"Your spouse must be present..."

June 23 2012,

Our house needs a new roof. So when a solicitor came to the house and asked if I wanted a roofing quote, I said sure. So he called his sales office and gave me the phone.

The lady on the phone asked a number of questions. One of them was, "What is the name of your spouse?"

I hesitated and said, "I don't feel comfortable giving that out, and why would you need it anyway?"

Her response to this was, "If we need to talk to somebody, or if he happens to pick up the phone, we know what to address him as."

She said, "Ok then, someone will call you tonight to confirm the appointment."

6:00 PM and the phone rings.

I pick it up, and it is the scheduling office of this roofing company.

He went over the same questions again, and I answered. One of the question was, "How long is the roof?"

I hesitated and said, "I told this to the earlier agent already, don't you have it in your notes?"

He said no, and I answered his question.

Then he went on to ask, "What is the best time that you and your spouse will be available to go through the estimate?"

I said, "He will not be available."

The guy continued, "He needs to be there."

I asked, "Why?"

The guy said, "So there is no miscommunication about all parties."

By now my blood pressure had reason, and hubby in the background said, "Just hang up and forget it."

I said to the guy, "Forget it, I don't want the appointment and I don't want an estimate," and hung up the phone before he could say anything.

The question is, why the push on the spouse? Is it because they can't deal with a woman who is running the household? If I was a guy, would the person on the phone insist that his wife was present during the estimate?

Quilt & Bitch