"WOW, You are actually too stupid to take my money"
I know it has always been my opinion that we are getting dumber as a society, but this week I even noticed that the way we run our businesses isnt immune to this disaster.
I went in to ATT this week because Im really interested in the new Blackberry. Now up to this point, I have never needed a phone that did more than send and recieve calls and texts. I havent seen the point in waiting in line for 5 hours for a fucking iphone. Plus the fact that without fail, everytime a new iphone comes out, we find out that there is some kind of flaw in the design. The face was glass so if you dropped it, you were screwed. The power supply was faulty and kept setting people's houses on fire(No wait, that was the Xbox 360)
On this last edition, there was something wrong with the antenna, so it wouldnt get a good signal, but it would still tell you that it was getting a good signal. So I havent seen much benefit in rushing out to get an iphone. But the new Blackberry got my attention so I went in to get some more information.
The sales guy at the store looks up my account info and tells me that Im not eligible for an upgrade for 9 months. Which basically means that unless I want to pay the full price of $500 for this phone, I cant buy it until May. So I politely asked this fucking retard,"So what youre saying is that if I am willing to give you money right now, you will be unwilling to take my money because I have 9 months left on my contract?"
This question puzzled him. Let me explain something to you folks. Now granted, Ive only been doing sales, off and on, for the past 10 years---but making your customers jump through flaming hoops to buy your product is a stupid fucking idea. I know ATT wants to lock me into a 2 year contract, thats fine. Is there anything on God's green earth preventing you from signing me to a new fucking contract and starting my 2 years over again? Im obviously not going anywhere, and not only am I NOT going anywhere, IM WILLING TO GIVE YOU MORE OF MY MONEY WHILE IM HERE!!! But because you have rules that make no fucking sense, you are making it very difficult for you to take my money.
Oh, and FYI-- I went on the website and talked to a customer service rep. She was a sweetheart and told me that Im eligible for an upgrade at the end of Oct. Moral of this story--fuck the store, buy everything on the website. Which is a great message to send if you dont want to keep your stores open.
Oh wait.... we're still going.
Sarah and I were at Best Buy yesterday. Sarah was looking for a specific Natalie Portman movie and I was going to get a new ipod because mine is about to take a shit on me. They didnt have Sarah's movie and she was told to check their website or try Amazon.com.
OK, hold on. I just got a stabbing pain behind my ear. Its the little rage gremlin that lives in my head and he is kicking my skull because he is trying to get out.
This is a classic case of minimum wage = minimum effort. If you encourage me to go to your website(or someone else's website) then that cuts down the need for me to come into your store ever again. If I am being told that its easier to get what I want from the website than walk into your store, please explain why I would ever walk into your store again? AND CHEAPER, Did I mention the fact that getting shit off of your website is actually cheaper than getting it from your store? I know with S&H, it probably ends up being the same price, but that is the website's attempt to get me to spend money there.(see, because they actually want my business)
The correct response would be,"Im sorry but we dont have that movie in stock, would you like to order it for you?". I dont need my ass kissed but at least show me that shopping in your store is a good thing. Plus, if you order the movie I want, and I have to come back into your store to get it, I might see something else I want when I come back, which equals more money that your store makes. What a novel fucking concept.
And the ipod? Yeah, none in stock. Which happens, Im fine with that. but again, the responsethat I get is,"we get our shipments on monday and wednesday. You can come back then or call and we can set one aside for you." Why wouldnt you take down my information and call me when you get them back in stock? See, because Im a lazy fucker. And as we have already established, going on the website in both cheaper and easier, and now thats one less sale that your store gets at the end of the day.
Here is the final lesson for anyone in sales or in retail. Dont make yourself obsolete. If your employer finds out that they dont need you, THEY STOP PAYING YOU!!!! Like I said earlier, I have done sales off and on for 10 years. Do you know what happened when I treated my customers like I didnt need them? The fired my ass!!!!
I know it has always been my opinion that we are getting dumber as a society, but this week I even noticed that the way we run our businesses isnt immune to this disaster.
I went in to ATT this week because Im really interested in the new Blackberry. Now up to this point, I have never needed a phone that did more than send and recieve calls and texts. I havent seen the point in waiting in line for 5 hours for a fucking iphone. Plus the fact that without fail, everytime a new iphone comes out, we find out that there is some kind of flaw in the design. The face was glass so if you dropped it, you were screwed. The power supply was faulty and kept setting people's houses on fire(No wait, that was the Xbox 360)
On this last edition, there was something wrong with the antenna, so it wouldnt get a good signal, but it would still tell you that it was getting a good signal. So I havent seen much benefit in rushing out to get an iphone. But the new Blackberry got my attention so I went in to get some more information.
The sales guy at the store looks up my account info and tells me that Im not eligible for an upgrade for 9 months. Which basically means that unless I want to pay the full price of $500 for this phone, I cant buy it until May. So I politely asked this fucking retard,"So what youre saying is that if I am willing to give you money right now, you will be unwilling to take my money because I have 9 months left on my contract?"
This question puzzled him. Let me explain something to you folks. Now granted, Ive only been doing sales, off and on, for the past 10 years---but making your customers jump through flaming hoops to buy your product is a stupid fucking idea. I know ATT wants to lock me into a 2 year contract, thats fine. Is there anything on God's green earth preventing you from signing me to a new fucking contract and starting my 2 years over again? Im obviously not going anywhere, and not only am I NOT going anywhere, IM WILLING TO GIVE YOU MORE OF MY MONEY WHILE IM HERE!!! But because you have rules that make no fucking sense, you are making it very difficult for you to take my money.
Oh, and FYI-- I went on the website and talked to a customer service rep. She was a sweetheart and told me that Im eligible for an upgrade at the end of Oct. Moral of this story--fuck the store, buy everything on the website. Which is a great message to send if you dont want to keep your stores open.
Oh wait.... we're still going.
Sarah and I were at Best Buy yesterday. Sarah was looking for a specific Natalie Portman movie and I was going to get a new ipod because mine is about to take a shit on me. They didnt have Sarah's movie and she was told to check their website or try Amazon.com.
OK, hold on. I just got a stabbing pain behind my ear. Its the little rage gremlin that lives in my head and he is kicking my skull because he is trying to get out.
This is a classic case of minimum wage = minimum effort. If you encourage me to go to your website(or someone else's website) then that cuts down the need for me to come into your store ever again. If I am being told that its easier to get what I want from the website than walk into your store, please explain why I would ever walk into your store again? AND CHEAPER, Did I mention the fact that getting shit off of your website is actually cheaper than getting it from your store? I know with S&H, it probably ends up being the same price, but that is the website's attempt to get me to spend money there.(see, because they actually want my business)
The correct response would be,"Im sorry but we dont have that movie in stock, would you like to order it for you?". I dont need my ass kissed but at least show me that shopping in your store is a good thing. Plus, if you order the movie I want, and I have to come back into your store to get it, I might see something else I want when I come back, which equals more money that your store makes. What a novel fucking concept.
And the ipod? Yeah, none in stock. Which happens, Im fine with that. but again, the responsethat I get is,"we get our shipments on monday and wednesday. You can come back then or call and we can set one aside for you." Why wouldnt you take down my information and call me when you get them back in stock? See, because Im a lazy fucker. And as we have already established, going on the website in both cheaper and easier, and now thats one less sale that your store gets at the end of the day.
Here is the final lesson for anyone in sales or in retail. Dont make yourself obsolete. If your employer finds out that they dont need you, THEY STOP PAYING YOU!!!! Like I said earlier, I have done sales off and on for 10 years. Do you know what happened when I treated my customers like I didnt need them? The fired my ass!!!!
*hugs*