I'm Fuming - Comet sells "Extended Warranty" to disabled 90-some y.o.

jaydeeuk1

Why do people use old age as a defence? I'm assuming she hasn't escaped from a care home, and is therefore still capable of making decisions.

Jeez, they can defeat the nazis and tell Hitler to b*gger off, but they can't say the same thing to some spotty faced salesman?

ZarZar1990

I work for a company similar to Comet, we have to ask each person purchasing a product (that has a warranty available) if they'd like the extended warranty.
I don't push or pressure people myself, I just explain what the warranty does, what it covers etc, if the person wants it, they take it, if they don't, that's fine, I smile, and put the transaction through.

It's very rude to imply elderly people are somehow more stupid than young adults/adults/middle aged people, my Great Grandfather is 87 and you could no sooner dupe him into buying something he didn't want than you could any younger person.

Perhaps the old lady thought she would benefit from it?

I'm not saying the sales person was entirely blameless, perhaps the elderly lady did get a right crook who conned her into it, however, we'll never know because we don't know who the individual sales guy was, what I'm getting at is, 90% the sales guys don't want to con, they just get told to ask every customer about the warranty, so they do their job.

My main nark with this is that, you're implying an elderly lady, just because she is in a wheel chair, cannot make her own decisions, does being old and in a wheel chair make you stupid?
[/FONT]

Equaliser123

ZarZar1990 wrote: »

I work for a company similar to Comet, we have to ask each person purchasing a product (that has a warranty available) if they'd like the extended warranty.
I don't push or pressure people myself, I just explain what the warranty does, what it covers etc, if the person wants it, they take it, if they don't, that's fine, I smile, and put the transaction through.

It's very rude to imply elderly people are somehow more stupid than young adults/adults/middle aged people, my Great Grandfather is 87 and you could no sooner dupe him into buying something he didn't want than you could any younger person.

Perhaps the old lady thought she would benefit from it?

I'm not saying the sales person was entirely blameless, perhaps the elderly lady did get a right crook who conned her into it, however, we'll never know because we don't know who the individual sales guy was, what I'm getting at is, 90% the sales guys don't want to con, they just get told to ask every customer about the warranty, so they do their job.

My main nark with this is that, you're implying an elderly lady, just because she is in a wheel chair, cannot make her own decisions, does being old and in a wheel chair make you stupid?
[/FONT]

Not liking the font. Makes it hard to read.

Who said old people are stupid? I, and others, have said that they are often vulnerable. Being in a wheelchair has no bearing on this whatsoever.

TurkishDelight

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Why do people use old age as a defence? I'm assuming she hasn't escaped from a care home, and is therefore still capable of making decisions.

Jeez, they can defeat the nazis and tell Hitler to b*gger off, but they can't say the same thing to some spotty faced salesman?

42 posts.... not bad. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitle7vljslfu?from=Main.GodwinsLaw :T

I agree, btw, just keeping a tally.

whatmichaelsays

maninthestreet wrote: »

Eh? Is it illegal for an old person to buy a new TV??

No.

Neither is it illegal to sell a 90-year-old an extended warranty.

ZarZar1990

Sorry about the previous font!

Requiem

lnz wrote: »

I just spoke with an old friend, a disabled 90-some year old lady living on benefits, and I learnt that last month she went to Comet to buy a small television and they told her (or so she understood) she had to have an extended 5 years warranty for an additional 75 pounds.

I don't see why you are all arguing about the competencies of the elderly. Clearly the issue here is that, as far as the OP is aware, they either told her or led her to believe that she must take the warranty.

Whether she was 30 or 90 is irrelevant, because anyone could be duped or misinformed in a similar way - though her age and circumstances do imply a sense of vulnerability and a possible lack of awareness which may lead one to jump to the conclusion that she was conned or misled into buying it.

There are three possible conclusions, either the lady misunderstood what the SA told her, the SA duped her for commission, or the OP misunderstood her reasons for getting it.

dfh

So pushy salesmen dont exist.It is all a figment of someone;s imagination.Rubbish.

dfh

It is interesting that a salesman here is trying to discredit someone who is clearly worried about the welfare of an elderly relative.The elderly are more vulnerable and recognising this is not to imply that they are stupid.On the other hand,salesmen clearly regard them as stupid hence why they are targetted so often in scams.

dfh

In case people haven't noticed,older people were brought up to be polite and find it more difficult to say no to spotty faced salesmen.And these predators are aware of this fact.In fact reading some of the comments on here,I shudder to think of any of these people looking after the elderly.Another sad example of broken Britain.