On sale after purchace

[RealUnimportant]

Some stores & companies will do it, others won't. I've been contacted by the manufacturer before regarding an upgrade that came out just a week after I made my purchase, which was greatly appreciated by me and helped build brand loyalty. I can't see myself worrying too much about odd pennies here & there though; the effort required to try & make a claim often outweighs the time & effort needed to recoup.

[Treasure]

My mom did something like this once - she asked prior to purchase "Is this going to be on sale in the next week or two?" and was told "Oh no, it won't go on sale for probably another 2 months or so" so mom bought it...

that weekend, got the ad in the paper, and lo-and-behold, what did she see? The item she purchased earlier in the week - she was HOT - took her receipt and the item, and the ad, all up to the store and asked to see a manger - explained that she had asked if it was going to go on sale (because she would've waited) and was assured that it wasn't going to, and now here it is, on sale etc etc etc... (I was not there, only know the story she told)

in the end she did get refunded the difference, and a "fuk-off" apology;

I don't think she was really satisfied but don't know what else she really expected...

[EricKei]

My mom did something like this once - she asked prior to purchase "Is this going to be on sale in the next week or two?" and was told "Oh no, it won't go on sale for probably another 2 months or so" so mom bought it...

This has been solved at pretty much every place I've ever worked by not TELLING us about upcoming sales until we receive the planogram and displays needed to set up the sale properly ~_~ The only people who really knew for sure were the ones who decided when the sales would be,

I do wonder, tho -- it sounded like she was asking one of the regular workers, who just gave his best guess. If that was the case, it's not really his fault.

[PepperElf]

The attitude is a bit sucky, but I don't think the actions are as much. As long as the item is within the return period, I have done that before, and when I worked retail, cheerfully handled people wanting to do the same thing.

I'm suddenly reminded of last year's tax-free weekend.

In an unofficial way, customers could "reserve" items by purchasing them before the sale, and then returning the items & repurchasing at the new tax-free rate.

I say "unofficial" because we were specifically banned from suggesting this. Partly perhaps to save the company money, but the main reason was to cover our asses if the repurchase doesn't go through. Often if you use a card, the refund doesn't get back onto your account instantly, so if you don't have enough balance to cover repurchasing the item, you get declined.... and then you don't get the item back.

And the last thing the company wanted was some customer furious at us for even suggesting it, when it ends up making them lose the purchase entirely.

[Lachrymose]

I can't be the only person that thinks of this commercial when talking about price adjustments, can I?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epP3jETf8Og

(Seriously, goes through my head EVERY time a customer asks for an adjustment)

Nope! I totally do as well!

[Tiberious]

I can't be the only person that thinks of this commercial when talking about price adjustments, can I?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epP3jETf8Og

(Seriously, goes through my head EVERY time a customer asks for an adjustment)

Wow... memories. I remember actually doing that, at that store, for a Genesis game I purchased a long time back (Sonic & Knuckles, if you're wondering).

They did advertise it as a policy, and I remember being polite when I was going through the process, so I'm pretty sure that doesn't make me sucky.

[wolfie]

Instead of simply refunding them the difference, you should have them RETURN the item, then make them purchase it again at the lower price by making them get the same item from the shelf, then having them wait in line. Some may see this as a small revenge, but no. Think about it from a marketing perspective. As they're going through the aisle, they might see new items or sale items and may end up purchasing more. They know they're going to get their previous item at a lower cost, and some may think that with the money they just saved, they can get something else.

I say "unofficial" because we were specifically banned from suggesting this. Partly perhaps to save the company money, but the main reason was to cover our asses if the repurchase doesn't go through. Often if you use a card, the refund doesn't get back onto your account instantly, so if you don't have enough balance to cover repurchasing the item, you get declined.... and then you don't get the item back.

Or this possibility: It takes time to get the returned item back to the shelf. What happens if the store is sold out of the item, so the returned one is the ONLY one on the premises? OMGWTFBBQ! Customer has to WAIT until the item can be re-shelved before they buy it at the lower price. Bonus points if another customer has seen that there is no stock, then sees an employee re-shelving merchandise, with the coveted item in the cart of "to be re-shelved" stuff, and grabs it out of the cart.