Bargainers, How Do I Hate Thee, Let Me Count the Ways....(long)

[Dave1982]

That this couple actually bought anything boggles my mind.......

SH: Sucky Husband

SW: Sucky Wife

First thing they ask me (while I am busy, of course) is "Where is the Pink Vaio?" *points to listing in the ad*

Allow me to explain. In our ad this week, we have a Sony Vaio laptop available in three case colors: blue, red, and pink. Of the three ONLY blue is available in store. The other two colors are available via Kiosk only (ie, only ONLINE).

Me *pointing to the fine print just under the listing in the ad*: The pink and red ones are available by order only. I only have blue ones in the store.

SH: So no pink ones?

Why yes, that IS what I just said! Don Pardo, tell them what they DIDN'T win!!

Me: Nope, sorry. But I can order one for you.

SW: Will you honor this? *hands me a web printout coupon for 10% off any purchase of $199 or more at Circuit City*

I went straight to the fine print

Me *pointing*: "Not valid on computers/notebooks." This can't be used on a laptop, so no, I can't take that.

SW: No?

Me: No, sorry.

SW: Well, what about this one? *pulls out another coupon*

And guess what? It was the SAME OFFER, just without the fine print. What they had done was print out the intro screen for the offer. It had "click here for coupon" right on it.

Me: This is the same offer.

SW *sharply*: No! It's different! It doesn't say you can't use it on laptops!

Me: Ma'am, thew wording of the offer is identical, just without the fine print. It's the same. I can't take for a laptop, I'm sorry.

SW: It says "Laptops" right here! *points* So you can use it on laptops!

She was pointing to a hyperlink to the laptop section of circuitcity.com. It was certainyl not a list of eligible products.

Me *looking at where she was pointing*: Ma'am, that's just a link to their laptop section. That doesn't mean anything.

SH: Well then I guess we'll hve to buy it at Circuit City, then!

Me: That's fine. I dont think they're going to honor that either, but you can certainly try.

*SW gives me a hard stare, and they walk away*

I related this to one of my coworkers and to the MOD, who agreed that there would have been no way to honor that coupon.

But wait, I'm not finished yet!

A while later, SH asks me to order the pink one. I try to, but both it turns out to be out of stock online.

SH: What about the white one?

Me: There's no white one listed there, sir.

*keeps checking*

Me: The red one is out of stock too, unfortunately.

SH: What about the white one?

Me: Sir, there IS NO WHITE ONE.

SH: Oh.

After a few minutes of ondering, he decides he'll take the blue one, and asks about our warranties. So I 'm thinking maybe I'll get a couple hundred dollars worth of service out of this.

After retrieving the laptop, I find SH replaced by SW.

SW: You're giving me a free printer? *a question stated as if fact*

Me: Uh.....not with this one. I have an offer for a free HP printer with the pruchase of an HP or Compaq machine, but not Sony.

SW: Well Office Depot will *looks at me challengingly*

Me: OK, but I still have no way of matching the offer.

SW *sharply, in a commanding tone*: Ask a manager.

Me: Ma'am, I have no way of matching the offer, but ok. *pages for a manager*

The OS Specialist - filling in as MOD while Alice was at lunch - comues up.

OSS: Yes, Dave?

*explains*

OSS: Yeah, ma'am, I have no way of matching the offer.

SW: Office Depot will do it for me.

OSS: I understand, but I have no way of accounting for it.

SW: Well I think I shoudl get a free printer! I'm buying a laptop!

GOD I hate this attitude. As I've explained before, despite what anyone may think, we don't make money on laptops. The gross margins are razor thin, and the net is actually negative if they don't buy any attachments.

OSS *who honestly doesn't give a damn about keeping her happy*: I'm sorry, but I can't do it. *spies Alice coming up* "Hey, Alice?"

Alice: Yes?

OSS: *explains*

Alice: Ma'am, that offer is undoubtedly after rebate, and I can't match a competitor's rebate. Only the price you pay at the register.

After a few more rounds of wash, rinse, repeat, she actually bought the computer.

Of course, they didn't get the service after all, or any other accesssories.

Freaking bargain hunters. How I wish I could just do this to them

[MrSunshineState]

Bargan hunters annoy the crap out of me too. I remember as a youngling we would have yard sales and my mom would sell a glass for say 30 cents and people would come up and offer a dime.

Yard sale shoppers were my first SCs

[earl colby pottinger]

Sorry

Freaking bargain hunters.

Sorry, these were not bargain hunters in any sense, these people were LYING SCAM ARTISTS!

If one word about their claims were true would they have bought their machine from you? A true bargain hunter would go to another store for the 10% off - that is a lot more than the gas to cross town. A bargain hunter would be out of there and hitting up the store with the free printer.

The reason they were not is because they were LYING, knew it and knew they would not get a better elsewhere like they claimed. They were LIARS, plain and simple.

[Dave1982]

I disagree. I think if they were scammers, then they would not have relented and bought the laptop at full price.

[CancelMyService]

Well they were clearly trying to get an offer that either they didn't qualify for or just plain didn't exist.

The fun part is these are the same people who will come back in 6 months with a non working machine and scream no one told them about any service warranties.

[powerboy]

Freaking bargain hunters. How I wish I could just do this to them

You want to do what to me? I am a bargain hunter, and if I know I can get a better deal somewhere else. Then I am going to go to them.

They were trying to scam you. There is a huge difference between scamming and bargain hunting.

[Dave1982]

You want to do what to me? I am a bargain hunter, and if I know I can get a better deal somewhere else. Then I am going to go to them.

They were trying to scam you. There is a huge difference between scamming and bargain hunting.

I understand that, but as I said, I don't think these people were true scammers, else they wouldn't have bought anything.

I think I haven't been sufficiently clear on what I mean by "bargainer." I am not refering to a bargain-hunter, someone shopping around for the best deal. What I meant was more along the lines of "hagglers" (or scammers, if you wish)

• People who ask for arbitrary discount "because they're spending a lot" regardless of how much they're actually making us (see the original post)

•People who blatantly disregard quantity limits, then throw a huge shit fit when we enfore said limits.

• People who want us to sweeten the pot with a free item (like this woman)

•Those looking to use invalid coupons (which definitely crosses into "scamming" territory, again, like these people in this story)

The honest bargain-hunter I DO NOT have an issue with.

[Rubystars]

Would it always be sucky to haggle? On something as expensive as a computer, I would think it would be acceptable to do that in certain circumstances.

I mean, it pisses me off to no end when people try to haggle over something cheap like groceries, or shoes, but honestly, I think big ticket items should be able to be bargained on a little.

I do hate it when people turn 'haggling' into lying and scheming and being underhanded though. That's most of what I see when people haggle, so I can see why it gets a bad name.

[WorkAtBBuy]

Would it always be sucky to haggle? On something as expensive as a computer, I would think it would be acceptable to do that in certain circumstances.

I mean, it pisses me off to no end when people try to haggle over something cheap like groceries, or shoes, but honestly, I think big ticket items should be able to be bargained on a little.

I do hate it when people turn 'haggling' into lying and scheming and being underhanded though. That's most of what I see when people haggle, so I can see why it gets a bad name.

Sorry, but there's no haggling on ANY items. NONE. The prices are set by the companies and corporate. Sell them any lower than authorized, and we could be in HUGE trouble.

[Mark Healey]

Bargan hunters annoy the crap out of me too. I remember as a youngling we would have yard sales and my mom would sell a glass for say 30 cents and people would come up and offer a dime.

Yard sale shoppers were my first SCs

I'm a yard sale shopper. They can be good but unreliable sources for books. I LOVE it when the other book buyers haggle. The key to sucessful yard sale shopping it to be there first. I'll let the other guy haggle for a better price while I'm cleaning out two or more sales.

[Hon'ya-chan]

Would it always be sucky to haggle? On something as expensive as a computer, I would think it would be acceptable to do that in certain circumstances.

If it's a car or a house, then yes.

On a Computer? You have a long list of manufacturers to choose from. Don't like their pricing? Go to another competitor.

[Rubystars]

If it's a car or a house, then yes.

On a Computer? You have a long list of manufacturers to choose from. Don't like their pricing? Go to another competitor.

Yes, that's true. What about major appliances though?

[Banrion]

Look at it this way. High ticket items are usually sold on commission. The only "play" in the price is the commission that the salesman gets paid. ANYTIME you haggle successfully, the money that you saved came out of the salesman's pocket. Be it houses, cars, computers or appliances, the only difference is the amount of commission. On houses, realtors typically make a 3-5% commission. When a house is selling for half a million dollars, knocking 10k or so off isn't going to impoverish them. On cars, the commission is usually around 10%, still knocking a grand off a 45k vehicle won't kill the salesman, as long as he can still make the sale. When I worked at Circuit City, commissions weren't a percentage though, it was set on each item and built into the retail price. Computers the commission was usually about $25 - $45 dollars, which is not alot anyway, but to knock $50.00 off that computer would mean that I wouldn't get a commission on that machine, and I would only do it if it meant selling the service plan which was $50.00 in my pocket as well as other add-ons like a printer and software. I'm sure appliances work much the same way.

[Dave1982]

but honestly, I think big ticket items should be able to be bargained on a little.

That's a misconception. For one thing, as has been pointed out already, when commission is involved, then you're basically askjing the clerk to give an out of pocket discount.

For another (at least when it comes to computers and the like) the margins are razor thin. I do not believe any computer at my store has a gross margin over 9%, and many are less than 5%. And that's GROSS margin. Net margin on all them is negative, so even if you buy a laptop at full price, if you don't buy anything with it we end up losing money, and we don't even work on commission.

Therefore there is NO room for haggling, period. At least for computers. I have no idea what the situation is like for, say, refrigerators.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Bargan hunters annoy the crap out of me too. I remember as a youngling we would have yard sales and my mom would sell a glass for say 30 cents and people would come up and offer a dime.

Yard sale shoppers were my first SCs

That's a yard sale though. You're trying to get rid of crap you have lying around the house and you don't have to worry about margins, commissions, profits or anything like that.

What's the difference if you sell your glass for 30 cents or 10 cents? Wouldn't you want to be rid of it so you didn't have to hang on to it?