On Bulls---ing Customers

[Dips]

I had a friend in college who working as a parking valet at a nearby horse race track. He always had customers asking for insider tips on races.

Of course, Steve didn't have any insider tips for them and told them so. They would become belligerent and insist that he stop holding out. Some would offer bribes.

Finally Steve got sick of being intimidated and menaced and decided to start making up insiders tips for the ones who didn't believe him after he said "no" about twenty times, but he refused the bribes. He just pretended to be cowed and told them what they wanted to hear.

When Steve told me this I was very concerned for his safety. Wasn't he worried that a customer would come looking for him or complain to his boss if the insider tip didn't pan out?

At first he was, but he explained that it didn't happen that way. He found that guys who were intimidating him would become mollified after they got the bogus tip and go away. He felt more unsafe when he was telling the truth and they didn't believe him.

And what about afterwards? It seemed that when the tip didn't pan out the SC would avoid eye contact with Steve when leaving the track and get another valet to fetch his car. Apparently, embarassment at relying on parking valet for insider tips and losing was greater than any moral outrage they might have felt.

And every now and then, of course, Steve would pick a winner by chance and get a hefty tip. He actually didn't expect that to happen and was surprised the first time it did.

I don't endorse what he did, nor do I really condemn him. I'm neutral about it. I still think it he was living dangerously, but nothing bad ever happened to him.

Have you ever found it expedient to tell a customer what they want to hear instead of the truth?

Or pretended to look for something in "the back" which you know isn't there, just to make an SC happy?

Or sold them a product they don't need because they argue when you try to talk them out of buying it?

I'm pretty torn about it. I'm very careful not to do or say things which can come back and bite me in the butt, but some people just can't (or won't) handle the truth.

They want bullshit. They want it now. And they expect us to supply it. Or else.

What to do?

BTW, don't bother telling me that Steve was sucky. I know it and he knew it too. I'm not interested in debating the obvious. I'm just wondering if any of us have lied because it made an SC happy or made them go away. Yes, lying is sucky, but I bet we've all done it for similar reasons.

[Catwoman2965]

No, i never tell them what they want to hear, even if its not true. It will always come back to bite me in the you-know-what. Our store is small; and if you say yes, you can do this, or yes we have that...and the customer then comes back and finds out its NOT true, they can figure out who told them!

i am very non-comittal; if a customers asks me something, i will be vague, and say "well, it should take so many days for the other store to ship it to you" 9 times out of 10, they get it earlier, so i always figure better to err on the side of caution, then have them complain about you.

Actually, i lied..hahaha - i have gone to look for stuff, KNOWING we had no more, just to get the customer away from me. They will never see the stockroom, and its such a disaster, that even if i said, no, we have no more, and someone later finds one, not a big deal. Its mainly the TELLING them you can things i try and avoid lying about.

But there are always some, as we all know, who hear only what they want to hear, and will complain no matter how much you bend over backwards for them.

[Becks]

Or pretended to look for something in "the back" which you know isn't there, just to make an SC happy?

Yes. Yes, I have. They just wouldn't believe me and I was getting tired of hearing them ask, "How do you knoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow?"

[Hobgoblin]

Yes. Yes, I have. They just wouldn't believe me and I was getting tired of hearing them ask, "How do you knoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow?"

"Cause I just looked back there about ten minutes ago for someone else. Fed-Ex didn't come in since then, so I'm extremely confident that we don't have it. Besides, the computer shows 0 in inventory. Would you like me to call another store to see if I can find it for you?"

[bob the goat]

When I sold electronics I had a guy come in to buy a DVD burner / VCR combo. It said on the box “copy your old home movies to DVD” which it would do. However, it would NOT copy store bought movies to DVD. All those old Disney VHS tapes need to be re-bought. (yes I know there are ways around the coyright, but I can’t sell anything against the law.) I told him very specifically “This will only copy tapes you recorded yourself, meaning home videos or things you recorded from TV…it will NOT copy purchased movies.” He said “Oh…uh….yeah sure, you have to say that for legal coverage…*wink* *wink*” I said “no, there is a copyright strip encoded in the purchased VHS tapes that this player will read and not allow you to copy to DVD. There is nothing you can do with this player that will let you copy to DVD.” He bought it.

Fast Forward to the next afternoon. He plops the DVD recorder on my checkout shelf.
Him: “It does not work.”
Me: “ok, let me grab you another one.”
Him: “umm….no I’ll just take my money back, this thing is cheap.”
Me: “Sir, this is a Sony, it is not cheap, nor is it inexpensive. This is a great recorder.”
Him: “I just want my money back.”
Me: “How many?”
Him: “huh?”
Me: “How many movies did you try to burn before you realized that I was telling the truth when I told you that it would not burn store bought movies?”
Him: (sheepish grin)”3”
Me: “And did you learn that maybe there is a reason I do this for a living?”
Him: “Yeah…so what can I do?
Me: “Lets say you were to own a regular VCR and a regular DVD burner. Lets say you were to hook the output of the VCR into the input of the DVD burner. Lets say that the home movie you were trying to record somehow caused the DVD burner to think that it was copyrighted. If that is the case, you can hook up a RF modulator and that will stop that error from happening.”
Him: “Well, I guess I need to exchange that thing for a regular DVD burner and one of those RF thingies just in case I have that error.”

He came back a week later and bought a new big screen from his favorite-est electronics buddy.

[aurelemsrealm]

I don't think the guy mentioned in the original post sucked for lying about his false insider's tips. These people who kept pushing for info obviously weren't going to drop it when he said he had no idea. They asked for it, and so they got what they deserved. I can understand him being concerned about his own safety, but other than that, I wouldn't feel the least bit bad for the SC who lost money on those bets. It's the SC's own fault.

I can somewhat relate in that I sell lottery tickets at work. It's not quite the same thing, but we get some annoying SCs who think they have a system, and they'll try to play 20 questions with me about which ones are winners, what number such and such type of ticket is on, etc. The honest truth is that I don't remember, nor do I care which tickets were winners, because I just scan the bar code and enter the corresponding security number on the ticket to see how much it won. I pay more attention to the printout results than to the ticket. I usually just politely remind them that I wouldn't be working there if I knew which tickets were winners because I'd have already won and be living the independently wealthy lifestyle, or that knowing such answers wouldn't really be gambling. Most people seem to get the point when I make such a comment. They usually seem to laugh about me saying it that way. The point is that the ticket you buy will either be a winner or a loser, so just pick one since you want to try your luck. My luck is obviously no better since I work behind the counter. My idea of picking for other people is to just grab one and ring it up for them. If you win anything at all, even a free ticket, consider yourself lucky to break even. If you lose, then let that be a lesson that gambling is not a retirement plan.

Another rant.... Why do people get mad when they win a small prize like a free ticket or a dollar amount that is only slightly larger than what they paid (winning $2 on a $1 ticket)? That's just stupid to take it that seriously. I don't play lottery very often, but will splurge occasionally just for fun. If I lose, no big deal. I don't spend any more than I feel I can spare, and I consider it lost already as soon as I buy the ticket. If I win anything at all, even a free ticket, I figure I at least broke even with another chance to win bigger. That just aggravates me when people are all too willing to shell out the money to play, but they complain even though they know it's most likely a sucker's game.

[wagegoth]

I've done (and still do some of) the following:

Check the back, when I know we don't have something. You can always go in the back and swear for a minute or two, before returning relaxed and refreshed to the floor.

Give a later date for arrival of an item, so that I don't have to listen to someone whine, "Why isn't it here yet?"

Be noncommittal about everything I have not done directly myself, or that would cause me to rely on someone else to have done. I can't guarantee anyone else's responsiveness or abilities.

I always try to explain to the customer why what the customer wants isn't necessarily what they need. Thankfully, I'm in a position now where they actually listen to me. In retail, I regularly remember selling something, and, as the customer left, turning to a coworker and saying, "Want to set up a pool on how quickly that gets returned?"

BTW, I don't really think your friend was sucky. He was protecting himself, and it worked out. His customers were unreasonable and even threatening.

[ArenaBoy]

Did it if the customer was annoying and persistent. If I was asked to check for extra spots I'd do a quick scan and say no we don't have any spots. This was usually done to the customers who would show up 30 minutes after the event started.

They just wouldn't believe me and I was getting tired of hearing them ask, "How do you knoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow?"

Well, I work here and am here a lot so yeah I know more about this place than YOU.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

As stupid as SCs are, they're usually smart enough to put 2 and 2 together and figure out who lied to them. Thus I do not do it.

Actually, I guess I do. If somebody asks me to check the backroom for an item, and I'm absolutely certain we do not have it because I checked before for it, I'll just say we sold the last one earlier, which may or may not be true.

[Gurndigarn]

Be noncommittal about everything I have not done directly myself, or that would cause me to rely on someone else to have done. I can't guarantee anyone else's responsiveness or abilities.

Oh, that's a bad one for me. We're supposed to let our partners know ahead of time when we're bringing them different games. Makes sense, right? Unfortunately, more game transfers get altered or scrapped than make it through... so what do I say? "Hey, John, we're bringing you Kewl New Gutripper XII, just like you wanted, in ten days... I hope."

I usually wait until a day before transfers, just in case. And even then it doesn't always go the way people say.

[GingerBiscuit]

I do the check out back thing.
Mainly because sometimes we do actually have one languishing on a shelf somewhere out there- but it's not going to be the offer products the day before delivery, is it?
So I occasionally lie, go out back, look around vaugely, ask manager a few things, swear, go back out, smile sweetly and say 'no, come back tomorrow or thursday. Hopefully we'll have some then'.
But, given that I have to give advice on health issues and products that can affect healt in one way or another I NEVER lie about those. If someone is trying something that is the wrong thing for them to take- I'll tell them. Screw my commission. I don't want to be responsible for someone potentially getting unwell.

[myswtghst]

I'm a big believer in small white lies. We use the "oh, this computer is *so* slow" line all the time around here, even when we're just trying to do a few things at once and don't want to explain it all to the customer.

I also tend to play the C.Y.A. game, and tell them in no uncertain terms that I am not guaranteeing anything...which they usually ignore, but I try to make a point of it, as I really can't guarantee our inventory, or what the contracted tech is going to do.

The only other time I lie at work is to buffer for my coworkers. If someone messes something up, I'll fib about it, or if it is blatantly obvious that someone on my end screwed up, I'll put up a big front about how I'm so going to tell them off when I get off the phone, and notify a sup, when in reality, I'm just going to shoot them an email and point out the mistake as nicely as I can.

[Sir Spaniard the 12th]

Or pretended to look for something in "the back" which you know isn't there, just to make an SC happy?

All the time. It's gotten to the point where I don't even look anymore, unless I don't feel sure (usually when we may have had a delivery, but i don't know.) Most times I go out the back, stand there and shift some stuff around to make noise, then walk back out and say no...

[Hon'ya-chan]

This always happens to me whenever I just got done shelving a section that is related to a book that they want.

C: Like yeah, do you have any books on Ice Sculpting??
Me: Ice what?
C: Ice Scuplting.
Me: Nope, we don't have any books on that.
C: Sure you do; What section would that be in?
Me: Art section. And I just shelved that section, and we don't have any books on it.
C: But you should have.
Me: *getting annoyed now* Just go to the art section and look for yourself.

I was maybe 10 second away from pulling out a chainsaw from my "Hammerspace" and doing a little sculpting of my own.

[DesignFox]

I have done the check in the backroom thing. Mainly because, once in awhile, someone overlooked the item and didn't put it out...and we've lost the sale only to find the item later. Plus, for the more persistant customers, it makes them feel like I've tried my best, even if I know damn right well that we really don't have it. No harm in that.

As for lies...well, I'm a salesperson... I work on commission. Now, I won't ever come right out and lie to someone. That's just wrong, and it would lose me more money that I make...mainly becuase...who wants to deal with a scumbag?

But, if someone is insistent, I might just tell a partial truth. I don't lie...I just don't tell them everything.

With phones, it's all mainly a matter of opinion and popularity anyway. Most people don't understand this and bitch about, "But he told me this was the BEST phone!" Well...maybe it was the best one we had in stock...

I try to get around this by sharing my opinion...and I make it clear that my co-workers also have their opinions, and that basically, it's a matter of taste and who's opinion you want to believe. I also try to watch which phones get returned with what problems so I can share some of that info if it becomes necessary. It seems to work for the most part... but it sucks because you have to balance actually making the sales (so you can eat dinner each night) with your honesty. Sometimes, having to make the sale conflicts with your better nature...but I think being honest wins out 'cause I seem to get lots of customers coming back to me. (also my paychecks are right up there with some of the more... "creative"... salespeople).