Won't take 'No' for an answer

[HawaiianShirts]

I get hagglers and bargain-hunters all the time. Usually they'll give up after getting a "no" from me four or five times. But every once in a while, I get those like in the OP.

Setting: Guy is buying a computer. The cheapest desktop computer we have (a glorified typewriter), with the cheapest monitor and the cheapest printer, all of which are on sale. And he's financing it. And he's got a gift card to pay for part of it. And yet he asks stuff like
SC: Is this really the CHEAPEST monitor you have?
SC: Are you SURE you don't have any cheaper printers?
SC: Is that the best price you can give me?
SC: Don't I get a special discount for financing through you guys?
SC: Don't you have a loyal customer discount or something?
SC: I hate to pull the poverty excuse on you, but I really am broke, and I need this for school. Is that REALLY the best you can do?
SC: Aren't there, like, student discounts you can give me?
SC: Well, can't you ask a manager if you can give me a better deal?
SC: Are there any other managers you could ask instead?
SC: And this is the CHEAPEST computer, right?
SC: Do you have some coupons I could use?
SC: Isn't there something you can just throw in for me 'cause I'm buying this?
SC: Can't you check just one more time? I really want to make sure this is the cheapest you've got and that I'm getting the best deal you can give me.

This guy made me want to scream. Perhaps if it had been my last day there...

[earl colby pottinger]

Comments

1) Shrimp, go into any store that sells various size/types of shrimp and you will notice the price is different based on both size and type of shrimps. Unless you are an expert on shrimp there is no way that you looked at any shrimp in one store and on another day entered another store and knew the shrimp were identical.

2) Discounts, the computer store I use to work at *ALWAYS* kept it profit margin up. Customers were always complaining about our costs. They would buy elsewhere then be surprised that we were were not interested in teaching them how to use their computer (unless they wanted to buy instruction books/software that would teach them) and that we would not even sell our in-house software packages to them that we gave away for free to our own customers.

Worse, we also made in-house custom cables that we either sold at cost or even gave for free to our customers but charged full prices for to people who did not buy their hardware from us. Last but not least there were a number of quick hacks/mods that were *ONLY* for our customers.

In the long run, people have to return the hardware to the cheap company they bought from and re-buy from us.

Last, the store always made a profit, after 28 years it is still in business, every single one of those cheaper companies are gone.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm of the opinion that price-matching is generally a good thing, as long as the store stands by its policies on price matching. Such as the customer must bring in the competitor's ad as proof, it must be a numerical price and not a percentage off, and the other store has to have the item in stock.

I mean, we'd rather have you buy the item here, even though we'll lose a little bit of our margin on it, than buy it from the competition.

But then there are those people who try to abuse the system. Such as the ill-tempered skinbag I dealt with today, who brought in a printout of a walmart.com ad for some inflatable jungle gym and demanded we match the price. I told her I wasn't quite sure what our policy was on price matching, but I thought we didn't match online pricing.

"Oh, I'll get my price match!" she snarled.

Guess what? She didn't! Victory is mine!

[Jack T. Chance]

My solution...

I get hagglers and bargain-hunters all the time. Usually they'll give up after getting a "no" from me four or five times. But every once in a while, I get those like in the OP.

Setting: Guy is buying a computer. The cheapest desktop computer we have (a glorified typewriter), with the cheapest monitor and the cheapest printer, all of which are on sale. And he's financing it. And he's got a gift card to pay for part of it. And yet he asks stuff like
SC: Is this really the CHEAPEST monitor you have?
SC: Are you SURE you don't have any cheaper printers?
SC: Is that the best price you can give me?
SC: Don't I get a special discount for financing through you guys?
SC: Don't you have a loyal customer discount or something?
SC: I hate to pull the poverty excuse on you, but I really am broke, and I need this for school. Is that REALLY the best you can do?
SC: Aren't there, like, student discounts you can give me?
SC: Well, can't you ask a manager if you can give me a better deal?
SC: Are there any other managers you could ask instead?
SC: And this is the CHEAPEST computer, right?
SC: Do you have some coupons I could use?
SC: Isn't there something you can just throw in for me 'cause I'm buying this?
SC: Can't you check just one more time? I really want to make sure this is the cheapest you've got and that I'm getting the best deal you can give me.

This guy made me want to scream. Perhaps if it had been my last day there...

Oh, I have a dirty trick I play on people like THAT...

I say to them "Look, I can't help you. Go down the road to MATTRESS WAREHOUSE, they might be able to help you!"

This trick makes a lot more sense if you live in the area where they have stores (MD, VA, PA, and a couple other states in the Mid-Atlantic area) and if you've ever shopped in one of their stores, or worked in the industry as one of their competitors. You see, I've only been in the mattress industry about 13 months, and I've had many, MANY customers BEG me not to send them back to Mattress Warehouse! Their salespeople give such piss poor service, they're almost universally despised throughout the area I live and work in! I don't consider them a REAL competitor... they actually make my job EASIER by sending people RUNNING out their door, and into mine!

So, yeah, fucktards like that get sent down the road to see them!

[MystyGlyttyr]

I got one of those when I was working at a grocery store deli, heh. I don't recall exactly what he was arguing with me about, but he said "I'll just go to Krogers and get it there!"

And I, in all my sadistic glee, cheerfully gave him turn-by-turn directions on how to get there, and advised he seek out "J", a wrestling friend of mine, to help him out.

I think he might still be sweeping up jaw off the floor. LOL

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Here's a conversation I have with myself VERY frequently:

ME: This item is (insert price.)
ME: (insert competetor 10+miles away) has it cheaper.
ME: How much cheaper?
ME: Ten bucks.
ME: Hmm. Let's see. You could get in your car and drive there now. Factor in gas, at LEAST 30 minutes extra time, gotta find another parking place, deal with more hassle. What's it worth to ya to avoid all that?
ME: About 10 bucks, I'd say.
ME: We're getting it here.

I'm not even gonna ask about a price match. I'm paying extra, happily, because I'm saving myself a trip down the road.

This is why I do ALL my Christmas shopping on line. Yes, the shipping every year is near 200 bucks. I do not consider that it cost more that way because I do not believe it does. Gas is expensive and so is my time. Flu and cold bugs are rampant in December in public places.You pay for convenience. Think about this: if someone came up and said "I will do all your Christmas shopping for you. Every gift will be perfect and all you have to do is sit around in your jammies with a drink in your hand, in your warm, cozy home and wait for the boxes to arrive on your doorstep. I charge 200 dollars for this service." would you consider it worth it?

I know I do. There's no "price match" or discount. I pay it because I have better things to do with my time than run all over town trying to "save" a few bucks.

[tollbaby]

You know, it's never even occurred to me to ask a store to price match? I've been shopping on my own for.... 14 years now? (I'm 31, left home at 17). I have NEVER asked a store to match someone else's price. I've either paid the higher price and kicked myself privately for not having bought it when I saw it cheaper, or I go back to the first place I saw it and buy it there.

[protege]

If it's only a few dollars, I don't worry about if they'll match the price. However, if it's much more than that, like oh, $20 to several *hundred* then I'll do it

But, occasionally, those who do not price match, sometimes screw themselves over. Years ago, my parents had just bought a new VW station wagon. The local dealer (local, as in literally "up the street") refused to match another dealer's price. For those of you who read my LJ, this is the same dealership that I played several of their cars years ago. Anyway, because they wouldn't match the dealer across town (a few hundred less), my parents told the local dealer to 'fuck off' and bought the car across town. How did they screw themselves over? Well, a bit later, the car was having some electrical issues...which were covered under the warranty. Guess what shop had to fix it

[Andara Bledin]

How did they screw themselves over? Well, a bit later, the car was having some electrical issues...which were covered under the warranty. Guess what shop had to fix it

Electrical issues? Was that a early-mid 90's VW? My mom had a 92 Jetta, and it had some major electrical issues. According to Consumer Reports, all VWs around that tmie had the same sorts of problems.

As for screwing themselves over, if it was warranty work, they got fully reimbursed for the outlay.

^-.-^

[Phantasm]

Well, I know you're not allowed to at them, or them, or them, or them, or toss 'em in the ....

^-.-^

No, but those are Lovely suggestions! I wish I could....

[Phantasm]

Oh how I hate price match!

Price match = customer too dang lazy to drive back where they saw the lower price. Too dang bad! If they're that lazy they deserve to pay the higher price and why don't they buy it WHEN they see the lower price instead of whining to you?

People need to learn that just because some stores do it doesn't mean all stores have to!! That lady is such an entitlement [insert expletive here]!

Bravo to you for sticking to your guns & also for not letting her use the phone. I wouldn't have either.

Laundryhater

Well, I was too new at the store to do anything but stick to the guns. Besides, she had high-heels on and would have fallen and busted her spine in our department. That probably would have been my fault too...

[Becks]

"No, ma'am. They don't quality match us, so we don't price match them."

I am going to steal permanently borrow that.