Is this racist?
Discussion
I run a commercial property agency in London. By far and away the most difficult people I deal with are those who, shall we say, do not use English as their first language and come from that part of the world to the east of the middle east and to the west of Asia.
They are only ever available on mobile numbers, want the world in terms of service, try to screw you on fee levels, and al;ways try to find ways not to pay. The latest dodge came yesterday when a fee account was returned "not known at this address". When I rang the "client", he said he knew nothing about this and then reckoned he had been having problems with his postie.
I am no longer prepared to deal with people like this. I may be tarring them all with the same brush, but is this just good business sense, or am I leaving myself open to claims of being racist?
They are only ever available on mobile numbers, want the world in terms of service, try to screw you on fee levels, and al;ways try to find ways not to pay. The latest dodge came yesterday when a fee account was returned "not known at this address". When I rang the "client", he said he knew nothing about this and then reckoned he had been having problems with his postie.
I am no longer prepared to deal with people like this. I may be tarring them all with the same brush, but is this just good business sense, or am I leaving myself open to claims of being racist?
Ignore the colour, go by the facts.
One of my lines is plasma screen hire. As you can imagine it's a popular hunting ground for dodgy geezers (and 'theft by deception' is not covered by insurance, rather unhelpfully.)
Witness this call I had:
'Can you give me a price for hiring a plasma screen please?'
'Certainly, I'll just need to sort out delivery; can I give you a call back?'
'OK, it's 077xxxxxxxxx'
'Do you have a landline I can call you on'
'Er, no, use the mobile'
'Then I'm sorry, I dont think we can help you'
'Why not'
'Because it all sounds a bit dodgy to me'
'mumble' click
If you think a prospect is likely to be more trouble than it's worth, you don't have to work with them. Or quote a stupid price. Or say you're fully booked.
One of my lines is plasma screen hire. As you can imagine it's a popular hunting ground for dodgy geezers (and 'theft by deception' is not covered by insurance, rather unhelpfully.)
Witness this call I had:
'Can you give me a price for hiring a plasma screen please?'
'Certainly, I'll just need to sort out delivery; can I give you a call back?'
'OK, it's 077xxxxxxxxx'
'Do you have a landline I can call you on'
'Er, no, use the mobile'
'Then I'm sorry, I dont think we can help you'
'Why not'
'Because it all sounds a bit dodgy to me'
'mumble' click
If you think a prospect is likely to be more trouble than it's worth, you don't have to work with them. Or quote a stupid price. Or say you're fully booked.
when i ran a garage i would get certain sorts of people coming in and asking for a price for whatever job,i would price it up,they would try to knock me down so i put the price up till they walked away or accepted my price,if they then tried to knock me down when the job was done i wouldnt let them have the car or remove the bits that i had fitted.
it makes sence to tell them you wont/cant do buisness as you dont need the agg.
best customers were old generation west indians,northerners,northern irish,chineese and the average working man.
these are FACTS and not a racist statment
it makes sence to tell them you wont/cant do buisness as you dont need the agg.
best customers were old generation west indians,northerners,northern irish,chineese and the average working man.
these are FACTS and not a racist statment
We have a lot of asian business and a lot of contact is by mobile phone initially (we also ask for landline numbers). We use www.ukprivateinvestigators.com to provide e-mail electorall roll results. You can buy a block of 100 checks for I think £15. If your business is such that you can afford to wait a day or two for reply, it might be worth your while. Alternatively you could buy an electorall roll CD for about £250 I think.
Sadly, we also have quite a number of problems (we are in the accident management business) and inevitably end up taking "a few" customers to litigation.
Sadly, we also have quite a number of problems (we are in the accident management business) and inevitably end up taking "a few" customers to litigation.
Unfortunatly there is always one bad apple to spoil the bunch, colour, cred, nationality is not the problem its generally the person or group. Our biggest problems are generated by builders, no offence to those who play the game, its the ones that expect one to be on "coat hooks" and availalbe at a moments notice, we do, or at least try to provide the level of service expected, but in turn for a price. Just keep pitching and it will come right, if they sound like agro, put the price quoted up until its less painfull to have to deal with anyone and where possible get a good deposit, no deposit no work. After all when was the last time you walked into a shop and offered to pay next week ?
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Everyone who is white, and has an opinion is racist.
Everyone who is non-white, is a lovely person and never do anything wrong... ever.
This country has turned to a liberal bag-o-shite, simple.
On a more constructive note. Perhaps design a form that new clients have to fill in, with detailed information such as addresses, phone numbers etc etc. Don’t let them back in until it’s complete and legible…
Everyone who is non-white, is a lovely person and never do anything wrong... ever.
This country has turned to a liberal bag-o-shite, simple.
On a more constructive note. Perhaps design a form that new clients have to fill in, with detailed information such as addresses, phone numbers etc etc. Don’t let them back in until it’s complete and legible…
Having worked in the car hire business in Slough (very multi-cultural, and chavs of all creeds) and Hastings (ChavCentral) I have a fair chunk of experience with this kind of problem. Pick the right company and you can walk away with a brand new motor to ring for an hour's work. I'm shocked at how lax some firms are. Chavs know this, and try it on weekly.
Our solution was to underwrite very carefully for everyone we did business with - no discrimination at all, and where suspicions were aroused, we took plenty of extra precautions. We also turned down people we weren't confident about, and it paid off - only lost one car in 4 years, and that was to an insurance referral customer, who'd also defrauded his own mother to the tune of £250k at the same time!
If you can change your business practices to take money up front, then so much the better. I know in most lines of work that's not at all easy.
>> Edited by julianhj on Saturday 7th August 19:05
Our solution was to underwrite very carefully for everyone we did business with - no discrimination at all, and where suspicions were aroused, we took plenty of extra precautions. We also turned down people we weren't confident about, and it paid off - only lost one car in 4 years, and that was to an insurance referral customer, who'd also defrauded his own mother to the tune of £250k at the same time!
If you can change your business practices to take money up front, then so much the better. I know in most lines of work that's not at all easy.
>> Edited by julianhj on Saturday 7th August 19:05
Back in the 80's and 90's I worked for a property developer and in estate agency. Every time we sold a house to someone of a certain ethnic origin they would try to renegotiate the price two days before exchange of contracts was due.
Even had one say the property had been down valued by the building society - which I knew not to be true. Got him to fax over the survey report and you could see the price had been tippexed out and replaced, even on the fax, as the type was different. He soon shut up when I threatened to report him to his building society.
Best one was a chap who complained that a member of staff was exceptionally rude to him and more interested in talking to her friend, just so he could try and get a discount on a new house. Problem was - I was the 'friend' - her boss. Thankfully I had been there and witnessed the whole conversation - otherwise I might have believed him and dished out a disciplinary to one of my staff and given him a big discount. Also I had the foresight to tell the MD about what had happened - as he then tried to complain about me.
Even had one say the property had been down valued by the building society - which I knew not to be true. Got him to fax over the survey report and you could see the price had been tippexed out and replaced, even on the fax, as the type was different. He soon shut up when I threatened to report him to his building society.
Best one was a chap who complained that a member of staff was exceptionally rude to him and more interested in talking to her friend, just so he could try and get a discount on a new house. Problem was - I was the 'friend' - her boss. Thankfully I had been there and witnessed the whole conversation - otherwise I might have believed him and dished out a disciplinary to one of my staff and given him a big discount. Also I had the foresight to tell the MD about what had happened - as he then tried to complain about me.
Stig said:
My brother is a car trader and can sympathise entirely. Not a racist slur, maybe it's just a cultural thing?
He always gets asked "what's your best price" when he's advertised the car, now he responds with "the best price to me, is the asking price"
I'm not sure that's always the worst line. I've been asked it on a number of occasions. It's OK saying 'my best price is the asking price', but it's not likely that they punter will say 'oh, ok then here's a load of money'.
What's the point in bartering if the seller has a fixed figure that they're not prepared to go below in their mind? OK, so it's a game, but not one everyone likes playing.
I've recently been looking for a bike and managed to get a bike that started at £4200 down to £3000 (which is seriously cheap) using that method (and a bit of psychology).
On the other hand, a friend of mine who was selling a Golf (for 1200) was asked his 'best price' to which he replied £995 - the guy then offered £500, take it or leave it. I wouldn't have had the cheek.
D
thatphilbrettguy said:
Don't think of it as being Racist. It's just how they do business. As long as you know the game there's no problem.
Exactly.
Unfortunately a number of other cultures way of doing business is not what we would call ethical or strictly legal. Understanding why people try to work that way is the key and can save much hassle.
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