesting.
Lol that's scary I must have more of a problem with these folk than I thought.
No, as usual, you were the voice of reason, McS. You were saying that your experiences were mostly okay. Though you did say that you'd worked in the charity sector and could tell some stories. Hey, there's an idea for your first blog post on your site.
Door to door right out for me. Mall locations don’t bother me as much because I can walk past them. But to me it’s far more annoying when you’re at home.
On the other hand I quite enjoy seeing seasonal locations as they are usually chock full of stuff you never see otherwise. Such as giant jigsaw puzzles. Gifts for dad which you don’t really need like soft tipped darts. Robot fish. Chopping machines for the kitchen. Totally useless stuff which make you go I need that!
Ah, PS, if only the buggahs would LET me walk past them, I'd be a happy chappie.
Incidentally, your pal Valerie left a couple of comments on one of the posts about her. Did you see 'em?
I've never even seen any of these people let alone be bothered by them. But I do get annoyed by cold calls - somebody with an Indian accent who wants me to answer questions for a survey or a recorded voice informing me that my broadband connection has been hacked and it will be cut off in the next 24 hours so I need to ring a certain number...
I class them all in the same nuisance category, CJ. Time it was stopped. In the case of shopping centres, they're actually exploiting your need to shop there and making money from installing what are essentially 'cold callers' on the premises. If they stood at their stands and waited for people to express an interest, there'd be no problem, but they're approaching everybody at random and there's no escaping them.
No I didn’t but now I must look ! Haha funny I never even told her about you . She must have ESP.
Or a naturally impeccable taste in blogs, PS. Next time you see her, can you check? I'd hate to think someone was impersonating her. (Though the avatar links to her Instagram account.)
Must admit, I love it when Scottish Power try to sell me something in a shopping centre. I politely tell them that I am a former SP customer and, due to a complaint I made which they twice made worse instead of resolving, I will never give them any of my custom again.
Most of them will equally politely accept that, but occasionally one of them will persist, which makes me think they only hear what they want to hear!
I'm with SP (for the moment), but only because many years ago, an SP salesman came to our door and misrepresented himself to my mother as being our then-current energy provider, and that if she signed the piece of paper he waved in front of her, she'd get a cheaper deal. At first it WAS a bit cheaper and I just couldn't be bothered complaining about the deception, but after the disrespectful attitude of their sales people in my local shopping centre recently, I'm considering changing. SP have given me a whopping £25 by way of apology, but I resent not being able to shop without their (and others) sales teams breaching the conditions of their contract in the centre by harassing people who are clearly not interested and trying to avoid them.
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