Remember this Piranha Plant from Super Mario Brothers? I had one on my doorstep today.
Now I’ve head about people getting conned into preposterous contracts for their electricity and their gas. Conned by smooth-talking smarty-pants at the door. Plenty of Seniors have been jollied into slapping their moniker onto a bit of paper held out by a charmer.
Once the paper is signed the poor old dears found themselves locked in, at exorbitant rates, for the next ten years and, if they happen to die before that, the broken contract fees are paid out by their deceased estate.
The one who knocked on my door was a charmer.
She was about 25, blonde, plump of cheek and sporting a jaunty yellow knit cap to frame her (somewhat vacuous) blue eyes.
She looked a bit, you know, not too heavy in the intellect department. A simple soul.
As soon as she said she was here to assist with my electricity bills, I quickly answered ‘ no thanks’ and started to close the door.
Wait came a plaintive wail.
Startled, I waited.
But this to help you
No thanks. (For the second time)
Now, truthfully. Tell me what your last electricity bill was
(As if I’m going to chat about my personal business with a kid)
I want to help YOU! It’s not fair that you should have to pay large bills at your time of life
I was pretty sick and tired of her by this and spoke clearly and firmly, in my schoolteacher voice.
No thank you. I have no wish to be helped. Good morning
As I closed the door she wailed again
“I helped my own mother and want to help you”
She was still calling out through the door as I marched down to the back of the house.
To my consternation , she stayed at my door for a good ten minutes, calling and knocking. Knocking and calling.
Pretty creepy, eh?
Recent Comments