Theres a guy here in town who has a Menswear shop, and in truth he has the best selection, and the cheapest prices. He would be rolling in cash… If he were a better salesman, and allowed you to get both your feet in the fuckin door before he’s over to you. He comes on like the “Suits you” guys so much, you think he’s taking the piss. I’ve never bought a stitch in the place, on general principle.
Our local Snooty Salon and Spa Chain does the same thing, even if you’re just going in to buy shampoo. The first time, I was a bit puzzled, and asked why they needed my name and number to sell me shampoo. Snooty Brainless Twat #7 mumbled something about how if I needed to return it, they’d know that I didn’t just find it in the street. (?!) I managed to ask her why my receipt wouldn’t be sufficient proof that I’d bought it. She just stood there giving me a no one’s home look.
No words came to me. I was too busy pondering the epidemic of people finding bottles of shampoo in the street with receipts taped to them.
:rolleyes:
Oh, and while we’re pitting businesses, what the fuck is it with Starbucks and asking, “Can I get something started for you?” in their phony, chirpy voices the nanosecond you walk in the door? Apparently I’m not cool enough for them to let me hang around long enough to (1) shut the door, and (2) look at the menu to see what they can get started for me.
:rolleyes:
I can see asking for my phone number if I schedule an appointment. If I don’t show, they want someplace to call, and maybe someplace to send the bill for the stylist’s wasted time when she could have taken another client. If I were asked for that information for a purchase, though, I’d simply say “I’d prefer not to give out that information.” Radio Shack used to do this, too, and I insisted on not giving it. Some stores used to ask for phone numbers when taking a credit card, but I think most major cards now forbid the practice.
I would have gotten really evil. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back-I have to take a McShit.”
“Hey, the McLadies Room is out of McTampons again.”
Holy shit, did you see the size of that McRat?
Man oh Man those are two funny K mart stories. Thanks for sharing.
I work retail and am glad to hear these suggestions. One of our bosses is always going on about too many customers just wandering around looking and not being helped but some customers really just want to be left alone to look.
Occasionally I’ll go back by and ask “Are you still doing okay?” After years in retail I think “I’m just looking” is programed into people. I try to greet people with “Good morning or good afternoon, How are you” or some casual comment about the weather. Usually I follow soon after with “Can I help you find anything today”
Almost always, it’s “No I’m just looking around” Fair enough but many people who are actually looking for something specific can’t resist the programing and say “Just looking” as I walk away it’s “Oh I do have a question” Funny.
I’m old school so useing last names seems right to me but the casual first name appraoch is presented as the new thing. I think it’s cool with repeat customers. Thanks for the input.
When I first started in retail years ago customers would comment " I don’t mind paying a little more when I shop here because of the customer service."
Having salespeople who are trained in product knowledge and liberal no hassle return policies cost money for companies. As time has passed the message retailers have gotten from most customers is that price matters most and service is way down on the list. To compete in low price wars service is cut. People used to be able to make a pretty good living as a commissioned salesperson at a major retailer. Now these companies seek younger, part time employees who work for less and get few or no benifits. The side effect is that a lot of these employees don’t give a shit.
As a shopper myself these are behaviors I don’t like.
Don’t talk to your fellow employee while you’re ringing me up unless they are asking a question to help another customer.
Don’t eat or drink while we’re having a conversation
Don’t BS me when I’m asking for product details. If you don’t know say so and offer to find out.
When I ask where something is, please walk me over there, or give me pretty specific directions such as ilse 7 top shelf or something. Vague general directions as you walk away piss me off.
A lot of it with me is not just customer service but person to person consideration and courtesy. So as a salesperson might I suggest a couple of things for you the customer.
If I ask if you need help have the courtesy to look at me and acknowledge that I asked and try to say thanks for asking even if the answer is no.
Unless you’re on some emergency call please don’t answer your cell phone in the middle of a transaction. It’s a little rude to me and to other customers who may be waiting to be helped. If you feel you must then please understand if I go wait on someone else and am not immediatly available when your call is through.
PLease do not open sealed packages to check something out without asking.
And oh…our merchandise is not there to amuse your kids while you shop so please please teach them not to touch.
Argh, car dealerships suck SO MUCH ASS! I started figuring this one out many moons ago when the small size Blazers and Broncos were coming out–early '80s I guess. My husband and I were in a Ford dealership (first mistake, never repeated) and we told the sales person that we were looking at something like a baby Bronco to replace our Toyota truck, because we needed something with seats for the kids which can still tow a trailer. What does Brainiac do? Tries to sell me a Thunderpig. I’m giving him a “WTF?” look as he’s telling me all about the inflatable front seats…
I finally got annoyed about the fifth time I had to tell him I had ZERO intention of buying something that can’t do what I want it to do–it’s not 4WD I say, it can’t tow a quire of paper I say, it gets four MPG I say… He is SO not listening. So just to piss him off I ask him “hey, seems like you really like this car a lot, so tell me what kind of g does it pull in a slalom?” Blank deer-in-headlights look… “Uuhh, whut?” I continue, “You know, with say a Freightliner pulling like .05g and a VW Rabbit Cabriolet pulling .78g (the actual number, those things were outcornering Ferraris at the time) what does this thing pull?” His rejoinder? “Uh, I dunno, but I bet it’s really good!” Seeya!
Cut to a few years ago when I’m shopping for either a mini truck or a van to use as a delivery vehicle–stopped in at the local HardSell Used Car Mart and started looking around. A nice helpful lot boy was being great, finding trucks that might fit the bill, answering questions, all around nice kid.
Then he gets the stinkeye from the sales office and goes off to get THE SALESMAN. Okay, fine, whatever. Greaseball comes up, starts with the stupid questions–“What’ll it take to get you into this car today?” to which I reply “Shit guy, bring out the title, the keys and a crisp hundred dollar bill and I’ll be outta here in no time!” That goes over like a fart in a car and I get a little bit of time to actually check out a truck while he’s resetting the tiny gearset in his head.
Next one–“What kind of a payment are you looking for?” I come back with “Dude, I’m not looking for a payment, I’m looking for a truck, what’s the tariff on this one?”
Apparently this exceeded Greaseball’s ability for verbal badinage, so he goes off and comes back with THE SALES MANAGER. He’s obviously been briefed that a snotty bitch is in da house, so he asks me what I’d offer for the truck? I know damned well high BlueBook on this thing is like 11-12.5K so I say “Hmmm, about 7500 bucks should do it!” He looks like he swallowed a seed and comes back with “What makes you think the truck is only worth that much?” and I reply “Hey, guy, you didn’t ask me what the thing’s worth, you asked me what I’d offer, and I don’t feel like being in debt more than 7500.”
He hemhaws and fumfaws around for a while, tries some more of the “sales” tricks on me (he really wants me in the sales office so he can fold paper into four quadrants and shoot the shit with “his manager”) and finally I just tell him “Dude, screw this, you guys are a bunch of assclowns, the lot boy was about to sell me and actually had a shot at it but your’re annoying and I’m leaving.” He actually tried to block my way and prevent me from leaving so I stepped on his foot, shoved him out of my way and left. I don’t suppose it improved his mood any that I had a couple of friends along that day and they were razzing this guy something fierce about letting a girl get over on him…
Went to a nice lot that specialized in work vehicles and bought myself a tidy full size van with rhino hide liner all the way up the bed for a fraction of what they wanted for the crappy truck. No BS, no hard sell, no trouble getting me to buy from them and I’ve recommended others back there since.
I object. I’ve done commission sales for some time and even though there are some assholes in the crowd a lot of folks are good people who treat their customers and fellow salespeople well. I try to be good to every customer whether they bought $5.00 worth or $5000. The company policy was to sell of course but we wanted customers to get the right purchase the first time so they would be a repeat customer.
From the salespersons point of view most customers are nice people but there is a group that will take up your time and pick your brain and then save $10 buying the item you educated them about from a competitor.
Or…they make no effort to find you and give you the sale when they come back.
The small private company I work for now does a team bonus monthly and I like that setup better. That means we all get paid for helping customers no matter who ultimately rings it up.
One of the stupidest salesperson stories I have came from a shopping expedition to get shoes for my daughter. Foolishly, we went to Macy’s. Finally got a salesman’s attention, told him what shoes she wanted to try on. He got some and then went off somewhere. She tried on the shoes, liked one pair but they didn’t fit comfortably, so wanted another size. Salesman is nowhere to be found. We look, we wait, and finally flag down another salesperson and ask for this shoe in that size. Nope. No can do. We’re not her customer! But… We want to give the store money. Nope. No deal. "Are you telling me, " I asked, “that you’d rather I left this store without buying anything than to take care of this?” Yep. That’s what she wanted, and that’s what happened. I wrote a letter to management and got an apology and a coupon good for $25.
Holy shit, that is supremely awesome. You should drive by Assclown’s lot in the car you bought elsewhere and honk and wave.
I have a funny K-Mart story. For some reason I thought I might have luck finding some cheap sweatpants that were relatively wearable. No dice there, so I bummed around the store a bit, marvelling at the crap merchandise all over the damn floor. And then I saw some Vanilla Ice folders that looked like they had been mouldering in a damp warehouse since Bush I was in office. Some brain dead manager actually found these things, wiped off the excess moisture, and put the hideous things on the shelf. That’s not even counting the very obvious water damage. For some reason I’ve been reluctant to go back.
Note that I didn’t say “all” are like that. I worked with one salesman who would try to go out and superficially greet every customer that came on the lot, then try to grab half the commission on the sales. Another was caught removing contact cards from other salesmen’s file boxes. Most of the guys were ones you wouldn’t mind hanging out with, but they were definitely in it for number one only, which isn’t all that difficult to understand. The owner showed nothing but disdain for his sales staff, and the feeling was mutual. I never understood that.
SmartAleq: Only one comment - when I sold vehicles, the sales manager crunched the numbers and approved all deals. Salesmen were NOT allowed to do that and did not have access to the computer program that showed dealer invoice, profits, calculated payments and such. A salesman saying he has to talk to his manager is usually not a scam.
Yes, but you did say in general which implies most. I don’t agree. I can tell stories of total asshole salespeople as well. Lots of comissioned sales people will occasionally give in to temptation when they are having a bad week or their job is threatened.
Most however are decent hardworking people who want to make a living but also have some ethics about how they do it. I’ve encountered customers who have that Salesperson = liar attitude. It’s too bad and they may have had an experience that makes them suspicious but the bad apples are the exception to the rule. I would probably agree that the nature of the job attracts a higher percentage of people who will lie and manipulate for profit. Perhaps one out of three or one out of four are bad apples. That’s a high percentage that will understandably taint the rest of us.
I worked for a car lot very briefly that was totally dishonest without apology. I tried unsucessfully to tell myself I could be honest with my customers and still work there. I couldn’t and had to bail after a few months.
What I suggest is trust your gut after you at least give a salesperson a chance. If you get the idea that the person is too slick and seems dishonest then you can freely choose to not deal with them.
Looking out for number one. Sure. We all do that. It doesn’t require that you screw someone else. It’s accepting responsibility.
My experience with car salesmen is pitiful. As a woman, I’m never taken seriously by them, which I find very strange and annoying.
The first time The Bog and I went looking for a truck for him, every time I asked a question, the salesman would answer Bog. Finally, I got sick of it and told him, “The next time I ask you a question, and you answer my husband, we walk.” We ended up walking. This happened at the first 3 dealerships. Finally we went to one that not only had the truck he wanted, but the sales staff talked to both of us as equals.
A couple of months later, it was time for me to get my new car. I decided to try a different tactic and went alone. This time, all the “suits” looked me over and decided I wasn’t worth their time! The ignored me and continued their conversations and their smokes. A very young man approached me and asked if he could help. I told him I wanted to test drive two of the Dodges they had in the lot. He was curteous, knowledgable, and professional and I bought one of the cars. The ‘suits’ appeared dumbfounded!
I get disgusted when I go places that are considered “man’s world” and am ignored. Especially when it comes to cars. I’ve always been a motorhead. Don’t point out the cool mirrors and map lights when I’ve just asked you for the engine specs.
I’ve also had women friends who were told by sales people that they wouldn’t sell them a car unless their husbands came to sign with them. WTF! I’d love one of them to try that with me. grrrr!
I hear your pain… when Typo Knig and I went to purchase our first new car, the salesman was all over my spouse, totally ignoring me. Despite the usual intros in which my husband said he was a grad student, and I said I was a computer programmer, which might have been a hint that I had a financial interest in the transaction. Everything was “So Typo, what do you think about this?”.
Then we got down to negotiating the price. Typo Knig just sat there and watched the show. I got the salesbeing down to a pretty good price but had it in my mind that I wanted to get an additional 400 dollars off (because I was peeved). They wouldn’t go that low so we walked.
A few days later, they called and made noises like they were willing to deal after all. I told them “thanks but no thanks” and told them precisely why they lost the sale. Ahhhhh, good times 
Funny you should mention this. The Bog stays home with our toddler girls. I work outside the home. Whenever there is negotiation to do, he stands back to “watch the show”. The best part of it is watching the salesman’s face when he finds out he has to contend with me. I consider myself to be a rather good negotiator and it unnerves them.
Agreed. It drives me around the bend when sales people ignore me for not looking right or planning to spend X amount.
Many years ago, I went to Sears Homelife to buy a couch. I wanted to spend about $400, as I told the first salesperson who offered to help me. He showed me a couple of couches that cost more than that, then disappeared. I was able to find another, much more helpful salesperson who showed me lots of things in my price range. As I was paying, I thanked the helpful person and told her what had happened. She said, “Oh really? Do you remember who it was who wasn’t helpful? I’m the manager.”
A couple weekends ago I had finally made up my mind that I was going to replace my old computer with a shiny new laptop. I went to CompUSA, headed immediately to the laptop section, while at the same time scanning for any available salesperson whose eye I could catch. I arrived at the computer section without seeing any available salesperson, cruised around for a while, pointedly scrutinizing the lists of features available on the various laptops, and never got the slightest bit of attention from anybody. There was another woman doing the same thing. Several minutes later a salesperson appeared, but was in the middle of helping someone else and ignored both me and the other woman.
Twenty minutes of that was enough for me, so I headed (against my better judgment) to the nearby BestBuy. There was a salesperson in the laptop computer section, but she assiduously avoided making eye contact with me as she stocked her shelves. The woman I had seen shopping in CompUSA soon appeared, and I assume nobody ever came and helped her, either. BestBuy was a pesthole, so I left promptly.
Then I went over to WalMart, detemined that I would buy a laptop there. No go. The salespeople were far too busy talking to their friends or family members who had dropped by while shopping. I did manage to make eye contact with one, asked her a question about the laptop in the corner that was on special, told her, “Then I think I’ll go ahead and buy it,” headed towards the laptop, and she disappeared never to return.
I was prepared to pay up to $1200 for a laptop that day, and nobody would take my money! It would be unbelievable, but I was once a teenaged retail stooge, and I wasn’t any better.
I’m going to add one story of a salesperson who did it right. It’s the mid-eighties, I have one afternoon to buy a dress to wear to my sister’s wedding. And I hate shopping for clothes, especially under the gun.
So I go that Sunday afternoon, as I’m already in good clothes and heels, after church. With fear and trepidation I approach the mall and head for the first big store, J.C. Penney’s. A clerk in Dresses approaches me and asks if she can help, so I tell her my price range and approximate size and she gets me over to a rack that has the type of things I want. I pick out one to try one and she starys behind, and selects two more, bringing them to me. As it turns out one she got is exactly what I wanted, amd looks good. But it needs a longer slip so without my asking she trots over to underwear and brings one back.
She sold me the dress and the slip, and I was out of there before my feet began to hurt! Never tried to get me to spend more than I intended either. I made sure I got her name and wrote a nice note to the store manager about her. Hope they told her about it.
I’m remodeling my kitchen. A couple of weeks ago, I started learning about appliances. I visited a few places, kicked the tires so to speak, and got an idea of features and price ranges. I spent a few days determining exactly what I wanted and the general price range for the appliances. Stainless steel – about $3,500 for Range, refrigerator and dishwasher. Whirlpool or GE.
A week ago, I found 6 major retailers with websites with on-line enquiry capability. I sent each of them the same email:
Out of the 6 retailers to whom I requested quotations, only 3 replied. What the fuck? How much easier does it get for a retailer than this? This is like manna from heaven. Just punch some numbers into an email and you have a potential sale on your hands. If you don’t reply, I assure you that you will not only not get this sale, but you will probably not find me buying stuff from you ever. Why would I patronize a business that doesn’t have the level of customer service required to reply to my email asking them to quote on a potentially very easy sale.
Side rant – the 3 retailers who did reply simply sent me their list prices for the products. Hint to them – if you want me to think favourably of your establishment, throw me a bone. I’m buying 3 high-end appliances. Surely, there is enough margin built in that you can differentiate yourself from your competition by giving me X% off list price. Or free delivery. Or something. Key point is to compete.
Last fall I got sick of constantly putting money into my old Pontiac Sunfire, so I started shopping for a new car. I researched quite a few makes and models on Edmunds.com. While I was on the site I filled out a form so that local dealers could contact me.
I was working from home that day, so my phone line was tied up for several hours. (Yes, I still have dial-up. I’m primitive. :)) I checked my e-mail awhile later and found a message from a salesperson at a local Chevy dealership. He said that after trying to call me several times that afternoon and not getting through, he came to the conclusion that I wasn’t serious about buying a car. He told me to contact him when I was ready to get off the computer.
Now I could understand the guy getting pissed at me if I’d ducked his calls for weeks, but this was a matter of hours! I told him this, too, in my reply e-mail, right before I told him that I would NOT be buying my car from his dealership.