07 Apr 2011
Having been a home broadband customer with TalkTalk for some time now and feeling a little dissatisfied with my lot - I was quite open to a cold call from BT about its latest Home Hub broadband offering.
Well it took three cold calls actually before I could actually speak to them.
However within a few minutes of them finally getting hold of me, I felt totally cornered as a fairly aggressive bloke talked AT me for about 10 minutes about why I should definitely switch to BT and all I needed to do was call this number.
When I said I would think about it - he basically talked AT me again for a further 10 minutes telling me it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it would save me buckets of money and be the fastest internet service in the world, if I made the switch RIGHT NOW.
Talk about an intrusive invasion into my evening. The words 'I'll think about it" obviously are some sort of code word in BT speak to really get people's backs up.
Feeling fully wound up now - I told the aggressive BT man that I needed some time to think about it and he could call me back at a later date if he so wanted.
He then proceeded to tell me before I put the phone down that I needed to call a number and cancel my TalkTalk contract right away and he would do the rest.
What part of 'I'll think about it' is actually that difficult to understand?
Now, luckily I don't take to being bullied in this way over the phone, but I dread to think how many more vulnerable people were tricked into taking on BT's broadband - whether they wanted it or not.
When he DID call me back I told him in no uncertain terms that I was not interested.
I'd rather be without broadband than use BT.
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Sympathize fully with the feeling. It's almost as though all Telecom sales people are put through the same robotic pressure selling course. Having said that, I have heard equally terrible stories aboutTalkTalk. I myself am plagued by automated diallers and recorded messages suggesting I can save hundreds by shifting utility usage to one provider. I probably could but this style of approach leaves me cold and pretty irate when I get no reply to "hello" but a rambling non-stop sales pitch followed by instructions to press 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Posted by Edward Pacey | 12 Apr 2011
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