So today we went to Ann Arbor because Austin had an appointment for orthotics. Afterwards we trekked to the mall. A very nice and fancy mall. They had your typical stores that every mall has anchor their building like Sears/Penney's/Macy's but also had your high end stores like Coach, Godiva Chocolate, and an APPLE STORE! I love to go mall walking and just looking at all the stores and was good only buying Austin a pair of shoes at Von Maur. Another high end store, they pay a lady to play a grand piano instead of blasting us with elevator music through a sound system. But even this posh mall has it's ghetto alley. You know the wing in the mall that has all the little islands like the hand cream person, the 5 minute chair massage, the sunglass hut, the inadequate cell service square, the come sit in my jacuzzi tub, the let me sell you a new roofing job, you catch my drift right? I loathe going down these wings where the salespeople are like vultures. I walk as fast as I can, thinking "don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact"...before they can get you with the "is your hair naturally straight, do your nails flake off, can I just have 5 minutes of your time, MOVE MOVE MOVE before they get me. Because lets face it, I'm a sucker and I am easily pushed into high pressure sales.
In the 6th grade a vacuum salesmen came to the house and my Dad must have told him no on this $1600 Kirby vacuum about 10 times. The guy wouldn't leave, brought the price down to $800, was practically crying that he wouldn't be getting his monthly bonus if he didn't sell this one last vacuum and who knows what other junk he told us but I probably figured he had starving children at home or something. I begged Dad to buy this vacuum because the guy seemed so desperate...And he did buy it. And I know now that my Dad couldn't afford an $800 vacuum, I remember him having to borrow money from my Grandparents to buy a furnace. Sad thing is we really weren't quite the housekeeping family and I don't know how many times that vacuum was actually used. Dad does have a cleaning lady these days.
So when it comes to high pressure sales I know I might as well just buy it off the get go. I have extreme difficulty saying no. Stanley Steamer comes to clean our carpets every year and Joe tells me...DON'T BUY ANY OTHER SERVICE. Well they'll do a patch on the sofa and it comes back dirty black...SOLD! The kids must spill a lot on the carpet, it needs a protectant sealer...SOLD! I think one year my $100 coupon special ballooned to a $250 deluxe cleaning. I caught heck for that one. It's why I hate salespeople. The darn Scott's Lawn Service people get me every time too. Grubs, winter mold, and the latest mud worms. What the heck are mud worms??? And how devastating can they be to our lawn?
I really do feel for these people just trying to make a living, I know they probably despise their jobs and us cruddy customers. I hate being openly rude to these salespeople so I've learned the art of being evasive, look away as if the salespeople were medusa, screen my phone calls, don't answer the door when Scott's comes, they can't add a service if I don't approve it, hide, hide, hide!!!
On a nicer note, I never turn down local charities, or kids doing fundraisers. Or should I say I don't hide from them. I'll always happily buy a raffle ticket, or a pizza kit, or cookie dough, or donate my pop bottles, or whatever else they are trying to fund. Because just like I can't say no, I hate being told no when I'm trying to fundraise for my kids. Dealing with rejection is a whole nother post. ;)
Now if I could just work on the art of saying No Thank You without the guilt.
10 comments:
haha, the guys selling hand cream in our malls somehow have french or italian accents even though they are in MN.
Hum, I always thought those wings in the mall were to make sure I got an aerobic workout while walking through the mall. Hate them! Walk fast, keep the focus, go, go, go!!
Lesley - That is hilarious and now that I think of it, I've encountered the same thing with these people. I'm not going to go experiment to find out though.
Julie - Haha, that is funny too. It is a good exercise wing, yesterday Austin was moving so slow and I kept thinking he'd get me trapped by one of these people but alas I survived.
Ha! That's funny - I do the same thing when I walk by those people in the mall. Sometimes I'll even turn around and not go where I want to because I don't want to deal with them. I'm glad I'm not alone!! I'm a hard sell so it's not that - I just hate having to say no to people. I need to work on that one too.
I immediately get on the phone and pretend to have some sort very dramatic conversation.... I hear you about feeling guilty - need to work on it myself.
Barbara - In our local mall they are everywhere so I really can't avoid them, this one was at least contained in one wing.
Daiva - I will have to remember that tactic, sounds brilliant.
I'm so glad I hate shopping, because I don't have to deal with sales. I just stay home and send the kids with grandma to shop.
But Dawn we are fundraising to pay for a car fix bill. Any donation coming our way? he he
Funny your errant text message to me tonight was about shopping with Mom.
Bummer about the car deal. That always stinks. What kind of goods and services are you pedaling? haha
You are too funny!! Complete strangers frighten you:)
I know what you mean about those sales booths. I always just say "no thank you" and move on down the row! As for the people who come to our door, I will try to buy something if the kiddos are local. I always ask them if they are from our town since the magazine companies will ship the kiddos from across the cities. If they say they are from another town, I wish them luck and let them know I support the local kids. I hate to do it, but otherwise I would have a million magazines.
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