Author Topic: What's the worst thing anyone has said to you when trying to sell you something?  (Read 51765 times)

dignam

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I was getting a haircut—a pixie at a Great Clips—and the hairstylist asked me how my boyfriend preferred my hair! 

Never went back.

I had a boyfriend who preferred women to have long hair. He made the mistake of mentioning it more than once and I ripped into him, then made him shave his beard and grow out his hair to my preferred length (which he hated). I don't know if he learned his lesson, but he stopped saying anything at least.
I had a boyfriend who really loved long hair.  He mentioned to me once, while on vacation I think, how much he loved that my hair was getting longer.

His prior girlfriend's hair was almost to her butt.

I basically immediately went off and got a short (SHORT) bob.  As in, last couple of inches near the neck shaved down with the trimmer short.
You cut your own hair to spite your boyfriend? 
I don’t get it.
I'm pretty strong, and opinionated.

I like my hair short.  I did back then, I do now.  It feels good on me. 

I also don't like it when people tell me they want me to change who I am.  So yes, a bit of it was spite, but I wouldn't have done it had I liked long hair.


Ask my husband (not the long ago boyfriend), how it went over when we were on vacation with his family and his sister started BADGERING me about the fact that I was 32 and didn't have children yet.  Husband called her up when we got home: "if you haven't figured it out by now, badgering my wife to do something that SHE DOESN'T WANT TO DO is a sure way of making everything worse.  KNOCK IT OFF."
Ok. fwiw I hate when people tell me what I should go too and am unlikely to do something I don’t wAnt just for someone else. My misunderstanding was that you had long hair (presumably because you wanted it that way) but cut it when you found out your boyfriend liked it. That was what seemed strange.

This.  I was confused as well.  Someone complimented your long hair, so you cut it because you thought they wanted to tell you how you should always have it cut?  I'm missing something.  What people say about it should have no bearing how you cut your hair.

runningthroughFIRE

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Per the hair-cutting, it does read like just trying to spite him, but I'm sure mm1970's then-boyfriend said a few other things or phrased it in such a way that her reaction was more reasonable.  We're probably just getting a hastily jotted-down version.

To roll this back on topic: not quite a decade ago, I was on vacation in Jamaica with my parents and sister as part of a cruise when one of my cousins was getting married.  I was an adult and made my own money at that point, but I looked young for my age.  Loads of street hawkers talked over me with "Would the boy like this?" and "Buy this for your boy!" directed towards my parents.  Even if I would have been interested in a souvenir, they pissed me off so much I wouldn't have bought anything from them.  My sister thought it was hilarious though.

mm1970

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Per the hair-cutting, it does read like just trying to spite him, but I'm sure mm1970's then-boyfriend said a few other things or phrased it in such a way that her reaction was more reasonable.  We're probably just getting a hastily jotted-down version.

To roll this back on topic: not quite a decade ago, I was on vacation in Jamaica with my parents and sister as part of a cruise when one of my cousins was getting married.  I was an adult and made my own money at that point, but I looked young for my age.  Loads of street hawkers talked over me with "Would the boy like this?" and "Buy this for your boy!" directed towards my parents.  Even if I would have been interested in a souvenir, they pissed me off so much I wouldn't have bought anything from them.  My sister thought it was hilarious though.
Yeah, so to be clear, I've never had long hair.

It's maybe been barely touching my shoulders a few times, but only when I get too lazy or busy to get a haircut.  I have thin, straight hair, and long hair just isn't a good look for me.  For the most part, a chin-length bob has been the most successful haircut that I've had, at least once I stopped the perms (ha, oh the 80s....)

You had to be there I guess.  Added to the fact that we were both in the Navy, and shorter hair was just WAY easier to deal with in uniform, and be compliant with the regulations.

savedandsaving

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Oof. This one isn't that dramatic, but...my car was totaled a year ago, right when I was about to start working (and thus, carpooling) with my husband. Since we were set transportation-wise, we had plenty of time to browse the used cars in our price range, let my newfound job play out as it would, and decide whether we even wanted a second car.

We test-drove a used Prius C at the local Toyota dealership, telling the salesman the whole time that we were just lightly looking and weren't planning to make any sort of deal anytime soon. He got us inside his office at the end with some ridiculous excuse about getting our information and then proceeded to trap us in there and try to drive a hard bargain. We were totally blindsided.

Just as some background: my husband and I are completely immune to salespeople (except for children...that's a whole other story, though), but we're also very softspoken/friendly/driven by social approval-type folks, so we don't like to be rude. Ever. This has resulted in me, especially, listening to many full sales pitches and putting down a lot of information over the years, just to eventually gain the courage to share that, no, I won't be purchasing anything and was never planning to, so very sorry, all the best to you!

This wasn't one of those situations. We had made ourselves clear to this guy. He started going down in price. By 100. Then 500. Taking off imaginary "fees." Offering "great rates" on financing (we told him an hour ago we were looking for something to purchase with cash??) We couldn't get a word in edgewise. I've never been so totally confused in my life by someone trying to sell me something I clearly told them I wasn't buying. Once he started doing crap like sliding little pieces of paper across the table with numbers on them, my very mild-mannered husband became completely fed up with the game. He told the man we weren't buying no matter what, stood up, and walked me out of there, to my deep delight.

We didn't go see any more cars after that day, and we've now been a single-car household for over a year. Feels pretty dang great.

RWD

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we told him an hour ago we were looking for something to purchase with cash??
For future reference saying this up front is very bad for negotiating price.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLxVyeFmod8

nereo

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we told him an hour ago we were looking for something to purchase with cash??
For future reference saying this up front is very bad for negotiating price.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLxVyeFmod8

Yeah... the one time I bought a used car from a dealership the salesman kept going on about their financing wing and he would “hook me up”.  We finally agreed on a price and he told me with a wink that the monthly payment would ‘only’ be $xxx/month (in my head I calculated that they were adding several grand to the price over 5 years with ‘special financing’). 

My last step was the ‘financing office’ where I told them I just wanted to pay cash.  “Um, you are financing this car, correct” - no.  “But you’d have to give us $xx,xxx right now if we don’t finance it”.  Ok.  “It’s better to finance.  Then you just pay $xxx/mo”.  Not interested.  “Do you seriously have $xx,xxx sitting in your account right now?  Because if you don’t you’re going to be charged hundreds in overdraft fees and you won’t be able to get your car”.  yes.  “...um, I don’t think we can give you this car unless we finance it”.  I signed all the documents.  I give you the money, you give me the car.

This went round and round for about 10 minutes.  They went from thiinking it was a joke to trying to convince me to take the ‘great’ financing to being angry at me for not telling me I wanted to buy with cash. 
At the time I my GF was a lawyer who worked for the state AG.  It was only when she told them “look, you have a signed contract - if you don’t honor that contract things are going to get very bad for you, very quickly” that they relented.


Side bar: Many quarters GM makes more money from their financing arm than they do from actually selling cars and truck.  The profit for dealerships is in financing and the service department.

Psychstache

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I like my long hair. Its easy. I cut it myself and don't need styling product. It's nice and warm and cuddly and I can strangle people with it.


« Last Edit: March 05, 2020, 12:48:44 PM by Psychstache »

OtherJen

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I did have a guy I was dating who once said I'd be beautiful if I "did" my fingernails. WTF! They were clean (a major milestone for me), short and no polish but not horrible.  I though it was a weird thing to say but not worthy of strangling him with my hair ;-).

This reminded me of an awful college boyfriend, the type who liked to "neg" me by saying things like "my mom (seriously WTF) says you'd look so pretty with a little more makeup" or "only fat girls have boobs like that" (I wore a size 4 at the time). Fortunately, that didn't last long.

GuitarStv

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I did have a guy I was dating who once said I'd be beautiful if

This is the point where you know that the guy you're dating is an asshole.

TheGrimSqueaker

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I did have a guy I was dating who once said I'd be beautiful if

This is the point where you know that the guy you're dating is an asshole.
yeah seriously. I never got the "insult hiden in a compliment insult" thing. If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything. I see this happen.with sales people all the time. They do the reverse compliment/insult thing to sell you something. Many of the experiences in this thread really highlight that. It is sad that it works with so many people. But not mustashians of course. Otherwise I'd probably have nice nails and be less of the hideous beast I apparently am ;-)

There is an entire school of thought-- common, I am told, in the Pick-Up Artist community-- that states people are more likely to value and want to please folks who put them down. Apparently putting someone down is a status signal that is supposed to elevate the person doing it and to project confidence, thereby helping increase the odds that the person putting the customer (or date) down will get what he or she wants. It's a sleazeball move and it doesn't surprise me that high pressure salespeople have adopted it.

I've never agreed with the notion that putting other people down is, or should be, an acceptable social practice. But based on observation I think it probably works if you're interacting with a person with low confidence or low status. I'm immune to the approach because of an accident of birth: putting me down generally results in me deciding that the person doing this is an insecure shit-for-brains and therefore a legitimate target. It's hard to out-snark a scythe-wielding rubber duck who thinks that confrontation is a spectator sport and that insults ought to be graded based on originality and technical difficulty.

Slapping the alpha wolf, or a scythe wielding quacker, has only one predictable outcome.

nessness

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Once DH and I were shopping for a car for him, and the salesman tried to talk him into a tangerine orange Volkswagen. DH said that it was too flashy for him, and it was also overpriced. The salesman replied, "but it's Lamborghini orange. They use real Lamborghini paint." Lolol. I don't think people who buy Lamborghinis do it because of their paint.

As we were trying to leave, he gave us a sob story about how he was going to lose his job if he didn't sell 4 more cars by the end of the month. We wished him luck as we walked away.

That was several years ago and we still make jokes about "Lamborghini orange" cars.

RWD

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I've never agreed with the notion that putting other people down is, or should be, an acceptable social practice.
Well when it's standard operating procedure when running for president it doesn't seem likely to go away any time soon, unfortunately...


But only because the sales lady told me how if I wore a certain shade of lipstick (only $99.99) called "Assassin Red" I would be seen as a "Strong and Confident Woman".
Maybe you need some Assassin Red hair dye. ;)

Dancin'Dog

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Once DH and I were shopping for a car for him, and the salesman tried to talk him into a tangerine orange Volkswagen. DH said that it was too flashy for him, and it was also overpriced. The salesman replied, "but it's Lamborghini orange. They use real Lamborghini paint." Lolol. I don't think people who buy Lamborghinis do it because of their paint.

As we were trying to leave, he gave us a sob story about how he was going to lose his job if he didn't sell 4 more cars by the end of the month. We wished him luck as we walked away.

That was several years ago and we still make jokes about "Lamborghini orange" cars.




You should have told him that he seems like a really nice guy and deserves a better job anyway.  ;)

BlueHouse

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But only because the sales lady told me how if I wore a certain shade of lipstick (only $99.99) called "Assassin Red" I would be seen as a "Strong and Confident Woman".
Maybe you need some Assassin Red hair dye. ;)
meh..why be Assassin Red when you can be Atomic Blonde ;-).
I just think it's cool that you could strangle people with your hair. 

nereo

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But only because the sales lady told me how if I wore a certain shade of lipstick (only $99.99) called "Assassin Red" I would be seen as a "Strong and Confident Woman".
Maybe you need some Assassin Red hair dye. ;)
meh..why be Assassin Red when you can be Atomic Blonde ;-).
Why not be both?

mm1970

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Quote
It's hard to out-snark a scythe-wielding rubber duck who thinks that confrontation is a spectator sport and that insults ought to be graded based on originality and technical difficulty.
My favorite sentence of the day.

GuitarStv

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But only because the sales lady told me how if I wore a certain shade of lipstick (only $99.99) called "Assassin Red" I would be seen as a "Strong and Confident Woman".
Maybe you need some Assassin Red hair dye. ;)
meh..why be Assassin Red when you can be Atomic Blonde ;-).
Why not be both?
  Pennywise the clown with blonde highlights? Very chic!

I've only been to a salon once in my life (oh that '90s perm...shudder) and I remember the very serious hard sell they tried on every single product they had using the "you'd look better if" strategy. I was too horrified by the perm to (fortunately) listen to anything they said. Women are bombarded with that since birth it seems. Men too but not for the beauty stuff. Learning to ignore it all is a huge relief.

It's not just a women thing.  If you wanted to play guitar in the 80s as a dude in a rock band, you pretty much had to get a perm to be taken seriously.









The perm fad has damaged people of both sexes equally.

Tardis81

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Real estate agent was walking door-to-door in our neighbourhood. He gave me a leaflet and a speech on how if we are willing to sell, his agency guarantees to sell our house at the HIGHEST POSSIBLE price, stopping at nothing and going to all lengths necessary. When I replied that we are actually just renting this house, he eagerly switched to "Well, are you looking to buy then?". I laughed at his face. If I was looking to buy, I certainly wouldn't go to people who sell at the highest possible price!

savedandsaving

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On car financing: some of the car dealers around my hood (and especially dodge dealers) were charging $1000 extra if you paid cash for any car, used or new. So if you bought a $4000 used car and wanted to pay cash it would be $5000. Sheesh! They also had a new car incentive program for people with low credit score to be able to finance a shiny new car and would get $1700 off the purchase price. I imagine the interest rate was high but at least those with crappy credit score below 600-ish could get a Brand New Dodge Ram Super-Duper Monster Truck!
Man, that's sleazy. What an awful industry, honestly.

I appreciate the tips about not saying "cash," but we weren't planning on buying that car at all, even a little bit--if we were, we wouldn't have said that. Only went there because we had never driven a Prius C before. The cash answer came out because that doggone salesman kept asking questions...and our total disinterest in that particular car just made his aggressive tactics even more annoying.

partgypsy

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It's called guyliner.

Been enjoying these stories. When I did a brief internet dating a few years ago, a guy that contacted me, I responded hi. Then he started insulting me! I think he was doing some kind of pua, but very badly. I just stopped responding, but wanted to ask him, does this actually work for you? 

TheGrimSqueaker

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Quote
The perm fad has damaged people of both sexes equally.
And the make up. "Dude you are wearing way too much eye liner!"  Although from a Mustashian POV you can share everything from hair care products and make up to skinny jeans and spandex.
They're all visually interchangeable, so they probably could. And if they all get pink-eye, call it Emo and make bank.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2020, 07:48:27 AM by TheGrimSqueaker »

Missy B

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I had gone into the bank to do something like adjust the line of credit I never use, and the banker dropped what I'd asked him to do so he could try to sell me a mortgage (this kind of thing happened repeatedly, my bank was very aggressive with cross-selling).
Because of the insane housing market here, it would have actually worked out great for me, but at the time no one knew the market would go up as much as it did.
He looked at the numbers on the screen that represented my net worth, which was pretty good for someone my age, and his eyes widened a bit, and he said, "you could get a mortgage!"
And I said, "I don't think that's in my best interest financially."
And he disagreed, and I just rolled out the scenario -"It would be at least $260K for me to get an apartment equivalent to what I'm living in now, and at the current interest rates that's going to be $1200 a month in mortgage payments, with about $100 in equity..." and he's nodding, and going 'uh huh' and stabbing at his calculator while I do the math in my head. "...and my rent is $600..."
"Well that money is going down the drain!"
"If I have a mortgage, then $1100 is going down the drain. Interest is money down the drain just as surely as rent is. Renting I'm ahead $500 a month."
He stops, because apparently no one has ever (!) made that argument to him before.
"Well, some people need forced savings."
"Well, I don't." This, he cannot argue.
Now, the ending to this story is ironic because if I'd been a weak-willed little pushover, and gone out and bought something because I couldn't do math, I would be richer and have lower expenses. But neither of us knew that at the time.

Dave1442397

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Now, the ending to this story is ironic because if I'd been a weak-willed little pushover, and gone out and bought something because I couldn't do math, I would be richer and have lower expenses. But neither of us knew that at the time.

As you say, you never know! I keep an eye on houses for sale around my neighborhood, and I see houses that were bought in 2007/2008 selling for just barely above those prices now. Those people were basically paying rent, and a very high rent at that, considering that property taxes alone run at least $8k/yr for a house here.

Loretta

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“Deserve” sends me over the edge too.  GAG!

Padonak

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A lot of you people are very easily offended.

Takk

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Thank you for adding to the conversation!

Kris

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A lot of you people are very easily offended.

LOL. Imagine feeling such a strong need to feel better than others that you come onto a thread just to say this.

MaybeBecca

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I lost 125 lbs and went to a plastic surgeon for a consultation for skin removal (yes I know this is an expensive thing; I feel very lucky to have been able to afford it and don't regret it at all).  First thing he said to me when he looked under the gown was "odd shaped chest".

I went to someone else (and saved a couple hundred doing so, bonus).

ysette9

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I lost 125 lbs and went to a plastic surgeon for a consultation for skin removal (yes I know this is an expensive thing; I feel very lucky to have been able to afford it and don't regret it at all).  First thing he said to me when he looked under the gown was "odd shaped chest".

I went to someone else (and saved a couple hundred doing so, bonus).
Good lord, you would think that someone in the plastic surgery business would have better sense than to openly comment on how people look.

I have zero experience with what you have gone through but I am sure it was money well spent. My aunt used to swim daily and another regular at her pool had also lost a ton of weight. Ex dot her insurance wouldn’t pay to have the excess skin removed and she apparently couldn’t afford it. My aunt dubbed her “the thousand year old woman” due to the excess skin.

DadJokes

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I lost 125 lbs and went to a plastic surgeon for a consultation for skin removal (yes I know this is an expensive thing; I feel very lucky to have been able to afford it and don't regret it at all).  First thing he said to me when he looked under the gown was "odd shaped chest".

I went to someone else (and saved a couple hundred doing so, bonus).
Good lord, you would think that someone in the plastic surgery business would have better sense than to openly comment on how people look.

I have zero experience with what you have gone through but I am sure it was money well spent. My aunt used to swim daily and another regular at her pool had also lost a ton of weight. Ex dot her insurance wouldn’t pay to have the excess skin removed and she apparently couldn’t afford it. My aunt dubbed her “the thousand year old woman” due to the excess skin.

Maybe he was trying to plant a little seed of self-doubt, setting her up for future business. It's probably effective on many people.

Padonak

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Thank you for adding to the conversation!

This looks like sarcasm to me. I'm offended too lol.

jinga nation

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At a branch of my bank, forced to make a visit as needed a wire transfer to close on a rental investment property.

Her, working on the wire transfer, per a printout I've provided: "We have very attractive mortgage rates, we can beat any offer."
Me: "Can you please focus on the task? I don't want any errors."
Her, with a sly smile: "Sure, but have you thought about a mortgage?"
Me: "why don't we have that chat after the wire is done?"

A few minutes later,
Her: "are you looking for a new home purchase or a refinance?"
Me: "that wire transfer was for an investment property, paid in cash, closed in 7 calendar days." (It was only USD 55k)
Her, with mouth agape: "what?"
Me: "How long would it take your bank, best-case, to process a loan on an investment property?"
Her: "At least 14 days... I have to ask my manager"
Me: "this is why we can't do business on loans. you guys are slow, too slow, my deals are faster than you guys can pick up a pen or click a mouse. This isn't my first deal, not my last, y'all need to up your game."

Thanked her, took my copy of the wire, and bailed out of the branch, evading the manager who wanted to chat for "business opportunities".

The next time I was in a branch, 5 years later, was to change our account beneficiaries to our trust. They wanted to sell us a bunch of products, I evaded all attempts for small talk.

Finally, we had to sit with the Merrill-Lynch person in the office, as she's the only one who know how to handle trusts. She asked a couple of questions about investments, I told her I use a simple portfolio using index funds from Vanguard. She said I could have the funds at zero-cost at ML. Asked her why would I do that, when my employer has set up the 401(k) with Vanguard, so it would be prudent to keep it all there. She looked at me, smiled, and said "well, looks like you know what you're doing. I won't keep you any longer." She's the nicest person in that branch, cuts to the chase.

I hate that bank employees are pressured to upsell constantly, they've replaced car salespersons as the new vultures.
Meanwhile, our new hybrid car purchase last August was super smooth and pressure-free, from arrival to payment to delivery in under an hour, all negotiation having occurred via email.

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I hate that bank employees are pressured to upsell constantly, they've replaced car salespersons as the new vultures.

Can't escape it. It doesn't matter if it's in person, on the phone, or on a website. I'm forced to wait or click through attempts to sell me stuff.

At one of my banks it's obvious the teller doesn't care, but is required to read the script at the beginning or end of every transaction.

Missy B

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I did have a guy I was dating who once said I'd be beautiful if

This is the point where you know that the guy you're dating is an asshole.
yeah seriously. I never got the "insult hiden in a compliment insult" thing. If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything. I see this happen.with sales people all the time. They do the reverse compliment/insult thing to sell you something. Many of the experiences in this thread really highlight that. It is sad that it works with so many people. But not mustashians of course. Otherwise I'd probably have nice nails and be less of the hideous beast I apparently am ;-)

There is an entire school of thought-- common, I am told, in the Pick-Up Artist community-- that states people are more likely to value and want to please folks who put them down. Apparently putting someone down is a status signal that is supposed to elevate the person doing it and to project confidence, thereby helping increase the odds that the person putting the customer (or date) down will get what he or she wants. It's a sleazeball move and it doesn't surprise me that high pressure salespeople have adopted it.

I've never agreed with the notion that putting other people down is, or should be, an acceptable social practice. But based on observation I think it probably works if you're interacting with a person with low confidence or low status. I'm immune to the approach because of an accident of birth: putting me down generally results in me deciding that the person doing this is an insecure shit-for-brains and therefore a legitimate target. It's hard to out-snark a scythe-wielding rubber duck who thinks that confrontation is a spectator sport and that insults ought to be graded based on originality and technical difficulty.

Slapping the alpha wolf, or a scythe wielding quacker, has only one predictable outcome.

I read the Pickup artist book - forgot the title. It was much better than I expected, because the author - Neil something - had no illusions about himself or the other characters he was learning from. There were 'natural PUA's in their 'community', but most of the guys, like himself, had never succeeded with women and were kind of obsessed with evening the score.
Negging works best on pretty women who are used to being told all the time how hot they are. And who are a bit insecure -- woman are programmed to be so that part is easy. If you say something a little mean to a very hot woman who is always hearing what a babe she is, you cut through the noise and get noticed, and yeah, she may now want you to upgrade your opinion of her.
But it doesn't work on women who weren't told they were super hot their whole lives. They've been negged plenty, its not new, and even if they're still insecure about how they look they don't want the approval of a jerk.
To actually neg someone effectively requires a lot of skill at reading people. I actually tried it on some super-hot guys that I thought were out of my league, and it did actually work. They were usually a little vain about something, so it was all about finding something to say that wasn't mean, that was true, and saying it the right way.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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I did have a guy I was dating who once said I'd be beautiful if

This is the point where you know that the guy you're dating is an asshole.
yeah seriously. I never got the "insult hiden in a compliment insult" thing. If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything. I see this happen.with sales people all the time. They do the reverse compliment/insult thing to sell you something. Many of the experiences in this thread really highlight that. It is sad that it works with so many people. But not mustashians of course. Otherwise I'd probably have nice nails and be less of the hideous beast I apparently am ;-)

There is an entire school of thought-- common, I am told, in the Pick-Up Artist community-- that states people are more likely to value and want to please folks who put them down. Apparently putting someone down is a status signal that is supposed to elevate the person doing it and to project confidence, thereby helping increase the odds that the person putting the customer (or date) down will get what he or she wants. It's a sleazeball move and it doesn't surprise me that high pressure salespeople have adopted it.

I've never agreed with the notion that putting other people down is, or should be, an acceptable social practice. But based on observation I think it probably works if you're interacting with a person with low confidence or low status. I'm immune to the approach because of an accident of birth: putting me down generally results in me deciding that the person doing this is an insecure shit-for-brains and therefore a legitimate target. It's hard to out-snark a scythe-wielding rubber duck who thinks that confrontation is a spectator sport and that insults ought to be graded based on originality and technical difficulty.

Slapping the alpha wolf, or a scythe wielding quacker, has only one predictable outcome.

I read the Pickup artist book - forgot the title. It was much better than I expected, because the author - Neil something - had no illusions about himself or the other characters he was learning from. There were 'natural PUA's in their 'community', but most of the guys, like himself, had never succeeded with women and were kind of obsessed with evening the score.
Negging works best on pretty women who are used to being told all the time how hot they are. And who are a bit insecure -- woman are programmed to be so that part is easy. If you say something a little mean to a very hot woman who is always hearing what a babe she is, you cut through the noise and get noticed, and yeah, she may now want you to upgrade your opinion of her.
But it doesn't work on women who weren't told they were super hot their whole lives. They've been negged plenty, its not new, and even if they're still insecure about how they look they don't want the approval of a jerk.
To actually neg someone effectively requires a lot of skill at reading people. I actually tried it on some super-hot guys that I thought were out of my league, and it did actually work. They were usually a little vain about something, so it was all about finding something to say that wasn't mean, that was true, and saying it the right way.

Whether it works or not, I would find it too stupid and manipulative to use myself, and I would question whether I'd want to be noticed by the people it works well on. Do I want a hot, vain guy with insecurities? Um..... not really.

ExitViaTheCashRamp

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Obligatory XKCD:


SwordGuy

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Obligatory XKCD:



I married a woman like that.  She's awesome!

And the favorite women in my life have all been like that, too.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Obligatory XKCD:



My version of that comic usually ends with me telling dimwit to fuck off, and dimwit telling me I have a lot to learn......

halftimer

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[xkcd comic snip]
I had to go find the comic so I wouldn't miss the rollover text
"Son, don't try to play 'make you feel bad' with the Michael Jordon of making you feel bad"

Worst sales pitch (that I fell for) was when I tried on an outfit and commented it had a strange neckline and the fabric clung. The attendant merely said "to the contrary..." which at the time I interpreted as I should buy this. But thinking back on how horrible that outfit was, it was just a meaningless phrase that was designed to get me to buy and not be realistic.  So it was the worst not in that it was offensive, just that I can't believe such a bland, meaningless statement from a person nearby got me to spend money. Such regret for such a small purchase.

Now remembering what was actually a large purchase with all the red flags (again I fell for it). Buying a used Subaru, a model suggested by a friend who is a brand loyalist and told me it was a fantastic deal. We met the dealer on Saturday at his unmarked warehouse, filled with luxury cars and just the one SUV. I asked why he doesn't advertise and why he has one outlier car, he replied that he sells specialty cars and already has a clientele but this car was a trade in for one of the better models, which was plausible. The test drive went well, and I wanted to wait a few days to finalize for when the bank opened but he put on the pressure saying that he had other potential buyers booked to see it throughout the weekend. It was a good deal so we signed, but would only be able to pick up the car on Monday when we brought the bank draft. So we left a deposit and headed home with the paperwork. At which point I reflected on the uneasy feeling that his warehouse of luxury cars gave me, and the badly photocopied bill of sale I was holding. So I looked up the resources for checking stolen cars and unauthorized dealers. I learned that the particular car we were getting was not stolen (sigh of relief) but that his dealer license expired 6 months prior! I worried all weekend that we were out the deposit, that he wouldn't be there when we showed up, or that the car that we now really wanted was going to evaporate. It all worked out in the end and we got a fantastic deal, and he was given a hefty fine by the authorities for not having the correct licensing but it didn't affect our sale.

jinga nation

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[xkcd comic snip]
I had to go find the comic so I wouldn't miss the rollover text
"Son, don't try to play 'make you feel bad' with the Michael Jordon of making you feel bad"

thank you for posting the alt-text.
https://xkcd.com/1027/

clarkfan1979

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I had two very unprofessional conversations when declining the insurance on a rental car. I was early 20's and I had a woman yelling at me (not screaming, but yelling) because I wouldn't buy the insurance. About 2 years ago I declined the gas tank option on the rental car. The counter guy started making fun of me because I declined everything and said, "I guess you don't like saving money." I replied, "I guess not."

I had a bank teller offer me a credit card when I was in my mid to late 20's. I declined. He replied with something like, "I guess you aren't very good at managing money."


Gremlin

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I had two very unprofessional conversations when declining the insurance on a rental car. I was early 20's and I had a woman yelling at me (not screaming, but yelling) because I wouldn't buy the insurance. About 2 years ago I declined the gas tank option on the rental car. The counter guy started making fun of me because I declined everything and said, "I guess you don't like saving money." I replied, "I guess not."

I had a bank teller offer me a credit card when I was in my mid to late 20's. I declined. He replied with something like, "I guess you aren't very good at managing money."

I had someone at the bank throw the same line at me in a very similar situation.  I replied, "I guess you aren't very good at cross-selling."  The look on the guy's face was priceless!

Travis

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I had two very unprofessional conversations when declining the insurance on a rental car. I was early 20's and I had a woman yelling at me (not screaming, but yelling) because I wouldn't buy the insurance. About 2 years ago I declined the gas tank option on the rental car. The counter guy started making fun of me because I declined everything and said, "I guess you don't like saving money." I replied, "I guess not."

I had a bank teller offer me a credit card when I was in my mid to late 20's. I declined. He replied with something like, "I guess you aren't very good at managing money."

I had someone at the bank throw the same line at me in a very similar situation.  I replied, "I guess you aren't very good at cross-selling."  The look on the guy's face was priceless!

That was my thought as well. You're a banker. If you think I need help managing my money, you should be upselling the shit out of your bank's services to me. Also, didn't you just look at my balance a second ago?

TheGrimSqueaker

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This didn't happen to me, but to a young colleague of mine who had just landed his first job as an engineer. He was at a car rental place and the fellow behind the counter was trying to up-sell him on the loss damage waiver (when his company had a contract that provided LDW coverage for all vehicles rented). My friend politely turned down the extra coverage.

The salesman said, sarcastically: "I thought you were smart."

My young friend, always savvy, replied: "Would you like to compare paychecks?"

Hadilly

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I accidentally negged my now partner early on in our dating life by telling him that it was good his looks made up for his intellectual shortcomings. He took it as a compliment to his attractiveness because anyone who gets a Science paper while motoring through their MD-PhD has no doubts as to their smarts.

The worst thing anyone has said to me when trying to sell was a Clinique saleswoman who suggested I buy her products because of my aging skin. I told her I was almost 22 and walked away.

markbike528CBX

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Good coronavirus news:

There is no time, inclination for a bank upsell.

Scenario:
Me, taking backup hard drive to/from safety deposit box.  An appointment is required.
At the appointed time, employees unlock the front door, I get into/out of my safe deposit box.
Even with masks all around, no one attempts small talk/ upsell. 

I had a stimulus check that I had  tried to deposit via ATM, but it didn't work (Donald J. Trump, President, credit not good at ATM).  But I got it done anyway, via teller/door opener.

Irrelevant side note: I was riding the bike whose engine is my avatar pic.

ysette9

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I accidentally negged my now partner early on in our dating life by telling him that it was good his looks made up for his intellectual shortcomings. He took it as a compliment to his attractiveness because anyone who gets a Science paper while motoring through their MD-PhD has no doubts as to their smarts.

The worst thing anyone has said to me when trying to sell was a Clinique saleswoman who suggested I buy her products because of my aging skin. I told her I was almost 22 and walked away.
I tell my husband all the time that I married him for his beauty!

jfer_rose

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Posting to follow. I can't believe some of these stories!

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Today no one was trying to sell me anything, but I was trying to buy something. The guy behind the counter and a woman in front of it were having a lengthy social conversation. I waited five minutes and then decided to butt in, which I did politely by saying excuse me a couple of times. After the third time, the guy snapped at me to just wait patiently! Pretty pleased with my response here, because I'm not usually so quick off the mark. I said very loudly so the other staff at the back of the store could hear 'You know what? How about YOU wait patiently for me to bother trying to spend money here again??" and put my would -be purchase on the counter in front of him.... and left. I won't be going back there :)

TheGrimSqueaker

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Today no one was trying to sell me anything, but I was trying to buy something. The guy behind the counter and a woman in front of it were having a lengthy social conversation. I waited five minutes and then decided to butt in, which I did politely by saying excuse me a couple of times. After the third time, the guy snapped at me to just wait patiently! Pretty pleased with my response here, because I'm not usually so quick off the mark. I said very loudly so the other staff at the back of the store could hear 'You know what? How about YOU wait patiently for me to bother trying to spend money here again??" and put my would -be purchase on the counter in front of him.... and left. I won't be going back there :)

You'd think that, in the middle of a global pandemic when so many businesses are failing, the people at the counter would be very happy and excited to sell something. I do believe there are people who WANT to be out of work and business owners who WANT to go bankrupt because it's preferable to actually doing business. Then the people who did not want to do business bitch and moan because the rent or the utility bill is due and they can't pay it. Hefty unemployment benefits and COVID-19 payouts won't last forever.