Don't you hate this?

[OnTheBrink]

I got a phone call today from someone I know. This isn't someone I know well, nor like a whole lot. We don't travel in the same circles and the few encounters I've had with her haven't been the most pleasant.

 

SO, she calls me, wanting me to go to a meeting with her tonight. "A wonderful opportunity." I asked a few probing questions, like, what exactly is the company and what do they do? She told me the company name (I don't remember it now) but couldn't really tell me what they do, exactly, other than it's for selling vacations. I told her I wasn't interested; I have enough on my plate right now. She said, "I'm really afraid you'll be kicking yourself later!" I said I'd risk it. She then went on about how I should just go to the meeting and hear them out. I said no, I have plans for this evening anyway and wouldn't attend even if I were interested. She kept going on. I finally said, "I'm sorry, I'm just not interested, thanks for thinking of me. I have to go now, Bye!" and hung up.

 

UGH! This isn't someone I particularly care for nor trust (for many reasons) so why in the world would I want to be in business with her? And, if being that pushy is part of the job, NO THANK YOU!

 

Stuff like that irritates me to death.

[Heather in the Kootenays]

I'm always amazed at how people who wouldn't call you for any other reason will call to try to sell you something. No thanks.

[ncmomo3]

Something like that happened to me once. It made me wonder if the person had the business proposition in mind from our intial introduction months before, and if every subsequent conversation was just a set up for the ultimate business goal.

It really is VERY frustrating. Sorry it happened.

[Stacie]

It made me wonder if the person had the business proposition in mind from our intial introduction months before, and if every subsequent conversation was just a set up for the ultimate business goal.

 

I've had that happen before. I've also had the obscure person I met briefly ten years ago call me talking like a lost best friend and give me the "couldn't wait to share this great opportunity with my friends like you" story. I said no thanks and hung up, never to hear from the person again.

 

Sorry you had to go through that.

[WTMindy]

Blech!!! That makes me grumpy!!

[battlemaiden]

My parents fell out with long term friends when they began "inviting" them to various things. It was very, very sad- the man was in their wedding party.

 

I made a policy early on in my married life to not attend selling parties of any sort. I don't have the time, money, or inclination, but the greater desire not to offend has been avoided by stating that it "has always been my policy".

 

It can be very intrusive.

 

Jo

[Harriet Vane]

I have a BCR who has issued many an invitation over the years. Ugh.:tongue_smilie:

 

Shake the dust from your feet and move on. :auto:

[sleepy]

I would be very ticked off. I hate pushy people. That's one reason why I never answer the phone :tongue_smilie:

[Just a Jen in Mississippi]

Yes, I hate stuff like that. We were once invited over to dinner by a friend from work. The woman and her husband promptly started a spill about getting involved in Amway or something like that and about how much money we would make. We were miserable and very annoyed by the "thoughtful" dinner invitation.

[Diana in OR]

One time, we left an extremely difficult church situation, and we hadn't made any close friends there. About 6 months later, one of the ladies from the church called me up to see how I was doing. About 2 sentences into the conversation, she suddenly "remembered" that my dh had been having some health problems, and she proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes trying to get me to sign up with some sort of herbal supplement company that she was a manager for.

 

I don't like it either.:angry:

[clwcain]

It doesn't seem to bother either me or my wife.:leaving:

[Carol in Cal.]

...as long as they take no for an answer. Continued argument bugs me, but I'm always willing to listen at first, anyway. I figure most of the time people are telling me this stuff because they really think it's in my best interests, and so I accept it in that light.

 

But, it does not bother me to say no, and I don't find it difficult, so I think that that makes me mind this less.

[5kidsforME]

I got a phone call today from someone I know. This isn't someone I know well, nor like a whole lot. We don't travel in the same circles and the few encounters I've had with her haven't been the most pleasant.

 

SO, she calls me, wanting me to go to a meeting with her tonight. "A wonderful opportunity." I asked a few probing questions, like, what exactly is the company and what do they do? She told me the company name (I don't remember it now) but couldn't really tell me what they do, exactly, other than it's for selling vacations. I told her I wasn't interested; I have enough on my plate right now. She said, "I'm really afraid you'll be kicking yourself later!" I said I'd risk it. She then went on about how I should just go to the meeting and hear them out. I said no, I have plans for this evening anyway and wouldn't attend even if I were interested. She kept going on. I finally said, "I'm sorry, I'm just not interested, thanks for thinking of me. I have to go now, Bye!" and hung up.

 

UGH! This isn't someone I particularly care for nor trust (for many reasons) so why in the world would I want to be in business with her? And, if being that pushy is part of the job, NO THANK YOU!

 

Stuff like that irritates me to death.

 

 

Yeah that is annoying! Nothing like having someone try to use you. Grrr:glare:

[Tracey in TX]

Great opportunities should be shared. Sam Walton went door to door sharing his goods, and look what type of life he created for himself. He become a philanthropist while remaining a simple man. Bet he called and knocked on a few doors of people who weren't interested.

 

I dislike callers seeking donations, but respect those who call with business opportunities. We tried Amway once--and eventually built a lucrative $1,000,000 annual retail business. btw, the most important aspect of this was helping to save two marriages and introduce two other couples to Christ. We took a whole lot of NO THANK YOUs to accomplish this. We no longer participate in MLM, but have the strongest respect for people who try to make life better for themselves and others.

[Brigitte]

Great opportunities should be shared. Sam Walton went door to door sharing his goods, and look what type of life he created for himself. He become a philanthropist while remaining a simple man. Bet he called and knocked on a few doors of people who weren't interested.

 

I dislike callers seeking donations, but respect those who call with business opportunities. We tried Amway once--and eventually built a lucrative $1,000,000 annual retail business. btw, the most important aspect of this was helping to save two marriages and introduce two other couples to Christ. We took a whole lot of NO THANK YOUs to accomplish this. We no longer participate in MLM, but have the strongest respect for people who try to make life better for themselves and others.

 

Yep. It is too bad that a small minority of companies or people within companies give the rest a bad rep. Being pushy is not going to get your far in life or in business.

[CookieMonster]

Great opportunities should be shared. Sam Walton went door to door sharing his goods, and look what type of life he created for himself. He become a philanthropist while remaining a simple man. Bet he called and knocked on a few doors of people who weren't interested.

 

I dislike callers seeking donations, but respect those who call with business opportunities. We tried Amway once--and eventually built a lucrative $1,000,000 annual retail business. btw, the most important aspect of this was helping to save two marriages and introduce two other couples to Christ. We took a whole lot of NO THANK YOUs to accomplish this. We no longer participate in MLM, but have the strongest respect for people who try to make life better for themselves and others.

 

Yes, I have seen this. And these type of people call you up, are up front about the fact that they are calling on business, and accept no for an answer. They also can look you in the eye next Sunday and have no hard feelings.

 

But, I have more often seen MLM participants chase after the most vulnerable people in order to exploit them. Advising someone to "call everyone you can think of" about a product and having them pretend to call for other reasons is not ethical business practice imnsho. I think that SolaMichelle was a recipient of this kind of faulty business-building.

[Guest Shanna]

Dont like pushy people and I dont like people to call just when they want something.

[OnTheBrink]

If this woman had been a friend, or even someone who's been friendly or kind to me in the past, I might have listened further and maybe even gone to the meeting some other night. But, she's not. She's been sweet to my face and vicious behind my back on several occasions, so why she even bothered to call me was annoying from the get-go! And, her not accepting my kind "no thanks" the first time I said it bugged me, too.

 

I don't mind people I have an established relationship with talking to me about their business ventures and accepting "no" if that's my answer. I don't even mind cordial acquaintances mentioning it to me. I'll go to almost anyone's home show for make up, home decor, whatever to support someone's new business. I greatly dislike someone who's been a creep to me suddenly acting like they're doing me a favor, especially when they don't know enough about the company than to tell me "They sell vacations. I don't know more than that; my dh signed us up." That just sounds fishy on several levels and not my cuppa.

[nancypants]

:iagree: with you SolaMichella! That kind of stuff drives me nuts!

[1bassoon]

Yick. Makes me want to take a shower.

 

Sorry you had to deal with that!

[praisefor3]

If it weren't for the additional info that Sola posted about this particular person I would have completely agreed with Tracie in Texas and others who aren't offended by such offers. In this particular case, it sounds like there is more going on then just an invitation.

 

A couple in our church recently felt led to start a small group ministry and they asked many of us to come to an informational meeting about it and to pray about whether or not this is something we should be involved in. As far as I know, none of the people invited were offended about being asked. In the same way, I don't mind if someone asks me to attend a meeting about a business and pray about that opportunity. That doesn't mean I'm always able to go (in fact, rarely can) but if the inviter is a person of integrity I appreciate them offering me their plate of "cookies." If I decide not to eat one it doesn't mean the cookies were necessarily bad or that they were wrong to offer to share. But I do agree that if I say no, they must then pull back their plate of cookies and accept my answer.

[*anj*]

First of all, I'd also be annoyed/insulted under circumstances like the one that Michelle described. I wouldn't like to get a pushy phone call from someone I wasn't even on friendly terms with.

 

Once I did get a phone call from someone I'd really enjoyed spending time with, but we'd drifted apart when we both moved on from MOPs. A couple of years after that I got a call from her and at first I was really glad she called, but then I found out she'd called just to tell me about an "opportunity" she had. She was selling dental insurance or something and thought she'd heard that we didn't have any. That was a bummer.

 

But on the other hand I've tried my hand at home sales enough times to know that it can be helpful to call old friends to show them your stuff. And some people are glad to learn about a product that was previously unknown to them.

[Jackie in AR]

Dont like pushy people and I dont like people to call just when they want something.

 

Yes, this is the main thing that would bother me. The sudden interest from people who before didn't acknowledge my existence. But now they want something, so I'm their new best friend. :D

 

And why can't they take "no" for an answer??

[*anj*]

And why can't they take "no" for an answer??

Because they are trained to keep pushing.

They are told that a "no" is sometimes a "maybe" or a "convince me."

They are given a whole script of things to say to persuade people to come/join/buy.

I used to work as a phone canvasser for an environmental organization and let me tell you, we were heavily trained in the art of persuasion. So much so that sometimes I have to remind myself not to use certain tactics because they are manipulative. That opened the door to other kinds of selling and again, part of the training is that you learn how to get people to do things they don't necessarily want to do.

 

And the reason they continue is that it very often it works. Who was the person here who bought the meat from the guy's truck? I can't remember, but I remember reading that thread and I thought "That guy was very well trained." He knew exactly how to wear her down, and it worked. I'm sure that a high percentage of people who experience buyer's remorse don't bother to do what our friend here did. That's how these people make their money...they count on you being malleable enough to buy their stuff even when you don't want it and then they count on you being too lazy or intimidated to cancel the transaction during the legal period.

[RoughCollie]

I get grumpy if people try to push me. I say things like: get a dictionary and look up the word "no", don't call me again about this, and my very favorite: "Say good-bye". They do, and I reply, and then I hang up.

[Tammyla]

I always pass on any opportunity to good to pass up. :lol: And pushy people.. pushing sales, stink. Could the policy be to wear you down so far, that you would do anything not to listen to one more word.

[Brigitte]

If this woman had been a friend, or even someone who's been friendly or kind to me in the past, I might have listened further and maybe even gone to the meeting some other night. But, she's not. She's been sweet to my face and vicious behind my back on several occasions, so why she even bothered to call me was annoying from the get-go! And, her not accepting my kind "no thanks" the first time I said it bugged me, too.

 

The woman sounds two-faced and thinks you are not sharp enough to realize it! I would screen all calls from her, if I were you. Thank goodness for caller-ID!