Early this afternoon, The Asylum had an unexpected, unannounced vehicle pull up in the yard. The Locust Brothers had been out playing, and alerted me to the fact that strangers were here and I headed to the door.
Hmm. Something did not sit right with the scene that met my wondering eyes.... (Mini van, sign on side announcing company name, two people splitting apart- one headed to my house, one to my in laws.)
I met the saleswoman on my deck- stranger = danger in this part of town and unless you are a law enforcement officer that *I* have called, you do NOT gain entry into my domain. Period. Well, not and get away with it unwounded or deadified that is.
Warning feeling number two: Saleswoman introduced herself with a limp, dishrag handshake. Anyone who "shakes" my hand with absolutely no authority in their grip makes me wonder what they are up to. I could have shaken the air and gotten a better feeling from it. (For what it's worth, I'm not generally a hand shaker of strangers. Puts me too close to them. But when I do, I expect more than fingertips placed in my hand, no grip and limp wrist. You'd also best look me in the eye.)
Warning number three came when the woman would not look at me for more than a few seconds, but instead was busy trying to see around me and up into my home. I positioned myself so that she was blocked onto the ramp leading to the deck- so her view was limited to me and the oak tree.
Warning number four was she gave up her sales pitch pretty easily when I smiled and said we were not interested in her product. She looked somewhat shocked when I said we had dogs, were armed 24/7 and were trained in the art of home defense. She did ask if my dog would let me know if my home was on fire. I don't think she liked it when I laughed at that and said, "Obviously you don't know my dog!"
Warning number five was neither sales person made any attempt to leave contact information or product information "just in case" we changed our minds. They packed up their schpeil pretty easily and departed. Hmm... bet ya don't get many sales THAT way... giving up easily... hmm...
What was the product? Why, ADT Alarm Systems.
Now, I have nothing against ADT. I've heard good things about their service. I've also been contacted by the local dealer in an attempt to set an appointment for a sales rep- but this was about two years ago.
The more I thought things over, the more I thought that something was not quite right with the situation. So what did I do? But look up the number of the local dealer and call them. The gent I spoke with sounded surprised that people were out making door to door sales calls. He was quick to direct me to call the corporate office, and kindly provided me with the number. (I, being the suspicious sort, checked the number online before I called it. It was legit.) At the corporate office, I spoke with Mr. Willie, who was very helpful. Mr. Willie was surprised at the door to door tactic- but only somewhat. He said local dealers are allowed to do door to door sales, BUT--- corporate rules state the dealers MUST leave a dealer number with the person they spoke to, so it can be verified by the corporate office. Hmmm.... Mr. Willie then confirmed my suspicions, stating that most likely those two "sales persons" were up to no good. Mr. Willie also said that the SOP for sales calls was a cold call from a sales office, and an appointment would be set up from there. Potential clients would know who it was that would be coming to see them, and provided with contact information should they need to verify the identification of the sales person.
So why did I wonder?
- First, we are in a rural area.
- Second, unless you know where we are, you won't FIND us.
- Third, neither myself nor my mother in law had set an appointment nor spoken with anyone from the local dealers office.
- Fourth, gas prices being what they are, I can not see a local business cruising around to try and talk to people that they had not already set up an appointment with. Seems like a good way to WASTE money, not MAKE money to me.
- Fifth, ADT is a big company. Mr. Willie confirmed that 99% of the sales they make comes from word of mouth- satisfied customers are the way to grow any business, home security is no different.
Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know that we advocate using your gut instinct and situational awareness to keep you safe. Pay. Attention.
Please.
Was I paranoid, making time to look up numbers and make calls to ADT offices to verify information? Frankly, I could care less if you happen to think I'm paranoid or not- what I am is aware and prepared to deal with whatever situation arises.
We live in a strange age now folks, where people with less than stellar intent will go above and beyond to cause YOU problems so THEY may easily get by. (Course I do have to wonder-- door to door crooks huh? Aren't you making kind of a poor business decision cruising around burning $3.70 per gallon gas too?)
Oh and for those who love love LOVE to argue with me about our firearms, you're damn right I had one on me. But just because I had it on me, does NOT mean it needs to be USED. My pistol is my backup- my BRAIN is the primary weapon in self, family and home defense.
Lesson learned today? If you suspect something is less than kosher, close the door, lock up and make some calls. (My mother in law closed the door in the face of the male salesman, who stood on her porch and called out something about "free trial" to see if she would come back out. Guess what dude-- when that woman says NO, she means
Oh. HELL. NO. and you'd best be gittin gone.)
Be aware.
Pay attention.
Listen to your gut instinct.
Make calls and ask questions.
Verify, verify, verify.
Better to be thought paranoid than be thought of as a past memory, no?
Y'all, ya just don't know what ol' Murphy decided to drop in on us this week. Eeee gads.
Yeeah. Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink, flush, wash, bathe, launder- nothing.
More digging (and cussing) and Problem Two cleared, treated and resolved. YAY!! Water!!!
Night falls. We wave the white flag and decide to tackle things early in the morning. One way or another man, this crapola was gonna be FIXED come Hell or high wat... err.. yeah. You know what I mean.
Four trips to Lowe's, parts, more parts and still more parts later, the Lowe's near us not only has my deepest thanks for having what we needed, but it also now ranks as the ONLY home improvement store I will frequent. Both days that I bravely went alone, into the deep recesses of the Plumbing Department, a wonderful, kind, knowledgeable staff member came to my rescue. Mr. Charlie is one of my Hero's. So to the Head Hancho's of Lowe's in Pooler GA- you have a true gem in Mr. Charlie. I hope y'all treat him WELL!
Ever since the time change, I've had a bear of a time getting adjusted. Mornings are an exercise in frustration, as my worn out, tired, beat up old bod is convinced that no, we are NOT supposed to be UP yet. It feels like torture. However, daylight is burning, so up I get. Never one to sleep when there was light out and work to be done, up it is like it or not.
Hey look! It's a pregnant gelding!
A while back we got some free samples in the mail from Winnie's Cookies. I gave them out to a few clients- and all but one loved them. My sweet little donkey jenny about turned her big beautiful ears inside out for them. Her little mini horse buddy though turned his pretty little nose up at them. Which suited the jenny fine- she ate his share!
All the pictures in today's post are older-- my Flip camera took itself for a walk and has not returned yet. (Dammit.) I've dug out my old real nice Kodak camera, ordered a new cable for downloading pictures, wiped away the dust and even remembered how to change the batteries out in it. It will be fun to see what images are on the memory cards- they're only about what... four or five years old?
So the other day ago.....
