No online price match....

[Mr. Rude]

Customer walks in the shop & makes a bee-line for me. Of course I'm helping out someone else, but that doesn't matter. The "butt-in" maneuver is attempted, but fails miserably... (I rolled a 20 on my save)

Meh, he had to wait 3 minutes anyways.

He asks for pricing on some items, I cough up the numbers. Simple enough? Not a chance in hell....

SC: What sort of price match do you do?

Me: If it's in town & EXACTLY the same, we'll beat the price.

SC: Well I found some prices for these *hands me print out from a website*

Me: Ahhhh yes...These guys are in Vancouver ( a 3 hour return ferry/drive which costs about $120 ) & as I said anyone in town.

SC: But I want this price.

Me: Well go ahead & order. That's a great deal.

SC: I don't trust online shopping & what if I want to return it?

Me: Umm...You deal with them? *shrugs*

SC: But I want to be able to come back to a store & talk to someone in person.

Me: Ahhhh....Well now we get to the main point on pricing. You see, they can offer a better price because A: They don't have to maintain a store front & pay people to answer silly questions B: They can be a real pain about returns C: You pay any warranty shipping etc. etc. etc. Therefore, if YOU do your research properly, you can save money....Lower labour cost equals better margin.

SC: But what if it doesn't work?

Me: Work in general or just in your machine? If it isn't compatible with YOUR rig, they can refuse a refund. Just because you didn't do the "research" ahead of time isn't their fault.

SC: That's not fair.

Me: Nope, that's a rather tidy business practice if you ask me. Cuts down on opened stock from the "Buyer/Tryer" types. At least here we can ensure that it will run with your gear. Hell, I'll even pop it in myself if you bring down your tower. That's a lot better than they can offer. Isn't it? And for a paltry sum of $xx dollars more. That & you can even phone us too.

SC: *Gears in head slowly grinding* Yeah....I guess so.

Me: *Prints of price quote* Here ya go, I have these items on hand right now if you need. Or, if you want to, call around for pricing at the other shops in town. Anything else?

SC: No....*shuffles feet*...I'll take them now.

Me: No problem *rings him out* Have a nice day.

I scratch my head & wonder why these people are so paranoid about shopping online.

[ReverendBSB]

Because all you hear on the new about online shopping is people getting their identities or card numbers stolen. You dont ever hear about the millions of people who use online shopping every day and never have a problem. The news promotes a culture of fear.

[Naaman]

I scratch my head & wonder why these people are so paranoid about shopping online.

Because the over sensationalist news has told them that if they click any buttons on a shop site "Teh Ev1l Haxx0rz" will have they're identity away in 5 seconds flat and they'll be left as faceless automatons who've gone bankrupt after their savings account was stripped to pay for hookers and blow

[Catwoman2965]

Exactly! And its usually the ones who don't know anything about it that are the most suspicious. I pay all my bills online, and shop online too...however, i NEVEr use my debit card to shop; always a cc, and the same one. then I just pay the bill...no big deal.

my boss is like that; he was so suspicous of everything it took him about 4 years to do direct deposit!

[Mr. Rude]

hookers and blow

Mmmmm....Hookers & blow *Homer Simpson voice*

And with online bill payments & the like....I love it. Been doing it that way for years now

[Boozy]

I think he was just nervous about shopping online because he needed more in the way of customer service than the average person. He wasn't sure of what he was ordering. You said it yourself in the conversation you had with him - if he does his research and knows his stuff, he'll be fine ordering online. Otherwise, he may be better off talking to you in the store, and paying a bit more.

I don't think he was sucky, he just needed it spelled out for him. Which you did quite nicely and articulately, I might add.

I'll order a lot of stuff online, especially books. But when it comes to software and electronics, I need a bit more help. So I don't mind paying a bit more for my stuff if I get a friendly and knowledgeable salesperson to help me through the whole process.

[Soulstealer]

Because all you hear on the new about online shopping is people getting their identities or card numbers stolen. You dont ever hear about the millions of people who use online shopping every day and never have a problem. The news promotes a culture of fear.

From what I understand online shopping is actually safer because of the security measures businesses are putting up to keep your credit card number safe. There's the occasionaly case but it's easier to steal someone's numbers in person than online.

Another reason why I no longer have paper bank statements.

[Naaman]

Well I have seen many people who won't shop online because they're afraid of getting 'hacked'. These are the exact same people who used to let the waiter take they're credit card to the till in the back at a restaurant and order pizza over the phone with a debit card (including 3 digit numbers)**

**This is not a "Waiters and pizza guys are thieves" point, this is a you're giving your card\details to a human stranger many of them on a low wage in a high staff turnover job example.

[wagegoth]

I've been shopping and banking online for years. It is so cool. I smile during the holidays as I pass jammed parking lots at malls, and I know that all my stuff is already shipped and stored or on its way. *happy aaah sigh*

But I'm also very careful about who I shop with online. If it's a company I haven't heard of, I always do searches for reviews. That has probably saved me more trouble than anything else.

[draggar]

I need to do a lot of online business, so I have two savings accounts, one for money going in and out, hich I keep at a very low balance, and another for my regular money. I do many transfers.