I went to a small town mall the other day. It has two or three clothing stores. A Bealls ( mostly in the southern states I think) and a Belk’s and JC Penny. I needed to purchase a shirt and had very little time to do so. As I rolled through the parking lot I saw this huge red sign in front of Belk’s.
It read: STORE WIDE SALE 1/2 OFF!
I thought," Oh shit this is the place to go"! I went in the store and sure enough there were lots of red signs hanging from the ceiling that said STORE WIDE SALE 1/2 OFF!
So I sauntered over to the Polo shirts and quickly picked one out. ($65.00) I got to the counter and the clerk rang up $69 dollars with tax.
I said, “Hey, that should be $30.00 bucks! And the sales clerk behind the counter said, “No, $69 dollars. And I said, well shouldn’t that shirt be half off? To which he said, " Sorrrryy not on Polo.” And I said well shit your sign says half off STORE WIDE!” And he said with a droll bored look, “That would be only on lingerie sir” and pointed to the sign. I looked again harder this time and I’ll be a sonofabitch if lingerie wasn’t printed on the bottom in print so damn tiny you had to strain to see it.
Well I was pissed at the store and pissed at myself and a little embarressed. I make a pretty good living but I can tell you that $69.00 shirts aren’t on my everyday budget.
I threw the shirt down on the counter and inquired about the whereabouts of the manager to which the nitwit said. “He isn’t here.” I said, “Well this sucks and you tell your manager I said so.” With that I left the store.
As I left I looked again at the giant sign outside and sure enough down at the bottom, in tiny letters was the word Lingerie. I, like many shoppers I am sure, had just failed to read the fine print.
I realize that buyer beware is always in effect but…this seems like downright snake oil salesmanship to me. I think it breaks the spirit of good retailing practices. Should I go back and complain to the manager or just look closer next time? Somehow it just doesn’t seem right to me.
Yeah, buyer-beware is always in effect, but there is always one thing to remember:
If you complain enough, you’ll get your way.
That is, if there is even a shred of validity to your case. And id you’re reasonable.
If you go back and ask to talk to someone in charge and seem friendly, and explain to them that you felt misled by their sign, and so do several people you have spoken to, and that you were treated rudely by the cashier when you asked about it, and that you just wanted what you think is fair, and so on. All the while smiling and shmoozing and smiling your ass off.
If this is the case, you can probably buy a shirt for at least a 10% discount (if you want to) or something of that nature.
But if you go in there all huffy puffy, you won’t accomplish anything. The manager will most likely smile and repeat “I’m sorry sir, advertising is not my job. Would you care for a coupon?” until you pull your hair out and leave.
Then they’ll call you “baldy” behind your back.
So save yourself some aggravation and use the “More flies with honey…” approach or just never shop there again.
“Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots.”
hey aha, I know this shows my age (46) but I was once that kind of clerk behind the counter. Our store had mistakenly put a different picture up for a camera that was on sale. The one that was on sale, was MUCH cheaper, but the picture was of a more expensive camera. The customer wanted the camera, I explained what the newspaper had done and apologized and he called for the manager and he got his camera, as did everyone else who wanted one.
But, them ‘was the good ol’ days in 1976, now it is the bored look 'whatever’clerks and managers who just want to go home. Did you ever get the shirt you needed, or did you give up in disgust??
“It’s hard to avoid reading because ever wheres we go, reading is there.”
