gwendes Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I might just be being sceptical but yesterday I received a cold call from a company called Vohkus. After I said no I wasn't interested the chap called me back and said that he was sending his own children to our school and wanted to know if we could 'work together'. Today I've received a standard template: Thank you for taking my call today, like I said I will be sending my kids to and have a personal affection for . I want to do well and I want be an outstanding. Vohkus do offer the normal large Tier 1 vendor portfolios like HP, Lenovo and Dell but when they offer something different like optimisation as a service, vSOM from VMware, global maintenance contracts, HP SPS. Charles, I am sure that you will agree that IT decision makers like you would want to know more about innovative value driven products rather than the usual questions about Client devices or Virtualisation. I represent a firm that is the one of the biggest Global multi-vendor resellers that are based in the UK, we provide a huge range of IT hardware, software and innovative services that increases the value of your IT budget. They're based in Hemel Hempstead on the footer, near Old Street on Google. We're in North West London so it's possible... just wondering if these sort of underhand tactics have been spotted by anyone else (if they are indeed underhand). Who repeats the school name that many times?! /not quite a rant.
localzuk Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I've had several resellers tell me that they almost went to this school themselves and they love Devon. Great. We're in Somerset. So, yeah, doubt you'd've gone to this school! 1
Oaktech Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I might just be being sceptical but yesterday I received a cold call from a company called Vohkus. After I said no I wasn't interested the chap called me back and said that he was sending his own children to our school and wanted to know if we could 'work together'. Today I've received a standard template: They're based in Hemel Hempstead on the footer, near Old Street on Google. We're in North West London so it's possible... just wondering if these sort of underhand tactics have been spotted by anyone else (if they are indeed underhand). Who repeats the school name that many times?! /not quite a rant. I've had that... We're in Dorset... seems V. unlikely. TO THE TRANSPORT RULES BLOCK LIST WITH YOU!
gwendes Posted December 4, 2015 Author Posted December 4, 2015 I've had that... We're in Dorset... seems V. unlikely. TO THE TRANSPORT RULES BLOCK LIST WITH YOU! Same company?
CAM Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I've had callers claiming to be ex-students before and it turns out they were legit, so the conversation gets derailed into who is still at the school, what the school has done since they left, etc, and no actual sales talk ends up taking place.
Jawloms Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I received a cold call from a company called Vohkus. I'd have been tempted to say Vohkyou. 3
gwendes Posted December 4, 2015 Author Posted December 4, 2015 Certainly was! Hopefully this will serve as a warning to anyone else who Googles their name.
Smee Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I got this email the other day One of our engineers, xxx xxxx was at a parents evening recently and was speaking to "head teacher" about our ICT services and how we have helped other schools. "head teacher" advised us to get in touch with yourself to arrange a meeting to discuss your current ICT arrangements and plans to see if there are any areas where we can be of assistance. It would give us the opportunity to tell you more about Mercuryavs, the services we provide and to give you some contact details for other schools we work with. I was hoping we could get something booked in over the next couple of weeks, do you have any availability for a quick introductory meeting? Most likely legit, but I honestly can't be bothered. They send the same email after every parents evening. 1
elsiegee40 Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I got this email the other day One of our engineers, xxx xxxx was at a parents evening recently and was speaking to "head teacher" about our ICT services and how we have helped other schools. "head teacher" advised us to get in touch with yourself to arrange a meeting to discuss your current ICT arrangements and plans to see if there are any areas where we can be of assistance. It would give us the opportunity to tell you more about Mercuryavs, the services we provide and to give you some contact details for other schools we work with. I was hoping we could get something booked in over the next couple of weeks, do you have any availability for a quick introductory meeting? Most likely legit, but I honestly can't be bothered. They send the same email after every parents evening. "Head teacher" is probably well aware that you will deal with it as such. It gets the parent of their back at consultation evening quickly though. 1
gwendes Posted December 4, 2015 Author Posted December 4, 2015 "Head teacher" is probably well aware that you will deal with it as such. It gets the parent of their back at consultation evening quickly though. You think that an engineer would go to a parents evening, and suddenly turn into a salesperson? I call BS on the lot of them. It's just another way in because we all ignore their bloody cold calls!
elsiegee40 Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 You think that an engineer would go to a parents evening, and suddenly turn into a salesperson? I call BS on the lot of them. It's just another way in because we all ignore their bloody cold calls! We had a parent working for a local IT company who would use every opportunity to work on the school's leadership... even the drinks before the carol service... complete PITA.
Oaktech Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 You think that an engineer would go to a parents evening, and suddenly turn into a salesperson? I call BS on the lot of them. It's just another way in because we all ignore their bloody cold calls! They do if the company is small enough... We have a set of parents who are/work for small local IT outfits and they collar me in the bloody playground to ask 'how it's going' whereupon I try to give them as non-commital an answer as I can. $Deity forbid if one of their kids has a problem logging in or the internet is down. The kid just forgot their password and the internet is out of my hands, but by the time $child has told their parents about it and the parents have come in to speak to the head about it the next day I'm an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing and the whole network is on its knees. Fortunately the head is pretty defensive of the school systems and because they are the best he's ever used he gives them the brush off, but it does feel like I'm being attacked constantly. I've also got a governor whose son owns quite a large technical events company - his main business is massive LCD screens and outside broadcasts, but they also do things like cyber cafe's in fields and press centres with satellite broadband. They constantly offer us stuff, and I almost always have to turn it down because I can buy it new with warranty cheaper, or it doesn't fit with our published strategy. It's very tedious.
jonnykewell1 Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I've had this from a few people on LinkedIn lately.
Gaz Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 I've had this from a few people on LinkedIn lately. Maybe related to this? Fake LinkedIn profiles used by hackers - BBC News
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