Never Trust a Salesman

We all know that salespeople can stretch the truth a bit, but when a salesman  misleads you, you are going to cancel your order.

In January a customer ordered pleated window blinds for an Anglian conservatory, but then subsequently cancelled it - apparently because another blind company had reduced their price substantially below ours.

We reiterated the differences between our companies and blinds; even pointing out that their self-employed blind fitter would have to survey, fit and guarantee the blinds for around £54 - far too low a sum to even cover the cost of travelling, let alone to do a good job. Nevertheless, the customer said that they were happy with their decision.

Last Friday we received a telephone call from the customer who said that they would like to reinstate their order. Whilst we were obviously pleased, we had to ask why…

It transpires that the customer was unhappy that the assurances made by the salesman had transpired to be false:

Their fitter was indeed a subcontractor – not an employee
When the customer queried this with the fitter at survey the poor chap explained that he doesn’t work for anyone else, but had to concede that he is not an employee. Obviously if they protest too much this would end up with HMRC investigating the installer and the sales company, so they need to be very careful.

The 5 year guarantee was in fact a 1 year guarantee
The fitter went to great pains to describe how it is a 5 year guarantee, but the bottom line is that if they only guarantee something for 1 year, but will come out for up to 5 years if you pay for it, then it is only a 1 year guarantee.

This is only one example. We know it goes on all the time because the two other direct-sales companies selling blinds have exactly the same set-up and claim exactly the same thing (we hear it on a daily basis).

Is it a case of salesmen not knowing their own guarantee and company, or is it a case of deliberate deceit by the companies in question? Probably neither. It is probably a natural consequence of having enough room for ambiguity to create the desired effect without needing to resort to lying.

This order was only cancelled because, when pushed, the salesmen lied.

If you would like to deal with honest and ethical people that happen to be conservatory blind specialists and not a direct sales company, then click here.

Related News Tags:  Pleated Blinds |  Window Blinds |  Other Blinds Companies |