Liar, liar!

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by gman863, May 3, 2012.

  1. gman863

    gman863 MajorGeek

    "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."
    -- Judge Judy​

    I've been in electronics sales, management and service for over 15 years. Although I've always tried to be honest with customers, I've had to deal with other associates who got caught lying about a product or service such as an extended warranty in an attempt to make a sale at the expense of screwing a customer.

    Now that I own my own store and purchase for resale, I guess I'm becoming more intolerant of lies. The experience I had tonight took the cake:

    I went to Fry's in SW Houston to pick up an i3 notebook PC (4GB RAM, HDMI, 500GB HDD) that was on sale for $377 (less than what my wholesaler charges). When I handed the salesperson the ad and showed him the one I wanted, the response was...

    "Are you sure you want that one? We also have this one (points to other model) with more features and at a lower price."

    A Celeron CPU, only 2GB RAM, smaller 320GB HDD and no HDMI for $369.

    WTF???

    Although I was livid inside over this guy's sales tactics, I smiled and simply stated I wanted the model in the ad. He hemmed, hawed and finally, after about 2 minutes of "I'm not sure this is in stock" wrote up the order (Yes, it was in stock. I'd checked availability at Frys.com before driving out there).

    Having worked at Fry's a few years ago, I know how the system works: Sales commissions are lower on sale items; items that are borderline obsolete have extra commissions (a.k.a. "Push Money") to get rid of them.

    I'm debating if I should send a comment card to Fry's over this. Although I was able to see through this guy's b*lls**t in a heart beat, I wonder how many ignorant customers he's scammed with this line.

    In the future, should I call out salespeople who are this dishonest or shrug it off? I'd also like to hear from others about the worst (or funniest) lies they've been told by a dishonest salesperson.
     
  2. Phantom

    Phantom Brigadier Britches

    Which is why, if that B.S. happens to me, I insist on another sales rep. to serve me, (and get commission). And if he starts too, I go elsewhere, to a place that pays staff wages - and see how no one give a crap about serving me at all roflmao.
     
  3. sibeer

    sibeer MajorGeek

    I would just embarrass him by explaining the differences between the two units and why the one for more money is a better deal. Anyone who opts for the cheap one at a savings of eight bucks isn't going to notice the difference.
     
  4. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    If I saw a salesperson do what you described in your post, to a customer who doesn't know better, I would wait for a good opportunity, then go over to the customer and politely explain why the first computer is considerably better, will last longer and more than worth the money. Stupid people deserve to be ripped off, ignorant people do not.

    Since you asked for stories, here is one of mine. It's actually my only story from situations like these, since I normally avoid the sales people in the stores I go to, whether they are busy or not. :)

    I walked into one of those small 1-2 person owned local computer parts stores in town to check it out, since it had just opened. I overheard the person working there try to sell a used 320GB hard drive to their customer, for more than what brand new ones sell for online. The customer very clearly knew nothing about the hard drive market and trusted the sales person when he told her this was a great deal, especially with the 90-day warranty the store offered for an extra $10, despite this being a refurbished product.

    Since I thought the sales person was condescending, I didn't bother being polite. I walked up to the conversation in question and ignored the sales guy entirely as I addressed the customer and informed her that she could buy a brand new drive of much higher capacity on Amazon for a lot less than what this guy was asking, and new drives come with free years-long warranties from their manufacturers.

    The sales guy looked like he wanted to hit me (I gave him my very best super-sweet prom queen smile), and the customer looked like she wanted to hit him. Then she asked if I would mind suggesting a good honest shop that could help her install the new drive after she got it from Amazon. I gave her the names of a couple of local shops I've dealt with and got good impressions from, and she seemed to really appreciate my interruption, although I did apologize for butting in so rudely. She was very nice, now that I think about it. I think she liked me. :)
     
  5. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Honestly, I'm shocked you didn't. I gotta go with Mimsy on this one. The person was just downright dishonest and I'd probably have made the effort to go to another salesperson to give them the sale.



    That's awesome, Mims. :)


    I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get ripped off with computers, but I feel like that woman every time I take my car in for service. I'm convinced they are all lying to me when they say I need something. I hate it that I wouldn't know the difference.
     
  6. hrlow2

    hrlow2 MajorGeek

    Was at a Circuit City once. (hang head in shame)
    Heard salesman trying to get a customer to purchase an item different from what she wanted. Said they didn't carry the brand the customer wanted.
    I was about 8 feet away so I could hear every word.
    Went to a PC that was running for customers to try out and opened several tabs. 1 for what the customer wanted, 1 for what the salesman was pushing.
    Page 3 went to the Circuit City page and I checked on availability of the customers choice.
    Showed that it WAS carried by CC and WAS in stock at that very store.
    Called the customer over and showed the results of the comparison to her and explained about the differences. (With the salesman behind her looking fit to strangle me).
    Customer then proceeded, in a loud, carrying voice, call for a manager and DEMANDED the item she had come for after showing him the tabs on the computer.
    I waited around and she did get what she wanted and as a side benefit, got to see the salesman get the riot act read to him by the manager, who didn't believe that customers should be done that way.
     
  7. Ken3

    Ken3 MajorGeek

    Hrlow - no need to hang your head in shame. You were a god-send for the customer. :)
     
  8. cabbiinc

    cabbiinc Staff Sergeant

    My daughters phone crapped out on her and she needed a replacement. It's just a cheap GoPhone that we put our Sim Card in. We didn't want to buy a phone that would reup our contract because I'm ready to switch carriers and we're not to far from being able to do that. So my daughter went online and found a $10 phone at Radio Shack, and it was in stock at the store she picked. So we drove down there and the manager comes over as mr. salesman.
    "Can I help you find anything?"
    --'Yeah thanks, we want this ten dollar phone right here'
    "Oh you don't want that, that's pay as you go"
    --'Yeah we know, we're just going to replace this broken one with that one'
    "Are you sure I can't interest you into another model?"
    --'No, just this one thanks'
    and it went on from there until.....
    --'WE WANT THE TEN DOLLAR PHONE!!'
    "We don't have that one in stock"
    --'What do you mean, it's right here on the hook you just need to unlock the hook'
    "Oh that's just a display, there's no guts"
    --'You have a blister pack display? And it's directly located underneath the shelf display?'
    "Yeah, that's how corporate does it, can I interest you in this ($25) phone?"
    -- *sigh* 'Can you check to see if any other stores in the area have the $10 phone?'
    "Well you can go onto our website..."
    -- 'Well your website says that this one right here on the hook is an actual item and not a display at this very location'
    "Oh... uh.... let me check some other stores for you."
    --'While you're at it give them a call and verify it's there'
    5 minutes later...
    "OK, the one on 72nd says they have 2."

    drive to 72nd part steaming part laughing that I caught them. With daughter acting humiliated...

    "Hi, how can we help you today"
    --'Yeah we're looking for this $10 phone right here on the hook'
    "Oh, we don't actually carry that anymore, it's just a display model until corporate decides to free up that space for something else....."
    --'Oh really? That's not what the manager on Bridgeport said. :tas GET ME THIS PHONE RIGHT HERE!!!':tas

    Miraculously there was one hiding in the back where nobody knew about it.
     
  9. Phantom

    Phantom Brigadier Britches

    I get that sort of thing fairly regularly. I decided that I needed another telephone extension in my house a while back. I know it was just a matter of plugging in a phone line double adapter and I'm good to go. Total cost is about five dollars - tops. So I went into the local Telstsra shop, (my first mistake) and tried to buy the item that I knew damn well would do the job.
    So the salesgirl decided that I look stupid or something and tried to tell me that they don't sell phone line double adapters and that the are dangerous and that I'd have to arrange for one of the Telstra Technicians to put in an extra outlet, (at a cost of about $350.00, plus buying a new handset for another $150.00 rolleyes). I asked her, well firstly how is putting a double adapter on a 14v phone-line voltage socket dangerous, especially as I have been doing this for the last 25 years and, yup - I'm still alive. And secondly, if you "don't stock them", I'll just go to K-Mart and buy the thing for $2.50. Thirdly, I can plainly see the double adapters hanging up.
    The response was predictable. "Oh those adapters don't work, you'll have to arrange for an extension outlet and handset. I said"firstly, I have a spare handset, which is why I want the double adapter. in the first place. Secondly the double adapters clearly state that they are 'Telstra safety approved', (pointed to that on the packet). Thirdly, you clearly do have the said item in stock. Fourthly, you obviously have no clue as to what I am talking about re: line-voltages, yet you work at a Telstra shop.
    After that bollocking, she decides, rather than admit she was trying to B.S. me, she would go off and supposedly ask the senior sales rep. After which point she just proceeded to start B.S.'ing to another customer and ignoring me. Obviously hoping I was going to just go away.rolleyes
    So I go go up to her and deliberately rudely say in front of the next 'victim' "I thought that you were supposed to be serving me and finding out what you were talking about". I gave her a lecture on piddly-poor sales service and if you don't know what you are doing and don't want to serve people with what they clearly ask for, why are you working in a phone shop?
    So, obviously pissed off, she decides she's going to actually serve me and get rid of me before any more customers leave without buying anything because of me, (well it was because of her, actually). So I wait util she rings up the sale and then said "I've changed my mind, I'm going to K-Mart and buying the item and at half the cost, b.t.w."
    Well, if looks could kill, they certainly would and the face went pretty red.
    As a follow up, I went back to the same store a week later and found out that the stoopid girl had been 'replaced' by someone else. ~ Mission Accomplished! - LoL!;)
     
    Last edited: May 4, 2012
  10. Sgt. Tibbs

    Sgt. Tibbs Ultra Geek

    Only once, and I must admit I did something of a happy dance when CompUSA went out of business not very long afterward.

    When I was new to computers (like, stupid new, I barely knew how to turn one on), I bought a laptop. Which of course needed some kind of office software. Since my office used MS Office, that's what I wanted. My laptop came with the trial, but that was it (of course). Off to CompUSA I go.

    The guy waiting on me tells me I can't just buy the MS Office upgrade, since I don't already have it installed (in retrospect, I think...WTF was the trial software, then?). So my options are to buy MS Office at about $350.00 rather than the upgrade at about $120.00 OR MS Works at about $125.00 with the MS Office upgrade at $120.00. Well, duh...I went with the second option and "saved" myself some money.

    Have you ever had the great misfortune to have to use MS Works, even if only in passing? Good god. It's got more bloatware and stupidity than Norton Antivirus, I swear. That laptop was NEVER right until I had to reformat the hard drive and start from scratch. At which point I simply installed the MS Office upgrade, left MS Works in the jewel case, and went on with my life. Funny how that worked perfectly.

    If I only knew then what I know now... rolleyes
     
  11. gman863

    gman863 MajorGeek

    If it had not been 10 minutes before closing (and taking five minutes just to find any salesperson to wait on me), I would have demanded to speak to with either the department manager or PIC (Person In Charge/Store Mgr. on duty).

    I am going to send in the "direct connect" comment card along with a copy of my sales receipt identifying the scammer salesperson. Allegedly, Randy Fry reads each one. We'll see...
     
  12. Buck_nekid

    Buck_nekid Specialist

    This is the retail world. Not saying it won't do any good but the salesman was probably just doing what corporate trained him to do. My story: I wanted to earn some extra money and when a nationwide auto parts chain advertised for a part time weekend opening. This was great, weekend hours, zero physical labor and well I used to be a mechanic. While going through training online which is just basic sales tactics it became very clear that anyone working there needs ZERO automotive knowledge and only needs to push as many parts on the customer as they can. This became cemented in stone when I actually started working. A person comes in for front brake pads, sell them rotors, calipers, caliper brackets, wheel bearings and anything else even remotely related to the job. You know how parts stores will scan you car for free when the check engine light is on? Not because they are nice, because they are going to sell you everything that could cause that code to appear. Say you get a P0401, a EGR flow code. there is MANY things that can cause the code. Well they want me to sell the person a EGR valve, the EGR tube, and any vacuum solenoids in the circuit. Then when this doesn't fix the problem? Oh well, we got your money and once those parts are bolted on they are non returnable. I mentioned to the manager the saying, "do a person right, one person hears about it, do a person wrong, 100 people hear about." That isn't policy, get their money today, don't worry about what they 'might' spend tomorrow. You also get incentive pay to push one brand over another.
    I don't foresee myself being there very long as I'm already being asked why I am whispering to the customers or why I'm talking to them for so long while I am reading their codes.
    Oh well, retail isn't for me.
     
  13. gman863

    gman863 MajorGeek

    I feel for you - been there; done that, had to end up whispering to customers myself at times.

    Every big box electronics store trains and judges salespeople heavily on selling add-ons - extended warranties, grossly overpriced Monster Cables, a $70 copy of Norton, etc. Even at stores that have non-commission (hourly) salespeople such as Best Buy, the sales staff is expected to put a full court press on every customer to buy high-profit add-ons - if you don't hit the percentages, you get "counseled" and eventually fired.

    As for auto parts, I usually go to O'Reilly. I can go in and get what I need without getting slammed into buying stuff I don't.
     
  14. sibeer

    sibeer MajorGeek

    I didn't know parts stores did free scans, they're probably not liking you actually helping people out.
    Probably a DPFE will fix up that P0401;).
     
  15. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    I noticed that in the O'Reilly near my house. They had half a dozen people on duty on the floor, one of them asked me if I needed help finding what I was looking for and I told him if I can't find it I'll let him know. They went back to discussing the NFL playoffs and left me alone until it was time to check out.

    Very nice store actually, easy to find stuff. I might have to go back there at some point.
     
  16. Buck_nekid

    Buck_nekid Specialist

    Yep, not liking it that I will explain to them that the code I get isn't pointing to the problem but rather that such and such sensor received bad data to help diagnose the real issue. I will always point the person down the road to trouble shooting the problem rather than throwing parts at it blindly. Never before working retail for a large corporation I know can see it happening in other places, people trying to sell me things I don't want or need.
     
  17. Nedlamar

    Nedlamar MajorGeek

    I'm with you 100% there gman, I work in sales but unlike other shoe stores, we don't work on commission, we get bonuses, but only small and most of us don't really care, I am constantly being told I need to record my numbers but most of the time I don't.
    The problem being is most people think we are on commission and many avoid us which puts us in an awkward predicament because the boss is insistent on us "Helping" every customer.
    I pride myself on knowledge and customer service and advice, I have never lied about a product, I even steer people away from products I think are poor quality, even when it's very low priced.
    I have however heard several other staff give incorrect info and outright lie to customers, the worst part is the worst one for it is the boss.
    One example is Waterproofing, to me that means you can stand in water up to the highest stitch point on the footwear (usually half way up the tongue and level with the ankle) for as long as you wish and stay dry.
    Rubber boots, Gore-tex etc, straight up oiled leather is "Weatherproof", will withstand rain to some degree and dew etc, but if you walk into water it will leak, so it's not waterproof. I have heard several products be sold as "Waterproof" when they are just leather. I will frequently step in and mention that the waterproof is more like water resistant. Had arguments about it with staff, even contacted he manufacturer direct for conformation.
    Structure and support is another one, people will just be like "Oh yeah it's got great arch support" and I'm watching someone walk on the outside of their feet, great arch yes.... suited to that foot? no.... so I will step in and suggest something else "Just to try for comparison"

    It bugs me, it really does.

    When I'm the customer and I know the products, like should I go to a different shoe store or PC place. I love going to PC places and get jumped on by staff, I love letting them try to convince me to buy something, if the person is obviously honest and knowledgeable then I will not waste their time, but if I'm clearly dealing with a 1980's Used car salesman , I will have some fun.
    One time I had a guy at Future Shop try to sell me a laptop when I had already told him I'm not buying today, just came in for a look. He tailed me trying to entice me into things, annoyed me a bit and then proceded to tell me about this laptop with Vista and 2GB ram, with 320hd and a 512mb gpu. I smiled and said that it's not high enough spec and I don't want vista (XP was still available) because of how much resources it uses.
    He then attempted to explain to me that this machine would........ wait for it....... "Run Crysis maxed out at 30FPS"
    Seriously? That is just an outright lie, period, there is no way on godsgreen earth a machine like that would run Crysis on medium, let alone maxed out. I laughed at him and schooled him. He left me alone after that, funny thing about it was, about a month later I was in the Brick (furniture store) and he was explaining to someone how a $900 TV would be "Upgradable to the next level of HD which he's heard is going to be 1280i"
    I'm not kidding, it was about 4 years ago, the TV he was talking about was a 720p.

    This was outrageous, I wanted to say something but couldn't bring myself to it, I did notice the customer end up buying a different TV which I was please about although he probably told them that one was capable of time travel :-D

    Rambled :-D
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2012
  18. Phantom

    Phantom Brigadier Britches

    My philosophy is - provide the customers with what they want, with service second to none and reasonable prices. If you apply those criteria, then you don't have to B.S. about anything. The business and repeat business takes care of itself. And you can actually look at yourself in the mirror each morning, and like what you see. That's why I never need to advertise, and get more offers of work than I can ever handle. It's a no-brainier as far as I'm concerned.
    Business ISN'T just about ripping people off for money, it's about providing a valuable set of services and in return, the clients/customers will look after you with their business. Not getting enough business? - well then you need to look at what you're doing wrong with your business practices. Selling crap goods that the customer doesn't want, piddly-poor service, or being rude ignorant/arrogant is not the way forward. Those business' deserve to go under, and good riddance.
     
  19. BILLMCC66

    BILLMCC66 Bionic Belgian

    Unfortunately in today's world of greed it is no longer "the customer is always right" but "take em for all you can", i am pretty savvy when it comes to hardware and when i go into a store i usually have done my research to decide on the exact product i am looking for.
    The store i use most for parts is a owner operated store and although it is not always the cheapest the service is excellent and if there is any sort of problem with the product you are guaranteed the attention of the owner to get it sorted.
    We needed a new TV last year and as usual i researched on the internet for what i wanted and also where i could get it at the best price, we went to one of the multi national stores and got a young sales person who really did not know what he was talking about so continued to dig a big hole for himself by trying to sell me a TV that was $300 more than the one i wanted ($1200) with spec that was lower than the TV i chose,no doubt he had been told by the boss to push this TV because it was old stock and had been superseded by newer technology and despite me telling him i was not going to buy that model he would not give up until i left the store without it and going to a competitor who because i had cash in my pocket gave me a better deal so the young guy lost a good sale through his persistence.
     
  20. Fred_G

    Fred_G Heat packin' geek

    OT a bit.

    I saw O'Reilly Auto Parts mentioned. I buy all my auto parts from them unless it is a dealer part. Been using them for years. Years ago, my old truck had a brake light bulb that went out. Oreilly place spent about half an hour helping me find a way to rig it up so I would have brake lights. Wound up selling me a $1 bulb that was for an AMC car. Worked. Not long ago, I bought windshield wipers. I was having trouble getting them on. The lady that sold them to me came outside in the rain and put them on for me..

    They have never tried to upsale me, on anything. If I buy 4 quarts of oil, they may ask if I have an oil filter, but that is not really pushing anything.

    O'Rielly gets a 5* rating from Fred_G. :-D
     
  21. Triaxx2

    Triaxx2 MajorGeek

    One of the reasons I always go to smaller mechanics rather than dealers, or large 'chain' mechanics. Found one who not only is good at it, but is willing to explain why he says to go with the more expensive ones. He'll still install the 'cheaper' parts, but he'll point out you'll just be back.

    Me, I don't even wait to break into a conversation if the salesman is screwing a customer. If he's being polite, I'll start openly comparing the two computers. If he's not, I'll just break in with a made up story of the computer he's hawking busting after a couple of days.

    I am not a big fan of subtlety if you notice.
     
  22. WobblesRArt

    WobblesRArt MajorGeek

    When the last computer died, made up my mind, to build my own. We had an old laptop computer that was old and slow....did all my online research, knew which places were getting my money.

    Went to Best-Buy, just to look....went to Sam's Club, and found what they called their " half penny" sale....it's what I have today. spec's are HP Pavilion, AMD Athlon 64 X2, Dual-Core Processor 5200+, 3 G of memory, 500GB hard drive, 15 in 1 card reader (which I just used last week, computer is five years old, battery in camera was dead, reader work just fine), computer came with on board graphics, but I've upgraded, DVD LightScribe SuperMulti Drive / CD Writer, wireless mouse and keyboard, and some other of the bells and whistles like front side usb's and others.

    That's what Best Buy had for $1300, went to Sam's and they added a HP w2207h HDMI for the same price....only thing I didn't get was the Vista Home Premiun.

    I've look online for this computer, and it was built just for Sam's Club....the one at best buy has a different motherboard. the computer has worked fine, so I still haven't built a computer from scratch.....wobbles
     
  23. CatT

    CatT I can't follow the rules

    i come from a certain ex-commie empire where it was common for storekeepers to say "sorry, that's out of stock" while you were holding one up.

    as in:

    "i'd like one of these."
    "sorry, all out. come back tomorrow."
    "no, this here. this. i want to buy this."
    "oh, that? yeah, we have that, no problem. come back tomorrow!"

    rolleyes
     

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