I don't set the prices ...

[Rana]

People seem to be very finicky about our prices. I work in a blue and yellow discount german supermarket, and we are well known for being cheaper than the big supermarkets. Yet we'll always have people complaining about how expensive their shop just was ... what do they want? For it to be free?

I think the one that took the cake was the lady that was complaining about the prices of our 1.5l water bottles. She came in and asked if 6 of them would be X price as she could get them at Y price at another store. I said that yes, 6 of them would be X price. She then gives me a lecture about 'awful customer shopping experience' and that it would have been cheaper at the other store and that they would have 'price matched' on the product.

I informed her that head office sets the prices. Neither myself or my manager set the prices, we can pass on the message but there is nothing we can do about it at this current time, and NO we do not price match.

I said to her that if the price was an issue then we have a non-branded water. It is much cheaper than the one she was looking at, and as I had tried the cheaper one I recommended it to her if she wanted something that would be cheaper than the competition ... but no it HAS to be the brand name water.

She left without her product and said she was off to the competition.

[WishfulSpirit]

For....water? Sheesh I thought I had seen the brand w****s.

[EricKei]

... what do they want? For it to be free?

Pretty much, yeah. I've found that, the cheaper the store, the more rabidly people will seek to glean even a tiny discount; this even applies for people with plenty of money >_> Meanwhile, these same folks will shop at a "boutique" store and pay exorbitant prices for "fancy name" things without a second thought.

[Rana]

Pretty much, yeah. I've found that, the cheaper the store, the more rabidly people will seek to glean even a tiny discount; this even applies for people with plenty of money >_> Meanwhile, these same folks will shop at a "boutique" store and pay exorbitant prices for "fancy name" things without a second thought.

Oh, they totally will glean what they can in my store ... including asking for 30% if a cereal box is the tiniest bit ripped. Urm, the inside packaging is fine and thus the quality of the cereal is not compromised ... so no discount for you.

But that woman took the cake, going for a 'deluxe' item and wanting the 'bargain basement' price ...

[Roland]

Working in a convenience store means intimate familiarity with price bitching. My store is just about 3 minutes away from the closest Walmart too.
I just say convenience store pricing.

My favorite is when they misread the signs and say something stupid like "it was buy one for a dollar get the second for a dollar"
Umm, no.... that would be the full price for the first and the second one for a dollar.
I'd really like to give the directions to the nearest dollar tree at that point.

[deysongrey]

My favorite is when they misread the signs and say something stupid like "it was buy one for a dollar get the second for a dollar"
Umm, no.... that would be the full price for the first and the second one for a dollar.
I'd really like to give the directions to the nearest dollar tree at that point.

Or when something is two for 5 dollars or 3 dollars for 1. No, it's not 2.50 for one. It's 3. If it was 2.50 for one, the sign would say "$2.50 each!"

[wolfie]

Or when something is two for 5 dollars or 3 dollars for 1. No, it's not 2.50 for one. It's 3. If it was 2.50 for one, the sign would say "$2.50 each!"

The C-store at a truck stop chain I visit a lot frequently has specials along the lines of (big print) "$Brand soft drinks 20 ounce bottles 2 for $3" (small print) "or buy 1 at the regular price of $1.89".

[notalwaysright]

People have started to say "I can get it for $x.xx online!" It used to be, "I can get it cheaper at Malwart!" Now they tell me specifically how cheap it is at the online giant which is also a river. Okay? Go order from them, you'll get it the day after tomorrow, provided you have the two-day shipping option and it's not a Sunday. That's pretty darn good! Oh, you want it RIGHT NOW? Then you pay our price.

Maybe it's a regional thing, but around here if it says 2 for $5, unless otherwise stated, you can buy one for $2.50. Some signs will say 2 for $5 when you buy two. But it might be different other places. I think it's a marketing strategy to encourage people to buy more items, but still letting the rest of us just get the one.

[MoonCat]

Where I work there is a large display case that usually holds a copy of a newspaper from 100 years ago (currently they're displaying papers from 50 years ago).

I love reading the grocery ads from 1915. 10c a lb for coffee or whatever. But I'm absolutely certain that in 1915 there were people who would go into that store and bitch because some other store was selling it for only 5c a lb and this is terrible service, blah blah blah!!!

[AccountingDrone]

For....water? Sheesh I thought I had seen the brand w****s.

Back in the late 90s I had a membership in a gym for a year and one of the ladies I worked with had a couple of name brand water bottles that she kept refilling at a water fountain ... everybody thought they were 'borrowing' sips of um.... evian? or wich ever damned name brand was the ultimate popular nonbubbly water of the time. I found her refilling her bottles more than once and we both thought it was a huge joke. She just wanted bottles to hold her water so she didn't have to run to the fountain when she got thirsty and took the bottles with her from a friends house =)

[HawaiianShirts]

... but no it HAS to be the brand name water.

Seriously? I've met people who only drink bottled water, and I have to roll my eyes at them. But only brand name bottled water? Humans are becoming that spoiled now?

I'll stick with my tap water, thank you very much. Though I like the idea of putting it in a bottle with a "fancy water" label and pretending to be some kind of high class water snob.

[EricKei]

Well, most bottled water is just filtered tap water anyway, so they're just paying a company to put tap water into a bottle for them. No reason you can't ^_^

[Kit-Ginevra]

I only drink pure Peckham Spring you know. Never did me any harm

*glows luminously*

[EricKei]

Three Mile Isle's the brand for me Filled with all the glowy goodness!

[Racket_Man]

To paraphrase Lewis BLack:

"This bottle of water is called Deer Creek. IT EVEN has a picture of a deer on the bottle. I do NOT want water that a deer has pissed in".