Good Way to Avoid Tele-Sales/Marketing

I'm sure a lot of people would agree with me that it is quite annoying to receive calls from various organizations (mostly banks) during the day to sell you all kind of things (ranging from insurance, so-called special promotions, loans, to lucky draw with free trial membership at fitness center) ... and somehow, they always know when to pick the right moment, such as when you're having a conference call, meeting, or just simply busily trying to get something out.

Recently, it has occurred to me that I can at least end the call very quickly by simply answering the phone with "hello" (in English).   Before, I would have switched to Cantonese channel after the other side doesn't respond with 2 hellos ... but turns out that if I don't switch channel, the tele-sales/marketing folks would simply just hang up.

Guess those commercials/promotions on TV about learning English ... are not that effective.

Tou Yim

I deeply regretted agreeing to visit certain fitness center (hint: promoted by certain big Hong Kong / Hollywood movie star who likes to sing very much) due to some so-called prize won at certain big cinema circuit (hint: the one that first offered online ticketing) which included a 2-week free trial membership.

Given that my tum tum is not at a desired "level", I figured probably not a bad idea to try it out and see if I like it ...

Then, another mistake to agree to go there on a Friday night ... thinking it's only like a 20-min visit, I got there around 10:45pm or so after dinner and drinks with a friend. Well, it turned out to be an over 1 hour visit ... started with an introduction of the facility and services available ... and then a "free" health survey ... by that time, I was getting quite a bit tempted to try it out. Then, the anti-climax came ... when the "consultant" tried to sell me the membership ... I mean, it's ok to try ... but good sales people should know when to "stop" ...

So, what went wrong?

1. Membership package was really not "cheap" ... with entrance fee, registration fee, and then monthly fee of close to $500 (come on ... there's a big promotion near the cross harbor tunnel from the competitor ... saying less than $200)

2. Insisting that this offer was only valid if join immediately that night ... so no "specials" if join after the 2 weeks trial ... ya right, as if I'm stupid ... and that only makes me wonder that they have little confidence in their facilities ... so that I would likely not join after the trial?

3. The "consultant" kept asking me the same questions over and over again to try to "sell" me the membership ... and then when I told him that I would DEFINITELY not join that night, he got his senior staff to try again ... and asked me the same questions AGAIN. After being asked for the 6th time in 1 hour on how many times you'll visit each week ... I have to say blood was pumping very high to my head ... and I'm sure they should be able to see some smoke coming out too.

4. A single Asian female should not be kept up till midnight ... it was getting very close to midnight already and I kept telling them I have to leave ... they should take the hint ... really.

So, finally they gave up at 11:55pm, and started processing my trial membership ... and by the way, the guy was typing very slow too. I got quite pissed off at that time and told him to just forget it ... as they have successfully turned my interests into total frustration ... and just got up and left.

I kicked myself a few times on the way home ... having to paid $70 for taxi since it was so late already ... and vowed that I would not join this fitness center even if I decide to join one.

Interestingly enough ... to re-emphasize the point that these sales consultants really have no tact (or brain for that matter) ... the guy called me up on Saturday, reminding me that I have not picked up the trial membership. Needless to say, I told him that I won't be picking it up ...

So tou yim ...

Big Bonus at Evening Out Tonite

Went to M hotel at PP this evening to meet my customer for dinner ... was waiting at the lobby ... un-ing to hocc music ... and suddenly seeing somebody walking very fast backwards ... taking photos continuously ... and then a "good looking" red hair lady in a very nice evening gown ... walking very fast towards the ballroom downstairs ... with 3 or 4 less formally dressed ah4 following ...

hmm ... the lady sure looks like Joey ...

walked up to the top of the staircase ... big sign ... EEG Spring Dinner ...

need to remind myself to set timer to tape those entertainment news in the next couple of days ...

on a side note ... despite various negative comments from some people and press ... I always thought she's a very "guai" kid and hardworking ... it was only a little past 7pm when I saw her ... and she's the big superstar ... interestingly enough ... a much less famous composer-singer walked in (without the big fuss of course) almost 30 minutes later ... one would think that only the big shots will show up late ...

Thank You, Friend

The importance of friendship ...

Outcome:



Date: sometime in the near future
Location: somewhere out there
From ho (設計對白): thanks jo for getting them to the record store so that they found my CD ...

Date: Monday
Location: some record store in TKS
From pooh: thanks mo for seeing the hocc CD ...
note: this CD just suddenly appeared ... after looking for it there ... n times already

Date: Sunday
Location: somewhere in New Century Plaza
From mo: thanks sym for calling to say you've arrived and thus stopping me from going upstairs to buy the Joey CD for pooh ...

Background:
Have been searching for that hocc CD for a few weeks ... tried many stores (big and small) ... hong kong island to kowloon to shatin ... plus online ... no luck (or $350) ...