I know I have lost the ability to be tolerant but...

Why doesn't no mean no?

We went to a charity event on Saturday and I bought some raffle tickets. We didn't stay long because BH started up and I felt rather odd and we decided to go home. As we were leaving we passed a couple of ladies who were selling the raffle tickets. 'Do you want to buy raffle tickets?' I smiled through the pain and said 'No, thank you.' 'Well they are only a pound a book,' semi snapped one of them.

Luckily I felt a smidgen of restraint and just carried on walking instead of screeching I SAID NO THANK YOU IS THAT NOT ACCEPTABLE ANYMORE? It actually puts me off going outside, answering the phone etc etc when you can't say no, thank you and it be accepted.

BTW I know IABU but just fed up!!!

No you are NBU. This kind of thing really grates on me too. At BW the other day I just stopped to pick up a leaflet from a stand and the saleslady literally pounced like a vulture and would not let me go. She kept saying, right let's get a date in the diary for you then (it was a photo leaflet). Even if I was going to book something I wouldn't after that.

We had a guy round to give us some quotes from our windows and likewise he literally would not go home. We kept saying no, we can't afford your quote etc etc, and in the end we could only get him out the house by telling him we'd call him the next day.

It really annoys me when people have no respect!

<makes mental note not to push the raffle tickets at the SANDS sale>

this is something that irritates me.

esp with the charity workers in the street. Im always polite and say no thank you and its always followed by but it will only take 2 minutes/we are not selling anything/i wont keep you long etc etc.

I give to charity in others ways, i dont want to be stopped in the street to give out my bank details to set up a direct debit. I respect that they are doing it for charity but still....

No, NBU, I hate people hassling like this.

It's the same thing when you're on holiday and people on the street are hassling you to go into their restaurant, and explaining the menu to you, when all you want to do is have a quick look at what they do - tbh, it always puts me off going in there and we tend to try and find somewhere that doesn't bother you!

This irritates me too. I hate being hasseled for money, I'll give to charity (and I do) when I want, and which ones I want to. if I've said no, then respect that

NBU (though we're hoping to sell lots of tickets at the kent sale, oops!)

HATE chuggers with a passion, especially the ones who think they are cheeky geezers who can flatter me into forgetting there already aren't enough hours in the day and I have two screeching children with me. Whatever!

Madonna:

HATE chuggers with a passion,

Chuggers?

And thank you I thought you were going to say what a cow I was thinking this of charity collectors. OH says I am normally a soft touch for anything charity like so I must have a special sign above my head which doesn't turn off.

Chuggers is a new one to me too! God I hate the cheeky chappies though who will start their sentence with "awwiiite dawwlin'" Because that's really going to encourage me to stop and talk to them!

Talking of those charity parasites, I remember a thread back in my day on WP, where a hitcher had been verbally abused by one because she was wearing some kind of designer clothes - I think he yelled at her that she was really out of order for spending money on clothes but not being willing to give to charity. Words fail me!

Totally agree with you!

We once had a double glazing salesman come to the door and I told him that i'd be interested to know how much it would cost so I knew how much we would need to save, but that I didn't want to waste his time as we certainly didn't have the money at that time.  He said not a prob, arranged to come back to give us a quote.

He came back, quoted, and then produced paperwork to sign.  I reminded him that I did explain earlier that we didn't have the money now and he got really pushy and a bit aggressive.  Eventually we managed to get him to leave, and for some bizarre reason his boss rang us to find out how it had gone.  I was honest and said that I had explained initially that we wouldn't be ordering because we had no money, but that we were interested to know how much we would have to save as it was something we wanted to have done in the future.  I also said that the sales man had made me feel very uncomfortable even though I was upfront from the start.

Then about 10 mins later, we got another phonecall, this time from the sales guy, having an absolute rant at me down the phone for being a stupid timewasting ***, and for grassing him up and potentially losing him his job!!!

Oh God.  I used to be one of those charity hasslers in the street!!  When I was at uni I had a job in a call centre making fundraising calls, and they expanded to cover face-2-face fundraising and we had to do a certain number of hours a week.

I HATED it, absolutely HATED it.  It was bad enough sitting in a call centre and being verbally abused over the phone, but to have it in the street as well was just downright scary and humiliating.

I remember being backed up against a shop window once by a guy that wouldn't leave me alone - and the Team Leader was so busy chatting up a couple of girls that he didn't even notice, another passerby came and helped me.

I lasted 6 months before I got to the point where I was crying before each shift as well as after it, and I quit.

I had similar at the opticians on Monday. My prescription has changed by like 0.25 in one eye so the optician started explaining about new glasses etc, and I said that I would look in to how much it would cost to have new lenses put in my old glasses but that I couldn't afford to do it that day and that I definitely couldn't afford new frames. He sort of ignored me and carried on, and the handed me over to an assistant - to look at new frames! I explained the same thing to her and she still carried on trying to sell me new frames ''well, it wouldn't actually be much more to buy frames than it would to get new lenses'' But it's much more than I actually have, love! I just gritted my teeth and explained again but she carried on trying to persuade me! In teh end I stood up and asked if I could pay for my eye test and walked out!

chuggers = charity muggers

We used to have loads when I worked in London

Chuggers.

I can't stand them either. I was stopped THREE TIMES by the same people on Monday. I'd told the first one (they were all standing together) that 'I didn't have time, sorry', which I genuinely didn't due to various appointments. On the way back from both appointments, the first only 10 mins  later, I was stopped by them again, and then again after the last appt, by which point the guy was literally chasing me down the street . I made him go away, but really, I'd said no, so was there any need to follow me?

I remember one charity guy catching me on a particularly bad day once. He was harping on about getting donations to pay for aromatherapy and homeopathy treatments for people with Alzheimer's, and how they were working on a cure with those methods, or something to that effect. He was going on about how it was hard for me to understand the impact on the family blah blah blah, until I said that actually, my Nan had Alzheimer's and she lived with us for about 5 years, with my mum caring for her., so actually, I do have some knowledge.
He didn't like that bit, but got especially annoyed when I explained to him that no amount of sniffing lavender oil and taking 'magic memory water' as per homeopathy (sorry to anyone that may go along with this, but seriously, homeopathy is just nonsense. If water had memory, we'd all be taking in sewage daily, surely??) was going to regenerate dead and necrotised brain cells.
I don't think we parted as friends. 

I've stopped answering my house phone because of annoying phone calls. PITA cos I need to do 1471 and then wonder who the withheld caller number was!

I snapped at Arnold Clark for phoning on 12 times despite the fact I ignored their letter with a date for my service, this date was never requested by me and they just decided to book me in! I was livid about that. Then i received 2 messages to call them back to confirm I was going along, I ignored them. Then I did eventually answer a call and told the guy I wasn't using Arnold Clark again and I wouldn't be taking my car for a service with them. I had just hung up when he called again and left a voice mail message but he probably didn't realise he was phoning the same person back. Then it was after 7pm the other night and thought it would be hubby at that time but nope it was Arnold Clark and I told them it was harrassment the amount of calls I was getting, said that their manager was an a*sehole (yes used those words) and to stop calling me!

Last year we had a double glazing salesman around and after 90 mins he was still here, I had got quite upset by it all and had to leave the house and eventually H lifted his sample window and briefcase and requested him to leave! Then the company called back to offer a special discount and I told them that we actually had to remove the salesmans belongings from our house in order for him to leave and that they were never to call us back again.

Mmmm seems I have little tolerance as well, oops.

Starstruck:

Totally agree with you!

 

We once had a double glazing salesman come to the door and I told him that i'd be interested to know how much it would cost so I knew how much we would need to save, but that I didn't want to waste his time as we certainly didn't have the money at that time.  He said not a prob, arranged to come back to give us a quote.

 

He came back, quoted, and then produced paperwork to sign.  I reminded him that I did explain earlier that we didn't have the money now and he got really pushy and a bit aggressive.  Eventually we managed to get him to leave, and for some bizarre reason his boss rang us to find out how it had gone.  I was honest and said that I had explained initially that we wouldn't be ordering because we had no money, but that we were interested to know how much we would have to save as it was something we wanted to have done in the future.  I also said that the sales man had made me feel very uncomfortable even though I was upfront from the start.

 

Then about 10 mins later, we got another phonecall, this time from the sales guy, having an absolute rant at me down the phone for being a stupid timewasting ***, and for grassing him up and potentially losing him his job!!!

 

Would it be Everest or Weatherseal by any chance? They have merged with a few companies now though.