Maybe I am getting older, maybe I am getting richer, maybe my phone numbers is out there in a bunch of databases, but I have been getting lots of unwanted “business” calls from friends and friends of friends lately.
A few have been offering a legitimate service, but a few have been straight up pyramid schemes. I have been expecting a few calls from business that I don’t have the number in my phone for, so I tend to answer my phone most of the time thinking that it could be important. Yes I realize that I can let it go right to voicemail, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a cell phone does it not?
These calls that I get are usually not from a nameless telemarketer that I have no qualms about giving a nasty “not interested” and hanging up. They are from friends, acquaintances, or friends of friends. Not the kind of people that I want to burn bridges with.
I feel like they are putting me in a very difficult position, they are using their good relationship as leverage into going along with whatever they are selling. What is a guy to do?
The only thing I can think is be polite, listen to their pitch, and tell them in no uncertain terms that I am not interested, and then if they persist be a bit more direct. I feel at the point that I give them a pretty definite NO, that they have used up all the goodwill they have with me. At that point (I think) I am allowed to treat them like any other unwanted solicitor.
Moral of the Story: I guess we all have to do things we feel uncomfortable doing, and only by actually doing them are we able to become comfortable.
Thanks for a thought-provoking post.
I can only feel sorry for people suckered by Pyramid Schemes. I worry that they don’t have enough to eat, bc they probably paid to join the “money making venture”. I hate getting the pitch, and I hate that people have to resort to trying to con their own friends and families. There should be more PSA’s about pyramid scheme idiocy.
My dad came to visit this weekend and brought with him a video of a pyramid scheme promising to earn you at least $1500 in the first month. I pretended to be interested – because it’s my dad – but A. it’s no doubt a pyramid scheme, B. my dad is notorious for bad business ventures, and C. I just don’t want to. Congrats on the house! If you ever decide to move, don’t rent to friends. Bad mistake.