advice on a cold calling company

djohn2002uk

Well Done!! You were brilliant. :T:T:T:T

Xbigman

So a good tip for your elderly relatives too afraid to face these people is to tell the sales reps 'my son/daughter has power of attorney, see them instead'.
Regards



X

Bossyboots

I would be willing to bet my last pound that a signature has now appeared on that piece of paper.

Well done from me for looking after your dad.

Xbigman's advice is good. This is sort of what my mum does. She tells them (after strict instructions from me) that she is not allowed to speak to anyone or sign anything without consulting me first and then if I say no, that is what she tells them the decision is. I cringe at some of the things she would have ended up signing for if I had not had to take things in hand as she is far too trusting and takes people at face value.

hollydays

My mum was very trusting,although she thought she wasnt.She always said,"hes such a nice man"-later to find she had been ripped off for some household job done poorly.

westernpromise

Thinking around this a bit, why does your dad let these people in? Is he lonely? One hears of old folk falling prey to this because the salesman seemed like such a nice man and they never get any other visitors. Is there anything you could do to help him find things to do to keep himself busy? It might mean he has less time to waste on people like this.

jonnym

westernpromise wrote:

Thinking around this a bit, why does your dad let these people in? Is he lonely? One hears of old folk falling prey to this because the salesman seemed like such a nice man and they never get any other visitors. Is there anything you could do to help him find things to do to keep himself busy? It might mean he has less time to waste on people like this.

It's a lot of the reasons that people have mentioned. He might be lonely as he does live on his own, but he's not infirm and is out of the house for probably 4 hours a day and he gets regular visits from myself, my wife and his grandchildren.

I think a lot of it is naivety, and dad does not think these people are out to rip him off. For the first time yesterday, He said that he had been "a fool" to have them come round, at which point I said he had been a fool not to put the phone down straight away. I told him that there is nothing that we need from anybody that phones us or knocks on the door, so don't think anyone is giving a free lunch.

I think seeing me in a bit of a flustered mess afterwards, (as i said previously, I'd try anything to avoid confrontation with anybody and he was clearly better versed with the situation than me) it might have hit home.

I just have to try to stop these calls from reaching my dad through EX-d and TPS etc, so there's no re-occurence of what has happenned, because truth be known, I'm not entirely convinced it won't happen again.

Maybe taking control of his finances would be a step, but I think would definately be a hard conversation and he would be very stubborn about the whole deal.

hollydays

Maybe contact age concern see if they have any leaflets to help the situation-although that might not be welcomed.
I know i would tell my mum she must always get at least three quotes off workmen,but she would not listen.
We also used to tell her not to open the door to people she didnt know (i dont even do that unless the chain was on) but she would laugh and say,"I can see them through the glass",she was perfectly of sound mind but didnt seem to appreciate how the world has changed.

regularsaver1

well done for telling them where to go

skylight

Nice one!

Well done for standing up to them. There is no way I would have been that polite!

jonnym

My dad's just been on the phone to me and has told me that they canme round today and spent an hour at the house. When dad was adamant that he was not having anything to dowith it and would not sign anything, the guy used my dads phone to phone his manager!

The guy left after an hour, but I'm convinced now that I won't have heard the last of these scumbags. :mad: