And how do you escape once they’ve already started? Ideally in a way that is polite.

48 comments

  1. I have absolutely no idea lol. I think it was last week where someone stopped me on campus complimenting my hair and I ended up walking away with two books about yoga that I will never read

  3. You just see the social betrayal for what it is, interrupt them and say, “I’m not interested but I’d love to keep talking with you about something else.”

  5. Don’t be too polite. You keep your response extremely limited. Any hint that you could be convinced can and will be used.

    Example
    SP: “Hello sir/ma’am, I’m here today to sell X Y Z. Let me tell you about -”
    You: “No thanks I’m not interested”
    SP: “Okay”

    Don’t let them charm you, good salespeople use charm and social manipulation all the time to sell shit.

  6. dodge and get out dont even let them start speaking

    or walk near another person and that person gets roped into talking with the person and you just flee

    or say im not interested thank you very much and ignore anything else they say after

  7. Why do you need to politely decline someone intentionally wasting your time or preying on you for a sale? Respect yourself and tell them to fuck off if they’re interrupting or holding you there

  8. It’s a business transaction, not a social gesture on their part, so generally all you owe them is basic politeness.

    “Thanks, I’m not interested.”

    “Sorry, I’ve already allocated my donation money for this year.”

    “I wish you the best, but it isn’t for me.”

    “I don’t want any, thanks.”

    “Not for me, thanks.”

    Or just acknowledge them, smile and shake your head, and move on.

    Decline again in a more firm and cold voice if you need to.

    Just be polite and show respect because they are human, but there’s no need to explain.

    ETA: Oh, and just interrupt them if they don’t pause to let you take a normal conversational turn. Hold up a hand if you need to.

  9. Whip out your phone and ignore them. They’ll get the hint after a while

  10. Keep talking to them about an unimportant random topic and keep going back to that topic so they are hesitant to even ask for your phone number. lol

  11. My two tactics are 1) “I’ll think about it for a few weeks first” and 2) smiling and saying “no thanks” and walking away.

    Remember: it is *not* rude to leave a conversation if that person has ulterior motives. The concept of ignoring someone and leaving is something left for genuine mutual talks, not sales pitches.

  13. A salesperson is one person that it’s okay to hang up on, close the door on, or otherwise be rude to.

  14. I work in sales. Just politely cut them off and tell them you are not interested. Most people will respect your direct and candid answer. Alternatively, you could just sit there and smile and wait for them to finish. Up to you… since I work on sales, if it’s a younger/newer salesperson, I’ll let them finish even if I am not interested ..they will appreciate they practice and reps.

  15. I had a beggar start with, “Please, I find it so hurtful how people just ignore me like I’m not even here.” She made that an awkward couple of minutes since I was at a loss how to escape that.

  17. First rule is to never answer their questions. They ask for your name, you tell them you’re not interested and keep walking. They deal with rejection all day. As long as you smile and don’t do anything memorable, you’ll only be a drop in the bucket to them.

  18. I think it’s more about how you disengage than what you say. You can be as polite as you want but if you are someone who is easily hooked and pressured into continuing conversation no amount of polite decline will get you out. Salespeople are trained to keep pushing through rejection and decline so they are going to find ways to intercept and keep talking. You have to disengage and initiate the close even if they continue to try, which there is no *real* polite way to do. The most polite you can be is “no thank you I’m not interested” and force close the convo. Maybe hear out a rebuttal or 2 if you care to, but I’m telling you they will keep talking if you let them. Just exit the interaction after saying your no thank yous

  19. The answer is hard. But it really is that you have to say no thanks and walk away without responding more. The hard part is that some people do not take no for an answer or sometimes you can’t simply walk away. And in those cases you have to be rude. With some people they won’t respond to anything else but a little rudeness. And it sucks. It’s their job and all to sell, but it’s just scummy to keep pushing someone into a sale when they already said no and you simply made the sale because you annoyed them constantly and they are too nice to be rude to you and ran out of nice ways to tell you no. It’s manipulative.

    I hate being rude to people, but at a certain point you just have to walk away/ignore them or if you can’t, tell them to leave you alone.

    I had a phone salesman stop me while I was walking passed a phone store with my phone out. He told me that he guaranteed he could convince me to switch to their carrier. I already had their service so I told him no need to give me the spiel since I already had their service. And I walked away. He stopped in front of me again and said well then I guarantee I can get you a lower monthly bill and a brand new phone (my phone was 5 years old, but worked great and I was happy with it). I told him I’m happy with my phone and my bill is already the lowest it could be (I did a bring your own phone deal to get a discount and the terms say you have to keep your phone for a certain amount of months before upgrading. I also get a slight discount because of my job). He told me even if I like it i should treat myself for all the hard work I do with a new iPhone. He once again guaranteed he would lower my monthly plan. I told him I cannot change my phone as per the contract and I already have the lowest deal. He told me I guarantee I can get you a better deal and that you will walk out of this store with a brand new iPhone today. I had some time to waste and figured why not let him waste his time too. So I asked him if he really guaranteed I would walk out of the store today with a new iPhone and a lower bill. He said yes. So I went inside with him and he sat me down and pulled up my account. He stared at it and did some clicking for a few minutes. He then got up and said he had to speak to his manager. The manager came over and he greeted me and asked what was going on and the guy told him what he was trying to do. And the manager looked at my account, clicked around a few times, and said that I already had a better deal than they could offer. So he thanked me and asked if there’s anything else they could help me with. So at this point I told the manager well your employee here pulled me in from outside and told me he guaranteed I would get a better deal and walk out with a new iPhone. The manager said they can’t get me a better deal. And I said I know but your employee guaranteed it. I wouldn’t have come in if he didn’t guarantee that I would be walking out of here with a new phone. He told me they just couldn’t do it.

    Now this was not what should have happened. My error was that I engaged the salesman. I told him an excuse why what he had to offer was not for me. And this is the biggest fault you could do. **Do not give an excuse. Simply excuse yourself.** if you give an excuse then you will only give them a reason to spin the story and still try to sell you why your excuse isn’t valid, no matter what they have to do to convince you. Do not give them the power to even try to convince you. Because your No is not a no to them. It’s just not quite a yes yet. Just walk away. Tell them no. If they follow you then tell them to leave you alone. If they still persist then ignore them and move away from them and move them from your way if necessary. You have to be a little rude to some people unfortunately.

  20. If you feel awkward about not donating to a certain charity at checkout, just say “I already have, thank you”.

  21. They don’t care about you.

    They want to sale a thing. 95% of the time, you don’t need it and they are guilting or lying to you to make a sale. When the sale is done you are trash again.

    Screw that. This is not social interaction, it’s a job to convince you to give away your money.

    All the tactics that they use.. free coffee at the car dealer shop are my favorite example; you got something for free, so now you are more inclined to buy because you feel in debt to these people..

    Again, they dont care about you.

    Why should you care about the polite way to end the social interaction?

  22. I get two friends who only call me when you they get swept into a new MLM scheme. I never call them.

  23. Learning to politely but firmly say No is one of the greatest social tools. It’s quite liberating. The need to be polite ends if you need to say it more than once.

    Also you don’t need a reason or to offer one. You don’t owe them that. Don’t give in to being pressed why. Because you said so is why and that’s it.

  24. “I really need to find a bathroom like NOW!” and scurry away with your hand over your butt

  28. They’re professionally trained to receive rejection without getting hurt. Trust me, they really don’t care and you can walk away without even talking to them. It won’t matter

  29. You don’t have to be polite, they’re trying to take your money. Just straight up tell them you’re not buying anything and to have a nice day or just walk off.

  31. So I am a salesperson, and I abide by the “if a customer says not interested, leave them alone” rule. However, we have all received training on bypassing that. My managers get upset that I give people the room if they ask for it, but I think “would I have wanted that before I started working here”. I do work at a car dealership so a lot of times people who come are planning on buying, so I do at least ask if they have any questions but if they say “just looking” I’ll ask if there’s anything particular so I can point them in the right direction. I have found giving people space and not pressuring them into buying actually leads to more sales, weird right?

  32. I tell them I just got laid off with no savings, bad credit, and no new job prospects in sight. Once they find out you’re in a financial predicament, they can’t get away from you quick enough! Works every time with contractors who call or come to my door.

  34. No it’s never good to hurt someone with rudeness or in anyway. So just quickly and firmly say little or nothing and walk away. So many ppl especially women and old folks are so timid and afraid of offending someone they won’t stand up for themselves. They get walked over.

  37. Sales people abuse social protocol to trap you in conversations to sell you things. This is rude and a violation of social protocol in my book, so I feel no guilt in not even stopping to acknowledge their existence.

  39. As a “rude” New Yorker: Phone: “No thank you,” click. One and done, let’s the caller to quickly move on to the next victim. Works the same in real life. Your time is yours. Just say no thank you and keep moving.

  40. You owe a salesman nothing. You aren’t trying to find the right thing to say for them to give you permission to end the conversation. “Not interested,” is more than enough and then you walk away.

    You’re actually doing them a favor. They know they’re getting no where and can move on to the next.

  41. Just interrupt them and say “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m really not interested”. They’re used to the rejection, don’t worry about it. If they persist, politely decline them again. If that still doesn’t work, tell them to fuck off.

  42. This is a boundary. And consider this a good place to practice, because it does not really matter if you get it wrong. Chances are that you will never see them again. But the practice will help you establish boundaries with other people.

    “I’m just browsing”

    “I would prefer to do my shopping on my own thank you”

  43. You hang up or simply say not interested thanks as you walk by.. they are not being considerate of your time.. its the Social norms they violate to try and pressure people into buying.. dont give them the courtesy of being nice . They violate social norms then so do I.

  44. “Not today, but thank you for your time” say it firmly, and with a smile. Then walk away.

    Remember, they are trained to almost Harass you so do not feel bad. Just hope they find a person who actually needs what they sell.

  46. Sorry, I’m running late for my penile fracture doctors appointment. Even better if you’re a woman.

  47. Practice being direct. Even if it makes you so uncomfortable, and even if you suck at it by stuttering through it. Do this often enough and it won’t bother you so much.

    Or sometimes I just say I don’t have money for that, period. How can they come back from that? Unless it’s some situation where it’s like a used car salesman and they offer financing. Then you just say I don’t want that and won’t be financing anything.

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