I turned down another sale today

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So here I was in furniture, counting all the pull tags, when some guy and his wife summoned me.

They were looking at a wood and wicker 5-drawer chest we have. There were no tags for it and they wanted to know if it was in stock. I knew that it wasn't, and that we have scores of rainchecks because for whatever reason we can't get that chest in, but to humor them I checked anyway.

My scanner took a little more time than usual to bring up the information. The wife joked that it was "going through the filing cabinet." Sorta clever. More clever than anything I normally hear out of my customers.

Finally, it returned the information: out of stock. I told them the chest was out of stock and they could get a raincheck at the service desk.

Onward came the suck: "Sell us the display then."

"I'm sorry, but we cannot sell furniture displays until they go on clearance and they're the last one remaining."

"Well we're going on a trip and that chest is the only one that will fit in our fifth-wheel. Sell us the display."

"I'm sorry, but as I said..."

"We said we want the display. Get your manager down here if you're not willing to help us."

I said okay and went for a phone further away from the department, instead of the one closest. I figured I'd make them wait, and besides I felt I might say something I didn't want them to hear.

"Yeah, I've got a couple looking at one of the Key West chests, and we don't have it in stock, and they're pretty adamant about buying the display."

"Is it on no re-order?"

"No, the scanner said we had some on order."

"Then the answer is no."

"I know. I tried to explain that and they didn't like it. Could you please come down and tell them yourself?"

"Sure. I'll be right down."

Manager came down to the furniture department, told the couple whey wouldn't be purchasing the display today, and they pissed and moaned some more and apparently worked an "In this economy" into their pissing and moaning. And then they left sans chest.

Is it a bad thing I'm looking forward to shooting down more of these idiots?

[Lots42]

I don't understand why you couldn't sell the display. The reasons you gave seem meaningless. The product was right there. Of course, no excuse for rudeness.

[Rapscallion]

I don't understand why you couldn't sell the display. The reasons you gave seem meaningless. The product was right there. Of course, no excuse for rudeness.

He's paid to follow company policy, and in his position that's all the reason IPF needs. He may think the policy stupid, or simply something that makes his life worse, but it's his job and he doesn't make that level of decision.

Rapscallion

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I don't understand why you couldn't sell the display. The reasons you gave seem meaningless. The product was right there. Of course, no excuse for rudeness.

Because at my store, we sell furniture by building a display for each item, and putting out little tags for each display. To buy an item, you take its tag to the cashier and they call somebody to carry the item out to your vehicle.

Yes, it is policy we do not sell displays until the item has gone to clearance and the display is the last one left. That is really all the explanation the customer is entitled to. If we sell displays too soon it becomes difficult to sell the product and corporate doesn't want us wasting payroll building new displays.

If it was an item that requires no assembly, we probably would have made an exception.

[Dave1982]

Although I do not work at the same company as Irv, I can shed a little light on why furniture displays can't be sold until they go clearance, if at all.

The display is what sells the furniture.

With no display, people can't see what an item looks like or get a sense of how large it is. And with no display, they may not even know you carry the item.

The display is not profitable.

First of all, if they are buying the display, they undoubtedly want it discounted. Also, someone has to be paid to put another one together. At my company, that's handled by an outside contractor for all furniture besides chairs, but even if a regular store employee does it, it's still that much payroll that has to be expended. Then, when THAT display is eventually sold, IT will have to be marked down as well. All of this adds up to less money made, and potentially a loss.

Liability

If the customer buys an assembled display and it collapses, causing injury or property damage, who are they going to blame? If they buy it unassembled and build it themselves, it may well be their own fault. Company policy regarding the sale of displays may not allow it for this reason.

The display may be fake

At my store, some furniture displays are in fact "dummy" displays that show you the size and look of the piece but aren't actually made the same way as the genuine article. Often they are made of lighter, flimsier materials so they can be set up, knocked down, and moved around more quickly and easily than the real thing. They may be made of pressboard instead of solid wood, have false fronts instead of actual drawers, and may not have all the accessory hardware that the actual item comes with (such as hanging file folder frames).

Selling something like that to a customer would not only rip them off, but it also wouldn't be safe.

[Android Kaeli]

I get a lot of that during Christmas, especially if there's only one left in a box and said customer doesn't want to wait for someone to bring it down. We'll only sell the display if we know we aren't going to get any more in or it's after Christmas anyways.

I have to agree with Dave1982 on the reasoning on not selling displays. If it's not going to be coming in again we'll sell the display, if it is and there's some coming in on truck then we won't.

[PepperElf]

"In this economy"

Yes, in "this economy" the item is on order and there's already a waiting list... I don't think you'll go under if Mr & Mrs EW don't buy it.

[Food Lady]

As a customer, I always ask IF something can be done for me, and if the answer's no, I accept that. I just don't get why people think the rules don't apply to them. There's a REASON, good or bad. Baby boomers and older are usually worse. "I'm old enough to be your parent, so obey my request." I've had enough of "you WILL do this." Next time, it will be answered, "No, I will not break policy for you," complaints to management be damned.

[Lingering Grin]

"Well we're going on a trip and that chest is the only one that will fit in our fifth-wheel. Sell us the display."

I assume they mean a spare tire for a car?

If so, why do they need to put it in a chest? IT'S A TIRE. It's not like it has a lot of small parts

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I assume they mean a spare tire for a car?

If so, why do they need to put it in a chest? IT'S A TIRE. It's not like it has a lot of small parts

I believe in this case, fifth wheel=camping trailer. But it wouldn't occur to me to call a camping trailer that.

[malmalthekiller]

I don't understand why you couldn't sell the display. The reasons you gave seem meaningless. The product was right there. Of course, no excuse for rudeness.

There are already a bunch of good reasons that aren't "meaningless" that people have already given. It's the same reasoning at every store that the display model cannot be sold unless the item is going out of stock. Every manager I've ever worked for says the same thing.

[Oberonsshadow]

ot... kinda

I believe in this case, fifth wheel=camping trailer.
But it wouldn't occur to me to call a camping trailer that.

Fifth wheel is a fairly standard name for a trailer that uses a gooseneck hitch (one that sits in the middle of the truck bed, instead of attached to the bumper). I call my large horse trailer "The 5th wheel" on a regular basis, but I can see how someone who wasn't familiar with trailers would not understand the saying immediately.

[Kaylyn]

"Fifth wheel" is the name for the big latch that hooks a semi trailer to a truck (looks like a big circular plate with a notch at the back of it where the pin for the trailer slides into it), and I believe that's the same way a lot of camping trailers and such attach to pickups.

[Kusanagi]

I don't understand why you couldn't sell the display. The reasons you gave seem meaningless. The product was right there. Of course, no excuse for rudeness.

In many areas it's illegal to sell display models if the items are advertised unless it's the last one left on clearance, due to bait and switch laws.

Back when I sold furniture (holy crap, did I just say that?) we ran into this one alot.

You get yelled at if you sell it, you get yelled at if you don't sell it, but I'd rather be yelled at by the customer than get fined by the FTC.