Door to Door sales ripping off elderly

This kind of scum will come round and try and do the work, even if he objects to it. Is there somebody who at least can keep him company and stand up for him should they come to do the work?
 
Nexus said:
This kind of scum will come round and try and do the work, even if he objects to it. Is there somebody who at least can keep him company and stand up for him should they come to do the work?
Click to expand...
Good point, it may be worth having somebody who can call the police should they come back.

Do you know any of the neighbours who may be able to keep a watch for you?, or is he able to call you if they come?.

I don't think you can get much lower than people taking advantage of the mentally ill.
 
A mate of mine walked out of a job when he was told to pressure sell a very overpriced vacuum cleaner to an infirm old lady who had recently lost her husband. Dispicable line of work, I have no idea how some people can sleep at night.
 
I would have a word with trading standards as well.

EDIT: If you can do it without causing trouble (or there's another member of the family who can) I would also ask your granddad to give you his cheque book and also make sure he doesn't have loads of cash at home.

I would also consider this to be a bit of a wake up call, I realise you can't supervise him 24hrs a day but it might be worth getting the rest of the family to try and see him a little more often.

Sadly this is likely to be the thin end of the wedge and at some point in the future he won't be capable of living on his own. As a family you need to make sure you can make that choice for him at the right time.

It's also very important that you make the most of the time you have left with him. It's very easy for people with dementia to slip away without you even noticing.
 
Last edited:
But... but... at least these people ripping people off arn't benefit scrounging amirite :p

On a more serious note, make sure there's somebody there with your grandad if/when they arrive.
 
majnu said:
Sorry to hear this, but I just wanted to say that whilst trying to earn some cash during the summer I took a job as door to door and charity sales person during my Uni days.

The tactics they teach you and expect you to use even if they are a registered charity organisation is nothing short of taking advantage of the lonely, elderly, unemployed and mentaly challenged people. It's ****ing disgusting!

These places have no empahy whatsoever and expect you to meet targets to gain extra commission. As I am a person of honour and integrity and add to the fact they wanted to prey on innocent people and those especially in the Asian community I stood up to these scumbags and kicked off with the manager the next day in front of everyone.

Needless to say I only lasted 2 days in the job, but at least I had my say and left with m head held high.

Anyone who comes to my house even if it's religious charities I tell them to **** off!
Click to expand...

You'll laugh but this is one of the main reasons I jacked in my Uni job at GAME. We were told to lie to people to shift consoles, which I just wasn't willing to do.

In the end I told the store manager exactly what I, the other staff, and the customers thought of him, and walked out.
 
Tute said:
You'll laugh but this is one of the main reasons I jacked in my Uni job at GAME. We were told to lie to people to shift consoles, which I just wasn't willing to do.

In the end I told the store manager exactly what I, the other staff, and the customers thought of him, and walked out.
Click to expand...

No wonder GAME group has gone down hill. :D

But these charity organisations normally operate during the day as they have the mindset that a certain "type" of people are home who they can prey on with their charm and smiles.

These people are nothing but con men with suits.
 
Door to door sales should be stopped, this is the worst type of selling ever. I look out the window before answering.

For the elderly it might be best to look into security cameras and then as long as they don't answer it, it is a hell of a lot cheaper than signing a 2K contract.
 
mrbell1984 said:
Door to door sales should be stopped, this is the worst type of selling ever. I look out the window before answering.

For the elderly it might be best to look into security cameras and then as long as they don't answer it, it is a hell of a lot cheaper than signing a 2K contract.
Click to expand...

Slam the door in their face midway through them introducing themselves.
 
Tute said:
You'll laugh but this is one of the main reasons I jacked in my Uni job at GAME. We were told to lie to people to shift consoles, which I just wasn't willing to do.

In the end I told the store manager exactly what I, the other staff, and the customers thought of him, and walked out.
Click to expand...

What sort of lies did they ask you to say? haha I want to hear if theres any ridiculous ones for "Joe" public.
 
Wow lots of replies now.

Thank you for all the info, really appreciate it.

I don't know the full details yet and probably won't until later today but from what I understand he signed the contract at his home but hasn't paid yet. This means he will be entitled to cancel under a 7 day cooling off period.

There is of course the issue of these people coming round, trying to do the job anyway etc. The problem is he is a good 4-5 hours drive away so I can't just pop in if need be or be there to back him up.

Good point about the neighbours though, and my Uncle (his son) lives 1-2 hours away from him. Will have to see about getting someone available if need be, and as suggested above it could well be worth informing the local police.

Thanks again, will keep this updated.
 
Mr. Peri Peri said:
Wow lots of replies now.

Thank you for all the info, really appreciate it.

I don't know the full details yet and probably won't until later today but from what I understand he signed the contract at his home but hasn't paid yet. This means he will be entitled to cancel under a 7 day cooling off period.

There is of course the issue of these people coming round, trying to do the job anyway etc. The problem is he is a good 4-5 hours drive away so I can't just pop in if need be or be there to back him up.

Good point about the neighbours though, and my Uncle (his son) lives 1-2 hours away from him. Will have to see about getting someone available if need be, and as suggested above it could well be worth informing the local police.

Thanks again, will keep this updated.
Click to expand...

Best thing to do is to call on his behalf, inform them that he has changed his mind and is cancelling his contract of work with them. If they persist to pester him I'd call the police, it's harrassment and you shouldn't be afraid to answer your own door.

Also let them know they should consider revising their price list as you've been quoted well under half for the work just to rub the salt in the wounds ;)
 
Tute said:
You'll laugh but this is one of the main reasons I jacked in my Uni job at GAME. We were told to lie to people to shift consoles, which I just wasn't willing to do.

In the end I told the store manager exactly what I, the other staff, and the customers thought of him, and walked out.
Click to expand...

It's pretty amazing the amount of people doing unethical/immoral and sometimes unlawful things in their jobs, I'd personally rather be unemployed than doing some of the things some people will resort to to earn a wage.

As for OP I doubt the contract will hold water seeing as your grandfather has dementia.
 
Yeah, to be honest - all push sales (door-step/email/phone-calls) should be illegal - that way scams become very easy to spot.

Those charity muggers also need the chop, while I'm all for a good cause - these people use intimidation & annoyance to get money from people - I've also get a feeling these "charities" have very high running costs & little ends up going to the actual cause.

Better to donate directly to reputable charities.

mmj_uk said:
It's pretty amazing the amount of people doing unethical/immoral and sometimes unlawful things in their jobs, I'd personally rather be unemployed than doing some of the things some people will resort to to earn a wage.
Click to expand...
It's quite shameful really,

I've had to intervene in a certain PC shop at least twice so far when a sales-person was talking utter rubbish to get this old couple to buy a top of the range computer to check emails, or when they claimed "This machine can play the latest games" (checked the specs.. onboard graphics card... lol)
 
Last edited:
elmarko1234 said:
Yeah, to be honest - all push sales (door-step/email/phone-calls) should be illegal - that way scams become very easy to spot.

Those charity muggers also need the chop, while I'm all for a good cause - these people use intimidation & annoyance to get money from people - I've also get a feeling these "charities" have very high running costs & little ends up going to the actual cause.

Better to donate directly to reputable charities.

It's quite shameful really,

I've had to intervene in a certain PC shop at least twice so far when a sales-person was talking utter rubbish to get this old couple to buy a top of the range computer to check emails, or when they claimed "This machine can play the latest games" (checked the specs.. onboard graphics card... lol)
Click to expand...

I had a run in with a charity called Shelter, I used to work in Leicester city centre and every lunch I would nip to the shops but these guys would literally line the streets for people. One occasion they walked alongside me trying to sell me but I was literally ignoring them and not acknowledging(sp?) them... she ended with "Guess you don't care that people are dying on the streets", had to respond with something like "Yeah I know, I'm a B@$****" bleeding charities.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom