Tired of Rainbow

I'm pretty grumpy.  I admit it.  Art will verify it for you.  We've had a stream of voggy (volcanic smog) days and I don't know if it's just that or maybe a bug I've caught.  My energy level is down and I am not feeling patient.

When I was resting, the doorbell rang and Art went to the door.  Turns out it was ANOTHER Rainbow salesperson. I took a photo of her from my window.  The box contains the vacuum cleaner.

Wasn't it a month ago that they got mom out of her sick bed, into our house and coerced her to listen to their vacuum cleaner spiel after presenting her with a FREE air purifier which they took away when I came home and saw what he was doing?  They did the same free air purifier trick with me the year before.  In that instance they asked if I would do them a big favor by accepting the air purifier and letting them know how it worked.

Yes I fell for it.  I like to help young people when I can.

After that we put up the No Soliciting sign.

This time we knew better and Art told her he wasn't interested in accepting her air purifier.  These salespeople never mention the vacuum cleaner when they first come to the door.  Art pointed out the No Soliciting sign next to the door.

"But I'm not selling anything," she said.  "This is a free gift."

Now that is a terrible lie and a scam.  And yes, I have contacted the Office of Consumer Protection, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, State of Hawaii, but I don't think there's a lot they can do.  They're selling vacuum cleaners which isn't against the law.  They lie about the free air purifier.  They take up a ton of your time because most people try to be polite.  But they stay just on the safe side of the law.

When we attended the AARP Fraud seminar last week, they gave us permission to be rude.  Art was nice this time.  The next time they show up... because I really think they will, I hope I'm there because I will give them a piece of my mind.

Especially if it's a voggy, crabby day.

Hit Again by Rainbow Salespeople

In July of 2011, I wrote a post about Rainbow vacuum cleaner salesmen.  I pulled my punches a bit at that time because I was giving them the benefit of the doubt.  I was hoodwinked into letting them in the house with a story that they just wanted to give me a free air purifier so that I could test it and give them input on it.  It was their foot in the door to keep me and my mother trapped with their sales pitch.  I kept asking them to leave and it took a LONG time before they finally did.

Mom has been feeling quite ill since yesterday and we'd told her to stay in
bed and rest today while we were gone.

When we came home, we were a little alarmed to see shoes outside of our front doorway.  Who would be visiting mom when she's sick?

When we went into the house we saw a man with the vacuum cleaner, a RAINBOW vacuum cleaner!  Again!  And there was mom standing there in her nightgown looking very weary and not quite knowing what she should do.

I was really angry, but I felt like the salesman was a young man trying to do a job and not understanding what a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad business model this Rainbow company has!

They send a very innocent looking person to a house first, offering the free gift and asking a favor of the kind senior person.  Once the door is open, they pretty much barge their way in.  Mom says this time it was a young lady who came first.

I told the salesman that my mother is very ill and had no business being out in the living room with him.  She doesn't even understand English very well.  He responded that he did have a hard time explaining the fine points of his machine to her.

I told him I wanted him to leave NOW!  I wasn't nasty, but I did use my teacher voice.  He asked to borrow our phone so he could call his boss to pick him up.  (Why doesn't he have a cellphone?)  When I handed our phone to him, he called his "boss" and said, "Hello, Boss?  Can you pick me up?  The daughter and husband just came home and they're kicking me out."

Boss?  Who calls their employer Boss? 

I'm really angry about this the more I think about it.  Why did he have to borrow our phone to call his "boss"?  It's all sounding fishy.

Mom is back in bed.  She's shaken up but resting.  I've told her to never open the steel screen door again when we're gone.

Perhaps this was a good lesson.  Mom did once let a woman in who said she needed to use the bathroom.

Sometimes seniors can be very trusting.  I say that because I was also fooled by the salesman working for the same company.

Be careful everybody.  I'm sure this isn't happening only in Hawaii.

Vacuum Cleaner Salesmen

I've been hoodwinked.  I usually don't let people in the house unless I really know them.  What possessed me to let vacuum cleaner salesmen in?

I answered the door and a fellow who looked like he could be a friend's son appeared.  He handed me an air purifer that he explained was wonderful and that they were handing it out to all the neighbors to try.

He said his company, Aqua Systems just wanted to get the word out about their company.

Sounded OK.  He looked trustworthy.  He said he just wanted my opinion about that air purifier.  He said he just wanted to spread the word about their company that they wanted to start in the neighborhood.  He said he was just collecting opinions and the more opinions he got, they could win a trip to Reno.

Sounded OK.  Like I said, he looked like he could be a friend's son. I always help my friends' children when I can.

Then he said he needed to come back to show me what it was about and that it would be brief.  I told him I could only give him a half hour max because I had friends coming over.

He said OK.

That's when his partner showed up with a Rainbow air purifier which was ALSO a vacuum cleaner.  I told him I already had two vacuum cleaners.

He demonstrated how great the vacuum cleaner was.  And it was very good.  It certainly picked up a LOT of dust in what I thought was an already immaculate house.  My mother is very fastidious.  BUT the price tag was $4,000.00.  I told him, "No way."

He insisted on cleaning all of our little area carpet showing us the dust it was picking up.  He insisted on cleaning the sofa too.

It was now well past that half hour mark and my friends arrived to go with me to the Farmers Market.  I told the vacuum salesmen they needed to leave because I could not leave them with my mother and it was past their allotted time.

Well... it took them quite a while to get their things together to leave while my friends waited outside.

The kicker.  The little gift of the air purifier that fellow gave me before, to have me listen to them ... he took it with him as he was leaving!  

The double kicker.  When I was gone, my mother went out to get the mail.  They were still there outside of our house and told her they were thirsty.  She went back in the house to get them canned drinks!

Mom says they cleaned her carpet so it's OK to give them some drinks.

When she told me this, I was alarmed.  I called my brother who works for the Honolulu Police Department and he said that if they allowed me to take so many photos of them, it should be safe.  I have photos of their faces also, but I didn't think it would be fair to post them because they're probably just doing their job.

I've learned my lesson now.  I'm never letting another salesperson or stranger into the house again.  I hope I don't get a call from my son and daughter scolding me if they read this post.

One of my friends who was waiting for me got a good look at both of the fellows and she says she can see why I allowed them in because that first fellow I talked to looked so innocent. However, she gently warned me to be more careful next time.

But you know what?  It was a rather remarkable vacuum cleaner.  Except that I thought they were trying to sell an air purifier.  I'm sure they were perfectly legitimate, hardworking fellows working in a tough economy. However, I feel like I've let my guard down and opened myself to something that wasn't wise.

I was a teacher, and I can also learn.

POSTSCRIPT:  I just checked online and have seen some terrible horror stories about Rainbow vacuum cleaner salespeople.  They appear to prey on seniors.  It also states the vacuum cleaners run from $1,000 to $2,000, not $4,000.  On the other hand, some people have liked their machines.  But, more importantly, a lot more people have been really badly scammed!  Beware!