Have you ever gone to buy something and it seems like all the forces of the world are against you? I’m talking about walking into a store with money in hand, and yet the staff seems to do everything in their power NOT to help you? I know that sounds pretty ridiculous, but this is something that I observe all the time. And to make matters worse, I can think of a lot of other people that have brought it up as well!
Why is this?? When I’m about to make a relatively huge purchase, shouldn’t there be a little more eagerness to work with me? Or are employees really just that apathetic?
Here is an actual example that will illustrate my point. It took place last week when I went to buy some flagstone pavers for my gardens. To set the stage, I was all set to buy the stones from one place when I decided last minute to call the one in this story to see if I could get a better deal. They did in fact have a much better price and I ultimately I ended up buying from them. But as you will see, there were some minor struggles to get them to sell to me. Please read this story lightly and enjoy!
[The Initial Phone call]
• Me: Hi, do you sell flagstone?
• Tami at the store: Oh yes, we have tons of flagstone and we sell it all the time!
• Me (after discussing price with Tami): Great! I’d like to order 6 tons and have it delivered tomorrow!
• Tami: Well, hold on. First we’ll need you to come into the store. We have a policy where you have to see the pallets of stone and pick which ones you want.
• Me: Really? Hmmm. What time do you close?
• Tami: Five.
• Me: Hmmmm. That’s a bummer. You see I’m at work right now and I usually don’t leave until after five. Could you send me some pictures?
• Tami: Uhm, no. Sorry. You’ll just have to come in if you want them.
• Me (reluctantly): Al-right, I guess I’ll see if I can leave a little early today.
[So I leave work a little early and stop at the stone store]
• Me: Hi, I called earlier about the flagstone.
• Tami: Oh yes, I remember.
• Me: Can you show me the pallets of stones.
• Tami: No, but Matt can.
• Me: Sounds good. Where is Matt?
[Five minutes later …]
• Me: Hi are you Matt?
• Matt: Yup.
• Me: Great can you show me the pallets of flagstone?
• Matt (pointing non-discretely): They’re right here.
• Me: Okay, these are perfect. I’ll take 6 tons.
• Matt: Oh, you want six tons? This is only 3 tons.
• Me: Okay. Well … do you have anymore?
• Matt: I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to check.
[A few minutes later …]
• Matt: Yup, we’ve got some more.
• Me: Sounds great. Can I order them?
• Matt: Uhhh, no. You’ve got to look at them first.
• Me: Okay, where are they?
• Matt: They’re all the way in the back. I’m not sure if you want to walk back there. It’s kind of a long walk.
• Me: Ah, I’ll be fine. I’ve got legs. Let’s go.
[We go to the back of the stone yard …]
• Me: These two pallets will be fine.
• Matt: Well, they’re behind these two other pallets.
• Me: Okay, well … can you move these two other pallets out of the way?
• Matt: Ya, but I’ll have to get the fork truck.
• Me: Okay. Well I guess you better do that.
[Back to the stores’ main office …]
• Me: Okay Tami, I’m ready to order.
• Tami: Oh, I don’t know how to do orders. You’re going to have to talk to Kari.
[A few minutes later …]
• Kari: Hi, were you the one Matt was helping?
• Me: Yes. He showed me some flagstone and said to tell you that it was “Canadian Blue” flagstone at $225 per ton.
• Kari: Was it the pallet out there?
• Me: Yes.
• Kari: Oh. That’s not Canadian Blue. That’s something different. We’ll have to go back out there and check it.
[We go back outside, look at the pavers, and then head back to the store office …]
• Kari: Okay. Those are Canadian Blue “Wall Pavers”.
• Me: Great. What does that mean?
• Kari: That means they’re probably at a different price.
• Me: Okay, can you check on what the new price will be?
• Kari: Uhhmmm, ya. I’ll have to ask my boss and call you back.
• Me: But I’m here right now and am ready to place an order. Can you ask him?
• Kari: No. Here’s not here. He’s at the Tigers game.
• Me: Okay, is there another way to check?
• Kari: Well … I could go in his office and check the price list.
• Me: Alright, how about you do that and tell me what it is.
[Kari disappears into the back]
• Kari: Okay, it turns out they’re cheaper. They’re at $175 per ton.
• Me: Wow, that’s great! I’ll take them. Do you accept American Express?
• Kari: No, sorry.
• Me: Okay … how about Visa?
Readers: Do you ever feel like it is impossible to buy something? Even with money in hand, people still give you every reason in the world that they CAN’T sell it to you? Is there a conspiracy I don’t know about?
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LOL. Soooo unbelievable how some companies stay in business with that kind of service.
Can I just say you’re a very patient person! I try to be patient but I would have probably blown a gasket when Tami told you that she couldn’t do orders.
WorkSaveLive recently posted..Should I Sell My Wife’s Wedding Ring?
Thanks! I came pretty close to walking away. Darn if they didn’t have the best price!
A pretty sad customer experience! I bet they were all employees because if the owner was here you would have went through a totally different experience.
BeatingTheIndex recently posted..Canadian Interest Rates Forecast 2012
You’re absolutely right. It’s really hard for minimum wage employees to care.
Reading that made me want to SCREAM. I would have blown a fuse if I were in that situation, haha. I’ve had people act like that before – they must not work on commission!
Daisy @ Add Vodka recently posted..Start Off On The Right Foot: Tips for Interns (Or Newbies in General)
No, they certainly don’t! You can really tell when you go somewhere and the employees depend on the commission. It’s a completely different experience.
Too funny. Sounds like the employees just all wanted to slack off while the boss was away. Congrats on keeping your cool through all of this.
I don’t understand how people like that keep their jobs. It’s obviously a poorly run company. I suspect they don’t deal with a lot of individual customers but instead deal with regular landscaping companies. They must be in the habit of just putting stuff off.
Modest Money recently posted..Mid April 2012 Blog Update
I also got that impression. Perhaps I was just small-potatoes to them.
That was really funny and you are correct, it happens a lot. Sometimes you find outstanding employees, but many times you get this could care less attitude. It’t not their business, what do they care. I’ve got to add this to my list of funny posts today
Tackling Our Debt recently posted..Friday’s Circle of Friends – Friday the 13th
Thanks for adding me to your mentions! I really appreciate it! I’m glad you liked it.
[...] Why Is It So Hard To Buy Something? – My Money Design just posted this very funny post this morning about his conversation with a long list of people just so he could buy landscaping materials for his home. You have to read it! I don't want to spoil it. [...]
Yeah, that would annoy the crap out of me (figuratively, don’t worry…). I hope you messed with them a bit, too!
You know, something like:
I’m really sorry to do this, but can I put 63% on this card, 36% on another card and pay 1% cash? It’s for tax purposes. (AND THEN WAIT! I’ve used that one before… it’s pretty fun watching the wheels turn…)
Nick recently posted..Five ways to encourage kids to save
Why didn’t I think of this!? That would have been hilarious! I think at the time I just wanted it to be over.
Haha they obviously don’t work on commission. Sounds like the rules they have to work with are bordering on silly, too. Or they at least should realize they don’t need to recite them to the customer. I tend to only run into this at silly places like drug stores and grocery marts.
femmefrugality recently posted..How to Earn a Free Bike
Oh yes, there are plenty of other offenders. Basically if you have all minimum wage employees working for you, then this is what you get. A little commission or incentive goes a long ways to motivate employees.
Hilarious! Yea, they definitely don’t work on commission. ^^^THIS is why old people are grumpy!! I can just tell by the story that they’re all little brats.
Michelle recently posted..A New Bike
They were all teenagers – and most teenagers just don’t care …
That is hilarious. They must have zero connection to how well the company does.
Invest It Wisely recently posted..What Do You Lose when You Decide to Stop Working for the Man?
Absolutely! Unless the company’s bottom line somehow affects you directly (through bonus or commission), then this is basically the kind of service you’re going to get. There’s just no real incentive.
I can not believe how calm you were. I would have been so annoyed. I wonder what “the boss” would say if he read that?
Dannielle @ Odd Cents recently posted..Comment on Frugal Living For Life by Tom
Ha, I bet the boss wouldn’t trust his business to be left alone while he was at the ball game anymore!
Wow! …and I thought my story was bad with Sprint. At least mine had a punchline. Yours would have just made me come unglued.
AverageJoe recently posted..Sprint Teaches Me Geography
Thanks. Yeah, there’s no witty punch line. But for fun I had originally thought to write this story and highlight each instance where there was some resistance to selling to me. I bet there’s probably at least a dozen in there. BTW – I loved your Sprint story!
It’s night and day when you go to a business where you’re actually dealing with the owner! After dealing with those kinds of places, or shopping on amazon, it makes experiences like yours *really* painful.
Preciously the reason I order everything online if possible. My computer is a lot more friendly.
Have to tell ya, I do the odd mystery shop and often it seems on those occasions nobody wants to help me! Yet when I’m just browsing I get swarmed by sales people…
eemusings recently posted..How to reclaim your work mojo
Ha! It’s funny how that works out! Welcome to the site!
Wow really, I’ve never had to jump through this many hoops to hand over my money. It was probably close to closing time and you making an order like that would have kept them there longer. Besides, most of these people are probably making something near minimum wage, so can you expect any less?
Mike@ Investing in Silver recently posted..Identifying Fake Silver
It seems contradictory, doesn’t it? But you’re right. We can’t be surprise when minimum wage turns out to deliver minimum wage service.
Yes, they were obviously not on commission basis. But even then, they should have at least been trained how to deal with customers the right way. Anyway thanks for sharing the story in a very entertaining way. You’re so cool and patient!
Marissa@ 2nd Skies Forex recently posted..Forex Price Action Setups (NY Close) May 9th
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