Reply to Contractor rep recording conversations in the home

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Reply to "Contractor rep recording conversations in the home - AITA?"

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[quote=Anonymous]Sorry for the cross-post in Off-Topic.  I should have posted this here and I'll ask Jeff to delete the other one.

I had a rep from a well known, heavily advertised home repair company come buy to give a free inspection estimate. He took about an hour to do his full inspection including a drawing with detailed measurements and readings. Then we sat down to discuss the findings and draw up a proposal along with the usual sales pitch. All good up to that point.

Before he started, he asked if I minded that he record our conversation on his cell phone. He said the company required him to do so. I told him I didn't think that was a good practice for them and he actually agreed with me. He said they have threatened to fire reps who didn't comply and they track who is recording and who doesn't. He also said they insist on them recording even if they don't ask permission, and a lot of his colleagues don't bother asking. He clearly wasn't happy with the requirement and also revealed, if the customer didn't grant permission, they were instructed to record anyway without them knowing. They are even required to start the recording before asking permission, if they even ask.

Question for contractors: are any of you familiar with this practice or do you require this of your sales force who sees customers in their homes? I've had many contractors out to the house over the years and this is the first I've heard of this. If I've been recorded in the past without my knowledge, I'm not OK with that. For homeowners: are you OK with being recorded in your house by someone trying to sell you repair services? Keep in mind, this is not a phone conversation between two people, but a cell phone recording anyone within earshot (phoneshot?) who may be speaking including people in the background who aren't a part of the conversation regarding the home repair. Do I need to ask all contractors about their recording policy in the future so I can opt out of it?

Am I being too sensitive about this, or am I right that this seems really invasive and does not respect my privacy? Would you do business with a company like this? I feel like contacting his boss but I don't want to get him in trouble. The guy was excellent other than that but I doubt I'd want to do business with the company he represents now that I know this.

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