I Invite You to Judge
I just had the rudest customer in the shop, but it occurs to me that maybe other people think such behavior is acceptable. I appeal to you, O Wise Internet, Arbiter of All Etiquette. What do you think? There’s a poll down there on the right. Here’s the situation:I spent about fifteen minutes today with a woman who wanted to buy a special fancy lamp for doing embroidery work. (The bulb simulates daylight so you can see colours better.) After answering lots of questions, opening boxes, and actually plugging in lamps so she could check them out, she wanted to know the price. I told her our normal price was X, but that since our Christmas sale is on, she’d get it for Y (which was 20% less). She made a face. Her friend had a similar lamp, and she paid less than X. “Did she get it from us?” She did not. The customer wasn’t quite sure her friend had had the same lamp though, so I fired up the Internet to verify (on our own website) that this one was the right size. “Yep, that’s it,” I said, and I verified again that our price is definitely X. “What about the manufacturer’s website? Here’s the address. Go there,” she demanded, pointing at the box. “Uhhh…” I couldn’t think of an excuse not to. So I go there, and they show a recommended retail price of X – $15. Hardly surprising, given that we’re a specialty store in the middle of a major city, and everybody knows our markups are higher. “I’ll take 20% off THAT price,” she announces. “I’m sorry; that’s now how it works. Our sale price is off of our normal price.” (I should note that with the discount, Y was five bucks less than the RRP.) She still wasn’t happy. “But you’re higher than their price! I should get more of a discount. What else can you do for me?” EXCUSE ME? This isn’t Cairo. We don’t HAGGLE. We don’t price match. I calmly – and bemusedly – told her that Y was the price, and that’s that. She might very well be able to find it cheaper online, but we had them instock and she could take it home today. (Not to mention the fact that I’d given her better service than she would’ve gotten anywhere else.) She decided to put it on hold so she could “think about it”. I’m still a little annoyed. The Snook and I were talking about this recently, about people who seem to think they’re entitled to better treatment than anybody else. (Like: people who ask for complimentary upgrades, people who demand refunds without receipts, etc etc.) But then again, sometimes I wonder if those people are actually getting deals and I’m subsidising it because I’m a big polite SUCKER. What do you think?
just jussi
December 27, 2006 — 7:30 pm
don’t get me started…peope who walk 3 abreast on the footpath and won’t move out of your way, young men (and women) who charge ahead of the elderly when getting on buses (not that the elderly are any better, I got really cross once when a not so old man wouldn’t stnad up for a very elderly lady)people are generally ruder, and I don’t know why, maybe its just me getting old…
emma
December 27, 2006 — 8:07 pm
If I’m buying a major item (car, fridge, washing machine and dryer), I’ll research on-line, find out the best price and then toddle down to retailer and ask nicely “And what is your best price for cash?”
Note I’m talking about situations where I’m spending more than a grand, and I do my own research. (For instance, finding out the book value of a car, before I walk into the car dealership. Very helpful in negociating.)
Asking someone else to do my research is rude. Google exists for a reason. Also, I tend not to haggle on prices on small ticket items. Either the price is acceptable for me and I buy it, or it is not, and I don’t.
I sometimes ask if there’s a chance of a discount for a free, small add-on (for instance, a lazy kate, when I had just bought spinning wheel and a carry bag for same. Ashford brand, new items.) But in that instance, the retailer had already said that they’d cut me a deal.
Brittanie
December 27, 2006 — 8:12 pm
I can’t remember where, but I recently read a rant (maybe you linked to it) about how the idea of “The customer is always right” has totally f-ed up the mentality of people with regards to their feelings of entitlement and the way they treat people who serve them. The customer ISN’T always right — in fact, most the time the customer is completely f-ing retarded, which is why people like you get paid good money to answer their questions.
SlythErin
December 27, 2006 — 10:32 pm
I hate customers like that. I get them all the time. Today I had a man wanting 40% off a book that was already 35% off, despite all signs that said they were 40% off the RRP. As if we’re going to give him the book for 75% off! Honestly!
Kris
December 27, 2006 — 10:36 pm
Thanks for the backup, guys. (And Brittanie, you totally made me snort with “the customer is completely f-ing retarded…”) I guess I feel offended because by asking me for a deal, it’s like she was assuming that I’d already jacked the price up to cheat people. It’s a little insulting, like that we have such padding built into our margin that I can afford to give people special deals. (Hint: We don’t.) And we’re talking about a ninety dollar lamp, not a car.
You know what I wish I’d done? I wish I’d said, “Fine. For you, the price is now TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!” A few more Soup Nazis, and suddenly the entitled customers of the world would be feeling a little less secure. 🙂
stefanie
December 27, 2006 — 10:40 pm
I don’t think the asking itself is rude — you don’t ask, you don’t get! However, her method of asking was the rude part, and you’re perfectly within your rights to say ‘our price is our price, take it or leave it’.
As for your politeness subsidising others — unlikely. I think most retailers — unless they had a stated ‘matching’ policy [or were in said Cairo market stall!], would do what you did. So don’t worry – you’re not losing out!
Plus, being polite has its benefits. I was on a flight from Seattle to London that was cancelled. The woman in front of me ranted and raved about how much the airline should do for her, and how important she was… and she was told ‘come back later, we’ll find something’. I politely enquired when the next flight might be with space, and the next thing I knew I was in business class luxury on a flight leaving within the hour.
So – score polite: 1 / rude: 0
Tricia
December 28, 2006 — 4:07 am
I agree with stefanie. Asking for a discount isn’t rude; sounds like her attidude was. I rarely think to do ask for a better price, but every now and then I hear about people getting great deals in places I’d never expect (unfortunately I can’t think of an example right now).
Kris
December 28, 2006 — 7:50 am
But we were already on sale! I just don’t get on what basis she thought I should give her a discount. Sometimes people ask if we can give money off for people doing charity things, or because they’re senior citizens, etc. That I can understand. But to just say, “Hey, can I get some more off than everybody else?” is just weird. Nobody asks for random money off at the grocery store. Why should they do it in my store?
Bex
December 28, 2006 — 8:40 am
Argh – everyone thinks they are a special one-off case, and its heaps more prevelant here in Sydney. I worked at Lincraft and IKEA in Perth for years, and it still suprises me the things customers want the sales assistant to do for them over here in Sydney. You just wouldnt get it back in Perth.
But poll me ‘yes’ for the customer being rude and not all there. And congrats on handling her in a professional way.
Margo
December 28, 2006 — 10:27 am
I say her approach was obnoxious and you have every right to be steamed. I do think it’s ok to ask for a price-match, but not to ask the owner of the store to do your research for you and spend all that time doing your shopping for you and then haggle over $10 or so. Ridiculous, your service was worth that.
Now, if she came in with the web price in her hand knowing exactly what she wanted, wasted none of your time and said “I have this price and I’d like to buy it today if you can match it.” I’m all for that.
But to ask for your discount price on TOP of a lower web price? Um… hello — EARTH TO LADY!!!!!! Sheesh.
Rob
December 28, 2006 — 2:59 pm
She had every right to ask for a better price but based on her attitude she would be hard pressed to get one – even in a car yard. I’d say her opening (“I’m sure my friend paid less than that for one of these”) was great – I’ll have to remember that one. I ask all the time “Is that your best price” but don’t get extra deals very often (small specialty shops such as yours are typically haggle-friendly.) Anyway, a simple ‘sorry our prices are not negotiable’ should have ended it. Did she come back and buy it? Back in my retail days the lamp never would have made it to the hold shelf.
Kris
December 28, 2006 — 4:14 pm
It’s still sitting here. I don’t expect her to be back.
For the record, I did arrange for somebody to get an extra discount today. She was buying several meters of embroidery fabric which would normally be nearly $200. I got her a discount over and above the current sale price, mostly because A) she was nice and didn’t demand one, and B) somebody who does three-meter-long cross stitch pieces is somebody we want to court as a long-term customer. But a random who waltzes in and feels entitled to a bigger discount than everybody else? No way.
J Dazzle
December 28, 2006 — 4:24 pm
Well to address some of Kris’s comments, perhaps she’s a semi-frequent customer and so she figured she could get a discount simply by asking? Aside from that,the simple fact of the matter is that a lot of stores do price match but don’t advertise it. So oftentimes it’s a good thing to ask, so that you can receive. Another thing is that a lot of “privately owned” specialty shops do jack up prices before they have their sales. And like Rob said, small specialty shops are often haggle-friendly. I can’t speak for Rob but I’m talking about the way things run in the US. Can’t speak much on Aussie Land since I’ve never been.
missfee
December 28, 2006 — 5:51 pm
You know what Kris I worked in this little second hand/ vintage clothing shop and when people asked for a discount rudly I jacked up the price – you are not obliged to sell to the customer she has no right to buy but it is a transaction she agrees to hand over her cash and you agree to give her the item – it is not a one way street – you go girl and next time say that this item is now not discounted and will cost you 50% more than the marked price – she wont be back and do you want her to be?
Melinda
December 28, 2006 — 7:13 pm
I’m one in the ‘don’t get me started’ column. Worked at Disney World for about 7 yrs. The number of people who wanted you to bend the rules JUST FOR THEM astonished me. Not talking about things that were insignificant–but about severe safety issues. Too many yrs of dealing with the public–three cheers for remaining professional. I don’t think I could do it anymore.
Lara
December 28, 2006 — 9:22 pm
Tell ’em to buy the bloody thing online, she’ll get NO customer service, and if she has a problem afterwards, she won’t be able to come to complain to you. One thing I found – the more painful a customer is BEFORE the sale, multiply that by a factor of ten to see how painful they will be after they get the product home. Some people, it’s cheaper not to sell to 😉
You did the right thing, and your manners are impeccable. And your book is waiting for you at the shop – new copy hasn’t arrived yet, so I dropped yours off in the meantime. See you when I get back.
rdh
December 29, 2006 — 4:16 am
I work in customer service and have been called just about every name I can think of if I dont give the customer what they want reguardless of the fact they had a 1 year warranty and it has been expired for 2,3,4 years, somehow that fact dosent seem to matter. I had one demand I tell him what the problem was over the phone even though he was 500 miles away and cant describe the problem to me other than “it dosent look right” he simply wouldnt listen to reason and wouldnt give up so I turned the tables and asked him what he did for a living, “heating and a/c installations” he said so I told him my furnace was on the fritz (it wasnt) and if he could tell me what was wrong with it over the phone without looking at it I would be happy to do the same for him. He said he couldnt do that because he wasnt there to check it out, I said now you see my point but of course it didnt matter to him. Then there was the lady who wanted us to dispatch a helicopter to her RV site to pick her RV up so it could be taken in for service because she had planted bushes all around it and it couldnt be moved and she didnt want to pay for someone to come to her and fix it. She didnt like it when we told her we werent the coast guard and didnt have a fleet of helicopters sitting around just waiting on someone to call for assistance. I think somebody already said it but there are some customers who are just plain f-ing stupid.
rdh
December 29, 2006 — 4:17 am
sorry I didnt realize that was so big.
Kris
December 29, 2006 — 5:21 pm
STOP THE PRESSES! She just turned up to buy the lamp. Looks like she couldn’t find it cheaper after all… 🙂
Amy
December 30, 2006 — 10:01 am
I agree with Steph
Amy
December 30, 2006 — 10:25 am
you SOLD IT TO HER!!!!
I would’ve hid it in the back and told her some else bought it. Darn!
missfee
December 30, 2006 — 1:49 pm
Did you add 20% annoyance tax to the price?
hank
December 30, 2006 — 6:30 pm
I don’t think it’s special treatment to get a discount, you don’t know that other people aren’t getting discounts too? It’s all in how you go about it.
Whenever I buy a few things at once worth a fair bit I’ll ask for “a deal” (like when I bought my iPod plus another hundred bucks worth of accessories), and often it’s just a nominal discount, but it shows the retailer values you as a customer, and it usually means I’ll come back again.
Some things you should always negotiate (like Travel Insurance – the markup is often ludicrous!) You might be surprised at how much is negotiable even in Australia…
In the end it’s business, as a vendor you can choose to accommodate the customer’s demands if it’s worthwhile to you, and as a customer you can always accept a price or (theoretically) find another vendor.
Rudeness in business is bad form, but attempting to negotiate a price is not in itself rude or impolite. Like Rob said, just say no staight up if you can’t move on the price I guess.
Maybe it’s because I’m writing from Cambodia where everything’s negotiable 🙂
Anonymous
December 30, 2006 — 6:46 pm
Yep, agree with Hank. I don’t see anything wrong with asking for a discount (you can only try!), but rudeness is always a no no.
Kris
December 30, 2006 — 9:00 pm
I didn’t actually sell it to her. I just happened to come upstairs as Kathie was putting it into a bag for her. I was like, “Oh, you came back!” And she was like, “Yeah, I changed my mind.” I just smiled. And as soon as she left, I had a good chuckle over the fact that fifty-some people were voting on the Internet over whether she was a big, rude cheapskate with entitlement issues. 🙂