It all started about a month ago. I got some literature in the mail from AARP. In the packet was a self addressed postage paid card where you could check for your choice of a free gift. I checked next to a home fire extinguisher and sent it in. It said at the bottom of the card "FREE~NO OBLIGATION."
Well, this morning at 8:45am (a little early as far as I'm concerned) the phone rang and a man introduced himself and told me he wanted to drop by and bring me the fire extinguisher. I said, "I hope there's no strings attached & if there is...I don't want it." He said that he wouldn't be associated with any company that would do that & he understood where I was coming from. Ok...so he said he'd be here about 12 noon. Well, just before 11 am my door bell rang and there he was. He came in.....sat on the sofa, started petting Gabi and asking me how long I'd lived here, etc. Then he got up and was looking at the family pictures on the wall asking me questions about them....then after about 20 minutes he asked if he could use the bathroom...so I showed him where it was. Then when he came out of the bathroom, he's in the hallway looking at all the pictures hanging in there...ok that's fine I don't mind but now he's here almost 30 minutes. Finally he sits down and hands me the extinguisher, along with a little piece of paper that had a list of fire hazards on it. He asked me to take a little fire quiz, while he went out to his car. He came back in with all these notebooks and a big case. Then he started his spiel. About 15 minutes into it...he asked for a glass of water, so I got up and got him a bottle of water. He continued on & on, showing me all these newspaper articles about people burning up in their homes. By now it's noon~he's been there for an hour and I've missed the "Ellen" show.
About 10 minutes after 12 noon I asked him, "how long is this going to take because I have to be out of here in 30 minutes." Actually I didn't...I lied to him....but I figured, hey this guy has lied to me and what I just said to him was justified. As it turned out he was selling and in fact is the Regional Field Manager for a home security system. This system sounds great but it's like $6,000 to install and anywhere from $30 to $50 a month service fee. He finally left here at 12:45pm saying he could either come back or would be calling me in the next few days to get my decision. So standing on my front porch I told him, "No that's ok, I will call you if I'm interested!" I did leave the house, went and bought some more bedding plants and to the grocery store. But I am still angry at this knucklehead, I feel he was dishonest. And he hogged up 1 hour and 45 minutes of my day. Take my poll and let me know how you feel about this experience.....
12 year old 