It's Easter and I am bumming around with family. I had lunch with my father and ate pizza with him. Afterwards, my mother told me to tag a long with her to one of her friend's house. I went along. When I went there, I realised that this dinner was an opportunity for some sales representative from a company called Saladmaster to try to sell saucepans to us. I was annoyed as ever.
A form was passed around asking for our contact details. I then realised why I was there. My mother didn't want her contact details put down and instead wanted my contact details put down. I put down my name, a fake address, one of my many disposable emails, but put my actual mobile phone number there because, unlike email, I don't have multiple phone numbers. However, I am not too concerned about pushy salespeople calling me on my mobile because I can just tell them I am busy and request that they call later and then block their number using a number blocking app. I have done this many times.
My grandmother was with me and she asked me to write down her details. To spare her a phone call from a pushy salesman, I used my details for her, i.e. including my fake address, disposable email, and mobile phone number. The saleswoman noticed that my grandma had my details and demanded that her details be used. She said, "Your grandmother is a separate person. She needs to have her details. Do this otherwise she will break the hosting rules and she will be disqualified!" I was surprised. Here we were kindly offering our sensitive personal details (albeit fake details) and she thinks she can pick and choose how the sensitive details had to be provided. I asked, "Disqualified from what?" She mumbled something about a gift. My grandmother relented and told me to put her my father's mobile number, so I did that, thinking that I can simply warn my father and tell him to block the number after he is called. I also wrote down a fake address for my grandmother.
The sales pitch involved the saleswoman cooking food for all of us using Saladmaster titanium stainless steel saucepans. She then went on about the benefits of these products. The basic message is that if you use other products, you will die of cancer and that Saladmaster products are completely safe. You should therefore consider buying the product and consider it an investment in your health. I was absolutely flabbergasted when the price was revealed. You effectively buy a set of about six saucepans for about $6,000! The cheaper option is to buy only a few of the smaller saucepans for about $2,000. If you buy right away with cash or credit card on the day, you get an extra saucepan thrown in for free, but you had to buy right away.
I must hand it to the Saladmaster salespeople. They are incredibly effective. Many people were buying. Two of my relatives took out their credit cards and purchased the product. I had a sour look on my face the whole time, so I think the saleswoman didn't even bother trying to sell to me. My mother, however, seeing other people buying the product and clearly influenced by the fear tactics being used, wanted to get it. I told her not to get it. My reasoning was simple. Salespeople always try to create a sense of urgency because they don't want you to research and compare. This gives them an opportunity to rip you off. She responded by saying that if you don't buy now, you cannot get the free saucepan they throw in. I told her that any free product provided is funded for by rip off prices from other products. No organisation can give away a product for free unless it funds it by ripping consumers off for other products. The main argument was that titanium saucepans were better than saucepans made of copper or other metals. I did a quick Google Shopping search on my mobile for "titanium saucepan" and the prices of the product ranged from about $150 to $400. I thought it was highly suspect that titanium saucepans were sold for thousands of dollars by Saladmaster when they were sold for hundreds by others, e.g. Scanpan. Whenever someone tries to sell me something, I'm glad I have a smartphone on me. I can then do a quick search on Google or Ebay to see what the market says the price of the product should be.
There were many unknowns. Many products like braces and many utensils like knives and forks are made of stainless steel without titanium. Does that mean these can cause cancer? Do we even know for sure that stainless steel without titanium even causes cancer, and if not then why not buy a normal stainless steel saucepan?
My mother seemed a little down and sad when I told her not to buy the product. I felt guilty but luckily it is mothers day in a few weeks, so maybe I can do some research on my own and buy for my mother some high quality saucepans for mothers day.
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