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The Customer Who Wasn't a Customer
I guess I can call this guy a customer, but he turned out to be a SPY! He was definitely sucky, though.
Here are the players, just so you know (names changed).
Anne: Customer from several miles away.
Alan: Anne's husband.
Chris: Computer department supervisor.
Ron: Semi-sneaky guy.
And a little background information:
Most computer manufacturers send different retail outlets different models when they make changes to their lines. This is so they don't end up competing against themselves if one store has a certain model at a better price than another. We just got a new one I'll just refer to as the 2025. A neighboring electronics store where the employees work on commission (we don't) got the 2020 (when compared to the 2025, it has the same processor, same memory, slightly smaller hard drive, and is missing one extra feature).
Two weeks ago, the 2025 was on sale. Anne came in, talked to Chris, and decided she liked it, but she couldn't afford it at the moment. Last week, Anne came in again but didn't want to buy the computer if it was not on sale. She instead went down the street and bought the 2020. Yesterday (Sunday, start of a new sale) she noticed that the 2025 was on again. She wanted the larger hard drive and really liked the extra feature it had. She called Chris, talked to him about it, and decided she would return the 2020 and get the 2025 from us instead.
This morning (Monday), Anne called. I answered. She told me the story, and I informed her that we had one left, but I would hold it for her if she liked. She liked, and I put her name on the box. We then talked about the service contract my company offers, its price and coverage. (I think it's a good deal. It has saved me about $200 in only one repair on my laptop, and that was not the accidental damage that is also covered.) She said she'd get it and ended the conversation.
About twenty minutes later, a guy in business casual came in. He introduced himself to me as Ron. He immediately made me think of a salesman. He went straight to the 2025 and asked me a few questions about it. I told him that we were sold out, which was true considering that the one left was as good as sold. He also asked MANY questions about the service contract. When I told him that it did cover accidental damage, he was extremely skeptical and even went so far as to tell me that my company (a major corporation that just built its first few stores on the Asian continent and is already in both the US and Canada) would not be able to keep selling laptops for very long if we kept offering and honoring such coverage. He gave me the impression that he thought I was lying. I'm not. I've seen the coverage happen to my own laptop and that of many of my customers. He took his information and left, having commented that he worked down the street selling appliances, but that was not the last I'd hear from him.
Shortly after he left, Anne called me again. She had just spoken to Ron. (Appliances, eh?
) He told her not to bother coming in for the 2025 because I said we were sold out, so I had to reassure her that the last one was still on hold. He told her I MUST be lying about the service contract, so I had to reassure her there with my own experiences and point her to the fine print on the company website. He tried to tell her that the 2020 was a faster computer (same processor, memory, bus, and most everything else that affects normal computer speed measurements) and that it DID have the extra feature she wanted (it doesn't--I looked it up). He was desperately fighting to keep his commission. I can understand being frustrated over having to take a return in that kind of work environment, but resorting to scouting the competition and deliberately lying to the customer is going too far.
Ron called and tried to accuse me of lying to him about my having the 2025 in stock. I was friendly for as long as I could be, but I just hung up on him when he started yelling.
Alan called after I hung up on Ron, just to make sure he had understood his wife's translation of what I had told her. I had to reassure him as well, going over all the same stuff I went over with his wife.
That's why I like working in a non-commission environment. Customer isn't confused, and I don't feel dishonest. (That's not to say all commission sellers are dishonest, but I have seen some resort to dishonest practices like this one. Think used car sellers typically seen on TV.)
I think that's the first time I've had a spy from the competition come over. I was entertained.
Here are the players, just so you know (names changed).
Anne: Customer from several miles away.
Alan: Anne's husband.
Chris: Computer department supervisor.
Ron: Semi-sneaky guy.
And a little background information:
Most computer manufacturers send different retail outlets different models when they make changes to their lines. This is so they don't end up competing against themselves if one store has a certain model at a better price than another. We just got a new one I'll just refer to as the 2025. A neighboring electronics store where the employees work on commission (we don't) got the 2020 (when compared to the 2025, it has the same processor, same memory, slightly smaller hard drive, and is missing one extra feature).
Two weeks ago, the 2025 was on sale. Anne came in, talked to Chris, and decided she liked it, but she couldn't afford it at the moment. Last week, Anne came in again but didn't want to buy the computer if it was not on sale. She instead went down the street and bought the 2020. Yesterday (Sunday, start of a new sale) she noticed that the 2025 was on again. She wanted the larger hard drive and really liked the extra feature it had. She called Chris, talked to him about it, and decided she would return the 2020 and get the 2025 from us instead.
This morning (Monday), Anne called. I answered. She told me the story, and I informed her that we had one left, but I would hold it for her if she liked. She liked, and I put her name on the box. We then talked about the service contract my company offers, its price and coverage. (I think it's a good deal. It has saved me about $200 in only one repair on my laptop, and that was not the accidental damage that is also covered.) She said she'd get it and ended the conversation.
About twenty minutes later, a guy in business casual came in. He introduced himself to me as Ron. He immediately made me think of a salesman. He went straight to the 2025 and asked me a few questions about it. I told him that we were sold out, which was true considering that the one left was as good as sold. He also asked MANY questions about the service contract. When I told him that it did cover accidental damage, he was extremely skeptical and even went so far as to tell me that my company (a major corporation that just built its first few stores on the Asian continent and is already in both the US and Canada) would not be able to keep selling laptops for very long if we kept offering and honoring such coverage. He gave me the impression that he thought I was lying. I'm not. I've seen the coverage happen to my own laptop and that of many of my customers. He took his information and left, having commented that he worked down the street selling appliances, but that was not the last I'd hear from him.
Shortly after he left, Anne called me again. She had just spoken to Ron. (Appliances, eh?
) He told her not to bother coming in for the 2025 because I said we were sold out, so I had to reassure her that the last one was still on hold. He told her I MUST be lying about the service contract, so I had to reassure her there with my own experiences and point her to the fine print on the company website. He tried to tell her that the 2020 was a faster computer (same processor, memory, bus, and most everything else that affects normal computer speed measurements) and that it DID have the extra feature she wanted (it doesn't--I looked it up). He was desperately fighting to keep his commission. I can understand being frustrated over having to take a return in that kind of work environment, but resorting to scouting the competition and deliberately lying to the customer is going too far.Ron called and tried to accuse me of lying to him about my having the 2025 in stock. I was friendly for as long as I could be, but I just hung up on him when he started yelling.
Alan called after I hung up on Ron, just to make sure he had understood his wife's translation of what I had told her. I had to reassure him as well, going over all the same stuff I went over with his wife.
That's why I like working in a non-commission environment. Customer isn't confused, and I don't feel dishonest. (That's not to say all commission sellers are dishonest, but I have seen some resort to dishonest practices like this one. Think used car sellers typically seen on TV.)
I think that's the first time I've had a spy from the competition come over. I was entertained.
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