A chilling story about unscrupulous companies preying on older people

I heard a worrying story today about unscrupulous companies preying on vulnerable older people.

My friend, a lady in her 90s, received a phone call from someone wanting to visit her to discuss a “change in terms for her care alarm”. She agreed a time but feeling a little uneasy asked her daughter to be present.

At the appointed time, a tall man arrived and asked first to use the toilet which was slightly odd. Then he came into the sitting room and asked if he might have a cup of tea. At this point, my friend’s daughter was getting rather suspicious and started quizzing him about the company he represented. It transpired that he did not work for the company which supplied my friend’s current care alarm but a rival company and he was there to persuade her to switch contracts.

Feeling not a little discomforted, my friend’s daughter asked the salesman to leave.

My friend’s daughter has notified the appropriate authorities but the damage is done.  Both my friend and her daughter have been shaken by this whole espisode.

What struck me was that this is not a dramatic tale in that (fortunately) nothing was stolen and no-one was attacked.  But these sort of insidious and underhand sales tactics can badly undermine a person’s confidence and there is something so cynical about directing them at our vulnerable older people who are often too polite to say no.