Two years ago, I got cold-called by Mr. Sales Dude.
Mr. Sales Dude worked at the dealership where I had purchased my current vehicle – he wanted to know if he could put me into a new car. He said he could get me a great deal since I was an existing customer. He REALLY WANTED TO HELP ME!
I didn’t have any interest in buying a new vehicle, but just for fun I decided to see what he could offer.
I figured that he had called me, so he’d do all the work and I could always just say no if it wasn’t a good offer.
Of course, Mr. Sales Dude didn’t do all of the work. I ended up having to put together a bunch of information and fill out forms and answer a lot of questions over the course of three phone calls.
Once all of this was done, he said he would present me with a deal the next day. He even set a phone appointment with me with a time.
When the appointment time arrived, I didn’t hear from him. Like an idiot, I called and left a message.
No reply came that day. No reply came the next day. Nor the one after that.
Days dragged by and I felt myself getting more and more irritated.
After all, he had called me. Then he made me jump through several hoops.
I was at least owed a return phone call.
Instead, I got silence.
When I finally got Mr. Sales Dude on the phone, I tore a strip off of him so bad I hope it haunts his dreams. Somehow, I doubt it.
Both he and his sales manager didn’t seem to care much about how much time they wasted on something I never asked for.
I was reminded of this when I received an email from New Westminster resident who got cold-called by a property company saying they were interested in buying his home.
At least this guy got an offer. What followed was a back-and-forth process that included the homeowner having to pay for a lawyer to help prepare a counter.
It was during this process that the sales dude kept delaying things with cryptic text messages and weird reasons why the homeowner hadn’t received an answer. This dragged on for weeks until, one day, the sales dude said he was no longer authorized to accept a deal and the whole thing was cancelled.
Remember, the sales dude came to the homeowner begging to buy the property and then jerked him around for weeks. The homeowner doesn’t get compensated for his legal fees.
“Who the hell do these people think they are?” asked the homeowner in his email to me. “We negotiated in good faith for two weeks. We jumped through all their hoops. We agreed to all of their terms. Then at the moment of signing they snatch it away!
Is it illegal? Unfortunately no. Is it immoral? You're damn right it is!”
Buddy, I feel your pain.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
