Author Topic: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell  (Read 14411 times)

bmcleveland313

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The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« on: May 08, 2014, 09:46:00 AM »
So I naively granted permission to the fabulous salesmen of RainSoft Water Softeners/Filtration Systems to come into my home and enlighten me as to all the carcinogens and radiation that I consume daily by testing our water (interestingly, our brita filtered water tested worse than the hard tap water). I did this to receive a $20 home depot gift card because I'm trying to paint my living room for free. After a 2 hour magic show that I was told would last 30 minutes the hard-sell began:

Me: "K, that was nice, how much does this thing cost?"
RS: "I can have it installed for $8000"
Me: "....(internal laughter)....Yeah, I'm not buying that"

RS: "I can see you are mindful of money. Let me show you how RainSoft will actually save you money in the long run. We can set up financing on this for $75/mth. Our research shows you and your family likely spend about $66/mth on soap and cleaning products.  If you buy now, we will give you a package of free soap and cleaning products valued at $700/yr for as long as you are making payments (presents grossly over priced soap catalogue). The free soap, plus the savings on having to use less soap on your dishes/clothes will  save you even more than $75/mth. So, you're really passing up free money if you don't purchase."

Me: "Free soap? Really? Here's some problems -

1. I'd have to check my spending records, but I believe we spend less than $30 a year on soap/cleaning products, so I guess that's about $2.50/mth on soap.

2. $75 a month financing at what interest rate? With an $8000 principal, I'd probably be making payments on Rainsoft longer than my house.

3. But that doesn't really matter, because I pay cash for everything I buy besides the house. So no, can't buy this one."

RS:".............but what about your car payments?"
Me: "What car payments?"
RS: "Umm...but your water is really dirty (picks up the flask that I suspect was pre-treated). See?"
Me: "Yeah, I like to live on the edge."
RS: "You'd have to be an idiot to pass up free money."
Me: "Absolutely. Have a great night!"

Anybody else had the pleasure of these guys visiting you? It was frustrating at the time, but is now a hilarious memory.


 

Hunny156

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2014, 11:44:18 AM »
Thanks for posting this!  Our new home comes w/the water softener loop installed, and hubby thinks we need to buy one of these.  We do have hard water, so MAYBE we do, but it's hardly a purchase I'm gonna do the day after the closing, and I know the prices can vary widely, so I will do my research.

I was at Home depot and saw that deal w/the gift card, but decided to pass on it.  Might be fun to call him in though, since we are currently in between homes and living at an extended stay hotel.  ;)

RetiredAt63

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2014, 12:06:09 PM »
Similar - we had the fancy vacuum guy.  The vacuum cleaner didn't do any better with the dog and cat hair.  Then he showed us huge blowup pictures of dust mites - and we were going "nice pictures, great magnification, isn't it amazing what you can see with a scanning electron microscope - aren't they neat?"  I suppose most people have hissy fits and buy the vacuum.

Re the water - Joe Schwarcz (McGill University's “Office for Science & Society”) talked about that years ago - the reactions are with normal ions in the water and an iron electrode, the only way this won't happen is to use distilled water - so no the flask was probably not pre-treated, but your water is perfectly normal.  See http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/filter.html

mrpress

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2014, 12:11:08 PM »
Fortunately we don't have too many door-to-door salesman here. I had one guy try to demo a carpet cleaning unit, said no thanks.

Side note on water softeners though, I just installed one this past weekend... it's a Morton that we got for $300 and a $50 rebate on top of that. Install was easy and we're enjoying the soft water but I'm not sure how much it will really "save" over the long haul.

GuitarStv

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2014, 12:29:15 PM »
FWIW, your Brita water may well have been less clean than your tap water.  Those Brita filters become a big source of bacteria and crap if they're not changed out religiously.

My wife and I had a couple vacuum salesmen come to our house for a demonstration many years ago.  We got 'em to vacuum the whole living room, and most of the kitchen . . . so at least it wasn't a total waste.  The hard sell is where I could see the light in their eyes dimming:

Salesdude - So, as you can see, you can't afford to not buy this vacuum!
Me - How much is it?
Salesdude - 5000$
Me - I don't buy anything worth more than 50$ without sleeping on it first.
Salesdude - We can workout a 50$ a month payment plan.
Me - Unless there's only one payment in that plan I couldn't possibly buy it today - haven't had a chance to sleep on it.  Besides, I don't finance anything smaller than a house.
Salesdude - OK, I'm not supposed to do this, but I could CUT THE PRICE down and give you a special offer!!!
Me - To 50$?
Salesdude - No, 4500$ . . . but I can include a year's supply of these valuable cleaning products!  That's nearly 2000$ worth of product alone!
Me - The only products we use for our cleaning is vinegar and water.  And you're still over the 50$ so I'd have to sleep on it.
Salesdude - OK, I can see that you drive a hard bargain . . . let me call my manager *yells on a cell phone for a few minutes (I don't think he actually called anyone)* . . . OK, I have authorization to sell you this vacuum for 1500$ if you can pay in cash!
Me - Damn, you're almost there . . . knock another 1450$ off and we've got a deal!
Salesdude - *angrily stomps out with his partner* I guess some people are just happy living in filth!
Me - You should have seem my dorm room in university!


The parting shot seems to be a pretty common tactic in door to door sales.  It seems to be best to treat it the way that you would treat someone who's honking like an idiot at you in traffic.  Smile and wave.  Catches them off guard, and they don't usually have a prepared response for it.  Plus you don't give them the power to get you riled up.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2014, 12:32:57 PM by GuitarStv »

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #5 on: May 08, 2014, 12:47:32 PM »
Re the water - Joe Schwarcz (McGill University's “Office for Science & Society”) talked about that years ago - the reactions are with normal ions in the water and an iron electrode, the only way this won't happen is to use distilled water - so no the flask was probably not pre-treated, but your water is perfectly normal.  See http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/filter.html

We had a water filter salesman show up at the house when I was a kid. My dad graciously invited him in and patiently listened to his entire spiel...then proceeded rip into him, scientifically refuting every point. The salesman couldn't get out of the house fast enough by the time he was done. I should probably mention that my dad spent 20 years as an cooperative extension water quality specialist before moving on to administrative roles. It was great entertainment.

johnintaiwan

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #6 on: May 08, 2014, 08:38:53 PM »
Im jealous. I love watching sales people try and pitch things. Especially the door to door guys. Unfortunately over here as soon as they see I am a foreigner they panic and run away. So I miss out on it all. Luckily it works for the Jehovah witnesses as well.

Jack

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #7 on: May 08, 2014, 09:07:04 PM »
After a 2 hour magic show that I was told would last 30 minutes the hard-sell began

Man, I would have set a stop watch and then kicked that guy out at 30 minutes + 1 second. "You had your thirty minutes and I still don't want your product. You failed, now get out. (And gimme my gift card.)"

Im jealous. I love watching sales people try and pitch things. Especially the door to door guys. Unfortunately over here as soon as they see I am a foreigner they panic and run away. So I miss out on it all. Luckily it works for the Jehovah witnesses as well.

My neighborhood is urban enough that any "salesman" at the door has a decent chance of being a burglar trying to case the house instead. Therefore, most actual salesmen probably stay away. I did have some legit environmental non-profit types come by yesterday or so, but they looked like college girls and probably didn't know any better. (Jehovah witnesses are also unfortunately not deterred.)

Bigote

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2014, 09:16:35 AM »
 Great stories.  Reminds me of some of the timeshare pitch stories i've heard. 

Hunny156

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2014, 10:26:49 AM »
I've managed to not have any of these sales guys come around. But a friend of mine's gf agreed to listen to a pots & pans sales pitch while I and another friend were over. Keep in mind that at the time we were all poor college age kids making at best $9.50/hour. The sales guy tried to get me in on the sales pitch too. He handed me the smallest pot to look at and the damn thing was pretty heavy. I hefted it and said something along the lines of "You could bash someone pretty good with one of these"...he looked a little concerned :)

Then he came around with the price: $6k for the set....aka FOUR MONTHS GROSS INCOME for any of us at the time. No thanks, I'll keep using the free hand-me-downs from my mom

Gee, would that be the "Waterless Cookware"?  I got suckered into going to that presentation b/c I had won a "free" vacay for attending a bridal show, many moons ago.  I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation, b/c I had spent the better part of a decade as the store manager for a gift shop, so I knew my stuff.  Challenging their lies was so much fun!

They showed a box of Calphalon cookware, and then the fine print that it "only" had a 10 year warranty.  I raised my hand and explained that was the cheaper, non-stick version, and all their other lines did indeed have a lifetime warranty.  Deer in headlights.  :)

They were throwing in for free a 6 place setting china set, which never got discontinued, unlike Lenox, that discontinues every year!  My hand shot up, and I reminded them that the presidential line never gets discontinued, so if that is really a concern, stick to those 25 classic patterns.  Then I asked how much the other 6 place settings and the serving pieces would cost.  They changed the subject.

By the end of the presentation, most of the attendees were looking to me for the truth.  Gotta give the salespeople credit though, they quickly figured out who I was, and called us up first for the final pitch & to give us our free vacation vouchers.  They wanted me out of there fast!  The sales guy barely made an effort, I shut him down anyhow.  He handed me the voucher and we left.  Reading the fine print, it was a timeshare resort, so we never went - I can only imagine the harassment if you took that "vacation"!

Oh, and for the record - my cookware is the Kirkland brand from Costco - Calphalon private labels it for them.  14 years later and still looks new - paid $199 for the whole set!  The china was purchased from Mikasa at their factory sale, I got the whole thing for $250, and proceeded to never use it, like most fine china.  I eventually sold it on Ebay for a small profit.  Hubby was actually interested in the waterless cookware, and I found a set for him, for $50, on Ebay.  He eventually used it to soak things in vinegar, or to catch a random leak under the kitchen sink.

fantabulous

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2014, 06:31:36 PM »
This reminds me of a story my father has repeated a few times about his father. A door to door vacuum salesman knocked on the door and came in starting his speil, with my grandfather trying to tell him he's really not interested. The salesman proceeds to dump dirt all over the floor and asks "Where can I plug this in?". My grandfather hands the salesman a broom and dustpan and says "We don't have electricity."

Simple Abundant Living

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2014, 07:46:12 PM »
I would never buy a $8000 water softener, but I do love my much cheaper one. My neighbor is a plumber and he installed one. I think it was <$1000. It cuts down on cleaning and is better on my skin. They say it will help your appliances and fixtures last longer too. 

Hunny156

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2014, 01:56:48 PM »
I would never buy a $8000 water softener, but I do love my much cheaper one. My neighbor is a plumber and he installed one. I think it was <$1000. It cuts down on cleaning and is better on my skin. They say it will help your appliances and fixtures last longer too.

Where did you buy it, what brand etc?  I'm sure I'm going to be buying one, but there's no way in hell I'm spending more than $1,500 for it, and I hear the prices vary wildly.  Kinda like vacuum cleaners.  ;)

jba302

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2014, 02:24:35 PM »

Gee, would that be the "Waterless Cookware"?

Is this it? - http://www.kitchencraftcookware.com/what-is-waterless.html

7 layers of steel and aluminum. Well golly gee, 4 layers of the worst thermal property metal and 3 layers of too thin to matter aluminum to balance it out. At least there's an induction layer in there.

Hunny156

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2014, 10:45:37 AM »

Gee, would that be the "Waterless Cookware"?

Is this it? - http://www.kitchencraftcookware.com/what-is-waterless.html

7 layers of steel and aluminum. Well golly gee, 4 layers of the worst thermal property metal and 3 layers of too thin to matter aluminum to balance it out. At least there's an induction layer in there.

It's been so long, I don't recall the brand, but it sure looks like it!  I remember thinking to myself that it looked like imitation Farberware from the 50's.

I see from that website that they are still trying to sell people on the idea that they'll save soo much money on cooking oil.  I remember shaking my head at the sales pitch, like how much money do people actually spend on cooking oil in a year?  The 1.5 gallon containers at Costco last me a good two years at least...

dragoncar

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Re: The RainSoft Water Softener Hard Sell
« Reply #15 on: May 16, 2014, 11:37:58 AM »
I think this whole convo could have been avoided if you just said "hey man, I just sat through two hours of your crap for a measly $20 gift card.  Do you really think I have any extra money in my budget?"

FWIW, your Brita water may well have been less clean than your tap water.  Those Brita filters become a big source of bacteria and crap if they're not changed out religiously.

I pointed out to my SO that her on-tap filter had mold growing in the output spout.  She was like "oh that's not mold."  It was mold.  I just drink the regular tap water.


 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!