Reach for the stars...

niccatw

Aaarghh, I should have left for my friend's an hour and a half ago... I'm such a faff...

And I've had to spend most of my time this morning sorting out direct debits and contacting payroll to figure out where my pay will be going etc etc. Cheers A&L - that's why I used your switching service, so I could do all the skivvy work! (Nothing at all to do with the free £100) Sigh!

More on the evil kitchen salesman with th pretty kitchen when I get back! And my stupid British politeness thing! What's that all about?

BILLIE

Nic I will break both arms and legs if I hear you have signed on that dotted line. Where abouts in the country are you. Isn't strange how we all seem to be helping one another out and yet can't do it for ourselves. Hope you have had an enjoyable time with your friend and will be checking back Love Billie xx

Lula-Hula

It wont be long until you can deal with sales peeps with a firm hand & no guilt at all. In the meantime, you have us to answer to if you dont

niccatw

I'm back... shattered and hardly even able to concentrate on Dancing on Ice! My friend's two wee boys have special needs and one is hyperactive so now feeling the effects of 6am morning calls, giving my friend a chance to lie in, constant trampolining and lots of food and even a few beers or so

Didn't spend very much money at all but will sort out the finer details tomorrow.

There also seems to be some pension letter in the post. That's not Sunday evening reading! Will leave that for now too

niccatw

Right, got myself a cuppa, some hobnobs and a Twirl, curled up in my favourite chair and ready to bare all regarding the pretty kitchen and the evil salesman!
Reasons I want a new kitchen
Mine is hideous!
Mine is badly installed and falling to pieces!
Reasons I need a new kitchen
None!
Absolutely none!
It might be hideous, but now I’ve sorted out the kaput oven, it’s almost fully functional (give or take a couple of rings on the hob).
Reasons to like the evil salesman
He sells pretty kitchens.
They are actually decently priced.
Reasons that doesn’t matter
You can’t afford a kitchen!
It would be on credit!
And your Dad is a joiner and could probably price and install a kitchen for much less than said evil salesman.
Reasons to despise the evil salesman! (NB How long do you have? This could be a fairly lengthy list!)
(B*gger, got ginger nuts instead of hobnobs. Boo. Ah well, I guess they’ll have to do.)
Subheading 1: His basic character flaws
Awful doesn’t even begin to describe his dress sense and hair “style”
He casually described my kitchen as “cheap and minging”. I am the only person allowed to concede this fact!
He slated the “cheap” materials and state of the tiling in my bathroom (I won’t even discuss why he needed to use my bathroom 3 times!). When I bought my flat, the bathroom was not completed. My folks very kindly bought me the materials needed and Dad and his plumber friend erected walls, sorted plumbing and tiled for me – none of this cost me a penny. So evil salesman was lucky to make it out of my flat in one piece!
He advised me to get rid of my Fiesta as they are unreliable and dangerous cars. :mad:
He slated the area of Scotland I was visiting at the weekend and the area I originally come from. They are dull and boring and why would any-one go there? :mad::mad:
He couldn’t understand why I wanted to be eco-friendly. What does it matter whether the kitchen was made from sustainable materials or the wood from managed forests? :mad::mad::mad:
Why was I paying my student loans? He had no intention of paying his and I should just stop and ignore them. :mad::mad::mad::mad:

I’m sure I could go on, but I think he’s enough problems to deal with! No wonder he is single (though he did feel the need to point out the reason he was giving me such a good deal is because I am also single and it’s hard when there’s no-one to share the costs! Patronising [insert four letter word of your choice here].) :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
Yes – I am also wondering why I didn’t manhandle him out of the door! Apart from the fact I haven’t yet been to the gym enough times to get my arms to the required strength!
Subheading 2: the really evil sales pitch, ignoring some blatant facts
He tore up the pieces of paper that described how the various credit, or cash, options worked and didn’t leave them with me. :eek:
He stated the credit is unsecured, so my home couldn’t be affected, therefore it wouldn’t make a difference to my credit file... no admission of the need for a credit check until I pointed that out. Or that a default could be placed on my file if I couldn’t pay. Both of which would affect my credit rating. :eek::eek::eek:
He explained it didn’t matter if I couldn’t pay. My credit rating would sort itself out in due time. I had to point out 6 years was a very long time for some-one who wanted a new mortgage provider as soon as is practicable. (I should have pointed out he shouldn’t be selling kitchens to people who couldn’t afford them, never mind advocating they just don’t pay when they can’t afford the payments.) :eek::eek::eek::eek:
He didn’t once tell me at what percent the credit would be available (14%) or answer how much I would pay back in total (essentially the usual price of the type of kitchens he was selling – so at least double the quoted price). :eek::eek:
When I asked about the “cooling off” period, he admitted salesmen didn’t like talking about these as they were how salesmen lose commission. He never actually told me how many days I had (I assumed 14. Actually 7). :eek::eek:
He stated only cowards say no to credit (and they are – apparently – usually teachers! How sensible teachers must be!) :eek::eek:

Is there a “throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation” smiley (both at him and me!)? And he was in my flat for 6 hours! And I’m sure you’ve gleaned, from some of the info I’ve given already, I actually signed the contract!!! :eek::mad::eek::mad:
Yes – I’m a muppet! Now, I know you are all screaming at your monitors right now, so let me re-assure you that the cancellation is winging it’s way, via recorded delivery at this moment. It’s also backed up by an email. Hopefully this is before the credit check has been carried out, but if not, then it’s my own fault and may that be a harsh lesson learned
So, Lula – hopefully you are right and the next time a salesman comes a calling, I will have a firm hand! And even firmer tongue! Or, at the very least, the muscle strength in my arms to manhandle him out of my flat!
A firm “No thank you” on the original phone call would have been so much easier! And quicker! And would have saved me the cost of a recorded delivery letter!
On the plus side, I do have a lovely, hand designed kitchen with a reasonable quote, to take around various kitchen designers when I eventually have no debt and cash saved in the bank for that very reason!!!!
But what a daft way to go about it!

niccatw

Think I'm procrasting with that spending diary again... have to add swimming cozzie (which is slightly tighter than anticipated! Went for my back size but kind of fogot I might need a bit of space at the front so it kinda flattens me! ) and a fab pair of pumps (that's my friend's bad influence - was trying to steal hers and have been wearing them all weekend... but she noticed. How inconveniently vigilant of her!) and probably a few other bits and bobs too - including that recorded delivery letter which led me to take a £10 out of the cashline... some-one mentioned they had a spike for receipts... maybe I need to get me one of them! I actually can't remember the last time I did my spending diary so should get my finger out!

Especially as my pay is going into my old bank account not my new bank account. And I'm not sure which direct debits have transferred over yet... so I'm going to have to become a master money juggling monkey. Which means I need to pay attention!!!

I must not be so good at procrastinating.
I must not be so good at procrastinating.
I must not be so good at procrastinating.
I must not be so...
Ach, I'll do it tomorrow...

moo2moo

Don't feel too bad about the kitchen guy. If hes anything like the one that visited here I'd have done anything to get him to leave. In the end at 2am after almost 8 hours of saying no and him phoning a friend to get a better price more freebies etc. etc. I resorted to telling the guy that I was going to bed and asking OH if he needed a shotgun from the cabinet for vermin control. Guy left remarkably quickly after that. Had I been on my own I would have done pretty much anything to get rid of the slimey weasel and then spent the night disinfecting the place.

niccatw

Cheers moo2moo! Thought it was just me! I don't understand how these people sleep at night! And how can they possibly hold down a friendship? Or any relationship. It's good to find out I'm actually relatively lovely and "normal"!

:j My Kill Doll pumps arrived already; it's the little things.

maneki_neko_4

I can't believe the Kitchen salesmen!

I could never do a job like that - 6-8 hours of constant harassment just to make once sale. I find it so depressing! moo2moo 2am is horrific, I'd have booted him out much earlier!! Thankfully I've never experienced these kind of salesmen I'm sure I'm being optimistic in thinking I could get rid of them so easily. Scary Stuff!

niccatw

Maneki - I'm sure the "No thank you" on the phone call would have been much easier! As long as you always do that, I'm sure you'll never have to experience the sales pitch!

How glad am I that I said no to the 7.30pm visit though! Otherwise it might well have been as late a night as moo2moo had! Would have enlisted flatmate's help at that one though! Unfortunately, at the time, he was at uni and unable to come ask me what on earth was I up to and who was the ugly creep!