Possible Competitor Calling????

[SMITHY]

Just was wondering if any of you know about a company named CHIPIO?? I received a very strange call Sunday Morning at 8:01 AM, claimed she had a crack in her windshield. First it was 18" and then it was 10". I told her that her insurance most likely would not cover the repair if over 6". She then proceeded to ask me how much I would charge, and I told her, she goes really???? I thought your ad said $40.00. I told her I don't have an ad. She then claimed she had two cracks that both were over 10 " long. At this point I began to get a little suspicious to say the least. She then asked me how much to repair both cracks, plus she had a bullseye. When people start using industry terminology, then I begin to get more suspicious. Through the conversation she told me that CHIPIO would be happy to fix the damages. I then told her to take it to CHIPIO and that I was not interested in performing the repairs and that if she has two crack on both sides of the windshield plus a bullseye in the middle of them, there must be some other kind of issue going on. So after the call terminated, I get three return calls back from the same person/same number, and it sounded like she was sitting a car wash or a gas station or something, and I could hear her giving her sales pitch to people. I don't know if she had her phone attached to her and she just accidently kept hitting redial or what. Which after all my searching comes up in New Jersey/New Castle area. She mentioned Chipio over four times during the call. Have any of you guys gotten weird calls like this? Just curious and began to get me very frustrated

[SMITHY]

So I just call the number back after blocking my number prior to the call and she answered right away, and I just said , " Hi maam, I was just wondering if you got your cracks fixed" . She instantly hung up......Very interesting.

[SMITHY]

Okay so I call her again and again, and kept asking her how she likes being harrassed on a Sunday morning. She finally spoke and said I was just bored, and she found my info from doing an internet search and was just calling because she thought I was affiliated with them. I asked her are you in New Jersey and she said yes. I told her I am not even close to Jersey and she said she knew that. She did admit she works for Chipio and indeed she was at a Car wash there. Interesting to say the least and more so very interesting she was able to find me doing an internet search.

[paulrsf]

I would have hung up after the first call and left it there. Why waste your time once you've decided its not a legitimate call? There's lots of people out there with all kinds of motives. I resist getting pulled into their "games" -once I've figured it out, that is.

[DryStar]

Just Google "Chipio" and you'll find all the information. They want you to work gas stations and car washers under their contract where they pay you a percentage for processing.

[SMITHY]

I would have hung up after the first call and left it there. Why waste your time once you've decided its not a legitimate call? There's lots of people out there with all kinds of motives. I resist getting pulled into their "games" -once I've figured it out, that is.

Well my curiosity was peaked Paul, that is why. I wasn't playing a game, I was trying to determine if it was someone local or someone just fooling around. You have to do the footwork and investigative work to come to the conclusion, which is what I was doing in essence.

Once I found out the truth, I went on my console and blocked that number from being able to call me again!!

[SMITHY]

I guess on a positive note, people can find me on the internet by doing a simple search. I just wish it were a legitimate job, instead of a moron.

Yeah Drystar, I already did that and found their site. Looks like there is one in my area too.

[paulrsf]

Hey Smithy-

Sorry -I was not implying you were playing games. Rather, I was saying that once you find out someone else is, cut it right there. We get all kinds of calls and solicitations by everyone from competitors to advertisers. Sometimes the call goes on for a while before I realize I am being sold to or taken advantage of. There's a whole lot of noise out there and just as many agendas.

Paul

[mend master]

If memory serves, Smithy, didn't you say you were in the tire business prior to WSR? Been there, done that for nearly 10 years as well. We shopped competitors, and were shopped by competitors on a regular basis. Just another tactic to see how strong your competitor's phone skills, salesmanship, marketing, and pricing is. No harm, no foul. Pretty much a waste of time if the other person isn't even in your market area though.

[DryStar]

Chipio is a WSR marketing company. They attempt to use you to market their services for $20-$25 a repair while they collect the rest by processing the claim. That simple. There's more like them out there, so be aware!