I’m still wondering why in the hell would anyone need an extended warranty on shelves. I mean, I can semi-understand on an HDTV or game console, but shelves? Are they insuring against termite damage or something?
I’ve found that it’s very satisfying to say, in a completely straight tone, “Well, it sounded like a stupid warranty the first two times you explained it, but this third time is really winning me over.” when asked about the warranty repeatedly.
How much was the warranty on the shelves? The most absurd one I’ve ever been offered was a two year $15 warranty on a cheapo $32 DVD player. I laughed and pointed out that I’d probably be able to buy a new one for $15 in a year.
Yeah, seeing an ID is a violation of the merchant agreement and so is tacking on a fee.
Glasses? I’ve almost always had a backup pair, but the backup was a previous pair of glasses or sometimes my sunglasses. So it’s not like I was spending money on two pairs of glasses with the same perscription.
And as for the OP: Kinda a jerk coming from my retail experience perspective, where thank god I never had to try to sell anyone something like an extended warranty.
Oh how I wish my parents had splurged on a backup pair. It would have saved me walking around like a dork with white adhesive tape holding my broken glasses together. And then about that geeky wardrobe…
Don’t let him see this then.
The register lady acted like a trite little turd. Since when is it policy to ask for ID on a $40 credit card sale? I’ve been buying with my Visa for about 10 years and can count on one hand how many times I’ve been asked for ID, and those instances were for very large dollar amounts.
Hell, Visa has a whole advertising campaign based on how you don’t need ID like with a check when you use their card. The cashier crossed the line on that one.
I was once offered a $20 warranty on a $10 universal remote. The guy didn’t push it, though. He knew it was stupid but he had to ask.
Every time I use my Visa card at the supermarket, they ask me for ID, without fail. On the little keypad I use to swipe it, before I can press “OK” to complete my transaction, it even flashes “Show ID to cashier to continue,” and then they ask me for it. I wonder why this is.
I don’t want anyone to think I didn’t get my daughter a back-up pair of glasses because I’m cheap. She’s been wearing them since she was 7 or so, she’s now 13, and since they are on her face while she’s awake it’s never been an issue where she’s lost them.
So, based on my daughter’s past behavior, I did not see the reason for the extra expense.
Postscript, though, her exam was on Aug 31. Her lenses were supposed to arrive in 7-10 days. They have not arrived yet and Sears doesn’t know why. They’ve said they’ll call the prescription fulfillment center and see what the delay is.
They do? That’s false advertising. I get asked for my ID all the time. The problem is that the credit card companies are big fat pieces of shit that refuse to come up with a coherent security policy. They’d rather take a big hit with fraud and make up the difference with oppressive fees and high interest rates. They have at least 3 security schemes that are all enforced sporadically at best. That shit is ALL OVER the map. But that’s a whole rant for another day…
I liked the OP’s story, but the ending kind of surprised me. It sounds to me like you fucked with her, so she fucked with you back. Seems like you came out even, so why the indignation at the end?
The real problem is that you are completely full of shit. Spare us your stinking, peanutty twaddle.
Checking ID can be against the terms of the card service agreement because it allows merchants to suppress card use. If you refuse to show ID or cannot furnish ID, oh well, you just have to pay in cash.
If you accept plastic, you have to accept it. Putting the little decal on your shop window but trying to turn people away from actually using their cards as a payment method violates the agreement.
What about those bastards that put the visa logo in their window and then try to tell you “sorry, there’s a $5 minimum on visa purchases”.
But all I wanted was a coffee and a bagel.
i posted a link earlier that had the official mastercard policy and where to report violations.
here it is again http://www.mastercard.com/cgi-bin/c...ate=ContactUsMV
i’m sure visa has a similar page, but i don’t have time to scour their site looking for it.
as for amex, just call the toll-free number on the card and they will deal with the merchant on your behalf.
Visa’s merchant’s agreement is a PDF file (here if you want it) but looky here for the info on stores asking for ID (they’re allowed to request it if fraud is suspected, but not as SOP).
I’m going to print this out. Old Navy ALWAYS asks for ID. I was, in fact, turned away from making a very large ON purchase (by my standards - it was about $80, certainly not enough to suspect fraud) when I was not able to produce ID becuase I had inadvertently left home without my driver’s license.
I’m going to ON and refuse to show my ID, and if they say “sorry” again I believe I’ll show that page. If they still refuse to take it I’ll just turn the bastards in!
When I was working retail, we only had to ask for ID if the back of the card was unsigned. Otherwise, no problem.
I’m 6’4" and ugly, I have no problem with getting retail clerks to accept my ‘NO’. Bawahahaha
When I got to Radio Shack™, I lie…
I’ll answer yours directly because it seemed these questions were asked several times.
Have I worked retail? Yes. For several companies and I owned my own computer retail store for 7 years. I think I was pretty clear in my post that they make her ask those questions.
From my post above:
I was annoyed at being upsold twice in one checkout. I was even more so annoyed that even though she saw both my credit card and ID she wanted me to remove the ID from the holder.
There are very few people in the world with the first name of “Seven”. The picture on my ID is only a month old. There is no need to remove the ID for a $40 sale.
I know she was just doing it because I chuckled at the “assurance plan” line. She doesn’t like having to say that. I know. My friend summed this up quite well. He said:
If she doesn’t like it she should adjust her attitude instead of coping one and looking at me like she wants to crack my skull and saying “No, I’m not”. She could have shrugged, smiled and said “thought I’d ask”.
At the end of the day SHE is in retail and it is her job to help the customers and be nice so they return.
My rant isn’t really with her as it is with the store. Forcing her to upsale is fucked up. She’s not a sales person and I doubt she gets anything extra for selling this stuff. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t get a cut for pushing lined paper at 99 cents a pack. She has no motivation to push this crap and she hates having to do it. It comes off as a bad shopping experience for the customer. Like I said, when I got to the counter it looked like she didn’t even want to be there. This is the main reason I avoid stores that upsale and push “plans”. I wouldn’t have bothered shopping there if I knew this store went in that direction.
There is another store that started doing this (We’ll call them Suckit City). I walked out after complaining to the manager about their salesmen. That was in 1995. I haven’t spent a dime in that store since then.
Does it matter to them that I will no longer shop there? I doubt it. But it matters to me.
My plan??
I plan on collecting 800 DVD’s. At that time I’ll take them all out of the case, lay them on the floor and hump the lot of them. You see, this has been a fantasy of mine for some time. Any less then 800 won’t do. It MUST be 800. I also plan on taking pictures and movies of the event and starting up www.Hump-a-pile-of-dvds.com for all the other “pile o’ DVD” fetishists out there (there’s quite a few of us you see). Once the site is on-line I’ll charge $19.95 per month for people to log in and download movies and pictures of me humping DVD’s. I even plan a photo series of me dancing around naked with the Special Edtion release of The Dukes of Hazzard wedged in my naked, hairy ass crack. Before long I’ll make my investment back and the rest is pure, sweet, profit. I figure within 3 years I should be able to buy a small island. I’ll STILL have a pile of DVD’s to hump anytime I want - as well as a big ass pile of cash. Once on the island I plan on starting my own country and space program. When the moon shuttle is running smoothly I plan on transporting enough people to create a small city on the moon. Then I’ll move there, retire, and open an ice cream shoppe.
I just want to clear that up because I wouldn’t want anyone to think I watched these things or had a hobby of collecting movies I enjoy.
That’d be fucking stupid.
If I buy a subscription during the first week, can I get a deep discount, like they do around here?