Tell Me Something............Anything!

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Originally Posted by Barry

Talking of car insurance, I have just renewed mine.

The original quote was a 33.5% increase over last year's insurance premium. Not surpringly I called them to say that whilst I understood repair costs have increased, both for parts and labour, most other insurance companies have increased their quotes by around 25%.

Needless to say my telecon querying their quote and asking if something could be done about it paid dividends: the revised quote was an acceptable 8.2% increase over that paid last year.

I'm sure others also 'shop around', but if you don't at least phone your present provider and see if they can improve on their quote (which IMO are set by some computer algorithm, expecting you to just "shrug your sholders" and pay up}.

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Well this kind of thing annoys me, just feels like they're trying it on. When my van insurance renewal came through earlier this year, there was a 40% increase. I'm not having that, I've barely increased my prices to customers, I have just absorbed much of my increased operating costs. So I am actually making less money per week than I was last year. While some companies are actually taking the piss, with their Covid/Brexit/War in Ukraine excuses.

So Mrs. P shopped around, and got my insurance for a few percent less than last year. Even if my old insurers had come back to me with a reduced quote, I would not stay with them on principle.

Earlier this year a customer who had previously got a quote for windows, thought that the price given to them (by a well known company who advertised a lot on TV) was rather high and wanted time to think about it, were told that the job could be done for a few hundred less if they signed up now. Annoyed, she showed them the door, and ultimately contacted me.

They should have given her their best price in the first place, then they would have got the job.

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

What's that thing he wears on his head, is it a furry hat?

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It's a bionic poodle's arse. Just warming it up prior to transplanting.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

Well this kind of thing annoys me, just feels like they're trying it on. When my van insurance renewal came through earlier this year, there was a 40% increase. I'm not having that, I've barely increased my prices to customers, I have just absorbed much of my increased operating costs. So I am actually making less money per week than I was last year. While some companies are actually taking the piss, with their Covid/Brexit/War in Ukraine excuses.

So Mrs. P shopped around, and got my insurance for a few percent less than last year. Even if my old insurers had come back to me with a reduced quote, I would not stay with them on principle.

Earlier this year a customer who had previously got a quote for windows, thought that the price given to them (by a well known company who advertised a lot on TV) was rather high and wanted time to think about it, were told that the job could be done for a few hundred less if they signed up now. Annoyed, she showed them the door, and ultimately contacted me.

They should have given her their best price in the first place, then they would have got the job.

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The commission structures mean they have to try it on. We had the same selling phones and airtime contracts.

We would use the old 'Let me just talk to the manager and see what we can do' routine in the hope that they wouldn't think we were trying it on. Worked most of the time.

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Originally Posted by Macca

The commission structures mean they have to try it on. We had the same selling phones and airtime contracts.

We would use the old 'Let me just talk to the manager and see what we can do' routine in the hope that they wouldn't think we were trying it on. Worked most of the time.

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That wouldn't work in my job, I'd have to say "Let me go back to my van and talk to myself for a bit". No one's going to fall for that one.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

That wouldn't work in my job, I'd have to say "Let me go back to my van and talk to myself for a bit". No one's going to fall for that one.

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you could pretend to call your boss on your mobile.

we used to do all sorts of dodges. The one thing you couldn't do was lie about the products. They had a team of about 20 people and all they did was monitor the calls. There was a list of 27 dos and don'ts which you had to sign to say you understood.

If you broke the rules it was written warning or the sack depending on the offence. But otherwise it was exactly like you see in 'Glengarry Glenross.'

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Originally Posted by Macca

you could pretend to call your boss on your mobile.

we used to do all sorts of dodges. The one thing you couldn't do was lie about the products. They had a team of about 20 people and all they did was monitor the calls. There was a list of 27 dos and don'ts which you had to sign to say you understood.

If you broke the rules it was written warning or the sack depending on the offence. But otherwise it was exactly like you see in 'Glengarry Glenross.'

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All of my customers either know me from previous jobs or have been sent to me from said customers. So they all know I don't have a boss. But experience has taught me that some customers will always try to chip your price as haggling is in their nature. So I give a slightly inflated price then let them chip me to what I had intended to charge anyway. Looks a bit dodgy on the face of it, but in the end no one is over- or underpaying.

I've never seen "Glengarry Glenross", but have heard it's pretty good. It'll come on telly at some point :)

just had my eyes tested...at home lol.... first ime for me, but it went well enough. cost me a fortune in specs tho even with the nhs help... oh well beans on beans soon lol

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Originally Posted by struth

just had my eyes tested...at home lol.... first ime for me, but it went well enough. cost me a fortune in specs tho even with the nhs help... oh well beans on beans soon lol

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At least you'll be better able to spot the bargains. So savings to be made there :)

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

At least you'll be better able to spot the bargains. So savings to be made there :)

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had the drops in eyes so cant see diddlysquat

Had some dodgy-looking payments gone out of my bank account yesterday. Three payments of £99 "pending", to Barclaycard. So I contacted my bank to inform of this, and after going through all the automated nonsense they wanted details of my Barclaycard :doh: I don't have a Barclaycard, and have never in my life banked with Barclays. They said they would forward the information I'd given them to their fraud team.

Then five minutes later the fraud team called me, with a load more security questions :scratch: then suggested I phone Barclays. When I asked them for Barclays phone number or whether I could find them in the Yellow pages it went quiet at the other end, long enough for Anita to give me that stare that says "we're in the 21st century you moron", then the foreign sounding bloke on the other end said they would check with Barclays. I should bloody well think so.

So now I just wait and see.