Do I have a sign on my head?

[Rick Murchison]

Ok, this is the third time in a month that this has happend to me...

I go into a store wanting to buy/order something (different store each time and I am dressed casually). I am looking at the items and the sales clerk tells me it is expensive, mind you she/he doesn't tell me the price - just that it is expensive.

I look at something else, again the sales person says it's too expensive.

HELLO??? Can I be the judge of that? Does he/she know how much I have or what I am willing to spend? Not the right way to make a sale...

Venting over, thank you for listening.....

Me: "Oh? Just how much is it?"
Clerk: "$350.00"
Me: "You're right. It is a poorly crafted piece, only worth about $35. You guys really got taken. What else ya got?"

Rick

 

[baltimoron]

I get that a lot, but it doesn't bother me much anymore. I look pretty Middle Eastern, so I always get, "Oh, I have cousins in Lebanon… lovely culture." or "So, does everybody have to wear the towels?" I don't mind much. I mean, all I have to do is open my mouth and hey know I'm not from here, so I just take it as it comes. But I definately agree with you. They can just look at you can automatically think that you can't afford anything? *Sigh* It's just those people.

But the opposite also holds true, in my opinion. I don't like it when people go into a shop, look at the prices and complain about them. Buy it or don't, but don't make a scene.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Just stay in school, then, when you buy some overpriced piece of garbage, you can have the pleasure of giving them your credit card that says, "Dr. Grier the Diver" It also works wonders with the snotty little twits that seat you in restaurants, assign your rooms in hotels, etc...

In my opinion, it was well worth the years spent in grad school to have that power over these petty tyrants that live to put people down. And I almost always go casual...

Hang in there, my young friend,
Grier

 

[Outdoor]

I've had a similar experience here in Aus.

I walked into a real estate agent and asked to speak to a salesperson and was told "The rental counter is over there."

Given I had just settled the sale of my previous house (in another state) and had cash to spend on my 'new' home, it was a costly assumption.

Anyway, the agent 'accross the street' sold me a very nice house... and got a very nice commission ;-)

 

[theskull]

I believe this is more common in dive shops than in retail in general. And have a couple theories:

1. Many dive shop employees are working for a low wage and judge the purchase by their means rather than yours.
2. They may have received so many sticker shock exclamations on that piece of gear that they are afraid of another one and try to head it off.
3. They tend to develop opinions on which pieces of gear are necessary or best, and project their opinion onto you when you want something that is cooler or better engineered than what they consider optimum.

I have taken the trouble to point out to several LDS sales clerks that considering what I spend to get to a dive location and how much I enjoy being under the water for the limited time available, if some "expensive" item enhances my enjoyment or makes me more comfortable during my time at depth it is difficult for it to be too expensive.

theskull

 

[mania]

It also happened to me - and in fact in the US. Here in Warsaw there are few upscale shops but they don't do such things. But in the US - it really annoys me. So once I was so angry with the clerk that I simply told him what kind of absolutly casual clothes I'm wearing and asking whether he could afford them (well, he doesn't have to know that my aunt works for one of the famouse designers and I got them for free ). And then of course I left the shop with the comment that i was just ready to buy this jacket for 1K (which of course I was not) but I would not buy it.
The guy looked like stoned.
Mania
PS. Shaka is right - whether we like it or not - I think it's horrible - but we are judged by the appearance

 

[Marek K]

"So, does everybody have to wear the towels?"

:11: People seriously say that??

*sigh*

No wonder we Americans have an image problem in and with that part of the world...

--Marek

 

[justleesa]

I can't see, your profile pic is a bit unclear???

:rofl:

Something like what happend you alcina, happened to me a long time - just remembered it now. I went to the Zoo with the kids and it was still early so we went to the downtown shopping area. It was the first day of the end of Summer sale. I saw something that I really liked, checked and they accepted CC. When I went to pay they said they don't accept CC on sale items. Which is a no-no, you have to treat CC like cash. I asked to speak to the manager and he said he wouldn't sell it to me. I went to the bank to make the complaint and even the guy at the bank said that it is up to the store if they accept or not. I told him to read his master charge contract ( I accepted CC at my store so I knew). So, I got in touch with the main bank in Frankfurt and told them what happend. Finally somebody said I was right....I didn't get the item, but they got in trouble with the CC company. Is that called revenge???

Today, a bit more in detail:
A friend is buying our wedding cake as a our gift. She took me to the bakery where she got her cake from. Her cake had 34 tiers and was pretty good. Now, this was not a fancy pantsy bakery - very simple, could use some new shelves and stuff, but the baked goods looked good.
She gets her picture book and we tell her how many tiers the cake should have. We pick one out that is decorated with plumeria (icing) and a traditional Hawaiian wedding lei (also icing). She says "That one is expensive, take the small size and cut the pieces small..and you don't need the lei...should be enough"....If my friend weren't paying - I'd have walked out....

One last story:
I used to work in a big jewelry store in a town call Zweibruecken, with a 150+ year history. It was a very hot day and there was a big main street party going on in the streets and a couple came in. She was dressed nicely and he had jean shorts and a t-shirt on. The other girls said this couple is all yours as it didn't look like they would be spending much. I didn't care what they spent - I was happy that I was going to be able to speak English. After talking to them for a while I found out that they had something very, very special in mind, it was going to be a custom item. Turned out that they got a set of wedding bands for over 10,000 (too bad we didn't work on comission)... My boss was happy with me and the "girls" were green with envy. Just goes to show you that you can't always judge a book by it's cover

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
I saw something that I really liked, checked and they accepted CC. When I went to pay they said they don't accept CC on sale items. Which is a no-no, you have to treat CC like cash. I asked to speak to the manager and he said he wouldn't sell it to me. I went to the bank to make the complaint and even the guy at the bank said that it is up to the store if they accept or not. I told him to read his master charge contract ( I accepted CC at my store so I knew). So, I got in touch with the main bank in Frankfurt and told them what happend. Finally somebody said I was right....I didn't get the item, but they got in trouble with the CC company. Is that called revenge???
..snip..

Yes, they have this stupid law down here in Brazil as well.
I say stupid because firstly the CC company charges from 3 - 10% of the sale depending on the situation and then the shop will only receive the cash anything up to 60 days later. This at the moment represents an additional financial loss to the shop of 3 - 8% depending on how he finances his working capital.
So how is the shopkeeper able to liquidate stock at attractive prices if all the customers insist on their rights?
I think most people I know would accept this situation to get a cheap price.
I normally try to negotiate a discount if I'm paying cash.

 

[Backtanner]

Ok, this is the third time in a month that this has happend to me...

I go into a store wanting to buy/order something (different store each time and I am dressed casually). I am looking at the items and the sales clerk tells me it is expensive, mind you she/he doesn't tell me the price - just that it is expensive.

I look at something else, again the sales person says it's too expensive.

HELLO??? Can I be the judge of that? Does he/she know how much I have or what I am willing to spend? Not the right way to make a sale...

Venting over, thank you for listening.....

I can't say anything about Honolulu but when my wife and I go to Maui we get the same response from every store, resturaunt, or gas station. Of course that was because everything IS EXPENSIVE. I don't think they were rude, just covering their liability so that I wouldn't sue them after fainting from paying $5 for a gallon of milk and such.