Salesmen
I loathe shopping - all kinds of shopping. But I especially hate shopping for something where the price tag is not fixed. I think it is because I can see the salesman who comes up to me seeing only dollar signs and the one who has sold me something thinking "What a mark!"
My wife decided that we needed to get a new roof. So a couple of weeks ago we had someone from Thomas Construction come to the house to give us an estimate on a new roof. The guy has nice enough and tried hard to interest in shingles, but we're easily distracted and really just wanted a price. And eventually we got one, but it was too high. Imagine. And so he offered a discount, but the price was too high. Imagine. And he offered us a discount if we'd put a sign on our lawn, but the price was still too high. Imagine. And so he called his boss to offer us a super special deal. And so on. Eventually he offered us something that we decided to accept. I don't think I'd have found this so annoying except that we had already gone through the same song and dance with Thomas when we had them put a deck on our house last year. It's not that we are not happy with their work, it's just let's cut through the crap. Start us on the sign on the lawn price and you can still call your boss for the extra special discount. We won't feel cheated if next time it doesn't take three hours.
My wife decided that we need an entertainment center. And a local furniture store was going out of business. So we decided to go and check it out. While we are wandering around we came across a piece that we liked. We were sitting there talking about it when a salesman came buy and asked if he could quote us a price on the piece. He punched a couple of numbers and pronounced a price - $825. And then he grabbed the flier that we had brought with us and signed his name to it and started walking away. "Umm, where are you going with our flier?" Later he came back and asked us if we wanted to buy it. I said we had a different figure in mind - $500. He openly scoffed and said "We paid $450 for it. How about $625?" Oh, I see. I'm giving you a profit, but not as much of a profit. And you want me to give you more profit - just give it to you. Do I look stupid?
My wife decided that she wanted a new car. So we went to the Dean Team VW dealer. We had Oliver with us and I wasn't interested in car shopping so I plunked Oliver in the stroller and went to the grocery store next door. I figured that Lisa would test drive a couple of cars and then we would be on our way. But when I got back Lisa was not around. So Oliver and I settled in and waited. And eventually Lisa came back and wanted me to check out this one car. I shrugged and Da Boys went to check out this particular ride - a BWM (wait for it) station wagon. I think Lisa was taken by the BWM part and not so taken by the station wagon part. She seemed interested so we started the haggling process. The salesman kept us there and kept trying to sell, Sell, SELL us this car. But the clock was ticking towards the start of Magic Night. Finally we made a low-ball offer and got ready to go. They kept trying to Sell us the car on our way out the door. Four hours later. It turns out that Lisa was not as taken as she seemed with this particular vehicle.
The last couple of days I've been shopping around to refinance our mortgage and loans into a single statement. I understand that you might want to display your best rates, but the whole process appears to be a giant game of bait and switch. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "This is our rate, but we'll beat everyone else's rate." Fine, then if you want my business why don't you offer me a lower rate? I'd be happy to put a sign in my yard and let you call your manager. I'll even give you a bit of profit IF YOU WOULD STOP WASTING MY TIME AND MAKE ME A DECENT INITIAL OFFER.
I don't think it's a wonder that the first two cars that I bought on my own were a Saturn and a Prius. There wasn't much bargaining involved with those. I don't think I'm incredibly shrewd or calculating. If I had to be, I'd be the world's worst salesman. I just lack the capability to bullshit people. And that certain knack for playing on people's ignorance and uncertainties for a profit. Nope, couldn't do it.
My wife decided that we needed to get a new roof. So a couple of weeks ago we had someone from Thomas Construction come to the house to give us an estimate on a new roof. The guy has nice enough and tried hard to interest in shingles, but we're easily distracted and really just wanted a price. And eventually we got one, but it was too high. Imagine. And so he offered a discount, but the price was too high. Imagine. And he offered us a discount if we'd put a sign on our lawn, but the price was still too high. Imagine. And so he called his boss to offer us a super special deal. And so on. Eventually he offered us something that we decided to accept. I don't think I'd have found this so annoying except that we had already gone through the same song and dance with Thomas when we had them put a deck on our house last year. It's not that we are not happy with their work, it's just let's cut through the crap. Start us on the sign on the lawn price and you can still call your boss for the extra special discount. We won't feel cheated if next time it doesn't take three hours.
My wife decided that we need an entertainment center. And a local furniture store was going out of business. So we decided to go and check it out. While we are wandering around we came across a piece that we liked. We were sitting there talking about it when a salesman came buy and asked if he could quote us a price on the piece. He punched a couple of numbers and pronounced a price - $825. And then he grabbed the flier that we had brought with us and signed his name to it and started walking away. "Umm, where are you going with our flier?" Later he came back and asked us if we wanted to buy it. I said we had a different figure in mind - $500. He openly scoffed and said "We paid $450 for it. How about $625?" Oh, I see. I'm giving you a profit, but not as much of a profit. And you want me to give you more profit - just give it to you. Do I look stupid?
My wife decided that she wanted a new car. So we went to the Dean Team VW dealer. We had Oliver with us and I wasn't interested in car shopping so I plunked Oliver in the stroller and went to the grocery store next door. I figured that Lisa would test drive a couple of cars and then we would be on our way. But when I got back Lisa was not around. So Oliver and I settled in and waited. And eventually Lisa came back and wanted me to check out this one car. I shrugged and Da Boys went to check out this particular ride - a BWM (wait for it) station wagon. I think Lisa was taken by the BWM part and not so taken by the station wagon part. She seemed interested so we started the haggling process. The salesman kept us there and kept trying to sell, Sell, SELL us this car. But the clock was ticking towards the start of Magic Night. Finally we made a low-ball offer and got ready to go. They kept trying to Sell us the car on our way out the door. Four hours later. It turns out that Lisa was not as taken as she seemed with this particular vehicle.
The last couple of days I've been shopping around to refinance our mortgage and loans into a single statement. I understand that you might want to display your best rates, but the whole process appears to be a giant game of bait and switch. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "This is our rate, but we'll beat everyone else's rate." Fine, then if you want my business why don't you offer me a lower rate? I'd be happy to put a sign in my yard and let you call your manager. I'll even give you a bit of profit IF YOU WOULD STOP WASTING MY TIME AND MAKE ME A DECENT INITIAL OFFER.
I don't think it's a wonder that the first two cars that I bought on my own were a Saturn and a Prius. There wasn't much bargaining involved with those. I don't think I'm incredibly shrewd or calculating. If I had to be, I'd be the world's worst salesman. I just lack the capability to bullshit people. And that certain knack for playing on people's ignorance and uncertainties for a profit. Nope, couldn't do it.
posted by mypetrock at 10:53 AM
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