First, let me say this is my first post in the Pit. I like that I have people I can bitch to who are happy to return in kind.
I know the liquor store I work in charges prices slightly higher than other stores in the area. However, those are discount stores, we are not. I so freaking hate when people come in, ask how much a bottle is, and then scoff or gasp and say “I’ve seen it much cheaper elsewhere” or “why is it so much??”
All I can do is shrug b/c I have no damn part in the pricing! And most of all, DON’T FUCKING TELL ME “WELL JUST RING UP ONE OF YOUR COUPONS” WHEN I TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN’T GET THE DISCOUNT BECAUSE YOU FORGOT YOURS. And especially don’t wave your hand away at me when you say it!
If you don’t want to pay our price, that door still works. You’re here, pay the price posted or go somewhere else. It’s even cheaper right next door to the factory, so go THERE, just quit telling me the obvious, that you can read well enough to tell the difference in prices, but not well enough to know where you are.
And if you don’t bring your coupon, don’t expect the discount.
And MY favorite…CASH AND CARRY means put down green money, take the product with you. Plastic is not cash. Checks are not cash. Gift certificates are not cash. And delivery is not carry.
This ain’t Burger King, you ain’t gettin’ it your way. And yes, the rules apply to you.
Don’t forget the “customers” who make ridiculous demands. If I tell you I can’t make regular coffee on the specialty coffee machine, then I CAN’T MAKE REGULAR COFFEE ON THE SPECIALTY COFFEE MACHINE. And it won’t be able to make regular coffee no matter how many times you ask thereafter.
I hate being with someone that is willing to get back in the car, drive to another store, park, shop, stand in line and finally purchase an item for forty or fifty cents less. Geez. Just buy it and next time, go to the cheaper place.
How about gas shoppers? My grandparents will drive 50 miles out of their way if they think they can get the gas 1 cent per gallon cheaper out that way.
Here’s another thing I hate about my customers. A lot of people who are either long time customers or friends of the owner get discounts. If it’s someone I haven’t seen before, they’ll tell me “he gives me a discount” and I say okay, and do so.
What pisses me off is when it’s someone I’ve never seen before, or at least never rung up, and they wait until I’ve punched up all the numbers and given them a total to say “oh did you give me my discount?” HELLO! If you’ve never seen ME then I’ve never seen YOU so I don’t know that you get a g-ddamned DISCOUNT! It’s this really antiquated cash register so it’s annoying to have to go back, refund the amount, do the math on the calculator and ring it up again.
Well, y’know, it’s a universal truth that the CLERK on duty at any given time is the store’s OWNER, and is therefore responsible for everything, be it the price of the merchandise, the selection available, providing me with coupons, the cleanliness of the rest rooms, or loaning me a phone book because I don’t know where I am, you know?
Oh, wait. No it’s not. I’m totally full of shit, aren’t I?
“Amazon has this book for five dollars cheaper!”
“Really? Well sir/ma’am, there’s a public library one block thataway with internet terminals. Shall I put this book back on the shelf for you?”
I just got back from what was supposed to be a quick trip to the grocery store with Papa Tiger, and I’m reminded of why I should NEVER go to the grocery store with Papa Tiger.
First time I ever went, he decided he wanted to buy bacon. So he picked up a package of bacon that looked nice, and I said, “Oh, that looks good and it’s a good price,” and was ready to move on. But nooooo, he proceeded to look at EVERY SINGLE BRAND of bacon on the shelves. At length. Doing math in his head, I guess, to figure out which one was cheaper. I have a bad back. I finally sat down ON THE FLOOR. He KEPT ON comparison shopping.
Ten minutes later…he finally decided which package of bacon he wanted to buy. THE VERY FIRST ONE HE’D PICKED UP.
Customer: How much are your sprockets, my good man?
Cashier: Sprockets are forty-nine point nine nine recurring of the Queen’s own English Sterling pounds each, sir
Customer: 50 quid? Jones’s sells them at 35; it’s outrageous
Cashier: Well, might one recommend that one buy them at Jones’s, sir
Customer: Ah, you see, the thing is they don’t have any right now
Cashier: Ah, well, sir, when we don’t have any, sir, they’re only 25
Customer: Brilliant, when are you likely to not have any, I’ll come back then
Cashier: We’ve got a slug…
The OP is from NY, where the posted price is legally an invitation to make an offer and not a firm hard price. It is perfectly legal for someone to come in and make an offer below the posted price, but have have fun w/ it. (hopefully you have the authority).
At one time I worked retail (worst 2 months of my life, work wise), At 1st prices were strictly regulated but then things started to slide and I was selling $400 packages, marked down to $200 for around $50 (lowest price $30). I didn’t work on commision and didn’t give a fuck (checking, yes it the pit, ‘fuck’ OK here, moving on). But part of the fun I had was the nice customer, the one who didn’t try to bargain me down I gave the lowest price, the PITA customer who wanted to spend hours tryign to save $0.99 off the deal I wouldn’t budge, they got nothing and I really couldn’t care less, I actually left my shift once in the middle of such a transaction.
So my advice to you is to help those customers that don’t demand things, ring up coupons if they don’t have any but don’t budge an inch if they demand it.
When I used to work at a paper/chemical wholesale warehouse, people would come in and, “I can get it cheaper at Sam’s Club.”
I would ask them, “Well, how much did I charge you to be a customer here?”
I’m not normally one to complain likethe customers in the OP, preferring to do the “pay the extra, but know better next time” bit. However,my ex and I went to a fruit shop once (a huge, bulk-buying place in a working class suburb), and asked about some fruit which had no price marked. The answer we got was two or three times the price of another place just up the street. So we pointed this out politely, and barely had we got the words out than the cashier snapped, “Well, I suggest you go there then!”
I was shocked at this, and looked up to see the cashier’s supervisor turn around at the raised voice. Expecting her to reprimand the cashier for her rudeness, I was even more shocked when she looked at us instead, and joined the pile-on: “Yeah! SHOP THERE!”
So I sweetly told them both to get fucked, and never went back.
They ywent out of business not long afterwards. Heh.
