How not to make a sale ( to me )

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petek

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The other day my cousin and her partner in NY called to say they'd love to come visit us for a few days around New Years. I'm quite excited about it since we only met one once for half a day back in the UK (where she's from originally) and that was in 1967. With little time left we don't have any extra beds for the guest bedroom. They were given away before we moved. We do however have one of those air beds (like on the infomercials) and a roll away cot. But I want to have proper beds for guests. So with that in mind I headed to the local Sleep Country store, renowned here for their jingly tv commercials and pleasant President spokeslady. Upon entering said establishment I was greeted cordially by a salesman and as cordially back I told him I wished to browse only. I had just made it to the second aisle of sleep sets as they're now known when from behind my back was once again this same salesman asking if I needed assistance and for what I might be interested in. It must have been the spirit of the Christmas Season because as my neck hairs and defense systems rose the better of my temper remained calm and I proceeded to carry on a pleasant conversation knowing full well that for this transgression he would in no way make a sleep set sale to me today or ever. Nor would Sleep Country as I beat a non-hasty retreat out of the store. And yes, I have already emailed the aforementioned pleasant spokeslady President of the company.
The charity of the season didn't last unfortunately as I was somewhat peckish and being of low blood sugar it doesn't take much to get what I have boiling. This pressure buildup was released somewhat nastily upon the staff of the adjacent McDonalds where I stood in line behind two other customers, none of whom had yet been served either while the staff proceeded to ignore any human life beyond the front counter. With that I left.

But wait there's more! A few days prior we received one of hundreds of Sears flyers, this one for electronics and again since we don't own a tv having left the others behind I ventured out to peruse their wares in the late evening. I was greeted by a youngish man of around 20. I then asked to see the Sharp LCD tv featured in the flyer for $799. He wasn't quite sure if they had it then glanced across and said he thought he saw it over on the display wall. When we got to it the price was marked on sale for $899 so I mentioned the discrepency. He said he hadn't seen the flyer so I replied "Well don't you have one"? and he said he did over by the register. "Well go take a look at it" I said, and so he did. All fine and dandy so far. Then I ask him what the pixel count is on this tv only to receive a blank stare. Offering even more information only gave me more blank stares until the point I told him pointedly "You don't know much about what you're selling do you?" and he sheepishly replied the affirmative. "How long have you been working here? I said. "About two weeks" he replied. So I let him off the hook but told him he should at least know what he's got on sale from the flyers and try to bone up on what he's selling. And with that I left..

Now if that's not bad enough when we moved here I opened a month to month dialup internet account with a little provider in the mall. Got an email last week that they were merging with another company directly across from their store in the mall. We've finally dug out all of our computers and with the intention of updating to DSL I headed down to their office to pay for the next month and upgrade to DSL with them. Up to the receptionist I go and tell her I already have a dialup account and wish to get highspeed. She tells me that all of their accounts are highspeed.. I questioned this again to her and said "are you sure?" "will my DSL modem work on the current plan I already have" she replied to the affirmative so I left walking down the mall thinking somethings not right. Not wanting to get home and go thru a lot of hassle setting things up not to work I turned right around and walked back to her but she was on the phone. The other girl who worked there came right up and I mentioned to her what the one girl had just told me and if it was true. Well of course it wasn't said this new girl and then I had to stand there once the first girl got off the phone so the other one could explain everything to her, meanwhile she's looking as bored and "let me outta here" as she possibly can..

It's not like jobs are abundant here, they aren't, but I've never encountered such awful service. You expected it back in Calgary where anyone can walk into any business and get a job instantly they're that desperate, but not here.

Anyways, that's my long rant o the day.. LOL whew I feel better
 
Gee wiz Pete

I've encountered similar problems with customer service as well, and it sucks.
Last month I ordered a couple of sweaters from Macys.com, and they still hadn't arrived, so I decided to track the order thru Macy's website.
Turns out the sweaters were delivered on 11/21 to my front porch.
I never saw them...
So I called the 800 number, and a helpful girl said they would initiate a trace of the package. She also asked if I would call UPS with the tracking number as well and see what tehy could do.
UPS was no help, they pretty much told me their involvement was done once the package was on my doorstep. Nice
Brown is the color of S**T!
SO I called Macy's back... they informed me they'd trace the package, and in 10 days they'd reship the order... UGH!

On the other side of the coin Friday morning I went to my local Ace Hardware and bought the paint for my 2nd bedroom. The guy was a total professional, and didn't seem the least bit put off that he was scanning colors from vacuum cleaner hoods and parts! He smiled, did his stuff, and did a damn good job matching paint colors for me.
Every now and again something has to work out right?
 
Now Jeff, that just reminded me of two more over the last two weeks since we moved in this house. One was the vac bags I ordered from Sears, assured over the phone they were the right ones, well they weren't!!! but worse was yet to follow.

Our second evening in the house the phone line went dead for a few hours off and on. It was windy out so I figured that might be the problem and I'd call Bell in the morning. It was working in the morning fine so I dialled 611 and got a pleasant guy on the other end. I explained what had happened and he asked me if I had tried unplugging all the phones in the house etc.. which I had and I told him I had. He then explained that when it happens again I was to take a phone to the demarkation point somewhere outside the house and plug the phone in and see if I get a dial tone, then call them back either way. So I go outside, round the house and can't find any demarkation point, go into the basement and find it mounted up on the rafters here in my workshop. Well the line goes dead, I plug in my phone into the demarkation jack and it's still dead. I call Bell back and get another person. This time I sort of mentally noted that this rep also had an east Indian accent but what the hay there are lots of east Indian people here doesn't matter to me. We go thru the whole process again, I explain again the first call, that I've unplugged all the phones and now that there is no dial tone at the demarkation jack either.. OK,,they'll send out a repairman in the morning by noon.. About 11 a.m. the next day the repairman shows up and found that my line was loose on the pole, a bit corroded as if squirrels had chewed on it etc.. but all is fine now. YAY... until the next day the phones dead again. I call 611 and this time get a girl, again with an east Indian accent and here I'm mentally noting that she seems to be following the exact same script as the first two word for word. In the end she says that the soonest they will be able to send out a repairman is Thursday. But it's Monday I exclaim. I can't wait till Thursday. Sorry she says, now is there anything more I can do for you.. I said yes, Thursday is not acceptable! I want my phone fixed right this time and by tomorrow. I can't even finish my sentence and she's reading from her script again.. I tell her to stop and listen to me.. I want my phone fixed,, again with the script. Again I tell her to stop reciting and get me a supervisor on the line. She tells me that they are all booked up and there's nothing they can do.. I said that's not acceptable get me a supervisor please...so she puts me on hold and my ears are abuzz with a cacophony of Hindu music, that's when I realize I'm probably talking to people over in India.. well anyways,, the supervisor comes on very pleasant arranges for my next day service call.. whew... Oh and the other thing why I was incensed was because when I first signed up with Bell they gave me this big sales spiel about their $5 a month maintenance agreement where if anything for any reason was wrong with my phone lines in the house they would come fix them for free.. Well I wanted my $5 worth, not waiting 4 days.. geesh..
 
Man I HATE that!!

reading from a script and doing nothing!
I had a similar experience with the gas company last year, I wanted them to check my line because my furnace was not working right(and three trips out by the furnace man could not solve the problem) So I called to make an appt and they said "we'll send someong out right away"
I told them I would not be home til 4:30 pm and don't send anyone til then.
"Well then sir we will shut the gas off until you do get there"
I nicely explained that I had a roomate and a dog, both in the house and neither would appreciate having the gas turned off in November.
"I'm sorry sir we'll turn the gas off"
I went crazy on her, she was such a B**CH!!!
I finally hung up, called back, got another rep and asked her to cancel my call completely. She said she would, and told me to call back about 15 minutes before I left work for the day and they would send someone out.
So I called back at 3:45, and the lady informed me that my gas had been shut off at 8:05am that day.
I went crazy again, and demanded a supervisor, making sure she understood "customer very upset"
When I got home a gas company person was waiting for me, as soon as I opened the front door Jack was barking at him and he balked at coming in the house. I'd had my fill of attitude that day and just let him have it: "Dude, forget the dog, he won't bite you nearly as bad as I will if you don't fix the flippin gas NOW!!!"
The guy fixed the gas problem without another word.
I loathe the gas company!
 
Thats typical...

Although, i know the manager of our Sears and Lowes so if anything goes wrong i can contact them..

I recall last year when Grandpa blew the Headgasket in Grams car (he drove it while it was over heating way longer than he needed) he took it to the local Idiots at the Ford Dealer and they proceeded to give him this whole song and dance that he blew everything in the engine and so forth.. $7,700 total... He asked me to have my mechainc come over and to take a look (from a competing Ford dealer)and he said that the heads needed to be machiened and it need a new head gasket and intake gasket, along with a radiator and overflow tank.. He est. around $1,500.. Well this Ford place refused to just replace the head gasket, they wanted to replace the whole engine..But after gramps whent and protested to the owner, the reluctantly agreed to "see what they could do"..Without his permisson the installed a brand new engine in the car... He was fuming mad..They simply stated that the car was not repairable and refused to even let me take the old engine to a 3rd person for his opinion...Just to put the whole ordeal behind Him, he paid the $5000 and whent on..
The car has never been right... The water pump blew within two weeks, the egr valve died within a month and the car generaly breaks down on a monthly basis..
About 8-9 weeks ago the new engine devloped a minor oil leak in the back of the engine..We had to take it back to the Idiots at the other ford place and they took 3 weeks to fix an oil pan leak.. 3 weeks...
I would have sued them for what they did, but Gramps is very grumpy and refuses to deal with it
 
BTW,

Most of the time the sales people just hide in our Lowes, Homo Depot (the place where men used the rest room for other purposes) and Sears... I happen to know the managers of Lowes and Sears and they bothe are very personable and nice and if i get any lip, i just find them..

Our home depot just sucks...
 
closest to me...

we have a mini-home depot, that is the building used to be a Super Kmart. Its usually pretty easy to get in and out of, but the service is pretty bad.
I often wonder where they hire people from!
 
They (Home Depot) wouldn't Hire Me, because they felt I was not the type to work there (WTF?)..... I was desprite and destitute for work... Tacked me off.. Was hired by walmart two hours later, thankfully...DIdn't work there very long, but it was work..
We have the rudest wal mart personell... Except Doris, she's nice and she answers the phone
 
Customer Service, Not

I got a phone call in October from the phone company offering to update my DSL to a higher speed - at a lower price.
Asked whether my current equipment would work with it.
Idiot sales-in-duh-vi-dual says yes.
They updated first of November.
Twenty-eight phone calls and three weeks later, I finally convince them to send a techie- out to look at it. Deal is, if it is their fault, they pay for it, if mine, I pay for it.
So the guy comes out, looks at my equipment, says: No wonder you got problems, it ain't compatible.
No sh*** Sherlock...
Two days later I get the phone bill with a service charge for his visit.
Go ballistic and make call Nr. 29. Point out that they record all calls (for quality control) and this would look great in front of a court. Add, since they can record, I can too - and have records of all phone calls in case theirs "accidentally" get erased.
Last week they finally fixed everything, dropped the charge and - fingers crossed - things are now ok.
This evening I have a student giving a presentation on - customer service, a new approach - guy works for the deutsche Telekom.
I'm having our dean grade him. It will be all I can do to sit there quietly and not laugh him off the stage.
These jerks want our money but they aren't willing to move finger one to help us.
Screw 'em.
I keep books; stores which treat me well, even if more expensive, get my repeat business. Stores which are nasty, I never visit again. I do send them copies of the receipts from their competitors. Remind them that a happy customer tells four people. An unhappy (former) customer tells 13.
Some threaten to sue (none never have, darn it. I figure their lawyers just stare at them in shocked silence until they wake up). Others write back that I am the only customer to ever complain.
Occasionally, they send 3% discount coupons if I come back (the 3% thing is a German specialty, ignore it)...
 
Mattresses!

Oh, ick. Buying a mattress at a mattress store is worse than buying a used car! No matter what feels comfortable, the salesman always pushes and pushes to buy the $2500.00 Supreme Sleep System D'Elegance Concours, harping on the dire consequences that will happen if you settle for anything less. Apparently, one night on an inferior mattress will render one permanently disabled.

Then why do you sell inferior mattresses?, I asked.

No answer.

Needless to say, I bought elsewhere.

veg
 
buying a mattress

I just bougtht one back in September, I didn't have any problems, but then again I knew exactly what I wanted when I walked in the store(American Mattress)
My problem was finding a store that sold the mattress I wanted, which was a Serta Perfect Sleeper.
 
Serta Perfect Sleeper

How do you like it Jeff? It's funny this conversation came up because I've been kicking around the idea of getting a new mattress next year. But this morning I woke up with awful back pain and I'm just really tired of not having a good nights sleep so I think I might give myself an early Christmas present.
 
Like it very much!

Andy
I am so far very pleased, and I sleep ok on it(when I can sleep...another story)
I first slept on a Serta Perfect Sleeper a couple of years ago. Fred and I went to North Canton over New Years to visit Tom & Heather, and the North Canton Best Western where we stayed had these mattresses. I slept SO well there that I had to take the sheets off the bed to find the brand/model of the mattress! Fred even wrote it down for me!
I bought the super deluxe pillow top version, I have a plain double bed, and I paid about $1000 for the mattress and box spring.
Happy shopping!
 
I bought my mattress last year, after the movers lost mine..I bought mine at the Mattress Store..The sales dude was very nice, but creepy... He actually laid down on the bed next to me... Then they didn't have what i wanted in stock, so he actually upgraded me free to another nicer Serta mattress... Boy did he flirt with me..Plus he had a wedding ring... I was desprete enough.. The last two i bought before this both came from differnt national chains and it was a big pain in the butt as well..One the lady wouldn't let me lay on anything unless i was barefoot..I left... ANother lady wouldn't show me anything cheap..Again i left.. After 5 more stores, i was tacked off and I whent to Sams and Bought One... Then when i moved back up here from Florida, i left my old one behind and whent through similar problems and bought one from a furniture store that wound up going bankrupt the next week..Thankfully i did get my mattress the last day they where open

Then again i got a new microwave hood today from Sears for $219 (org. price was $349, sale price $329)..They price matched lowes, baised upon a digital picture, gave me 10% of the diffrence and additional $20 off that...No complaints, no nothing..I get it next monday... Plus they gave me a guys name who charges less than there Installation fee ($50 vs $125)... Took all of 35 minuets..
 
While I was in the mattress store I did try the Sleep Number bed but I wasn't too impressed with it even trying different numbers starting from zero on up..just a fancy air mattress really..then I tried the memory foam Tempurpedic and that wasn't right either. But since I'm just buying a bed for guests I'm not going to spend huge amounts on a mattress LOL don't want them staying too long
 
Bad Service abounds

Short Circuit City- August - I buy a color HP printer, now normally I never get sucked into the warranty stuff. But this was a brand new model and so I did and for this I am glad.

I get it home and it is always stopping due to "out of paper" when the tray is always filled!
Last week after rereading the manual reinserting the paper tray about 100 times I say enough is enough.
So I box it back up and off to Short Circuit City.

After my tale of woe ,I get "Mr.Charles you are 83 days beyond the return date." I said looking askance "I bought the $99 guarantee and was told if it ever broke they would just give me a new one". She replied "Ofcourse you did I'll give you a new one"
Grab that one over there,which she scanned and I was out the building in a newyork second.

Now what was that all about?? Why tell me how late I am when it doesn't matter a g-dammn?? Why try to irritate the customer for no reason, was she trying to play the hero here?
I had already anticipated this moment because I knew I was buying a new model last August.

BTW I love my Nature Rest mattress!! Ooooooooooooo
 

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