My phone rang this morning and it was a salesman trying to sell me a product for my church. I told him I already have it, but he continues on as if he has not heard me. After describing the product, he asks, "Now Pastor Garrett, don't you think this could be a benefit in your church?" I said, "Yes, that's why I bought it in November." He says, "Good, now let me see if we have your mailing address correct and I will get this right out to you for a 30 day preview so you can decide if you want to purchase this to use in your church." I'm sitting there scratching my head and wondering if this guy has a clue! I have to say that on most days I'd probably have hung up on the guy by now, but I had a little free time since my morning appointments were cancelled because it is too cold to go out and shoot pictures today, and I really wanted to see how far he'd go.
So, he begins verifying my address, and when he read it to me and asked if it was correct, I told him that I had already told him a couple of times that I had this product, and he begins to tell me that I could not have it, because it is a brand new product that had just been released to the public. I told him that I did have it, further he needed to be careful how he represented his company because I knew for a fact that this product had been around and in use for more than a year as a friend of mine had used it in his church and had recommended it to me. He tried to explain to me how I had to be mistaken because this had just come out on the market and that I was one of the first to be called and that if I'd just let him finish verifying the shipping information he would get it right out to me and I could see for myself what a great program this was.
Now, by this time I was getting a little mad. For one thing, the "product" he was trying to get me to preview was sitting in a box literally 4 feet from where I was sitting, so I knew I had it and we were discussing the same curriculum. Even worse though was the fact that this guy had identified himself as a pastor himself who worked for this company to supplement his income. I was getting angry because he was not listening to me at all, and beyond that, he was blatantly lying to me about the product. I finally told him that I was getting angry and explained why. Believe it or not, he tried to turn it around on me, telling me that I was falsely accusing him and that I was mistaken because there was no way I could have this product because they had just begun offering it for sale. I explained to him that I was sitting here looking at the materials and he said that there was no way I had it and if I did not want it I should have just said so and not wasted his time this morning and hung up on me.
I'm sitting here thinking, "Did this really happen or am I dreaming?" I mean when a Christian man (a pastor, nonetheless) representing a Christian company will call a church and outright lie in order to get a sale, I have to wonder is there any hope for this world? God help us to become people of honesty and integrity.
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