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"I want a different one, this one's open" 2 for 1! (and a bonus)

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  • #16
    Quoth Chromatix View Post
    Actually, it's quite common for dealers to do that these days. Perhaps it's not universal, but it would be silly if you were unable to drive off the forecourt because there was *no* fuel in the tank.

    Some of the missing "accessories" are akin to missing the fanbelt or the driveshaft, and calling them "optional".
    I've bought 3 cars in my life (so far) and only one of them brand new. None of them came with full tanks of gas. They washed the brand new one... just as it started raining.


    As for the accessories, it depends on the device of course, but for some machines one person's necessity is another's extra.

    Cameras: If they include a small card (some do), people usually want a bigger one. If they included a bigger one, they'd have to charge more.

    Printers: They usually don't come with cables since a lot of people replace printers and already have them. And if the manufacturers included them, you know they would jack the price up $20 for a $2 cable.

    Computers: When I first started selling computers 18 years ago, some PCs were advertised as coming with "over 40 programs!" Usually 38 of them were pure crap that almost no one used. I don't think they dropped $2k just to get Putt Putt Golf, Carmen Sandiego Math Detective and Microsoft BOB.

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    • #17
      Quoth Mara-chan View Post
      I've bought 3 cars in my life (so far) and only one of them brand new. None of them came with full tanks of gas. They washed the brand new one... just as it started raining.
      My point was not to have every possible accessory included in the box, but to have enough there to allow you to actually use the device sensibly out of the box. The car analogy is to have perhaps a gallon of fuel in the tank - enough to let you choose which station to fill up at within a reasonable distance. It doesn't have to be a full tank, just enough to get you started.

      Cameras: If they include a small card (some do), people usually want a bigger one. If they included a bigger one, they'd have to charge more.
      Yes, people usually do want a bigger one. But that's an expense they can chose to make - and that applies to DSLRs too. A DSLR is still an expensive investment, so the price of a bottom-end card (256MB is enough to be useful) and a basic lens would be almost invisible.

      If people really are that picky about which memory card they use, they're perfectly free to ignore the one the camera comes with - and these people probably aren't choosing on price anyway. As far as I'm concerned, any card that is reliable and fast is good enough.

      Printers: They usually don't come with cables since a lot of people replace printers and already have them. And if the manufacturers included them, you know they would jack the price up $20 for a $2 cable.
      The only reason people replace printers is because the previous one is crap and broken. Or has somehow survived long enough for it's interconnect to have become obsolete. (My parents have *three* such printers - Canons, where the print head is replaced with the ink cartridge.)

      I don't consider those valid reasons for omitting a necessary cable, not least because many people are still buying their *first* printer. For example, university students. First-time buyers expect to have the correct power and data cables, and some ink of the right type, in the box. When they have to buy a new cable (which usually *is* overpriced at retail), they feel cheated.

      Would the cable be overpriced if the manufacturer included it in the box? No, because the manufacturer is still competing against other printer manufacturers. If the cable costs them a dollar, they'll add at most a dollar to the price, and put a HUGE sticker on the box proclaiming it's presence. Low-end printers are loss-leaders for the ink.

      Computers: When I first started selling computers 18 years ago, some PCs were advertised as coming with "over 40 programs!" Usually 38 of them were pure crap that almost no one used. I don't think they dropped $2k just to get Putt Putt Golf, Carmen Sandiego Math Detective and Microsoft BOB.
      This is a good example of useless "accessories". The modern-day equivalent is officially known as "crapware". They are not necessary to enjoy the machine, and they consume space and sometimes slow it down. They're actually included as advertisements more than anything else, and these days they might go so far as to subsidise a small portion of the machine's cost.

      No, the correct computing analogy is to include the operating system and the power cable. But the operating system is also a matter of user choice, and the included version is usually Windows, which does add to the system's cost while also being inferior. The customer would be served just as well with a good choice of Linux system, which would also cost less.

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      • #18
        Quoth Enjis View Post
        Oh gosh...I used to get that all the time with men's underwear! The guest would open a pack to see the size...then want a new package because this one 'has been opened'!!(and it WASN'T a gift, which I could at least understand, sorta) YOU fraggin' OPENED it, moron!
        I had one co-worker who, in the exact same circumstances, flat out told the customer 'NO. You opened it, it fits, you're gonna buy it." And he did. She took no sh*t from noone!
        This is where an expression of complete helpfulness and wide-eyed fluffy bunny innocence has come in very handy for me. "Yes, you're sure of the size/number of the things inside, so that's great, we know this is the right one for you!" And then I implacably (but cheerfully and helpfully) make my way over to the cash desk and ring it through for them, deaf to their cries of "but I want a new one!."

        I have also been known to adopt an attitude of great solicitousness and to lower my voice to confide, "oh, that's all right, I sometimes forget things too. But this is the packet we just opened together. Let's get you all rung up and you can go get some rest at home, 'kay?" Works really well on older people; I'm able to be so sincere in my concern that they start to wonder if their memory really IS going. (That's gaslighting, and it can be really mean, but ... opened packages!)

        (I'm discovering that applying psychology to retail is evilly amusing. And there's Zen principles there too; do not allow the enemy to engage you in a fight, but let him exhaust himself...)

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        • #19
          At work a few days ago a woman was buying a Nintendo DS carry case but wanted a discount because the box was "slightly damaged".

          1) The box had a few small marks on it, no serious bends, tears or cases.

          2)It's a CARRYING CASE. The box will be thrown away quickly anyway because it's not in any way needed. Heck you could take the case out of the box and just wrap that.

          Fortunately this was my call and she didn't get no stinkin discount!
          "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

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          • #20
            Whoah, someone remembers Microsoft Bob!


            ...and since when do printers not come with a cable? Every printer I've ever bought has included one. Maybe those ones that you dock a camera to might not, I guess.
            Supporting the idiots charged with protecting your personal information.

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            • #21
              Quoth Mara-chan View Post
              My usual answers are "When you bought your car, did they fill the tank with gas?"
              Actually, yeah!
              Now would be a good time to visit So Very Unofficial!

              "I've had so many nasty customers this week, my bottomless pit is now ankle-deep."-Me.

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              • #22
                Quoth otakuneko View Post
                Whoah, someone remembers Microsoft Bob!


                ...and since when do printers not come with a cable? Every printer I've ever bought has included one. Maybe those ones that you dock a camera to might not, I guess.

                I still have a copy of MS BOB (and the old entertainment packs and a lot of the old shovelware). I loaded it up on Vista last year as a laugh. It was... evil.

                Just about every printer we sell from HP, Dell, Lexmark, Canon, Brother, Epson and Samsung doesn't come with a USB cable. We want to sell that as an add-on. Roughtly about 40% of people buy the cable. of the remaining 60%, 10 percent who insist they don't need the cable come back for it. The rest are networking them or already have cables.

                USB Cables breed. I have personally never BOUGHT a cable, but somehow I have *FIVE* extra USB cables.


                And maybe I was the only one who didn't get his gas tank filled. That kinda pisses me off.

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                • #23
                  I think my most recent printer came with a USB cable. But it was a *laser* printer.

                  I now use it... attached to the *network*, by Ethernet. I don't think it came with an Ethernet cable. But that's okay, because people who build a network beyond the computer->modem->wall essentials tend to want to get cables the right length.

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                  • #24
                    Quoth Mara-chan View Post
                    Have you ever had a customer want to see inside a box of whatever product, rip it apart looking at the manual or what it came with or whatever, and then want to buy a SEALED one because this one was opened? Or even better yet ask for a discount since that box was open? I have. And I gave them my best "Are you fracking kidding me?" look.
                    I've had that happen several times. Fricken unbelievable the crap they'll pull. Even had one who found out it was our last sealed box, so decided to go to the competition to buy it.

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