Can I ask why?

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wemorgan

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Amusing phone call with Admiral to buy some car insurance. Of course they tried to sell me countless other additional extras and policies. With each refusal came, "Can I ask why?" I fell for it the first time. The debate opened up, I held firm, Admiral person eventually moved on to next question. With the next "Can I ask why?" I was prepared. I pleaded for her to just move on, saying I was a busy man. But she wasn't going to be brushed aside so easily. She had a script to go through. Again and again she asked. It was quite amusing in the end. I think even she knew there was no extra money to be made from me.

"Can I ask why?" - quite a clever sales technique. It keeps the conversation flowing, sounds polite and interested. Wears thin on the tenth time of asking though.

Oh well, at least it's 10 months until the next car needs renewing :)
 
"Can I ask why?"

"No"

Very short conversation...
 
Just tell her "the Dr. said I wasn't to speak to anyone except the Nurse".

If the Mormons come knocking ask them, "I'm a practicing Catholic would you like to come to my Church on Sunday".....?
 
"Can I ask why?"

"No"

Very short conversation...

but it's clever like that. If I said 'no' it makes me sound rude. So being the polite British none-confrontational person that I am, I felt the need to explain why.

I said no to quotes for my other cars. But she said she could save me money! I said no thank you. "Can I ask why?" Now I have to explain why I don't want to save money...........I had to laugh, because the other option was to get annoyed and it's Friday so that wasn't go to happen with me :)
 
Just a point, can I ask were you paying for the phone call or was it to a free number. They may be asking you "why" to extend the call and reap money from the duration of the call.
 
I reply "if I was interested in that product I would have asked about it"

A technique related to the charity favourite - "if you care about children/animal welfare/curing cancer/some other worthwhile cause, then please donate....."
 
Just a point, can I ask were you paying for the phone call or was it to a free number. They may be asking you "why" to extend the call and reap money from the duration of the call.

Hi John, good question, I am with the same company, the main line number is charged at a higher rate. I got fed up with my call being answered within moments by a machine with the usual ...please hold, at times after 4/5 minutes the line just went dead, I got round this by sending an email asking them to call me back.
 
It's a closed question, requiring only a one-word answer. If "No" feels a bit rude, how about... "Yes", and leave it at that.
 
Door to door sales people are getting more and more like this as well. Asking stupid questions and paying you compliments and fullly armed with a rebuttal for everything!

Have you tried answering the door naked? They don't like that...
 
I had someone come to my door trying to sell lovefilm the other day. I told him I'm pro video piracy and I don't like paying for things I can get for free. He was genuinely gob smacked, his eyes pretty much poped out in shock and he just said "thank you for your time sir"...
 
I've answered in my boxers after some silly bint had been hammering on the door like the police on a drugs raid.

I had been sleeping as I'd been working nights - she suggested that I put a sign on my door saying "WORKING NIGHT SHIFTS - DO NOT DISTURB"

She didn't appear to understand when I asked if I should just advertise for a burglar in the local paper.
 
I also found another good response (again when I was disturbed from some well earned off nights sleeping) to the young lad trying to get me to sign up for whatever charity had hired him, was to say: "No you ****ing can't" in response to him asking if he could enquire which charities I currently donate to.
 
When asked why I was cancelling a mobile phone contract I once came out with the rather haughty "because that is my wish"

was bracing myself for them to make things difficult and I was probably less gracious than I could have been.
 
If you feel its a bit rude just to say no how about this for a response.

"You asked a closed question which is quite rude really - My closed answer is No"
 
Another way to respond to that sort of question is to say:

"When I bought your product you didn't want to know about why I bought it so why should I tell you when I don't want your product?, and I don't have time to explain it now, I am a busy person, sorry"
 

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