Hard sell from activation people

calibrax

dma1989 wrote: »

Saying that though, wait until you are in a role like that. Where sales are 100% of your target. No sales, no bonus.

Then, suddenly, hammering sales home really becomes your number 1 priority.

It's a case of 'you can't comment until you've been there'.

Oh, I've been there - when I left university the first job I took involved telesales. Yes, it's tough. But quite simply, you dont waste any more time than necessary on a cold lead, you move on to the next potential lead. ANY successful sales person will tell you that. The very fact that people here are complaining shows that customers have been irritated by it. Once it gets to that point of irritation, there's no way in hell the customer will buy a product from you no matter what you say, or how good the product.

Incisor

dma1989 wrote: »

Saying that though, wait until you are in a role like that. Where sales are 100% of your target. No sales, no bonus.

Then, suddenly, hammering sales home really becomes your number 1 priority.

It's a case of 'you can't comment until you've been there'.

So you have had them say 'No' 3 times. You press them again and they say 'No' another 3 times. I suppose by the time you reach 80 'No's', you are marginally more likely to get a 'yes' just to make you go away.

Actually the only reason I could think of for carrying on is to annoy the custoemr so much that you damage your employer because you hate them, their stupid targets and the rubbish product you have to sell.

dma1989

i personally follow the 'no 3 times' limit, because you can flog a dead horse.

unless you're selling it for glue...

daveboy

matt83uk wrote: »

A&L are scumbags in this respect, they outsource their activation to CPP. Who despite explicitly saying "NO" they went ahead and sent me the identify theft pack and £59.99 bill. I complained to A&L who said it was "nothing to do with them, speak to CPP", obviously not happy I sent letters to all involved and eventually it was resolved after listening to the recording and agreed, but no real apology, I can't begin to imagine how rife this practice is.

I activated an A&L card the other day and had to go through CPP hell again, who again tried to sell the identify theft, what worries me is they put on hold for like two minutes after saying activated, I better not get another pack in a few days.

I agree with this. A&L are the worst ones for this...I had a new card through the post today asking me to call an 0844 number to confirm receipt of the card..more like pay to call us and then we will hammer you with the hard sell. I have had them bombard me in the past when I've had to contact them.

A&L will lose loads of customers this way. They're about to lose me.

LongTermLurker

I find Halifax really bad. Despite telling them I would receive full pay for 2 months if I was sick (which is a very long time these days) and I had ample savings to pay off my credit limit (which I don't intend to go anywhere near to), she still finished the interrogation with "well based on the responses you've given me I recommend you take payment protection cover because you are only covered in the event of sickness for 60 days"! I was stunned - no memory of the "I have enough savings to pay it off by the time the BACS completes". I hate them for it, I really do.

missbargain

I also had a very annoying hard sell when I rang HSBC to ask them to correct the mistake that they have made on my account.

He tried to sign me up for some kind of "Account Plus" or similar malarkey, where you get about 0.0005% better interest rate then on your current account, but for, wait a minute, XX pounds a month that you have to pay to THEM.
I was so annoyed by him pushing this total rip-off deal on me, so I told him, politely but very firmly, that if I REALLY wanted a better account, I would close my account with them straight away and open one of the million better ones out there. So, I said to him, count yourself lucky that I am too lazy to do that, otherwise he would have noone to push their stupid "Account Plus" on.
He shut up pretty quickly and let me go.

Birdy12

Having read this thread a couple of weeks ago, it was with some trepidation that I telephoned Debenham's to activate my storecard. But, do you know what...not a dicky bird. Not a sniff of a hard sell. Or do they not offer theft protection on storecards?

(Yes, I know, a Debenham's storecard is not the best card to have interest wise but Debenham's childrens wear for DS and DD is my only vice and I try to pay it off most months)...:o

molar

I've had this several times and most will just give up after being given a stern but polite 'No'. However, there have been a few times that they will just not take no for an answer and it gets to a point where they actually become very rude and damn annoying!

For this reason alone I'm not going to take another card from anyone who uses this practice even if it means missing out on a bargain!

AQAddict

LongTermLurker, you are so right! I got my sparkly new Halifax credit card through the post t'other day, with the nice 0870 activation number. First port of call was "Say no to 0870", so at least my ensuing frustration in the 15-minute call was somewhat tempered by the knowledge that I wasn't paying for it.

The next thing I noticed was the wonderful exhortation in tiny capitals:

PLEASE SPEND RESPONSIBLY

Hahahahaha. I'm sure that will do as much good as its alcohol bottle predecessors.

Anyway, having successfully fended off the ID scaremongering (and even raising a laugh by saying "I'll take my chances, a motto which your bank seems to hold dear at the moment"), the PPI hard-sell then followed. He went on and ON about how important it was, and how I'd basically end up lying in a gutter in my own filth if I didn't take it out. Then, ready to sign me up:

HIM: Can you confirm that you are in full time employment and playing level 1 NI contributions?
ME: No, I'm a student. Which you already know.
HIM: Oh yes. It says that on the screen in front of me.
ME: Quite.
HIM: Well I guess you'll have to...
ME: ...take my chances, yes.

Now I appreciate all that has been said already, and I actually spent 4 months of this year temping as a telesales operative, but come on. There IS such a thing as a no-go lead. Like READING the info and realising that it makes someone ineligible.

I'm sure I've never had to register a card until this year. I might be a cynic, but are there any stats that show that this measure actually reduces crime? That's a genuine question, not a sarky rhetorical one, seriously I'd be pleased to know if it makes a difference. In the meantime, I can't stand this flagrant abuse of the current 'ID-theft climate', manipulating it into yet another sales opportunity. That and the fact that many people are unaware of sites such as saynoto0870.com, and are therefore actually paying to sit through this manipulative drivel.

PROLIANT

Try this one, tell the "person" on the end of the phone that you need them to hurry up, I tried this one with Monument and told the guy on the end of the line that I was busting for the toilet and I had a turtles head in my pants, the card was activated most quickly.