There are frequent threads about companies that upsell. Here is a recent example. Let’s start a list of companies which engage in this practice. Please tell how obnoxious it was, how many times did the person try, and what you were buying. This can go for retail stores as well as telephone orders. If a company is particularly obnoxious online, then list them as well.
I don’t have anything to add to the list, but I want to post this early on so it can get an answer. WHY do people get so upset over this?! Jesus freakin’ Christ, if you don’t want something, just say no. It’s just that easy. Here’s a sample response:
Salesperson: Do you want an extended warranty?
You: No.
Salesperson: But it’s only thirty dollars for five years of coverage!
You: No.
Salesperson: Are you SURE?
You: Yes. No warranty. Give me my stuff.
That’s all you have to do. Really. The guy in the linked thread is a total drama queen.
Most movie theater chains upsell at the concession stand on popcorn and drinks. “A large will only cost 50 cents more…”
It’s usually rote procedure for them and a simply “No thanks” makes it all go away.
It bothers me (especially at electronics stores where I don’t know very much about the merchandise) because I want to be able to trust the salesperson to help me find the best product for my use. If I know they’re upselling, I can’t rely on anything they say about performance, capabilities, etc. etc, because I don’t know whether they’re genuinely recommending a better product, or just trying to make a bigger sale.
I’m a very patient person, and I get annoyed with these sales pitches. When you say no, they keep asking, and it takes longer to pay when they’re asking everyone several times if they want useless product coverage, so you have to stand in line longer to pay for your overpriced crap. Why should I be happy when some salesdrone keeps trying to sell me something, when it’s obvious I’m not interested? Why do companies think it’s a good business practice to annoy the hell out of their customers?
Sears is bad for trying to sell warranties on pretty much everything, which might be useful on electronics, but it just doesn’t make sense to pay $30 for coverage on a vacuum cleaner that cost $80. Oh, and then there was the phone that I think cost less than $10–they tried to get me to pay $5 so they’d replace it if it broke. :rolleyes: It still works, over ten years later.
I won’t shop at Eddie Bauer anymore because I bought something there, and they tried to sign me up for one of their credit cards. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they stopped when I said no the first time, but they kept trying to get me to sign up for the card, at least three times. Their salespeople are annoyingly aggressive anyway. Which is too bad, because I do like their clothes, but I’ll never go in that store again.
I used to work in a movie theater where they made us upsell. It was truly awful. If they ordered popcorn and a soda, I’d have to suggest candy. Candy and soda, suggest popcorn. If they ordered all 3, suggest nachos. Terrible.
But I also sold cell phones, and for as many times as I was accused of upselling, I was really just trying to help the customer. I think people are too sensitive of it these days and won’t even listen to logic. One customer came in and wanted the 1800 anytime minute plan (something like $119/month), but wanted to take the free phone we offered. I tried to explain to him that the free phone was pretty much junk, and mostly offered for people who rarely used their phone/didn’t need the features/etc., and he’d be better off spending a tad more for a nicer phone. He fought me til the end, accusing me of trying to get a bigger commission, even after I explained that I made commission off the service, not the phone. Still, he fought me.
I gave him the free phone which he exchanged 3 times for a replacement phone before deciding he needed to spend a little for a nicer one.
I feel your pain. I really do. But have you ever worked for one of these places? It is part of your job to sell these things. It’s on your evaluation. Every. Month. You are expected a certain percentage to sales for credit apps, maintenance agreements, and replacement agreements (Sears. I no longer work there). While it is true they can’t fire you for not being “at standard”, they can (and do) fire managers for it. Your manager makes your schedule, and decides what kind of hours you get. If you are not at standard, your work life can become hellish very fast. Just sayin’.
I used to work at Blockbuster and this was one of the most annoying aspects of my job. We were supposed to be offering something to every customer. We’d get marked down bigtime on a mystery shop if the employee didn’t offer a promotion. They’d have “Rewards” drives or “Movie Pass” drives to see who could sell the most. I saw some of my employees pester the crap out of some of the customers. I have to admit, I wasn’t a very good employee because I wasn’t constantly pushing the promotions and when a customer said he/she wasn’t interested, I dropped it. I would selectively suggest - offering stuff like the MoviePass to our regulars (who would’ve benefitted from it). Otherwise, low key is best. I think it’s sad when companies are so desperate to make a sale. The upsell is so impersonal too.
The guy in the linked thread did not react the way I would have. It’s not worth the energy to get that upset about it, really. However, I find upselling pretty annoying myself.
I don’t mind saying no to an upsell. Once. I should not have to say no multiple times, under increasing pressure. I understand that many employees are required to at least ask the question, and I don’t get angry with them for doing so. In fact, I feel sorry for them most of the time. But NO means NO, fortheloveofMike.
Best Buy is particularly bad about this, IMO. I went to help my husband’s uncle buy a computer for his wife. The snotty teenager working in the PC department kept trying to sell him the most expensive whiz bang model on the floor so his wife could e-mail her kids from Florida and play solitaire. Uh, no. I’m not a guru, but I do know a bit about PCs, and I know that she can get by with a very basic model. When asked about the warranty plan, said uncle asked me what I thought. I gave him a quick overview, and said that overall, I didn’t recommend it, and never purchased it. He respects my opinion (bless the man) and that was it for him.
Then we had to wait in an interminable line to pay for the blasted thing. During the time we waited, the teenager bugged us repeatedly about the warranty. After about five NO answers, he sent in his manager, who asked us again and again and painted dire pictures of computers degenerating into heaps of crossed wires. To his utter disbelief, my uncle continued to say that he didn’t want it. We actually escaped from the store with a computer and no plan, but it was a close-run thing. This kind of pressure is just ridiculous.
davenportavenger, would that level of insanity truly not bother you at all? Bless you for a saint, if so. Even my husband was irritated, and his longsuffering attitude is legendary.
No, it really wouldn’t. I find that the people who have the biggest problems with upselling salesmen are those people who give them an “in.” Whether it’s sarcasm, a hemming/hawing kind of hand motion, or other signs of weakness, they’ll pick up on it and use it to their advantage. Remember, these people make their money (and sometimes can only keep their jobs) because of these sales so they’re going to do anything to get you to buy. If they think there’s a shadow of a doubt of a chance that they’ll hook you, they’re going to keep digging. It’s not because they’re bad people, it’s because these stores have bad policies. Pitting a poor cashier because her store makes her do something is a real jerk move.
My tips? Look them directly in the eye. That disarms them. And don’t say anything except “no” (unless they ask “are you sure?,” then you say yes). I’ve never had more than three rounds with someone, and usually, they just have to ask once. Maybe I just look tough (ha, yeah right).
Ditto.
Og help you if a manager happened to be eavesdropping when you neglected this bit of your script. :rolleyes: Trust me, half the time, the seller doesn’t want to be doing it, either. Take it up with the managers.
I like to buy domaine names as sort of a hobby/investment?
I use namecheap almost exclusively but occasionaly I have to use Godaddy for some reason or another.
Checking out of that site is a wild ride. I have never counted but I think that you must go through 5-6 pages of special offers before you can spend your 8.95 or whatever. You have to be careful to because they sneek things in there that you have to uncheck or whatever.
Thank you.
bows
My cable company calls me one day (on my cell phone at work because I don’t have a home phone number)
CC:Hi mumblemumble with Charter Communications and I would like to talk to you about our premium channels
xB:I’m not interested
CC:But we have this fabulous deal on our premium channels
xB:I’m not interested
CC:but Miss, why don’t you want these nice channels (in a very patronizing voice)
xB:You’re the one trying to sell them…why do I want premium channels
CC: (you could hear the 
over the phone) b…but they’re nice channels…with lots of movies.
xB:I already spend too much time and money watching TV and prefer documentaries and Spongebob with the occasional home improvement and cooking show with just a splash of the Angry Beavers, all of which I already have in ample supply.
CC:but we have this fabulous deal on our premium channels
xB:That’s nice…I’m not interested.
CC:but why wouldn’t you want these nice channels
xB:because i’m not interested.
CC:mumblemumble Charter Communications wants to be your phone cable high speed internet resource mumble mumbleclick
You know, I said I wasn’t interested 4 times, but now that I reconsider, maybe I was hasty and if they asked me a fifth time, with a little more rudeness and condescention and a little stronger urban accent, I would have been all ‘what the hell, sign me up!’ I loved the part where he couldn’t tell me why I wanted the nice, premium channels. I thought his head was going to explode trying to find that part of his script. I love getting salespeople off script, its an amusing hobby.
I really hope that phone call was ‘recorded for training purposes’
I have a slightly different approach.
CC:Hi mumblemumble with Charter Communications and I would like to talk to you about our premium channels
K:I’m not interested, thank you.
CC:But we have this fabulous deal on our premium channels
K:I said I’m NOT INTERESTED. Thank you.
<click>
End of problem.
Take off the last two lines verbal lines, and you have my approach. I don’t even give them a chance to “but” me. Fortunately, the Do Not Call list has all but eliminated these problems. Now, if only SBC would keep records on who has their super duper high speed DSL so their telemarketers would quit calling to ask if we’d like to upgrade, everything would be perfect and birds would sing.
CompUsa upsells like a MOFO, a fact I was unaware of until quite recently. I’m glad the salespeople (not serviceperson, as they offer no service of any useful kind) wear nametags, so that when I say, when refusing an extended warranty for the fourth time, “Jerry, if you try to sell me anything else I’m walking out of here w/o buying a thing.”, it makes a point. I had, at that point, set up to purchase a digital camera (help for choosing which came from a passing Apple salesman, NOT a CompUsa employee) and a memory card which wasn’t the expensive one he tried to push me into. Jerry had both items and wouldn’t hand them over, actually held the card where I couldn’t reach it when I tried to do so on refusal #3. Snottily and in a slightly raised voice, he says, “And may I ask why you don’t want the warranty plan??”
See above for my response.
It was only b/c I was w/ someone who hasn’t ever seen me in one of my very rare PMS rages that I swallowed my anger and bought said items.
Maybe next time someone tries to upsell me, I’ll pretend to answer my cellphone or have a sudden and uncontrolled attack of diarrhea.
I really hate these because they take up my time, of which I only have a limited supply. I get cranky when people try too hard to steal my time. Although I’ve never worked retail (Thank Og! I would suck at it.), I know that people who do generally don’t have a choice, so I really try to be polite and firm and communicate as directly as possible that I am only buying one thing. (You wouldn’t think I could do that, given the previous sentence…)
Bought my computer at the Big Blue and Yellow Box despite their attempts at upselling because the deal was FAR too good to pass up.
The upselling that annoys me the most is the one I get when I get a new credit card. That nice service you call to tell them you got the card? Generally one large upselling opportunity.
My main credit card is one I get through one of my credit unions. They NEVER upsell. I’ve had the card for a really long time (probably going on 20 years) and they’ve never tried to sell me anything. Twice they’ve sent me checks. No special offer of reduced interest. No transaction fees. Just a letter with a “these might come in handy sometime” message. I am a very loyal customer. Every financial transaction I can muster goes through that credit union, even though it’s in a different state.
GT
Huh. I must be born under a lucky star. I only occasionally get upsold to, and then one simple, firm No! is enough to make salespeople leave me alone. I’m amazed at all the trouble and fuss I see people go through on these boards.
My least favorite is when calling to cancel magazine subscriptions. For the love of Og! When I want to cancel a magazine subscription, that is not an upselling opportunity. No, I won’t continue my subscription to “No Longer My Hobby Monthly” if you send me a free coffee mug. And I don’t want to replace it with a subscription to “Another Stupid Hobby Weekly.”
I also had a bad experience with one of the big box electronics stores. I can’t remember which, but I’m not sure it matters, could easily happen either place. They kept addressing my boyfriend re: the extended warranty purchase, when I was the one buying the computer. Yeah, that technique will serve you well.