Dear Incoming New Student....

[Seraph]

Lupo, stop breaking the young, nubile minds! That's our future, right there!....

....oh, suddenly I'm depressed now. :|

[Android Kaeli]

Quoth Slave to the Phone

This is my plan for tomorrow night. I broke my kitchen faucet. (don't ask) I've looked online and think I can replace it myself. After work tomorrow, I'm going to go to my favorite hardware store and buy everything I need to replace it. I know I could get the faucet cheaper at the big box stores, but I'm willing to pay extra because I know that the person I ask will tell me everything I need to know. I think its worth the extra money to keep those sort of places open.

Kitchen faucets aren't really hard to replace, neither is some parts of the toilets -- this is coming from experiance in both places. As long as you read the instructions and stuff, you should be fine.

If you're going to price-match, please don't say that you are -- at least try to look mildly interested in the item. Even if you just 'go home and think it over', don't use the words 'I'm price-matching' 'cause use retail peons won't be as helpful as before.

[lupo pazzesco]

Seraph, I don't do it on PURPOSE!!

Also, had another one!! Older student, as in MUCH older. nontraditional transfer student, looks to be in his 50s-60s. Came in twice today, asking about books for classes he was going to attempt to register for. He claimed he had financial aid to cover them, so I explained the financial aid voucher process, the books, buying vs. renting, etc, etc. Spent a good 45 minutes with him each time, walking him through how it works on this particular campus. The second time he leaves, He thanks me.

Fifteen minutes later. FIFTEEN. I get a phone call. It's this guy, asking if i was the big girl who sat at the desk the whole time. (holy fucking gods, REALLY?? My workstation is at the reg counter, yes, but ya know what? I get shit done AND I help people...Urg!!)

Anyways, I said Yes, I was the person who helped him, and the following conversation occurs:

Him: yeah, i was asking about books for these 2 classes?
Me: Yes, sir, I remember you, how can I help you?
Him: You forgot to give me the ISBN numbers!! I need them to get them online
Me: (Financial aid my...ugh...) <Gives him the spiel about not providing that information, etc, etc, go to website!>
Him: But...you forgot them.
Me: No sir, I didn't. WE don't provide that in store, it's information you can find for yourself easily, using the sources I've already mentioned.
Him: But you never told me the website!
Me: ...check the pink post it note...
Him: ...OH!! Ok, thanks, I guess.



It has only just begun, I'm sure...

[Greenday]

We had to bookstores for my college. One owned by the school, one, literally across the street from Main Hall. When you registered for classes, each class would list books you'd need. After that, I'd just go to both bookstores and write down the prices from both places. And that was if I couldn't find the book online (because why should I pay $200 at the bookstore when I can buy the same book new for $30 online).

[Slave to the Phone]

Quoth Android Kaeli

Kitchen faucets aren't really hard to replace, neither is some parts of the toilets -- this is coming from experiance in both places. As long as you read the instructions and stuff, you should be fine.

Thank you for the encouragement, I'm a plumbing virgin. The guy at the hardware store took a lot of time to tell me what I would need and how to do it. I bought everything he suggested. Its easy enough to return the unused stuff and I'd rather not be in the middle of the job and find out that I have to drive 30 miles to buy a $2.00 part.

He also gave me his cell number and told me to call him if something goes wrong. No way would I get that level of service at a bigbox store. I do plan on writing a nice letter about him to corp. If I manage to flood my kitchen, it won't be his fault!

If you're going to price-match, please don't say that you are -- at least try to look mildly interested in the item. Even if you just 'go home and think it over', don't use the words 'I'm price-matching' 'cause use retail peons won't be as helpful as before.

When I'm price matching, I don't bother the retail peons. I just find what I'm looking for, write the price down and move on.

[Juggler]

It's called "showrooming".

I'm willing to bet real money that the people who do this will be the first to complain when the real stores close.

There was this great office supply store in my neighborhood. They had maybe 1/5 the floor space of an Office Hut yet a much wider selection, and their prices were maybe 5% more than the big box.

Far too many people would spend $5.00 and waste an hour to save $2.00 on their purchase. It's now gone because of dumbfucks.

[Opalin]

My university has gotten around this by printing their own books for each of the semesters. You can only buy the required text for about 40% of the general courses at THEIR store. What bothers me most about this is that if you're going to make me pay 200$ for a book... I'd expect YOU to do the binding, not force me to go find a binder that's sturdy enough to carry it so that it can't be re-sold later.

But honestly, it isn't that hard to go online, I don't think I'd EVER go in just to get the numbers from the book. I do however, use our main bookstore to get regular books (which they sell at good prices) candy, pillows, and various other housing goods, which tend to be cheaper and also within walking distance.

[NoMoreRetail]

Wow was this kid a freshman or something? At my school in Texas, the professors put on their faculty pages what books are needed for the coming semester. All you have to do is write down the title and go find the book under the course section in the book store. Everything is labeled and neat and organized for you complete with big signs hanging from the ceiling that say "HISTORY" "MATH" etc. Wow I really weep for the future of America, what a jerk!

[Mr Hero]

I think this might be the equivalent of customers who want a room but not at the price we ask, so they tell us to call the other hotels and see what they're charging. Not happening.

[raudf]

"I'm sorry, I'm only here to help actual customers with their issues. If you happened to be a customer, this answer would be replaced by the answer you were actually looking for." Unfortunately, the showcase shoppers are actually getting smarter, because I've heard one customer say after the fact, "Well, I WAS going to buy from here... but now I'll buy online!" Never mind that they said they were intending to buy online anyways and had said as much to their shopping buds..

It's people like this that give us bargain hunting "shopping around" types a bad name. Usually, I already know how much the item I'm looking for is gonna run, thanks to my online prelim shopping. I go to the stores to see what their prices are and what kind of deals I can get, which is how I got a high dollar TV for a price within my budget. So it was an open box. It works just fine and I couldn't afford a new one, even at online prices