VMturbo... don't even make eye contact.

A year ago one of the project managers at my company asked about this product to help us "optimize" our Infrastructure. I later found out he was getting calls for the last few months after stopping by a vendor booth at a conference and just looked at the product. So naturally he gave them my number.

I had never paid much attention to them, it always looked like a third party rehash of VCOPs which we already had and we're please with. But I liked this PM and had a few minutes to vet this product.

I arrange a dog and pony show to have them show us the product over go to meeting and invite my coworker from a different office to attend. We review it, nothing amazing and no compelling features to justify going forward so we agree that we won't be buying and thank the guy for his time.

And this is where is goes south. I get a call a week later. We've been assigned an account rep. Ok, What?

I explain we won't be buying the product and were not interested. Queue sales pitch, pseudo guilt trip for not using their software to save millions, etc.

I've been down this road with other vendors and interrupt and put my foot down. No sale, no more calls, lose my number.

Apologies and niceties. End of call.

Three more emails over the next two weeks.

Last one I replied to and asked them to remove me from their database. Any further contact would be escalated internally as harassment. Honestly it was an empty threat - I had no idea how to and frankly never had to even consider it.

I get a call from my coworker. He's pissed they won't leave him alone. I bring this up at our team meeting and find out our boss is getting calls too - how they found his contact info was that he had been scanned at a conference three years ago and pulled his info front the database. I have a feeling they have our entire org chart one speed dial now.

I finally had enough and unload on the next caller. Explain that I have no interest in their product and their sales tactics are pissing me off. Leave me and my company alone.

So it goes radio silent for a few weeks.

We have a new sales rep! Emails followed up with a phone call. Apologies for contacting, and will remove from the active list.

Rinse and repeat this two more times in three months.

I've had a discussion with our company's vendor relations department (yeah we're pretty big) and as soon as I mention VMturbo the girl rolls her eyes. For the last three months they've been calling her and her team fishing for "decision makers" on the VMware team.

We're now putting together a request and evidence (call logs, emails, and notes) to provide our legal department to proceed with developing a legal answer to this. Most likely a cease and desist letter or something.

Yesterday, surprise we got a new sales rep. Seriously Chad or Chet or whatever your Boston bro group calls you - just quit your job and go find something else.

The amount of time I've wasted with these jerks peddling this software amazes me. I'm now in a year of regretting ever looking at VMturbo. I hope this saves someone else from my mistake.

Edit: I hope Dell buys them. It would serve them right.

Second Edit: I vented on Facebook about this today and a friend of mine share this story with me.

A few years ago they had demoed the software and weren't interested. Went through the same mess of calls, emails, and mystery reorganizations that led to new "account reps" it finally tapered off and six months radio silence he gets a call that his new account rep will be visiting town with another customer and would like to buy lunch for taking a look at version new dot oh of the product.

Sales guy in the lobby with the CEO of the company (or so they claimed) and they're there to close the deal.

No kidding. Friend says you could tell this CEO was just another slime ball sales guy but he's there to make this happen.

I'm sure they expensed the trip as a tag team effort but it certainly shows you the lengths these guys and gals will go. (Account rep #3 was a woman who didn't take no for an answer so I hung up on her then sent me a condescending email for not wanting to save truck loads of cash using their product)