On 2008-12-09, chrisv <chrisv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> claimed:
> In <03r216-gri.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> you wrote:
>
>>How do you punish a salespuke who has zero idea about how things work?
>>If he's repeating what he's been told, or what he has been led to
>>believe by other clueless people, can you really hold him responsible?
>
> I'd rather checkmate the king, rather than go-after the pawns...
>
> I admit it's a sticky issue. I think complaining to management would
> not work, either. What then? I do not know. I just know that it
> pisses me off that so many are getting ripped-off by this scam.
>
> Even "cheap" stores like Target and Wal-Mart are getting-in on the
> act. They figure that if a 'Monster' HDMI cable costs $70, they can
> sell a generic (maybe cable for $40 and their customers will think
> that they are getting a deal by shopping with them! They *smile* as
> they they get fscked for $40 on a cable which should be $10!
I prefer to tell people they're getting screwed and offer ideas about
where they can get a better deal. I've pissed off more than one sales
person like that, but the customers were mostly grateful.
Part of the problem is one of convenience (and laziness, too). People
sometimes know they can get better prices elsewhere, and they still
grab the item that's near at hand rather than go across the street to
pay 1/3 less. Grocery stores make a lot of money off of deodorants and
toothpaste like that. In cases like that, the retailer isn't lying
about quality. But they certainly know they're charging more than
others. But they also know that a number of people will grab the
convenient item.
Sure, you can get audio components one place, get TVs in another, get
cables elsewhere, and so on. You can do that and save money. But people
like to walk out with everything they need. And that puts them in a
position to believe whatever the sales people tell them, even when it
doesn't pass the logical smell test.
But a big part of the problem is that people believe that the person
telling them about the item know what they're talking about. So they
get talked into things that don't make sense. I've made corrections in
more than one situation and left the employee short on words when they
find that what they thought they knew was wrong. I've also had to do
battle with a few that were sure that what they were wrong about was
right.
--
The person who stands up and says, "This is stupid," either is asked to
`behave' or, worse, is greeted with a cheerful "Yes, we know! Isn't it
terrific!"
-- Frank Zappa
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