Letters to the Editor
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@ Laurel962
It doesn't help that a few naive Salonistas have suggested that she has a great legal case, and that it's worth over $100,000 (six figures!)
Great post.
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It's Sears- they do in home estimates and inspections
Sears has been calling me repeatedly, saying that they would be in my area and asking to send over someone to check my house for "problems and/or renovations". I bought an expensive piece of home equipment from them, and evidently this is what you get. The guy could have claimed to be with Sears. But somehow, I doubt he was driving that Sears truck oe wearing the outfit.
They would NOT offer $14,000 in renovations. THAT I can guaratee you.
I can also guarantee you he was casing the place for a later visit by some three finger friends.
The poster who warned away from guns in the house was dead wrong. There are ways to have guns in the house safely with kids. My parents did it, millions of hunters and cops do it. You have to teach children about gun safety. This is the kind of situation that calls for a gun.
She needs a gun. Now. She needs to call the police, report it, etc, but she needs protection. She also needs to learn to ask "why do you need to know that"?
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HE WASN'T A TRAVELING SALESPERSON!!!!!!!!!
Can't you people READ the letter before calling someone an imbecile? What is wrong with you?
It was an appointment that LW made with the biggest home improvement company in the frickin' country.
Jesus. Read the whole letter and then start spouting.
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If he was a moron and not truly scary
You STILL should have called the police because of the threats. Mentally ill people turn on a dime.
LW's letter popped up with mine as I posted.
So dude is some sort of subcontractor. I still don't believe the remodelling thing. I have had all three of these companies screw up and they STILL would never have come up with $14,000 and an on-site VP. Unless they want you to spend $60,000.
My letter still stands. He was using the job to case your house. Be careful, LW.
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Wow, I'm Stunned at How Stupid Some of You Are.
Just, wow. How do any of you get through life being so nastily dismissive without understanding anything?
No. It was an appointment with the biggest home improvement chain in the country. Yeah, they come to your house with samples. The moron salesperson worked for them. He was a moron. He was not dangerous. In my state, we have 3 days to cancel contracts like this. To avoid a scary situation with my kids, I signed and canceled.
I explained why I was canceling. Over the next 24 hours, I received calls from various VPs of this home improvement company, including an attorney of theirs. I explained the situation.
I actually researched (imagine that, a stupid mom like me) various contacts of this company. All names and numbers were accurate. These people were the real deal.
Yes, the actual president called me. Go figure. No, I'm not lying, you judging shits.
I later met with a VP. I confirmed his identity. I was asked if I cared to sign a new contract for all the work I had specified, the price was 0$. Yes, my lawyer actually looked it over! It's real!
But man, some of you people are just some nasty, judgmental pieces of work. So sad.
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Wow, I'm Stunned at How Hypocritical and Judgmental the Terrorized Mom Is!
(If "terrorized mom" isn't a faker pretending to be LW.)
Terrorized Mom, if you don't give people enough information to know what the deal is (unsolicited cold call, or otherwise), then that's your fault, not the fault of the respondents.
You say: "He was not dangerous. In my state, we have 3 days to cancel contracts like this. To avoid a scary situation with my kids, I signed and canceled."
This is contradictory and makes no sense. If he's not dangerous, then what's so scary about telling him NO? If he's not dangerous, and just moronic and he's already insulted you, what are you so afraid that he'll do in front of your kids? Start picking his nose and flick a booger at you?
Why shouldn't your kids see you stand your ground?
You say: "But man, some of you people are just some nasty, judgmental pieces of work. So sad."
Hmm...pot......ketttle.......black........
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well, fwiw, I think the "karma" of accepting $14,000 for being discomforted for a couple of hours ...
in a situation you now claim was not scary and that you could have handled differently is pretty dubious ...
Accept the apology, ask the company to donate the money to Habitat for Humanity and get on with your life ...
yes, your question was why NOT ask for more .... because it's greedy, ugly, exploitative, violates good faitn and most folks sense of "justice"...
have a nice life
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Thanks to terrorized mom for clarifications.
Thanks, mom. Like a lot of people who read your initial letter, I felt that there was probably some scam at work.
Of course when you wrote your initial letter you were only concerned about one particular point, so left out many details, which readers filled in out of their own experience and imagination. For example, we did not know that you had spoken to the company's attorney, or indeed what company you were dealing with.
It IS quite remarkable that the president and other top company executives have been involved in this case, so such a detail WOULD make people think that perhaps you were being deceived--and not necessarily just the stupid ones.
However, this is not your fault. It is in the very nature of writing to this kind of column that people will pick up on details that are irrelevant to the LW's original intention. Any one who regularly reads this column will know that it is so.
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Hindsight helps
At the moment, he seemed yucky but not dangerous. But since I had politely once said that we needed to finish and he said he would wait for us to return, I was surprised. It seemed the safest thing to do was to just sign (knowing I would cancel) and hurry him out. Which I did.
Would it have been better to call the cops? I still don't know. It certainly would have been more traumatic for my kids.
I do think I handled it correctly, and in my mind, the incident was over, except for a talk with my kids about feeling safe, etc. They all thought he was obnoxious but not actually scary. Kind of like a rambling grandpa who says inappropriate things, they thought.
I wanted to inform the company about this guy's behavior, though. I wasn't looking for any freebies but I don't think accepting this free work is a bad idea. This company owed me an apology; that's all. If they want to apologize by doing the job, supervised, for free, what moral ground do I win by saying, "No, please donate the money to someone who needs it." What makes you think I don't need it? Their representative behaved inappropriately to me, and I'll take their offer.
When it was suggested to me that the company possibly felt liable for more, I felt it was unnecessary. But I also wanted to know if Cary thought I was being foolish to not accept more.
I wasn't asking for a chiding about learning martial arts, letting grifters into my house, buying a gun, or any other response that had nothing to do with the original question.